Author: Matt

More than two decades of growing internet use has surfaced fears about the social and psychological impacts of nearly unfettered access to pornography. But many researchers and sex therapists worry that the online communities that have formed in response to these fears often endorse inaccurate medical information, exacerbate mental health problems and, in some cases, overlap with extremist and hate groups.

NPR’s Lisa Hagen speaks about her reporting with NPR’s Ayesha Rascoe.

For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

Former president Donald Trump is facing dozens of criminal charges, including four felony counts on charges of trying to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Trump says he’s being persecuted, and that idea resonates with his Christian base.

For people in the US, 2020 was one of the most dangerous years in decades. The first year of the pandemic saw a huge spike in violence. The number of homicides in the country rose about 30 percent from 2019.

Fast forward a couple of years – and things look very different. According to crime analyst Jeff Asher, “2023 featured one of the lowest rates of violent crime in the US in more than 50 years.”

In big cities and small, from the East coast to the West, violence has dropped dramatically.

Despite a significant and measurable drop in violent crime, Americans feel less safe. According to a Gallup poll released in November, more than three quarters of Americans believe there’s more crime in the country than there was last year.

We explore the reasons why the good news on crime isn’t getting through.

Sign up for Consider This+ to hear every episode sponsor-free and support NPR. More at plus.npr.org/considerthis

Email us at considerthis@npr.org

Fox News has been the Republican Party’s biggest cheerleader almost since it premiered in 1996.

Nearly three decades later, many Republicans perceive Fox as the de facto kingmaker for all kinds of Republican candidates — including presidential.

That kingmaker status brought Fox News power, ratings and billions in profits and has spawned a succession of imitators and competition.

But for Fox, that synergy with Trump and the Republicans has come with significant risk and significant consequences.

Dominion Voting Systems sued Fox for defamation after network anchors amplified Trump’s false election claims. The company settled, at a cost of nearly $790 million.

Nevertheless, Fox News still has the power to shape Republican politics as the country heads into another presidential election cycle. But is that power diminished in 2024?

Sign up for Consider This+ to hear every episode sponsor-free and support NPR. More at plus.npr.org/considerthis

Email us at considerthis@npr.org

Immigration and management of the U.S. Southern Border is always a politically charged issue, but especially at this moment.

House republicans are trying to advance articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. They say he has refused to comply with the law and has breached the trust of the public.

Meanwhile President Biden is describing the U.S. immigration system as broken.

All this is playing out as a government funding bill is tied to the border and a presidential election is months away.

A deadly attack on an U.S. military base in Jordan pulled the United States deeper into a regional conflict that it’s trying to avoid.

How the U.S. responds could determine whether the country enters another full scale war. We ask National Security Council spokesperson, John Kirby, what comes next.

Email us at considerthis@npr.org

During his time in office, former president Donald Trump talked a great deal about all of the positive changes he was making to improve the economy.

When he gave his final State of the Union address in February 2020, employers had added more than six million jobs, unemployment was at three-and-a-half percent and the stock market was soaring.

But by March all of that ended as coronavirus spread rapidly across the globe.

Donald Trump is poised to capture the Republican presidential nomination. As president, some of his economic policies came out of the traditional Republican playbook. But other policies were more populist, more nativist and more unpredictable.

NPR’s Scott Detrow speaks with Chief Economics Correspondent Scott Horsley about what might change, and what might stay the same, under a second Trump administration.

A look behind the curtain at the Oscar campaign machine and what it takes to bring home the gold.

Ever since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas almost four months ago, U.S. leaders have been afraid that the conflict will grow.

That could have consequences for American troops in the Middle East. Recently, U.S. forces have been attacked in Iraq by Iran-backed militias, for example.

Host Ari Shapiro speaks with NPR’s Jane Arraf in Amman, Jordan and NPR Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman about what all this could mean for troops in the region.

Email us at considerthis@npr.org

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has spent a career defying political gravity. Now he’s facing his biggest challenge yet.

For decades, Netanyahu has sold himself as a leader who would keep Israelis safe.

Instead, one of the world’s strongest militaries failed to protect its citizens from a long-planned, Mad Max style invasion – with attackers from Gaza coming in on motorcycles, pickup trucks and hang gliders. Israeli authorities say 1,200 people were killed October 7th and more than 200 taken hostage.

Netanyahu promised an investigation after the war with Hamas, but public outrage has grown louder in recent days.

Now as public outrage grows in Israel, Netanyahu’s future seems all but certain. And that future is inseparable from the future of Israel’s war with Hamas, or an eventual peace in Gaza.