Blog

After 27 years on the Supreme Court, liberal justice Stephen Breyer is retiring. His departure won’t change the balance of the court, but it will give President Biden a chance to put his stamp on it — and cement a new, younger justice in place for decades.

NPR legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg explains who might replace Breyer, and NPR political editor Domenico Montanaro outlines how the process will unfold.

In participating regions, you’ll also hear a local news segment that will help you make sense of what’s going on in your community.

Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

Writer-Director Joss Whedon has responded to his former colleagues’ accusations of bullying on set. NY Magazine reporter Lila Shapiro interviewed Whedon, and his accusers, for a profile in Vulture called “The Undoing of Joss Whedon.”

Motherboard’s Gita Jackson considers Whedon’s influence on his fans and, more broadly, pop culture, and freelance tv critic Robyn Bahr talks about the reasons why she doesn’t think she’ll ever rewatch Buffy the Vampire Slayer again.

In participating regions, you’ll also hear a local news segment that will help you make sense of what’s going on in your community.

Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

When we talk about the pandemic, we talk about stress. Burnout. Uncertainty. Isolation. We don’t talk as much about trauma. But a growing number of mental health professionals say that’s what people are experiencing as the pandemic drags on — and we may need a new way to talk about what they’re going through. NPR’s Kat Lonsdorf reports.

Psychiatrist, neurologist and author Bessel van der Kolk explains how the brain processes and recovers from trauma. His 2004 book The Body Keeps the Score surged to the top of bestseller lists during the pandemic.

In participating regions, you’ll also hear a local news segment that will help you make sense of what’s going on in your community.

Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

A towering figure of the fashion world, André Leon Talley was impossible to ignore. His influence extended well beyond the runway — during his time at Vogue, he was a rare Black editor in a largely white industry, and also a major figure in the LGBTQ+ community.

In this episode of It’s Been A Minute, host Sam Sanders discusses Talley’s influence and legacy with Saeed Jones and Zach Stafford.

Listen to more It’s Been A Minute with Sam Sanders via Apple, Spotify, or Google.

In Florida and Virginia, Governors Ron DeSantis and Glenn Youngkin are bolstering the right of parents to defy school mask mandates. While some parents are celebrating, others are filing lawsuits opposing the policies that make mask-wearing in schools optional.

There are a lot of opinions about how schools should be run during the pandemic, but some key voices are often missing from the conversation – students and teachers.

Over the last few weeks, amid a nationwide surge of coronavirus cases, students across the country have staged walkouts to emphasize various COVID mitigation measures they would like to see implemented. We’ll hear from some of those students.

And we’ll speak to a teacher in Arizona who understands how difficult it is, as a parent, community member and school staffer, to find the right balance between physical health, mental health and educational priorities.

In participating regions, you’ll also hear a local news segment to help you make sense of what’s going on in your community.

Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

The pandemic has led to a huge rise in online shopping. And record spending from last year means record returns. But what happens to the items we send back is often a mystery.

NPR correspondent Alina Selyukh reports on the like hood of an unwanted holiday gift making it into another customers hands.

And Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi of NPR’s Planet Money podcast visits a bargain bin store in North Carolina where dogged resellers rifle through mounds of unwanted items to find something they can turn for a profit.

Listen to the full Planet Money episode here.

In participating regions, you’ll also hear a local news segment that will help you make sense of what’s going on in your community.

Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

Today marks one year since President Joe Biden took office. His most immediate challenge was the pandemic, but he also promised action on climate, racial equity, and infrastructure.

One year later, NPR correspondents Kelsey Snell and Tamara Keith take stock of Biden’s accomplishments and shortfalls.

In participating regions, you’ll also hear a local news segment that will help you make sense of what’s going on in your community.

Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

Federal data released last week showed more than 101,000 Americans died of drug overdoses in a one-year period. This was partly due to the pandemic and disruptions to treatment, as well as a surge in methamphetamine and fentanyl use.

But there is some positive news. A recent study on recovery success, co-authored by Dr. David Eddie, shows that three out of four people who experience addiction eventually recover, if they get the care they need.

In participating regions, you’ll also hear a local news segment that will help you make sense of what’s going on in your community.

Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

During his time in office, former President Donald Trump embraced a Christian nationalist stance; the idea that the U.S. is a Christian country and should enforce those beliefs. Now, despite being out of office for nearly a year, those beliefs continue to spread.

NPR correspondent John Burnett reports on the growing movement of Christian nationalism, and the the other Christian congregations that are pushing against it.

In participating regions, you’ll also hear a local news segment that will help you make sense of what’s going on in your community.

Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

More people are hospitalized with COVID than at any point in the pandemic. But the omicron variant is also causing more Americans to tune out the pandemic and turn away from public health measures right when they’re needed most. NPR’s Yuki Noguchi reports.

Even some vaccinated and boosted Americans are ready to move on from COVID, writes Derek Thompson in The Atlantic — a group he’s dubbed ‘vaxxed and done.’ Thompson spoke to Jane Clayson on Here & Now, a production of NPR and WBUR Boston.

Additional reporting in this episode from NPR’s Michaeleen Doucleff, who reported on why the omicron variant appears to be less deadly; and from NPR’s Will Stone, who reported on hospitals struggling to manage the omicron surge.

In participating regions, you’ll also hear a local news segment that will help you make sense of what’s going on in your community.

Email us at considerthis@npr.org.