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Two distant cousins connect online, only to learn that one is a militant leftist and the other is in a right-wing militia. Their story shows the complexities of a timely question: Who’s an extremist?

NPR’s Hannah Allam followed both men for weeks, charting the growth of their relationship and revealing the moment they met in-person for the first time. NPR is withholding their last name, which the two men share, for security reasons.

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Colorado has universal background checks, a red flag law and the city of Boulder recently passed an assault weapons ban. None of it was enough to stop a man from shooting and killing 10 people at a Boulder grocery store this week.

State Rep. Tom Sullivan, whose son was killed in the 2012 Aurora movie theatre shooting, reacts to the events of this week — and tells NPR why he still believes incremental action at the state level can help prevent gun violence.

Additional editing help in this episode from Bente Birkeland of Colorado Public Radio.

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America’s infrastructure GPA is a C-minus, according to the American Society Of Civil Engineers, which this month called for massive investment in the nation’s roads, bridges and transit system.

The Biden administration is preparing to propose that kind of investment — along with green energy policies and progressive programs that would total more than $3 trillion. NPR’s Mara Liasson reports on the plan, which Biden has signaled he wants to pass with Republican support.

That’s just one political balancing act Biden will have to negotiate. Another is with a key part of his political coalition: labor unions. NPR’s Don Gonyea explains.

Additional reporting in this episode from NPR’s David Schaper.

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In Europe, the COVID-19 vaccine rollout has been slow. The U.S. is doing better — vaccinating as many as 3 million people per day this past weekend.

Some of those people were vaccinated by Chichi Ilonzo Momah, who runs Springfield Pharmacy in Springfield, Pa. Momah says local independent pharmacists are trying to make sure no one falls through the cracks.

The rollout is also progressing thanks in part to military personnel stationed at vaccine sites around the country that are run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. WUSF’s Stephanie Colombini visited one site in Tampa.

Additional reporting this episode from NPR’s Allison Aubrey.

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Sohla El-Waylly was one of the most vocal critics of her previous employer, Bon Appétit, and eventually resigned after the magazine’s racial reckoning.She’s now a columnist at Food52 and star of the YouTube series Off-Script with Sohla. She and Sam talk about racism in the food media industry (and everywhere else), The Cheesecake Factory, and certain kinds of mushrooms.

Dante Disparte, founder and chairman of Risk Cooperative and member of FEMA’s National Advisory Council, explains how lessons from last year can help us in the next pandemic — and why warnings from former Presidents Bush and Obama were not enough to prepare the U.S. for the coronavirus.

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Reports of hate incidents against Asian American and Pacific Islanders have skyrocketed in the past year, coinciding with former President Trump’s racist rhetoric.

The pattern is clear: Asian American and Pacific Islander communities are being terrorized by harassment and violence. State representative Bee Nguyen tells NPR the shootings in Atlanta this week have rattled the Asian-American community in Georgia.

New York Congresswoman Grace Meng outlines a bill she’s introduced to help address the issue.

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Three women come together to talk about the isolation and sacrifice that comes with being pregnant during the pandemic.

Those women: Irène Mathieu, a pediatrician in Charlottesville, Virginia; Elizabeth Baron, a mental health counselor in New York City; and Ashley Falcon, a fashion stylist who moved from Florida to New York in the early stages of the pandemic.

Economist Hannes Schwandt predicts the pandemic will coincide with a drop in birth rates.

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Thousands of unaccompanied migrant children have shown up at the southern border in recent weeks, overwhelming the government’s ability to process and transfer them into the custody of sponsors or family members.

Melissa Lopez, director of Diocesan Migrant & Refugee Services Inc, tells NPR what the situations looks like from her vantage point in El Paso.

Mark Greenberg, senior fellow at the Migration Policy Institute, explains why COVID-19 protocols are making it even harder for the government to handle the increase in migrants at the border.

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People who stormed the Capitol were radicalized by what they consumed online and in social media. That should sound familiar: Ten years ago, ISIS used a similar strategy to lure Americans to Syria.

Dina Temple-Raston reports on the pattern of radicalization. Tom Dreisbach explores familiar warning signs in the past of one Capitol siege suspect — including hateful speech and violent rhetoric.

More reporting from the NPR Investigations team is here.

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