This Thanksgiving week, we're sharing a segment from our special series Play It Forward, in which artists tell us about their own music and the musicians who inspire them. This episode, opera singer and funk keyboardist Constance Hauman speaks to Ari Shapiro about her new album, Tropical Thunderstorm, her experiences as a multi-genre musician and an artist she's grateful for: Daf player Asal Malekzadeh. 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 [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

For Thanksgiving Day, we're sharing a segment from our special series Play It Forward, in which artists tell us about their own music and the musicians who inspire them. In this episode, funk legend George Clinton speaks to Ari Shapiro about the longevity and enduring influence of his band, Parliament-Funkadelic, being a hype man for other musicians, and an artist he's grateful for: opera singer and funk keyboardist Constance Hauman. On tomorrow's episode: Constance Hauman plays it forward.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 [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The commonly-told version of the first Thanksgiving story leaves out a lot: The indigenous Wampanoag people who lived in a complex society long before the Mayflower arrived at Plymouth Rock; Squanto escaping bondage in Spain before becoming an emissary to the Pilgrims; and the long legacy of violent displacement that followed.Paula Peters, a writer and a member of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, still lives near where the Pilgrims made landfall on her ancestral homeland. She talks about how the 1621 feast fits into history.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 [email protected]. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

CTE — chronic traumatic encephalopathy — is a degenerative brain disease found in many former professional football and hockey players, for whom blows to the head have long been part of the job. But those injuries also occur outside the world of pro sports. And as awareness of CTE has grown, so has a thriving market of dubious remedies marketed to everyday people who believe they are suffering from CTE — a disease that can't even be diagnosed until after death, through an autopsy of the brain. In the second of two episodes, Sacha Pfeiffer of NPR's Investigative Team reports on some of those desperate patients and their hope for a cure. 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 [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

CTE — chronic traumatic encephalopathy — is a degenerative brain disease found in many former professional football and hockey players, for whom blows to the head have long been part of the job. But those injuries also occur outside the world of pro sports. And as awareness of CTE has grown, so has a thriving market of dubious remedies marketed to everyday people who believe they are suffering from CTE — a disease that can't even be diagnosed until after death, through an autopsy of the brain. In the first of two episodes, Sacha Pfeiffer of NPR's Investigative Team reports on some of those desperate patients and their hope for a cure. If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255. 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 [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

For those living with long COVID, daily activities like going for a walk, washing the dishes, or being on a Zoom call can be incredibly draining. These long-term effects of a COVID infection - called post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2, PASC, or more simply long COVID - have been a reality for many patients since the start of the pandemic. While it is not known exactly how common long COVID is, it isn't rare. One study found that some 30% of participants across multiple age ranges reported persistent symptoms. For some, symptoms fade after a few months, while for others, long COVID feels like their new reality. NPR's Mallory Yu has been reporting on long COVID and gathered the stories of patients who are desperate for answers. 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 [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Migrants from faraway countries are stuck in Belarus, just across its border with Poland. They've traveled there to seek asylum in the EU. But Poland has refused to accept them. How did they get there? They were invited — and in some cases, their travel facilitated — by the regime of Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko. EU leaders say Lukashenko and his backers in Russia are 'weaponizing' migration in retaliation for sanctions placed on Belarus last year. Those sanctions came after the EU accused Lukashenko of rigging his most recent election. Now, many hundreds of migrants are stuck on the Belarus side of the border. There have been at least nine recorded deaths, but observers think there have been many more. Migrants were reportedly moved from makeshift camps outdoors to a government-run shelter on Thursday, though it's unclear what Belarus plans to do with them next. NPR international correspondent Rob Schmitz has seen the crisis up close. This episode is a collection of his reporting. Find more of it here, and see photos from the border on NPR's Picture Show. 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 [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Afghanistan is facing its worst drought in decades, but that's not the only reason it is on the verge of a hunger crisis. After the Taliban took over, much of the country's international development aid was suspended, and the United States froze $9.5 billion in Afghan government assets. The economy has plummeted.Richard Trenchard, country director for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in Afghanistan, explains what he's heard from farmers and herders.PBS NewsHour special correspondent Jane Ferguson recently returned from a reporting trip in the country, where she saw hospital wards filling up with malnourished babies and toddlers. 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 [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

This week's virtual summit between President Joe Biden and China's President Xi Jinping may have restored a tone of respect between the world's two largest powers, but U.S. intelligence is telling a different story. NPR's Greg Myre reports on a national security conference held in Georgia last month where former and current U.S. intelligence officers were surprisingly candid about what they see as the biggest growing threat: China. 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 [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The holiday shopping season is basically here. But a lot of things that Americans want to buy are not. Now the race is on to get goods off ships and into stores and warehouses — before it's too late. NPRs Scott Horsley reports some retailers are already feeling the pinch from less inventory and higher shipping costs. Even if goods do make it into the U.S., many are sitting in warehouses, which are bursting at the seams. NPR's Alina Selyukh explains why.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 [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Thousands of youth activists from all over the world gathered in Scotland this week for the COP26 UN climate summit. They say climate change is already transforming their countries — and that their generation has the most to lose if greater action isn't taken. This episode contains reporting from Ari Shapiro in Glasgow, with production and editing by Mia Venkat, Noah Caldwell, and Ashley Brown. 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 [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Who is to blame for the deaths of nine people at the Astroworld Festival last Friday? Houston police have opened a criminal investigation and concertgoers have already filed more than 20 lawsuits against the event organizers and rapper Travis Scott, who continued to perform for more than half an hour after officials declared a mass casualty event. Crowd safety expert Keith Still explains the science behind how a concert crowd can transform into an uncontrollable mass that threatens human life. Houston Chronicle music critic Joey Guerra, who attended the festival, grapples with how music fans are processing the tragedy. 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 [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Following the Columbine shooting in April of 1999, top leaders of the National Rifle Association huddled in private to discuss their public response to the tragedy. Secret tapes of those deliberations were obtained by NPR investigative correspondent Tim Mak. He explains what's revealed in the tapes: that the group considered a much different stance than the one it ultimately took — a stance that would help set the stage for decades of debate about gun violence in America. Tim Mak is also author of the book Misfire: Inside the Downfall of the NRA.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 [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Mark Zuckerberg says the metaverse is not just the next chapter of his company: it's the next chapter of the internet. There are a lot of questions about what role Meta, the company formerly known as Facebook, should play in building that future.Meta's Vice President of metaverse, Vishal Shah, argues that the company has learned from its struggle to moderate content on Facebook, and will build safety and privacy into the metaverse.Jason Moore — Assistant Professor at Brooklyn College teaching television and virtual reality — explains how he uses the metaverse today.And Benedict Evans, an independent technology analyst, argues that the metaverse may never emerge as one cohesive movement. Read his essay about Facebook's rebrand: Metabrand. 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 [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Now that the hot takes have cooled after Virginia's gubernatorial election, NPR correspondents Anya Kamenetz and Tamara Keith dissect the role of education in the race — and why it was about way more than critical race theory. Read more from Anya 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 [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Waking up at dawn with the bakers and the baristas may not be for everyone — especially night owls. Whether you have to wake up early, or you'd like to become more of a morning lark, here are a few habits that can help you set yourself up for success at that first alarm. In this episode of NPR's Life Kit, host Kavitha George speaks with early risers who have tips to help adjust one's biological clock. Listen to more episode's of Life Kit on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or NPR One.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

In recent years, Sudan has been home to one of the most successful pro-democracy movements on the African continent. Now, a military coup threatens that movement's progress. NPR's Eyder Peralta, who has been reporting in the region, explains how it all unfolded — and what could happen next. Read more on the events in Sudan from NPR's Becky Sullivan: The coup in Sudan could threaten U.S. influence in a strategically important region.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 [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The CDC made it official on Tuesday: kids 5 - 11 are now eligible to receive Pfizer's COVID-19 pediatric vaccine. Within hours, some of the first shots were administered in Hartford, Connecticut. Jenny Brundin of Colorado Public Radio spoke to parents and kids in Denver about getting a shot. While some are eager, others want to 'wait and see.' NPR's Allison Aubrey and Selena Simmons-Duffin wrote about why pediatricians say it's better not to wait. Read their piece: Some parents want to wait to vaccinate their kids. Here's why doctors say do it now. 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 [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Any ruling is months away, but this week's oral arguments provided some clues. NPR's Nina Totenberg watched them unfold. Hear more from Nina's coverage on the NPR Politics Podcast via Apple, Google, or Spotify.Also in this episode: Dr. Ghazaleh Moayedi, an OB-GYN in Texas, who told NPR pregnant people in Texas have been travelling to Oklahoma for abortions. 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 [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

In what some have called "Striketober," workers in factories as well as the health care and food industries have either started or authorized strikes in the past month.Thousands of workers across the U.S. are on strike, demanding better wages, better working conditions and more benefits. NPR's Ailsa Chang speaks with Joseph McCartin, professor of history at Georgetown, about what this moment means for the future of labor in America and how long the momentum may last. 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 [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

A U.N. climate summit is underway this week in Glasgow, Scotland. Many of the world's top carbon emitting-countries will be represented there. Scientists say they need to do more to curb greenhouse gas emissions in order to avoid the most catastrophic effects of climate change. The U.S, along with the China, are the world's top greenhouse gas emitters. India is third. And Brazil plays a crucial role in global climate, because it is home to vast rainforests that feed on carbon. But those rainforests are disappearing faster until the current government. Ahead of the summit, NPR international correspondents in China, India, and Brazil gathered to discuss what climate action those countries are taking: Emily Feng in Beijing, Lauren Frayer in Mumbai, and Philip Reeves in Rio de Janeiro.NPR's Lauren Sommer outlined the stakes at the Glasgow summit 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 [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

In this episode of NPR's investigative podcast Embedded, Chris Benderev reports on the trial of a man who shot and killed five people in the office of an Annapolis newspaper in 2018. Embedded's series of episodes on the Capitol Gazette began in February of 2021. Listen via Apple, Spotify, or Google.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

A final girl in the horror genre is the woman who is left to deal with the aftermath of surviving a terrifying killer. From The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, to Friday the 13th, to Halloween.The term 'Final Girl' was first coined by writer Carol J. Clover in her book Men, Women, and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film. Society knows this trope well. But after the credits roll, audiences typically don't know much about what actually happens to that final girl. Or whether she can live a normal life after being hunted down by a masker killer. Author Grady Hendrix unpacks that in his latest novel, The Final Girl Support Group."The ultimate faceless killer they can't escape is the forces of market capitalism. There's always a sequel. So even if you survive Part I and II, they're going to get you in Part III. And there's something terrible about that to me, that you never get to let your guard down," Hendrix said.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 [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Two years ago, a massive protest movement swept through Iraq. People were angry about corruption and a lack of basic services like electricity and health care in a country that brings in billions of dollars in oil revenue each year. That protest movement culminated in a parliamentary election, held earlier this month. NPR international correspondent Ruth Sherlock reported on the election closely from inside Iraq. Through her reporting, and in conversation with host Ari Shapiro, Ruth explains why Iraq's election failed to deliver on hopes for reform — and what it revealed about America's long and costly investment in the country's democracy. This episode contains excerpts from multiple stories Ruth Sherlock reported over the course of weeks inside Iraq. You can find more of her work 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 [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Last summer, when former President Barack Obama and Bruce Springsteen sat down to tape their podcast, the country was facing a pandemic, joblessness and a contentious election. And their conversations, they say, were an effort to offer some perspective and an attempt to try and find a unifying story for the country. The two talked about their dads, race, and the future of the country. Those conversations have now become a book, titled Renegades: Born in the U.S.A. — and they spoke to Audie Cornish about it's publication.You can watch a video of this interview and see images from the book 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 [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The CDC has now released booster guidance for all three vaccines available in the U.S. — making tens of millions of people eligible for another shot. And on Tuesday, an FDA panel met to review data from Pfizer on their vaccine for children ages 5 - 11. NPR's Alison Aubrey explains what those data say about the vaccine — and how it might be rolled out. Pediatrician Dr. Reah Boyd tells NPR how she's talking to parents about vaccinating their young children. Additional reporting in this episode from NPR's Pien Huang, Rob Stein, and Selena Simmons-Duffin. 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 [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

School board members across the country are being intimidated and threatened. Now the National School Boards Association wants the federal government to step in. The group said in a recent letter to President Biden that acts of school board harassment and confrontations seem to be coordinated. The online newsletter Popular Information has written about national groups targeting school boards. NPR Ed correspondent Anya Kamenetz travelled to Gwinnett County, Georgia, where school board members have been targeted with threats. Read more in her story, What it's like to be on the front lines of the school board culture war.NPR White House Correspondent Tamara Keith has also reported on why school board elections will be an early test of what issues motivate voters.Anya and Tamara recently discussed their reporting on school boards on the NPR Politics Podcast. Listen via Apple, Spotify, or Google. 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 [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

This episode is from our friends at Wisdom From The Top. From the creator of How I Built This, host Guy Raz invites you to listen in as he talks to leadership experts and the visionary leaders of some of the world's biggest brands. Along the way, you'll hear accounts of crisis, failure, turnaround, and triumph, as the leaders reveal their secrets on their way to the top. These are stories that didn't make it into their company bios, and valuable lessons for anyone trying to make it in business. In this episode: As a child growing up in Ibadan, Nigeria, Dara Treseder was often told to get her head out of the clouds. But her mother encouraged her to dream big and to follow her ambition if it would lead her to contentment. For Treseder, that meant moving across the world to attend both Harvard and Stanford, and chasing a deeply-held desire to make a positive impact on the world. Her career in marketing began with stints at Apple and Goldman Sachs, then, in 2020, she became SVP, Head of Global Marketing and Communications at Peloton. Today, she is one of the most influential marketing leaders of her generation. Listen to more Wisdom From The Top via Apple, Spotify, or Google.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

A record 4.3 million workers in America quit their jobs in August.Anthony Klotz coined this ongoing phenomenon "The Great Resignation."Klotz is an organizational psychologist at Texas A&M University.In part, he says, the pandemic has made workers reevaluate what they are actually getting out of their jobs."During the pandemic, because there was a lot of death and illness and lockdowns, we really had the time and the motivation to sit back and say, do I like the trajectory of my life? Am I pursuing a life that brings me well-being?" Klotz said.Employers are also having to rethink what their employees really need.NPR's Audie Cornish spoke with Laszlo Bock, co-founder and CEO of the human resources company Humu, about the basic human need for respect."You know, in the pandemic, people have talked a lot about essential workers, but we actually treat them as essential jobs," said Bock. "We treat the workers as quite replaceable."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 [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Last week the White House announced a plan to help move the port of Los Angeles into 24/7 operating status. But that will only "open the gates" of the clogged global supply chain, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told NPR on the NPR Politics Podcast. Another crucial supply chain link is the trucking industry, which is short tens of thousands of drivers. Bruce Basada, President of the Diesel Driving Academy in Shreveport, Louisiana, explains why. The clogged supply chain is leading to delays and shortage on all kinds of products. NPR coverage in this episode includes excerpts from Scott Horsley's report on a shortage of glass bottles, Petra Mayer's story on the slowdown in book production, and Alina Selyukh's look at shipping delays for children's toys. Special thanks to Scott, Petra, and Alina for editing help on this episode. 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 [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Since 2016, a number of U.S. diplomats and federal employees have reported symptoms of a mysterious illness, the so-called Havana Syndrome.The list of symptoms include hearing loud sounds, nausea fatigue, and dizzying migraines, among others. The cause of this mystery illness is a source of curiosity, but it remains unknown.Last year the State Department commissioned a study by the National Academies of Sciences for researchers to investigate Havana Syndrome.NPR's Sarah McCammon spoke to Dr. David Relman, a Stanford professor who headed the investigation.One possible cause their group came to was a form of microwave radiation that occurs in a pulsed or intermittent form. 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 [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Colin Powell's life was marked by public service, first as a soldier in Vietnam and then eventually as President George W. Bush's secretary of state. By that time he had already held many prominent positions in government, including national security adviser and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He was the first African American to hold each of these roles. But Powell's story will always be entwined with the Iraq War. Although he argued against the invasion in private White House meetings, he did see it through. And he famously defended the strategy on a national stage before the United Nations. NPR National Correspondent Don Gonyea reports on Powell's enormous and complicated legacy. 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 [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

One of the killings that sparked racial justice protests last year is again in the national spotlight, with a trial that begins this week in Brunswick, Ga. Three white men are accused of murdering Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man shot and killed as he was jogging down a residential street. NPR correspondent Debbie Elliott reports on the defendants' expected arguments and the evidence stacked against them in a trial that serves as yet another test case for racial justice. 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 [email protected]. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

After the protests last year, we heard the phrase "racial reckoning" a lot, as some groups of people struggled to catch up with what's just been reality for many others. On this episode of NPR's new Book of the Day podcast, we've got two books that might help you reckon with that reckoning, in two different ways: Traci Todd and illustrator Christian Robinson's bright and powerful picture book biography Nina: A Story of Nina Simone and poet Claudia Rankine's Just Us: An American Conversation, in which she puts together poetry, essays and images to bring readers into an uncomfortable but necessary conversation about race. Listen to NPR's Book of the Day on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or NPR One.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Large parts of the West have been hot and dry for so long that reservoirs are running low and some communities are mandating conservation. California is talking about a statewide mandate, too. Meanwhile, farmers are preparing to flood their fields to replenish aquifers, while ranchers are selling off parts of their herds and worried about feeding the rest. NPR's Dan Charles reports from California and NPR's Kirk Siegler reports from North Dakota. Also in this episode: water rights lawyer Christine Klein, who originally spoke to NPR's daily economics podcast The Indicator from Planet Money, in one of a series of episodes on the drought and the economy. Listen to more of The Indicator via Apple, Spotify, or Google. 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 [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Patricia Maginnis, who was 93 when she died on August 30, may have been the first person to publicly call for abortion to be completely decriminalized in America. Despite her insistence on direct action on abortion-rights at a time when many were uncomfortable even saying the word "abortion," Maginnis is not a bold letter name of the movement. That may be because she didn't seek the limelight and she cared more for action then self-presentation.Guests include Lili Loofborow, who profiled Maginnis for Slate; Professor Leslie J. Regan, who wrote the book When Abortion Was a Crime; and the artist Andrea Bowers whose video piece, Letters to An Army of Three recreated the messages people would send Maginnis when they were desperate to access abortion services. Special thanks to the Schlesinger Library, where the 1975 oral history of Pat Maginnis is housed. 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 [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Hate and division on Facebook are not just a problem in the U.S. That's one of the messages whistleblower Frances Haugen took to Congress last week, where she accused Facebook's algorithms of quote, "literally fanning ethnic violence in Ethiopia," a country that's endured nearly a year of civil war. Freelance reporter Zecharias Zelalem has been keeping track of how inflammatory posts on Facebook have led to attacks in the real world. And NPR's East Africa Correspondent Eyder Peralta describes what Ethiopia looks like from the ground as he moves closer toward the conflict. 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 [email protected]. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

In many parts of the U.S., China remains a huge business opportunity despite recent friction. That's the country where Apple makes its phones and Nike stitches its shoes. Yet inside the Washington Beltway, China is a security threat. Full stop. It's one of the few things Democrats, Republicans and most everyone else in the capital agree on. NPR correspondents Greg Myre and John Ruwitch report on this gap between how China is viewed in Washington policy circles and how many outside the proverbial beltway think about the country. 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 [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

After decades of Indigenous stories told by non-Natives, two shows from this past year signal a change. Reservation Dogs from FX on Hulu was created by and stars Native people. It follows four Indigenous teenagers growing up on a reservation in rural Oklahoma, with dreams of adventuring to California. Vincent Schilling, a Native journalist and critic for Rotten Tomatoes, calls Reservation Dogs 'a show about Native American resilience.' Rutherford Falls is a sitcom on NBC's streaming platform, Peacock, which follows a conflict over a historical statue in a small town. When the show was co-created by Sierra Teller Ornelas, she became the first Native American showrunner of television comedy. Teller Ornelas told Audie Cornish this year: "There are five Native writers on staff. We had a Native director for four of the episodes, and this is really a reflection of our shared experience as Native people from nations all over the country." 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 [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Thirty-five years ago, Janet Jackson released an album that changed the course of her career, and of pop music. Control took over radio, reinvented the playbook for Black artists crossing over into pop and ushered in a whole new sound for R&B. But after the wardrobe malfunction at the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show, Janet's reputation took a hit, and she's yet to receive the flowers she deserves. In this episode of NPR's It's Been A Minute, host Sam Sanders wants to set the record straight. Listen to It's Been A Minute on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or NPR One.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Last month, R&B singer R. Kelly was found guilty of racketeering and sex trafficking. Days later, a judge suspended Jamie Spears as the conservator of his daughter Britney Spears' estate. While these cases are completely unrelated, they do have one crucial thing in common: a massive online following, and an ecosystem of think pieces and documentaries that fuel conversation online.NPR's TV critic Eric Deggans discusses the role documentary series have played in cases like R. Kelly's and Britney Spears. He says it's part of a larger movement that some are calling "consequence culture." 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 [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

One day after a worldwide outage on multiple of its platforms, Facebook was accused by a whistleblower of hiding concerns about its products from the public and its shareholders. Both crises reveal the same thing: just how powerful Facebook is on a global scale. Ayman El Tarabishy of George Washington University explains what Monday's outage meant to small businesses around the world. 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 [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Meth-related overdoses have tripled in recent years. In the west, 70 percent of police departments identify meth as their biggest problem. Now one state — California — is on the brink of implementing a major new treatment program that would pay drug users to stay clean. KQED's April Dembosky reports. The meth surge has hit some Black and Native American communities the hardest. NPR's addiction correspondent Brian Mann has this look at what kind of help people in those communities say 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 [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Children being born now will experience extreme climate events at a rate that is two to seven times higher than people born in 1960, according to a new study in the journal Science. The researchers compared a person born in 1960 with a child who was six years old in 2020. That six-year-old will experience twice as many cyclones and wildfires, three times as many river floods, four times as many crop failures and five times as many droughts. Read more about the study here. These extreme changes not only endanger the environment, they take a toll on our mental health. KNAU reporter Melissa Sevigny spoke with residents in Flagstaff, Arizona who are reeling from a summer rife with fires and floods. And NPR's Michel Martin spoke with two climate activists of different generations — Jasmine Butler and Denis Hayes — about their outlook on the planet's future amid new climate change reports. 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 [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Cases, hospitalizations, and deaths are all on the decline in the U.S. — with September marking a turning point in the delta surge. Vaccination rates continue to tick up and will be helped along by more workplace vaccine rules, including one from the Department of Labor. That rule, which has yet to be released, will be enforced by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. NPR's Andrea Hsu reports on the small agency with a big task. Vaccine rules have been implemented successfully at big companies like United Airlines and Novant Health, where the vast majority of employees have gotten their shots. But in smaller workplaces, vaccine rules present a different challenge. Katia Riddle reports from Malheur County, Oregon. 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 [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

People are likely to be confused by climate change terms like "mitigation" and "carbon neutral," according to a recent study. Yet, these terms are ubiquitous in climate research and reports that are meant to be accessible to a general audience.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Michelle Zauner is best known as the frontwoman of indie rock band Japanese Breakfast and like most musicians, she's trying to tell a personal story through her music. But she's spent the last couple of years composing music that has nothing to do with her — for a video game soundtrack.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Like lawmakers across the country, the Republican majority in Texas is getting ready to redraw the lines that define state and congressional voting districts. Those lines cement the shape of political power in the state for the next decade — and it's perfectly legal for the party in power to draw them to its own advantage. Texas Tribune reporter James Barragán and Michael Li of the Brennan Center discuss redistricting in Texas, and around the country. 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 [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy