A year ago at this time, members of the United Auto Workers Union were feeling powerful and optimistic. The group's new President Shawn Fain had called a historic strike. For the first time, the Union walked out on ALL three big automakers. It was a bold move that by most measures worked. It ultimately brought Ford, GM and Stellantis much closer to the union's demands for historic raises and new job protections. The strike's success had people predicting a bigger and more powerful...

Former President Donald Trump was targeted in what "appears to be an attempted assassination" on Sunday afternoon, the FBI says. What do we know about the suspect, his motivations, and what this could mean for the rest of the 2024 election? For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at [email protected]. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

In the new HBO documentary "Stopping the Steal," we hear from Republican officials in Arizona and Georgia who wanted Donald Trump to win the 2020 presidential election but were not willing to break the law for him. For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at [email protected]. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

This time next year, if everything stays on schedule, NASA will send its first crewed mission to the moon, since the end of the Apollo program. Artemis II will be the first flight around the moon in more than 50 years. Its goal will be to test out the Orion capsule and all the other equipment, so that by 2026, Artemis III can put astronauts back ON the moon. The Artemis program is aimed to kickstart a new, more enduring era of space travel that leads to Mars.It's also intentionally more...

Getting older has been a punchline for as long as anyone can remember. And while there are plenty of jokes to be made about aging, it can also have some negative implications for how we see ourselves and others. For writer Anne Lamott, aging has been a challenge, and a gift. "There is grace in not being able to see everything so clearly with all of its faults and annoying tendencies." Lamott has been reflecting on growing older in her latest column for the Washington Post, and shares some...

Vice President Kamala Harris was dominant during Tuesday's presidential debate in Philadelphia. Former President Donald Trump struggled to stay on topic and a times sounded incoherent. With the race to the White House neck and neck will this debate make a difference? For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at [email protected]. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR...

There's an old line: "Tell me what you eat and I'll tell you who you are?" Well if it's true, then Cristeta Comerford knows the last five Presidents better than almost anyone. She just retired after nearly 30 years as White House chef. Comerford cooked for Presidents from Clinton to Biden...making everything from family snacks to state dinners. She is the first woman and the first person of color to hold the serve in that job. She reflects on her groundbreaking role, and what she's learned...

After days of back and forth, both presidential campaigns finally agreed on the rules for Tuesday night's debate. But what are the rules for moderators? Just ask questions? Fact check in real time? A Colorado newscaster went viral for his moderation style. He wishes more journalists would try it. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Ahead of the presidential debate, host Scott Detrow talks to comedians Matt Friend and Allison Reese. They're two of the most prominent political impressionists out there, who are trying to channel the candidates. For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at [email protected]. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

We're in a moment where DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) hiring practices mean many different things to many people. Over the past four years, many of the companies that publicly embraced DEI policies in the wake of George Floyd's murder have been backing away. What are the politics behind the anti-DEI backlash and what happens when workplace diversity initiatives are lost? Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Project 2025 - you've probably heard about it. It's a roadmap from the conservative Heritage Foundation for the next Republican president. It's also been a major talking point for Democrats on the campaign trail. Donald Trump, meanwhile, has tried to disavow it and distance himself. That's because the plan has attracted negative attention over the ultra conservative policies it endorses like overhauling and eliminating some government agencies, firing thousands of civil servants and a mass...

It was a night of mourning on Tuesday, when Doug Emhoff, second gentlemen and the first Jewish spouse to a US president or Vice president, spoke at the Adas Israel Congregation in Washington DC. Emhoff was one of more than a thousand people attending a prayer vigil dedicated to six hostages recently killed by Hamas. Their bodies were recovered over the weekend. The deaths of the six hostages comes as it's been more than 300 days since Hamas took more than 240 people hostage after it...

When Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson entered the national spotlight, she found praise and also criticism. In her new book, Lovely One, Jackson describes how she endured her confirmation hearing, along with her multi-generational path to becoming the first Black woman to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court — a branch which she tells NPR remains ready to offer credible opinions on the most contentious issues facing the nation, even in the face of waning public confidence. For...

For about three weeks in 2000, there were zero measles cases in the United States. It was declared eradicated. Fast forward to 2024, and measles cases are surging, especially in Oregon where the state is facing the worst outbreak since the early 1990s. This is happening as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that the vaccination rate among kindergartners is dropping, and more and more parents are seeking exemptions to school vaccine requirements. People are vaccinating...

Labor Day is considered the beginning of the end of the Presidential election, but as history shows, things can change a lot by election day. Host Scott Detrow speaks with his colleagues Senior Political Editor and Correspondent Domenico Montanaro and White House Correspondent Franco Ordoñez about where things are, and where they could go. For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at [email protected]. Learn...

Raunchy sex comedies had a moment at the end of the 20th century. And perhaps the king of them all, was American Pie. Even people who have never seen the movie probably know the most memorable scene has something to do with a sex-obsessed teenage boy doing something unseemly with a homemade apple pie. Flash forward a quarter century and Hollywood is making fewer teen comedies than it used to. For the 25th anniversary of American Pie, Scott Detrow speaks with one of the film's stars Alyson...

In 1988, Ben Spencer was sentenced to life in prison for a brutal robbery and murder he has always insisted he did not commit. Spencer spent the next 34 years in prison, dashing off letters almost every day to his wife, his friends, lawyers, to anyone who would listen, claiming his innocence. In 2021, he was officially released from prison. But on Thursday, he was officially exonerated. We hear about his life after decades behind bars — and his faith that one day, the truth would...

Earlier this month, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, and the former head of Google, Eric Schmidt, wrote a piece for Foreign Affairs arguing that the future of warfare is here. They say that the U.S. is not ready for it. The two authors argue recent technological developments have changed warfare more in the past several years than the decades spanning from the introduction of the airplane, radio, and mechanization to the battlefield. And while this new tech...

When Tim Walz accepted the Democratic nomination for vice president, his son stole the show. In a viral moment, the cameras panned to 17-year-old Gus Walz, who, with tears in his eyes, stood up, clapped loudly, pointed to the stage and appeared to repeatedly yell out: "That's my dad!" Some cheered the new visibility of neurodivergent people. But what do advocates and parents of neurodiverse children actually want from government officials, like Tim Walz, in terms of policy? For...

It's been more than three weeks since the U.S. and Russia completed the largest prisoner swap since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Speaking from the White House shortly after news broke that three American prisoners were headed home, President Biden described the release as an "incredible relief." Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva was one of those prisoners, and she's sharing what life was like in a Russian prison and how she's adjusting to life at home. For sponsor-free...

Both major party presidential nominees Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are on the same side of one issue. Getting rid of taxes on tips. But what would that really look like in practice? Wailin Wong and Darian Woods from NPR's daily economics podcast, The Indicator, dive into the potential guardrails for a policy that many economists believe could easily go off track. For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at...

What happens when political ambition collides with a #MeToo allegation in the Democratic party? Episode 2 of our two-part investigation. For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at [email protected]. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Did Eric Garcetti, a powerful Democrat, lie under oath about a #MeToo scandal in his office? That's the question at the center of a new investigation from NPR. For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at [email protected]. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

College students are trickling back onto campuses for the fall semester, just months after protests exploded across the U.S. over Israel's war in Gaza. University leaders are bracing for more protests and counter-protests this semester. And on some campuses, new rules have already taken effect. We hear from Vanderbilt University chancellor Daniel Diermeier about the academic year ahead. For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at...