Back in 1999 when Donald Trump was flirting with a presidential run, he was pro-abortion rights. In an interview on Meet the Press with NBC's Tim Russert, the New York real estate developer said he didn't like abortion, but he wouldn't ban it.

Fast forward almost two decades, and Trump was running for the republican presidential nomination, and he had a very different stance on abortion, even suggesting in an MSNBC town hall meeting that women should be punished for seeking abortions.

Trump ultimately won the presidency with the support of white Evangelical voters, many of whom wanted to see Roe v. Wade overturned. Six years after he won, the Supreme Court justices Trump appointed helped deliver exactly that.

Now as Trump mounts another run for the White House, abortion rights are on the ballot and winning. And Trump has once again evolved his stance on abortion. Is it a political calculation?

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

Salman Rushdie is probably most closely associated with his 1988 novel The Satanic Verses, a book inspired by the life of the prophet Muhummad. The book was notorious not just for its contents but because of the intense backlash, and the threat it posed to his safety and wellbeing.

While Rushdie saw it as an exploration of Islamic culture, some Muslims saw it as blasphemous. The year after it published, Iran's supreme leader issued a fatwa, ordering Muslims to kill Rushdie.

Rushdie moved to New York in 2000, and was able to resume the public life of a popular author, but that all changed on August 12th, 2022 when a young man charged at Rushdie while he was on stage at an event, stabbing him at least a dozen times.

After two years, he has chronicled his brush with death, and the aftermath in his new memoir 'KNIFE'.

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 1994, the world watched as genocide unfolded in Rwanda. Nearly one million people died as neighbors brutally killed their neighbors. Paul Rusesabagina is credited for keeping more than 1,200 people safe in his hotel through weeks of violence. His life and story inspired the 2004 film Hotel Rwanda.

In 2021, Rusesabagina says he was kidnapped, tried and imprisoned in Rwanda for two years and seven months over his ties to the Rwanda Movement for Democratic Change (MRCD), a group that opposes President Paul Kagame's rule.

After intervention from the U.S. and other countries, Rusesabagina was eventually released from prison. At the time he was released, he says he electronically signed a letter promising not to criticize the government. Ultimately, he decided to disregard that promise.

Many allies of President Kagame would argue that he has been responsible for shepherding an era of what they say is relative peace in the country. His critics say he leads an oppressive government that leaves no space for dissent. We hear from Paul Rusesabagina and his daughter Anaïse Kanimba, who are still speaking out against the Rwandan government.

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

Iran launched a barrage of more than 300 drones and missiles at Israel over the weekend, saying it was in response to an airstrike earlier this month that hit Iran's consulate in Syria and killed seven Iranian military officials, including two generals.

Israel neither confirmed nor denied responsibility for the Syria strike, though the Pentagon said Israel was responsible.

Sima Shine is a former senior Israeli intelligence official. She now runs the Iran desk at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv. She says this attack is "crossing the Rubicon" from the point of view of Iran, and explains what Israel's retaliation could be.

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

On Monday, former President Donald Trump will enter a Manhattan courtroom for his first criminal trial. But before a verdict can be rendered a jury must be selected. And for Trump's legal team that is going to be a challenge.

A small number of attorneys have faced a similar challenge ? how do you select an impartial jury when your client is famous?

Host Scott Detrow speaks with attorney Camille Vasquez for insight into the art of jury selection in such a case. She represented Johnny Depp in his defamation suit against his ex-wife Amber Heard.

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

For months, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been insisting that the goal of Israel's bombardment in Gaza is to "destroy Hamas."

But in the path of that destruction, more than 33,000 Palestinian civilians have been killed. Regular people, entire families, and more than 13,000 children.

Yet, it's not clear if Israel is any closer to its stated goal of destroying Hamas. In fact, is it possible that the horrors of this war could ignite a cycle of radicalization in the region?

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

O.J. Simpson was more than a football star. More than a pop culture icon or a defendant acquitted of murder.

He became a symbol of America's complicated relationship to race, celebrity, and justice. His family announced that he died of cancer Wednesday at age 76.

The murder trial of O.J. Simpson became not only about one man and two victims, but the entire country. Coming up, we assess the legacy of a case, and a verdict, that put race in America on the stand.

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 recent years, the body positivity movement has raised it's profile, especially on social media largely through self-described anti-diet and body positivity influencers.

These influencers and others like them represent a pivot away from the diet and fitness culture embodied by companies like weight watchers, which focuses on losing weight as a path to healthier living.

Today there is a broad "anti-diet" movement that posits that bodies can be healthy at any size. But some are trying to co-opt this movement.

An investigation by The Washington Post and the Examination found that large food companies are recruiting these influencers to promote sugary cereals and processed snacks.

As people who are part of the anti-diet movement saw an opportunity to practice and spread a message of self-love and acceptance, big food companies saw an opportunity to make money.

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

Many of us don't have the opportunity to handpick our neighbors. We buy or rent a place in a neighborhood with good schools or an easy commute.

Some of us become friends with those who live nearby, others of us never talk to our neighbors at all. For most though, we co-exist.

In the midst of a brutal civil war, neighbors killed their neighbors simply because of who they were.

Thirty years ago this month, that wasn't the case in Rwanda.

We visit a Rwandan village where how neighbors live alongside one another is deliberate, and complicated.

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

Researchers are finding that the impact of relationships with siblings ?for better or worse ? can be important, and endure well beyond childhood.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

Tomorrow, the Great American Eclipse will sweep across North America, and millions will experience total darkness.

It's an eerie and mysterious experience even though at this point, we know exactly what's happening: the moon passes in front of the sun, casting a shadow over earth.

But imagine you lived in the ancient world, with no warning that an eclipse was about to happen, as the sun's disk suddenly disappeared and the day fell dark and cool. Unsurprisingly, eclipses were often seen as bad omens.

That was true in Mesopotamia, the region that today includes Iraq, Syria, Kuwait and Turkey. But even then, ancient Mesopotamian astronomers were looking for other explanations.

Watching an eclipse is one of humanity's oldest rituals, and it's been inspiration to scientists since the beginning of time.

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

The American response to Israel's war with Hamas could be a major factor in the upcoming Congressional elections.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

Bird flu has spread to cows. And now a human has contracted the virus from an infected cow. What kind of risk does this virus pose to people, and are we prepared to treat it?

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

The recent transplant of a genetically modified pig kidney into a living human raises hopes that lives will no longer depend on the availability of human donor organs.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

One week after a massive container ship crashed into Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge, causing it to collapse, a massive effort is underway to clear the wreckage. But it's still unclear how long the cleanup will take.

Meanwhile, with much of the Port of Baltimore shut down, the economic impact is being felt locally, regionally and in the broad economy.

Host Mary Louise Kelly gets the latest from NPR's Laurel Wamsley, on the ground in Baltimore, and Camila Domonoske, who covers the auto industry for NPR. Baltimore is a major national hub for the import and export of vehicles.

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

When news outlets shut down in a city, that creates what's often called a news desert. But in Richmond, California, NPR's media correspondent David Folkenflik says the situation is more like a news mirage.

Energy giant Chevron is the biggest employer - and the biggest polluter in the California city. Chevron also owns the local news site. How does that impact the community there?

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly speaks with Folkenflik and Miranda Green, director of investigations for the news site Floodlight - about what happens when a major corporation owns the local news.

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

Hawaii is no stranger to extravagant homes owned by the super-rich. But when a tech billionaire started buying up land in Waimea, a small, rural town on the Big Island, the community got curious - and worried.

Locals fear it will become even more difficult for Native Hawaiians to afford to live in Waimea and buy property. In Hawaii, the average home price is close to a million dollars.

Who's purchasing all this land in rural Hawaii and how will it affect the already high cost of housing in Waimea?

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

Shirley Chisholm made history in 1968 as the first Black woman ever elected to Congress. Four years later, the New York representative made history again when she ran for the Democratic presidential nomination, the first woman and the first African American to do so. A new Netflix movie, called simply "Shirley," tells her story.

Host Ailsa Chang speaks with Regina King, who plays Shirley Chisholm and the film's director John Ridley.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

This week Russian authorities extended the detention of American journalist Evan Gershkovich. Authorities have yet to provide any evidence to backup charges that Gershkovich was spying, and no trial date has been set.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

People who work on ways to end poverty have been trying a simple approach lately: just giving money to those in need, with no strings attached.

Universal basic income, or UBI, once seemed like a radical idea in the US. But now, many places in the country are pushing to make UBI a permanent part of the social safety net.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed early Tuesday morning after a cargo ship rammed into it. As search and rescue efforts continue, federal investigators are trying to understand what led to the collapse.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

Famine is a man-made disaster affecting millions in conflict zones.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

Suicide rates for queer and trans people are disproportionately high. They're also routinely targets of violence and hate crimes.

While some states have protections for queer and trans people, many other states have passed laws that restrict the rights and visibility of transgender individuals.

The stories of Nex Benedict and Dime Doe illustrate both those trends.

Benedict died by suicide the day after a physical altercation in their school bathroom. Benedict had been bullied by other students for more than a year.

Dime Doe, a Black trans woman, was killed in 2019. Last month a man who had been in a relationship with Doe was found guilty of killing her. It's the first time a hate crime against a trans person was brought to trial.

What do these cases tell us about the lives of trans and queer people in America?

If you or someone you know needs help, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.

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 1974, Stephen King published his first book, "Carrie". But 50 years on, critics still debate if his work deserves a place in the literary canon.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

President Biden just awarded $8.5 billion dollars to the company Intel to help fund semiconductor factories in Arizona, Ohio, New Mexico, and Oregon.

At a visit to Intel's campus outside Phoenix this week, Biden said the money will help semiconductor manufacturing make a comeback in the US after 40 years.

The money for Intel comes from the CHIPS and Science Act, which was signed in 2022 to boost domestic semiconductor manufacturing. The administration's goal? For 20% of the world's leading-edge semiconductor chips to be made on American soil by 2030.

The US currently makes zero of the world's leading-edge semiconductor chips. By 2030, the Biden administration wants to make a fifth of them. So how will America get there?

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

Next week representatives of the Israeli government are scheduled to fly from Tel Aviv to Washington, DC. When they arrive, they'll head to the White House, where they'll meet with representatives of the US government.

On the agenda ? the next steps in Israel's war against Hamas. The meeting comes as famine is imminent for roughly 300-thousand Palestinians in Northern Gaza.

At the same time, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seems to be losing US support. Still, Netanyahu insists that Israel won't stop until it has achieved, quote, "total victory." But what does that mean ? and how close is Israel to achieving that?

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

The way we have bought homes for the last 100 years could change as soon as July. Who wins, who loses, and who gets a share of the $418 million class-action settlement?

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

Vladimir Putin has ruled Russia for a quarter century. This weekend's election results confirmed that he will reign for another six years.

Putin's hold on the Kremlin gives him control of the world's largest nuclear arsenal and a military that's been at war in Ukraine for more than two years, ever since he launched an invasion in February 2022.

That war has killed or wounded hundreds of thousands of Russian and Ukrainian soldiers, but despite these losses, the Russian military is pressing forward.

Ukraine faces the stark prospect of a fight in which key US military assistance is in question. So what will six more years of Vladimir Putin mean for the war in Ukraine? And where do both militaries stand at this point in that brutal war?

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

Three solidly blue cities have rolled out crime fighting initiatives that feel more like conservative strategies.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

When Russia's war in Ukraine began over two years ago, neighboring countries feared that they could be next.

And NATO asked itself - was it prepared to defend its territory if war arrived on its doorstep?

The answer was no.

So, its military chief decided it was time to ramp up NATO's strategy and revive its military headquarters.

And for the first time this spring, NATO will exercise brand new war plans to prepare for the worst.

The plan comes as Donald Trump makes another run at the White House, and expresses skepticism about NATO along the way. Can NATO take on Russia if American support for the alliance doesn't hold?

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 week marks four years since the outbreak of Covid-19 was officially declared a pandemic. One of the most vexing legacies ? one that science still hasn't solved ? is long Covid. That's the debilitating condition that can develop in the aftermath of an infection.

Millions of Americans are living with the often debilitating symptoms that can include brain fog, shortness of breath, and low energy. Some struggle with simple daily living tasks like laundry and cooking.

Four years since the pandemic hit, patients with long Covid are still fighting for answers.

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

Here's one sign that shrinkflation is no longer just a topic for economics nerds.

Cookie Monster recently complained on social media that his favorite food was getting smaller. "Me hate shrinkflation!" the fuzzy blue monster declared. "Guess me going to have to eat double da cookies!"

President Biden promised to sign a bill banning it during his State of the Union address.

Shrinkflation isn't new.

It's been happening for years. But people seem to be paying more attention right now amidst high food prices and inflation. And the White House is clearly aware of that.

After years of rising prices, many Americans are fed up with paying more and getting less. Will the pendulum ever swing back?

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

Haiti's Prime Minister, Ariel Henry, has announced his resignation. But the country remains in freefall. Will Haitians finally have a chance to determine their own political future?

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

The holy month of Ramadan begins this week. It is a holy month of worship for Muslims during which they worship, study the Quran, pray and fast from sunrise until sunset.

It is a time of light, but Ramadan feels different this year, especially for Palestinian-Americans, says Eman Abdelhadi. She is a professor at the University of Chicago, whose research focuses on Muslim-Americans.

Abdelhadi says "every moment of joy feels stolen and elicits a sense of guilt." The guilt she describes is connected to the mass death and suffering in Gaza.

What does Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza mean for the holiest of Muslim holidays?

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 moving closer to the dream of landing humans on Mars. But will sustaining human life on Mars even be possible?

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

As John Kerry leaves his role as the first Presidential Envoy for Climate, has he helped shift us away from climate disaster?

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

When Shogun, James Clavell's best selling novel was adapted into a powerhouse NBC miniseries in 1980. The hero of the story was Englishman John Blackthorne.

The people he met when he landed in Japan in search of riches, are viewed and portrayed as primitive.

In the 2024 Shogun adaptation the Japanese characters are fully formed. The series elevates the stories of the Japanese characters as much as it does Blackthorne's.

That was a deliberate decision on the part of Shogun co-creators Rachel Kondo and Justin Marks.

In the 1980 version of Shogun, Japan, its culture and its people were portrayed as foreign and remote. What do we lose when stories are only told from one point of view? And what can be gained when we widen the lens?

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

On August 6, 1945, a stone-faced President Harry Truman appeared on television and told Americans about the atomic bomb being dropped on Hiroshima.

The attack on Hiroshima marked the first time nuclear power was used in war, but the atomic bomb was actually tested a month earlier in the Jornada del Muerto desert of New Mexico.

At least hundreds of New Mexicans were harmed by the test's fallout. Radiation creeped into the grass their cows grazed, on the food they ate, and the water they drank.

A program compensating victims of government-caused nuclear contamination has been in place since 1990, but it never included downwinders in New Mexico, the site of the very first nuclear test.

This week, the Senate voted to broaden the bi-partisan legislation that could compensate people who have suffered health consequences of radiation testing. Now, the bill will go to a House vote.

Generations after the Trinity Nuclear Test, will downwinders in New Mexico finally get compensation?

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

Nikki Haley's announcement that she was suspending her campaign for president didn't come as a surprise. She's trailed front-runner Donald Trump in all but two Republican primary contests so far.

Haley did manage to sway some Republican voters away from Trump. She also managed to recruit independents and Democrats, too. As she ended her campaign on a stage in South Carolina, Haley did not endorse Trump. She said he would have to earn their votes.

Nikki Haley appealed to Republicans who did not want another four years of Trump. Now that she's out of the race, where will her voters 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 more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

This week marks a milestone in the presidential primary process. Fifteen states and one US Territory vote on Super Tuesday. This one day is the biggest delegate haul for candidates during the presidential primary season.

The states voting on Super Tuesday include places with lots of Arab American voters, like Minnesota.

Just last week, more than 13 percent of voters in Michigan's Democratic primary voted uncommitted. Many of those voters are Arab Americans who wanted to send Joe Biden a message about his support for Israel in the war in Gaza.

The 2024 election is likely to be narrowly divided between President Joe Biden and Former President Donald Trump. The way the Biden administration handles conflicts abroad could have the power to shape the electorate here at home.

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

Former President Donald Trump scored a legal victory today. The Supreme Court ruled 9 to 0 that the likely Republican nominee for President should be restored to the ballot in Colorado.

The decision also says individual states cannot bar candidates for federal office under the insurrection clause. So: a legal victory, and also a political victory.

As the clock ticks toward November 5th ? Election day ? it's increasingly looking like the many legal cases focused on former President Trump may tip his way, or remain unresolved.

What impact will this have on Trump's campaign for a second term in the White House?

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

Chances are, this November 5th 2024 is going to feel a lot like November 3rd 2020 ? a bit like Groundhog Day.

After a decisive set of Republican primaries, it's increasingly clear President Joe Biden is likely to face off against a familiar foe: former President Donald Trump.

A race between Donald Trump and Joe Biden isn't only a rematch, but a contest between two men who have already occupied the Oval office and been in the public eye for decades.

This, despite the fact that several polls show Americans did not want a rematch between Donald Trump and Joe Biden. So what is there still to learn about the two candidates, their styles, and the policies they would put in place if they get another four years in the White House?

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

Are we alone in the universe?

It's a question that's been posed again and again. Carl Sagan posed it in the 1970s as a NASA mission scientist as the agency prepared to send its twin Viking landers to Mars.

And nearly 50 years after the first of two landers touched down on Mars, we're no closer to an answer as to whether there's life ? out there.

Scientists haven't stopped looking. In fact, they've expanded their gaze to places like Saturn's largest moon, Titan and Jupiter's moon Europa.

The search for life beyond planet earth continues to captivate. And NASA has upcoming missions to both moons. Could we be closer to answering that question Carl Sagan asked some 50 years ago?

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

Here in the US, the average age of retirement is 61. Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky passed that birthday more than 20 years ago. And on Wednesday afternoon, he announced that while he still isn't ready to retire just yet, he will no longer lead Republicans in the Senate.

McConnell says he still has "enough gas" in the tank to thoroughly disappoint his critics. The soon-to-be former leader intends to serve out the rest of his term which continues through January 2027.

McConnell's Congressional career began back in 1984 when Ronald Reagan was President. The Kentucky republican has long embraced Reagan's conservatism and view of American exceptionalism.

Today's Republican party is one Mitch McConnell played a key role in shaping. Yet as he gets ready to step down from leadership, McConnell seems out of step with the direction the party is heading.

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

Despite a last minute agreement to push a deadline for a shutdown, Congress and the White House have to agree on how to fund the government. So far, all they've been able to do is kick the can down the road.

And conditions for making a political deal are only getting worse. Republicans can only lose two votes. And there's skepticism all around.

Finding a way out largely depends on Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, Republican of Louisiana. But Johnson has a fractious caucus, is relatively inexperienced, and shutdowns have become the political weapon of choice.

If the House leader can't find a path to a deal, the entire country could pay the price.

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

The backlash to the Alabama Supreme Court ruling designating frozen embryos has been intense. Republicans at the state and national level have openly disagreed with the decision. And Democrats have used the ruling to hammer Republicans over reproductive rights.

Last month, Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth introduced a bill to protect IVF. It hasn't gotten a lot of attention - until now.

Duckworth used IVF to build her own family, and has been warning since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade that the decision could lead to reproductive rights being challenged.

Duckworth discusses her legislation and whether she thinks republicans will support it.

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

Popular culture is filled with stories of the underground railroad - the legendary secret network that helped enslaved people escape from southern slave states to free states in the north.

Harriet Tubman is the underground railroad's best known conductor. Tubman, who was a Union spy during the Civil War, escaped slavery in Maryland, but returned again and again, risking her own freedom to help free others, including members of her family.

Inevitably there's much we don't know ...including how the term, the Underground Railroad, came to be.

Journalist Scott Shane, stumbled on the answer while he was writing his book "Flee North: A Forgotten Hero and the Fight for Freedom in Slavery's Borderland."

His book tells the story of Thomas Smallwood, an activist and writer who's story and the key role he played in the abolition movement has mostly been lost to history.

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 last few years, a new trend has emerged on social media: de-influencing.

Instead of selling, de-influencers encourage their followers to stop buying things they don't need. De-influencers are also using this trend as an opportunity to raise awareness about the negative impact of overconsumption on the environment.

From plastic packaging to useless gadgets that end up in landfills, overconsumption doesn't just have a negative effect on our wallets, but also on our planet and climate change.

We look at what role de-influencers can play in helping to address climate change and spreading the message of sustainable living.

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 Kansas City neighborhood organizations do the work of violence prevention one block, and one person at at time.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

Quote ? "The fight is here; I need ammunition, not a ride." That statement, from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to the U-S Embassy, came two days after Russian missiles began raining down on his country two years ago.

After weeks of speculation and warnings Russian President Vladimir Putin had declared war.

Fueled by grit, patriotism and billions of dollars from the US, Ukraine has waged a fight no one expected they could. But nearly two years in that could be changing.

US aid is stuck in Congress. This week, Russian forces captured their first city in 9 months. And that plea Zelensky made for ammunition in February 2022 ? he's still making it.

Ukraine has waged a war against Russia that has exceeded expectations. Can it continue to stand up to Russia if western aid doesn't come through?

We get the view from the battlefield from a Ukrainian writer turned soldier.

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