Consider This from NPR

"What has this pandemic been like for you?"NPR host Sam Sanders and his team at It's Been A Minute put that question to their listeners and heard from people all over the world with ages ranging from 0 to 99. Their stories will stay with you. Listen to more episodes of It's Been A Minute on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Every 10 years after the U.S. Census, lawmakers in most states have the power to redraw congressional and state legislative districts. It's called redistricting. The party in power can do it in a way that benefits them politically — and it's perfectly legal. That's called gerrymandering. Now that the 2020 election season is nearly over, a picture is emerging of how redistricting and gerrymandering will unfold in states across the country. NPR's Ari Shapiro spoke to reporters in three state capitals: Ashley Lopez with member station KUT in Austin, Texas; Dirk VanderHart from Oregon Public Broadcasting in Portland; and Steve Harrison of member station WFAE in Charlotte, N.C.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] manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

President Trump and his allies have spent nearly a month promoting an alternate reality of rigged elections and stolen votes. Now, there's concern in Georgia that some of the president's supporters may sit out a crucial runoff election on January 5, which will determine the balance of power in the Senate, as Lisa Hagen with NPR member station WABE reported. Turnout isn't the only concern for some Republicans in the state. Election officials like Gabriel Sterling have been the target of death threats. Sterling spoke to NPR's Ari Shapiro. Trump's conspiratorial denials of his own defeat have been bolstered by allies from some relatively new media sources — including the right-wing network Newsmax. NPR media correspondent David Folkenflik reported on the network and its efforts to outfox Fox News. 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] manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Dr. Anthony Fauci said this week that it's likely that any healthy American who wants a coronavirus vaccine will be able to walk into a drugstore and get one by April. The challenge will be convincing enough people not to put it off. While the vaccine is months away for most, health care personnel and residents of long-term care facilities will be able to receive the first doses when they become available, a committee from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended this week. NPR's Pien Huang has reported on that decision and others by the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices. NPR's Andrea Hsu reports on the debate over mandatory vaccines in the workplace. 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] manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Lawmakers have been deadlocked for months on another coronavirus relief package. Now millions of Americans who have relied on emergency spending programs during the pandemic are about to see their benefits expire at the end of the year — unless Congress and the White House can agree to a spending deal before the holidays. NPR correspondents Scott Horsley and Chris Arnold explain what could happen weeks from now if American workers, homeowners, renters and student loan borrowers lose key economic lifelines. 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] manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Millions of Americans traveled for Thanksgiving despite pleas not to do so from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Dr. Deborah Birx of the White House Coronavirus Task Force says if you're one of them, assume you're infected, get tested and do not go near your friends or family members without a mask on. Because COVID-19 is a largely invisible threat, our brains struggle to comprehend it as dangerous. Dr. Gaurav Suri, a neuroscientist at San Francisco State University, explains how habits can help make the risks of the virus less abstract. Emergency room doctor Leana Wen discusses why it's tempting to make unsafe tradeoffs in day-to-day activities and how to better "budget" our risks.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] manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Brooklyn rapper Bobby Shmurda blew up in 2014 off of his song "Hot N****" and the instantly viral Shmoney Dance. But just months after his breakout hit, Bobby and about a dozen of his friends were arrested and slapped with conspiracy charges in connection with a murder and several other shootings. In this episode of NPR's new podcast Louder Than A Riot, hosts Rodney Carmichael and Sidney Madden head to Clinton Correctional Facility in upstate New York to meet Bobby for an exclusive in-person interview, tour his neighborhood with his crew, grab a bite at his mom's seafood joint and learn new details of the studio raid that changed Bobby's life.Listen to more episodes of Louder Than A Riot on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Student loans can crush an individual. And when a lot of people have more debt than they can handle, the effects ripple into the larger economy. Judith Scott-Clayton, an associate professor at Columbia University, discusses the economic impact of the $1.6 trillion Americans collectively owe in student debt. President-elect Joe Biden and some members of Congress have proposed different ways to erase some amount of student debt across the board. NPR's Anya Kamenetz explains the likelihood of those proposals actually working out. 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]. To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

What began as a Thanksgiving tradition five years ago for NPR host Ari Shapiro is now a recurring segment on All Things Considered. Play It Forward is a musical chain of gratitude.Shapiro starts the chain with an artist he's thankful for, and then that musician chooses someone they're thankful for, and it continues onward with each artist choosing the next link in the chain. This episode features interviews with John Mayer, Leikeli47, Indigo Girls and Kae Tempest. Listen to all the Play It Forward interviews 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]. To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Thanksgiving is going to look different for many Americans this year. As the coronavirus pandemic rages, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is warning against traveling to see friends or family, or even gathering with people who do not live with you.But that isn't a reason to forego a delicious, sit-down meal.Three chefs share their scaled-down Thanksgiving recipes. These dishes — Anita Lo's turkey roulade, Aarón Sánchez's brussels sprouts with roasted jalapeño vinaigrette and Sohla El-Waylly's apple (hand) pies — are meant to serve up to four people.Find all three recipes 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]. To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

After an unusually dramatic meeting of the Michigan Board of State Canvassers, the state voted to certify its election results, slamming the door on yet another effort by President Trump to overturn the results of the election. Hours later, Emily Murphy of the General Services Administration officially authorized the use of federal transition funds by President-elect Biden. But while the Biden transition picks up speed, Trump is using his remaining time in office to push through last-minute policy changes and staffing appointments that may complicate things once the President-elect takes office. NPR has a team of reporters following that story: health policy reporter Selena Simmons-Duffin, chief economics correspondent Scott Horsley, and Pentagon reporter Tom Bowman. NPR political correspondent Asma Khalid reported on what role President-elect Biden may play in negotiations over a coronavirus relief package. 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]. To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Democrats went into the election expecting to gain seats in the House. Instead, they lost at least eight of them. Virginia Rep. Abigail Spanberger speculated about why in a Nov. 5 conference call, audio of which was obtained by The Washington Post. NPR's Juana Summers reports that the young, activist coalition that voted for Joe Biden plans to pressure his administration to deliver on bold, progressive policies. Outgoing Democratic Sen. Doug Jones tells NPR that bold action in Washington won't be possible without appealing to a broad swath of voters. 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]. To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and President-elect Joe Biden have a long working relationship. And if republicans retain a majority in the senate, McConnell could be a thorn in the side of the Biden administration's agenda. In this episode of NPR's Embedded, host Kelly McEvers talks to Janet Hook and Jackie Calmes, both currently at the Los Angeles Times, about the relationship between these men who will shape the country for the months and years to come.|Listen to more episodes of Embedded on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Election experts say there is no realistic legal path for President Trump to overturn the results of the 2020 election. But his determination to proceed anyway is doing real damage to the idea of American democracy. A growing number of current and former government officials are speaking out against his efforts. Sue Gordon, former deputy director of national intelligence, tells NPR if this were happening in another country, "we would say democracy was teetering on the edge."And Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, tells NPR he was pressured by Trump ally Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., to reject certain absentee ballots. 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]. To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Distribution of the first doses of a coronavirus vaccine could be mere months away. But how that distribution will work remains a massive logistical puzzle that is still coming together piece by piece. NPR's Selena Simmons-Duffin reports on how drug companies and the federal government are planning to ship and store vaccines that must remain frozen, some at temperatures that require special freezers. NPR's Dina Temple-Raston outlines the federal government's $590 million plan to avoid shortages of crucial vials and syringes. 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]. To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

During President Trump's first year in office, 42,000 Americans died of drug overdoses linked to heroin, fentanyl and prescription opioids. After a minor decrease in 2018, deaths rose to a record 50,042 in 2019. That number will likely be even worse for 2020. NPR's Brian Mann reports on the surge of synthetic fentanyl, especially in the western U.S. And NPR's Emily Feng unveils a web of Chinese sellers exporting individual chemical components to produce fentanyl. 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]. To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Data from two leading COVID-19 vaccine trials indicate they may be between 90 and 95% effective. Dr. Moncef Slaoui, the chief scientist in charge of the U.S. government's vaccine development program, Operation Warp Speed, tells NPR he's optimistic there is "a light at the end of the tunnel."Dr. Anthony Fauci told NPR the results are worth celebrating — but that they should not be seen as a signal to pull back on public health measures. He also said the first vaccine doses may be available next month. But it will still be months longer before any vaccine is widely available. Two former government health officials — Scott Gottlieb and Andy Slavitt — tell NPR that in the meantime, the pandemic is could kill 200,000 more Americans. 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]. To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Former President Barack Obama talks with NPR's Michel Martin about his time in office, President Trump's pandemic response, the 2020 election and what he thinks President-elect Joe Biden says about the United States right now. In Obama's new memoir, A Promised Land, he writes about his first term in the White House. Read NPR's full interview with Obama 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]. To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

The U.S. is entering the worst of the pandemic. For many, pandemic fatigue set in months ago. Others are struggling anew with cases spiking dramatically almost everywhere in the country. Psychotherapist Gina Moffa and NPR's Linda Holmes answer listener questions about mental health, processing the news, and keeping ourselves occupied.Linda hosts NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour. Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. 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] manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

President Trump's refusal to engage in any meaningful national security transition is dangerous, say two former national security officials. Kori Schake with the American Enterprise Institute served on George W. Bush's National Security Council and in senior posts at the Pentagon and the State Department. Harvard's Nicholas Burns served at the State Department and on the National Security Council in every administration from Jimmy Carter to George W. Bush.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] manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

The governors of North Dakota, Ohio and Utah all delivered the same message this week: hospital resources normally used for patients with heart attacks, strokes or emergency trauma will soon be overrun by patients with COVID-19. KCUR's Alex Smith reports on rural hospitals that are already at capacity, forcing them to transfer patients to city hospitals. Lydia Mobley, a traveling nurse working in central Michigan, says she sees multiple patients every shift who say they regret not taking the coronavirus more seriously. 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] manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

We know President Trump lost the election. What we don't know is what will happen between now and Inauguration Day if he refuses to accept the results. In the short term, the Biden transition team cannot access certain government funds, use office space or receive classified intelligence briefings without official recognition of Biden's victory from a government agency called the General Services Administration. NPR's Brian Naylor has reported on the delay. At the Department of Justice, the top prosecutor in charge of election crimes, Richard Pilger, resigned from his position this week. A former DOJ colleague of Pilger's, Justin Levitt, tells NPR that the department is enabling the president's baseless claims of widespread election fraud. And Washington Post columnist David Ignatius explains what might be happening at the Department of Defense, where Trump's election denialism has coincided with a number of high-level firings and a debate over the release of classified information.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] manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

President Trump may be on his way out, but Republicans will have to rely on his voters to hold power in the Senate. If Democrats win two runoff elections in Georgia on January 5, they will win a narrow Senate majority.Stephen Fowler of Georgia Public Broadcasting explains how Republicans in Georgia are attacking the state's election process.LaTosha Brown, co-founder of the Black Voters Matter Fund, explains how Democrats in Georgia turned out voters in the presidential race. 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] manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

In 2008, then President-elect Obama and President Bush set up a join task force to help the incoming administration deal with the financial crisis they were about to inherit. Brown University's Ashish Jha tells NPR a similar effort is needed now to deal with the coronavirus. But so far, there's no sign of any cooperation from the Trump administration.President-elect Biden has established his own task force of scientists and physicians to work on his administration's response to the pandemic. Task force member Dr. Nicole Lurie tells NPR one goal of their effort will be to convince Americans the virus is the enemy — not each other. The Biden administration will also inherit Operation Warp Speed, the government's vaccine development program. Gus Perna is the Army general in charge. He explains how vaccine distribution might work. The pandemic won't be the only public health challenge facing the Biden administration if millions of people lose their health care coverage. That's what could happen if the Supreme Court strikes down the Affordable Care Act, explains Erin Fuse Brown with Georgia State University's College of Law. 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] manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Early on election night, when it seemed clear that Joe Biden was underperforming with a specific group of Latino voters in the Miami-Dade County, a narrative began to take hold: the Democratic Party had failed to energize the Latino vote. But as more results came in from across Florida, they told a different story. Biden would have lost the state even if he had performed better in Miami-Dade, because of President Trump's popularity with white voters. NPR's Leila Fadel reports on Democratic head-scratching about the Latino vote, and Gene Demby of NPR's Code Switch podcast talks about the enduring power of the white vote in the American electorate. Listen to more election coverage from NPR: Up First on Apple Podcasts or Spotify The NPR Politics Podcast on Apple Podcasts or SpotifyIn 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] manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Early data suggests 160 million people voted this year — which would be the highest turnout rate since 1900. With an unprecedented number of those votes cast by mail, knowing the results of the presidential election on Tuesday was never a guarantee. We know a little more about the results of congressional elections — and they are not great for Democrats. NPR congressional correspondent Susan Davis explains.One thing we do know is that voters in 32 states decided on dozens of ballot measures, from legalizing marijuana to raising the minimum wage. Josh Altic with the website Ballotpedia has been tracking those measures.Listen to more election coverage from NPR: Up First on Apple Podcasts or Spotify The NPR Politics Podcast on Apple Podcasts or SpotifyIn 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] manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

The electoral college is a system unlike any other in American democracy. Why does it exist? Ramtin Arablouei and Rund Abdelfatah explored that question on a recent episode of NPR's history podcast, Throughline. Find them on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.NPR senior political editor and correspondent Ron Elving explains why more Republicans now support the electoral college — and whether that's likely to change. 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] manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

NPR political correspondents Tamara Keith and Asma Khalid reflect on an election season shaped by unprecedented events: a global pandemic, President Trump's COVID-19 diagnosis, and the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg — none of which seemed to dramatically change the shape of the race. 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] manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Today, a bonus episode from NPR's Code Switch. For the first time in election history, Latinos are projected to be the second-largest voting demographic in the country. The reason? Gen Z Latinx voters, many of whom are casting a ballot for the first time in 2020. So we asked a bunch of them: Who do you plan to vote for? What issues do you care about? And what do you want the rest of the country to know about you? To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

There is no reason to expect we will know the result of the Presidential election on Tuesday night. Wendy Weiser of the Brennan Center and David Scott, deputy managing editor with the Associated Press, explain why. Part of the reason: a few key states will have millions of mail-in ballots to count after in-person voting has concluded. The Supreme Court ruled this week to allow that counting to proceed in two key states, Pennsylvania and North Carolina. Election lawyer Ben Ginsberg has been following those cases. NPR's Joel Rose reports watchdog groups who normally monitor elections abroad for violence and unrest are turning their sights toward the U.S. 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] manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Four years after Donald Trump won, he turned out to be a better president than many of his supporters hoped — and worse one than many of his opponents feared. That's what NPR's Ari Shapiro found as he re-connected with voters who first spoke to NPR in early 2017, just before Trump was inaugurated. 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] manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

More than 74 million people have already voted. Michael McDonald of the Florida Elections Project tells NPR that could indicate the U.S. is headed for record turnout in a modern election. Maya King of POLITICO has been following the early vote in Georgia, where black voters came close to electing the nation's first black female governor in 2018. NPR's Miles Parks and Pam Fessler explain why it may be too late to vote by mail — and how legal challenges are still complicating the rules around early voting in some states. Additional reporting this episode from NPR's Greg Allen and Barbara Sprunt; Stephen Fowler with Georgia Public Broadcasting and Jen Rice with Houston Public Media.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] manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

The U.S. looks poised to exceed its summer peak, when the country averaged as many as 65,000 cases a day for a 10-day stretch in late July. The seven-day average of cases is now more than 69,000, according to the COVID Tracking Project. The situation is similar in Europe, which just logged more new cases than any week so far.Cases are rising in North Dakota faster than any other state. Fargo Mayor Tim Mahoney recently imposed a mask mandate there. NPR's Will Stone reports on the growing outbreak in the Midwest, where some hospitals may not be able to handle an influx of COVID-19 patients. 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] manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

On Friday, the U.S. hit its highest number of daily coronavirus cases since the pandemic began. Holiday travel could lead to even more drastic and deadly spikes. As cases surge throughout the country, many people are wondering how to plan for the holidays. Is it safe for kids to see their grandparents? Should people be gathering as usual for big Thanksgiving dinners? How should people travel — to drive or to fly? You sent us your questions — and we put them to NPR's Allison Aubrey and David Schaper, who reported out some answers ahead of a usually busy season for gathering and travel.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] manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Every year, millions of American renters and homebuyers make decisions about where to live. They have a lot of information to help them make a decision — about everything from schools to public transit to lead paint. But what many never learn, until it's too late, is that their homes are in areas that are increasingly prone to flooding or wildfires. This episode contains elements from a special reporting project by NPR's Rebecca Hersher and Lauren Sommer. You can read an overview of their reporting here. They also have advice for questions to ask about your property when it comes to wildfire and flood risk in a changing climate. 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.Listen to Embedded on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.Email us at [email protected] manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Polls show that Joe Biden has strong support among white voters with a college degree, especially white women, young voters, and those who live in cities and suburbs.That support adds up to record support with white voters for a Democratic presidential candidate. Nearly half of white voters, overall, support Joe Biden. NPR's Sam Gringlas spoke with a few of them in battleground states. And NPR's Domenico Montanaro explains why this shift fits a longer pattern of the Republican party losing college-educated whites. 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] manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, told NPR this week that he's "guardedly optimistic" about the prospects of a coronavirus vaccine being approved by the end of the year.In the meantime, scientists are still learning new things about the coronavirus. NPR's Geoff Brumfiel reports on improvements in medical treatment for COVID-19 patients, and NPR's Michaeleen Doucleff explains new research on air travel. 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] manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

With two weeks until election day and more than 35 million votes already cast, NPR's Miles Parks and Pam Fessler answer your questions about voting, ballots and election security. For more information on voting this year, NPR's Life Kit has a guide to help you out. Read at npr.org or listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.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] manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy