Investigations

The Electronic Registration Information Center, or ERIC, has for years operated as a bipartisan success story in election administration. But since early 2022, the far right has targeted ERIC, fracturing a partnership that had 32 member states at its height. Eight states where Republicans oversee voting have so far pulled out.

Politics & Government

How the far right tore apart one of the best tools to fight voter fraud

8:26am June 04, 2023

by Miles Parks

A right-wing campaign has targeted a once-obscure voting partnership called ERIC. Eight Republican states have now pulled out, giving the election denial movement a big win — and a blueprint for 2024.

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World News

Friendly fire killed an Iraqi interpreter. The U.S. told his family something else

7:42am May 31, 2023

The NPR Taking Cover podcast team tracks down the family of an Iraqi man who was mistakenly killed by Marines.

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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference at the Hilton Anatole on July 11, 2021 in Dallas, Texas.

Republican-led Texas House impeaches state Attorney General Ken Paxton

9:54pm May 27, 2023

by Sergio Martínez-Beltrán | The Texas Newsroom

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has been impeached by fellow Republicans in a historic vote in the Texas House. He will immediately and temporarily be suspended from his duties.

A photo shared by the National Park Service shows a park visitor attempting to help a stranded bison calf reunite with its herd. The plan ultimately ended the animal's chance of survival.

Baby bison euthanized after being handled by a Yellowstone guest, rejected by herd

12:58pm May 24, 2023

by Emily Olson

The newborn got separated from its mother while trying to cross the Lamar River. A man stepped in to try to help, but only ended the animal's chances of survival, the National Park Service says.

A woman holds a sign for Felipe Santos during a remembrance ceremony for missing persons at Cambier Park in Naples on Oct. 25, 2017.

National

Two missing men, one deputy, zero charged. Join us on a pursuit for answers

7:00am May 21, 2023

by Janine Zeitlin

The podcast The Last Ride examines systemic problems in media and policing and illuminates the deep wounds that are left when no one is held accountable.

Deemmeris Debra'e Burns shows the spot on a rural road in Satartia, Miss., where he lost consciousness when a carbon dioxide pipeline ruptured, an experience he thinks is a warning for America.

The U.S. is expanding CO2 pipelines. One poisoned town wants you to know its story

6:01am May 21, 2023

by Julia Simon

Companies are building carbon dioxide pipelines as a possible climate solution. But after a pipeline rupture sent dozens to the hospital in a Mississippi town, there are questions about their safety.

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A federal investigation found former U.S. Agency for Global Media CEO Michael Pack (at right) repeatedly engaged in abuses of power and gross mismanagement. Pack, shown last year at a party with conservative politician and publisher Steve Forbes, sought to stamp out all hints of anti-Trump sentiment at the agency, the Voice of America, and other networks funded by the federal government.

Politics & Government

Federal inquiry details abuses of power by Trump's CEO over Voice of America

6:00am May 21, 2023

by David Folkenflik

Investigators found Trump's appointee at the U.S. Agency for Global Media repeatedly abused his power. "It just takes one's breath away," says David Seide, a lawyer who represented whistleblowers.

A handprint stained on the window at the Navajo Nation Detention in Shiprock, N.M., on April 13, 2021.

National

Inmates continue to die in tribal jails despite promises of reform

11:05am May 19, 2023

by Nate Hegyi

At least four inmates died and 46 others attempted suicide from July 2021 through June 2022, according to a new report. It is the most yearly deaths and attempted suicides recorded since 2016.

A former Virginia Department of Corrections employee donated hundreds of execution documents, including these photographs, to the Library of Virginia more than a decade ago. NPR is now exclusively publishing a selection of the documents.

National

Virginia hid execution files from the public. Here's what they don't want you to see

1:32pm May 11, 2023

by Chiara Eisner

In January, the Virginia Department of Corrections restricted public access to execution records. NPR is now publishing a selection of those secret files.

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Delores Lowery was diagnosed with diabetes in 2016. Her home in Marlboro County, S.C., is at the heart of what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calls the Diabetes Belt.

Many people living in the 'Diabetes Belt' are plagued with medical debt

1:55pm May 09, 2023

More than half of the counties in the nation's so-called Diabetes Belt also have high rates of medical debt among their residents, an NPR analysis found.