Opinion

Rep. Andy Kim, D-N.J., cleans up debris and personal belongings strewn across the floor of the Rotunda in the early morning hours of Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021, after protesters stormed the Capitol in Washington, on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Politics & Government

Opinion: A Blue Suit, Dusted By Insurrection, Goes To The Smithsonian

9:16am July 10, 2021

by Scott Simon

Rep. Andrew Kim, a New Jersey Democrat, has given his blue suit to the Smithsonian. Scott Simon explains its significance as an artifact from the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol Building.

Queue Listen Now

Photo illustration of Mary Louise Kelly and her father Jim Kelly.

A Father, A Daughter And A Georgia July 4th Running Tradition

7:00am July 02, 2021

by Mary Louise Kelly

This weekend, Mary Louise Kelly continues a family tradition — running the Peachtree Road Race. It won't be in person, but it will bring her a chance to run with her father's spirit in her heart.

Opinion: I'm Nigerian. I'm Vaccinated. Europe Won't Let Me In

6:26pm June 30, 2021

by Ifeanyi Nsofor

Europe lists four approved vaccines for travelers. There's an omission that makes Nigerian physician Ifeanyi Nsofor feel invisible — and disappointed.

The Cardboard Kingdom: Roar of the Beast, by Chad Sell

Books
Arts

'Cardboard Kingdom' Is About So Much More Than Just Cardboard

3:13pm June 28, 2021

by Juanita Giles

Chad Sell's new Cardboard Kingdom book is, at least on the cover, about kids who make beasts and monsters out of cardboard — but really, it's about little kids who aren't quite ready to be big.

When NPR's Ina Jaffe was diagnosed with incurable breast cancer, she started to do her homework. And she found that only 7% of breast cancer research funding is devoted to metastatic disease.

Health & Safety

Why I Kept My Cancer A Secret, And Why I Won't Anymore

6:51pm June 22, 2021

by Ina Jaffe

An NPR correspondent living with incurable cancer says 7% is no solution. That's one estimate of how much — or how little — breast cancer research funding goes toward metastatic disease.

President Biden waves as he prepares to depart the airport after meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Geneva, on June 16.

World News

Opinion: We Don't Need A Biden Doctrine Dividing The World Into Good And Bad

6:10pm June 22, 2021

President Biden sees foreign policy as a battle between democracies and autocracies — and that's a flawed doctrine, according to analysts Aaron David Miller and Richard Sokolsky.

The trends of vaccine hesitancy and refusal in the U.S. are a sign of extreme privilege, Dr. Junaid Nabi says.

Opinion: Vaccine Hesitancy In The U.S. Is A Peculiar Privilege

11:46am June 22, 2021

by Junaid Nabi

That's Dr. Junaid Nabi's perspective as an immigrant when he hear Americans say they're going to "watch and wait" — while his family and colleagues abroad are desperate for a COVID-19 vaccine.

Lucio Arreola and his daughters Lucia (from left), Paulina and Maria.

Health & Safety

Opinion: The Song Of A Father's Heartbeat

9:35am June 19, 2021

by Scott Simon

NPR's Scott Simon shares the story of Lucio Arreola, a father of three who's recovering from a heart transplant and whose family recorded a song for him using his own heartbeat.

President Joe Biden is joined by Vice President Kamala Harris and members of Congress at the signing the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law in the East Room of the White House on June 17, 2021.

National

Opinion: Juneteenth As A National Holiday Is Symbolism Without Progress

7:58am June 19, 2021

by Robert A. Brown

There is a growing discontent in the African American community with symbolic gestures that are presented as progress without any accompanying economic or structural change.

Tom Hanks recently wrote an essay in The New York Times urging more widespread teaching of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. The Oscar winner has built a career on movies about American white men doing the right thing.

Arts

Opinion: Tom Hanks Is A Non-Racist. It's Time For Him To Be Anti-Racist

8:27am June 13, 2021

by Eric Deggans

TV critic Eric Deggans says the Oscar-winning actor whose career has been rooted in films based on U.S. history needs to take responsibility for helping dismantle the notion of white exceptionalism.