Shows
TWO REPORTERSCan you guess which country has the worst death rate of almost any wealthy nation? Hint: America.So much for the "greatest country on earth." Recent studies show that if Americans died at the same rate as people do in average European countries, which Trump derides, at least half a million Americans who die each year would likely have lived. And the biggest difference is among people younger than 65. Our guests - epidemiologist Jacob Bor at Boston University and Katherine Newman, executive vice president of the University of California - say that the U.S. is way behind not just because it has a worse health care system: The nation already has far worse housing...
2026-02-0747 minTWO REPORTERSThink you could never confess to a murder you didn't commit? Think againAmerica's prisons house a "staggering number" of convicts who didn't commit the crime but said under duress that they did - so says our guest, lawyer Alan Hirsch, who testifies in trials across the country as one of the leading expert witnesses on false confessions. He took the stand not long ago in the chilling case of teenager Brooke Skylar Richardson, who was pressured by police to say that she'd murdered her baby, who was actually stillborn, and then burned the body; the jury acquitted her after forensic studies showed that the baby had never been burned at...
2026-01-1750 minTWO REPORTERSTrump lies about his accomplishments - and these famous Polar explorers did, too / From the archiveWhen you learned in school about the fabled drama of Robert E. Peary and Frederick Cook - how they raced each other to be the first explorer to reach the North Pole - did your teachers explain that this was an early example where public figures lied to gain glory? oth The New York Times and New York Herald enabled them, by spreading the explorers' fake news - although critics still debate whether the publishers knew the stories were fake or didn't bother to corroborate the explorers' stories. Journalist Darrell Hartman tells us life and death tales from his...
2026-01-0349 minTWO REPORTERSListen to what this amazing teacher and his students pulled off!An English teacher at Middletown High School in New York State gave students video cameras back in the 1990s, and told them to tell compelling stories. Result: They uncovered illegal dumping of toxic wastes tied to the mob, and then made films about it - which shook the community and triggered government investigations. A documentary about their real-life drama, Teenage Wasteland, is making the rounds of film festivals and generating rave reviews. The teacher who guided the project, Fred Isseks, joins us with two of his former student investigators, Rachel Raimist and Jeff Dutemple. And they say the...
2025-12-1344 minTWO REPORTERSFeeling depressed about politicians? Hearing this one will boost your spirits / From the archiveShekar Krishnan just got re-elected to the New York City Council, with more than twice as many votes as his opponent - which is good news for Zohran Mamdani, the newly-elected mayor, because he'll need progressive allies like Shekar to back his agenda. As you'll hear in our chat with Shekar from two years ago, he's the rare kind of politician who shows how politics and government can actually make people's lives better. He fights for immigrant taxi drivers and minorities who need good low-income housing, and for the LGBTQ community; he got arrested side-by-side with Mamdani at...
2025-11-1544 minTWO REPORTERSA prominent judge’s braided - and surprising - life of blindness and the law, Part 2 / From the archiveNow that Judge David S. Tatel has retired from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, he feels freer to warn us all: the Supreme Court is threatening America's democracy by inventing spurious legal doctrines and grabbing more power for itself. There are also lighter moments in this revealing interview, as David pulls the curtain aside and tells us how the judges on this powerful court really do their work. Spoiler alert #1: It used to involve a red children's sand pail. Spoiler alert #2: Because David is blind, he used to hire "readers" who rattled...
2025-10-2549 minTWO REPORTERSA prominent judge’s braided - and surprising - life of blindness and the law, Part 1 / From the archiveIn this moving episode, David Tatel, who retired last year from the U.S. Court of Appeals, describes with his wife Edie how he gradually went blind - and struggled to hide it from friends and colleagues alike. David tells about tricks he would use, like counting rows and seats in a movie theater and following the clicks of high heels down sidewalks; Edie shares, among other things, why David's denial caused tension at home. David became an accomplished lawyer who fought landmark civil rights cases - and an inspirational father. You can read their full story in D...
2025-10-041h 02TWO REPORTERSWant to guess how many laws Trump is violating with all his corruption?Answer: probably zero. As astonishing as it might seem among all the other astonishing outrages in today’s America, it turns out that there is no legal way to stop Trump’s unprecedented financial profiteering from his presidency, even when it damages the nation's interests. Only society’s norms — stronger than the laws — could have prevented it in earlier times when Americans had higher values. Walter Shaub, former head of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, details Trump’s corruption in a gripping, distressing conversation. And he has urgent advice for government employees who do, despite Trump, want to act...
2025-09-1356 minTWO REPORTERSTrump is acting more and more like Hitler did during his early rule / From the archiveWe're repeating this episode so soon because we can't hear these warnings enough. Hitler and the Nazis assaulted universities, museums and art institutions; purged them of people that Hitler perceived as enemies; and rewrote textbooks and museum exhibits to tell Hitler's fake version of history. Sound familiar? Historian Joan Clinefelter, who retired recently from the University of Northern Colorado, says there are differences between Hitler in his early days and Trump. "But I think they have the same ultimate goal," Clinefelter tells us, "which is ideological purity, sort of a cultural cleansing of history [and] of culture - s...
2025-09-0659 minTWO REPORTERSWhy do we keep declaring how precious children are, but then short-changing them when there's a crisis?It sounds almost ridiculous to say this, but when people talk about wars or floods or wildfires or drought, they often neglect the fact that roughly half of the victims are children. Yet, the officials who dispense aid usually treat the kids as statistics and ignore their special needs. For instance, consider that children's brains are still developing - so if they're malnourished or sick or stressed, even temporarily, it can damage them for the rest of their lives. Sweta Shah is trying through her work with the Brookings Institution and her NGO, ChildArise, to help children in...
2025-08-1640 minTWO REPORTERSThere's still beauty and wonder in the world - like humpback whales / From the archiveScientists have been trying for decades to understand these magnificent creatures, which can grow longer than a typical house. Michelle Fournet and her colleagues at the University of New Hampshire have been breaking new ground: They record the whales' daily communications in Alaska, and then send whale recordings back to the giant animals to see if and how they respond. Some of Michelle's latest findings suggest that they can identify individual whales by their sounds. Michelle tells us the moving story of how she morphed from broke actor to internationally-respected whale researcher, and how she hopes research on...
2025-07-2653 minTWO REPORTERSWant to know why Iranians don't trust the United States - and its allies? / From the archiveAs US, Israeli and Iranian leaders trade bombs and threats, this episode will help remind you one reason why Iran's government learned to detest the US long ago: The US and Britain secretly ran the plot to topple its leader in the 1950s. Why? For Iran's oil. Filmmakers Taghi Amirani and Walter Murch discuss their riveting documentary, Coup 53 - which shows step by step how the CIA and MI6 carried it out. Nations are like people: once they've been traumatized, it's hard to forget.
2025-07-0542 minTWO REPORTERSWhat emergency powers could Trump declare next? / From the archiveAs we post this episode, Trump has sent Marines and Army National Guard troops to the streets, to try to quash protests by fellow citizens - the vast majority of them peaceful. Our guest Elizabeth Gotein, of the nonpartisan Brennan Center for Justice, has warned us before that any U.S. president could wield dozens of sweeping emergency powers to dismantle democracy, some so secret that members of Congress don't even know about them. We repeated Liz's episode last year and we're repeating it again: The crisis created by Trump and his allies is that serious.
2025-06-1431 minTWO REPORTERSAre there really similarities between Hitler and Trump?Hitler and the Nazis assaulted universities, museums and art institutions; purged them of people that Hitler perceived as enemies; and rewrote textbooks and museum exhibits to tell Hitler's (fake) version of history. Sound familiar? Historian Joan Clinefelter, who just retired from the University of Northern Colorado, says that there are major differences between Hitler in his early days and Trump. "But I think they have the same ultimate goal," Clinefelter tells us, "which is ideological purity, sort of a cultural cleansing of history [and] of culture - so that it only gives the message that they believe is a...
2025-05-2459 minTWO REPORTERSYou think "debtors' prisons" shut down in the 1800s? Think again.The US government outlawed debtors' prisons in the 1830s, the Supreme Court has ruled they're unconstitutional, and you'll find sentences like this on the internet: "Today it is illegal to put someone in prison because of a debt." So how is it that courts across the country lock up thousands of low-income people each year, according to estimates, because they haven't paid up their traffic tickets, garbage collection bills and other minor violations? Lisa Foster, a former judge and co-founder of the Fines and Fees Justice Center, says many courts have become "a place of oppression" because they "...
2025-05-0348 minTWO REPORTERSIsn't this the perfect time to lose yourself in a captivating novel?I think it is (Danny's writing this) - especially when the author is my co-host, David K. Shipler. Dave's new novel, The Interpreter, takes us into the rice paddies and twisting alleys of Vietnam, right after US troops fled the war there in 1973. But Dave explores provocative issues that would resonate in Iraq or Afghanistan or any other country where interpreters play a crucial role for Americans. David Ignatius, the acclaimed associate editor and columnist of the The Washington Post, reviews it like this: "Shipler captures the awful truth that every correspondent knows - t...
2025-04-1248 minTWO REPORTERSIf schools changed what they teach, could that help prevent wars?Two Israeli educators argue, with evidence to back them up, that Israel's schools have indoctrinated people over the decades to detest and mistrust Palestinians - and to be primed to fight them (Palestinian schools have done a similar job poisoning their own students against Israelis). Daniel Bar-Tal and Nimrod Tal are convinced that revamping the curriculum could help change Israelis' mindsets, and make them more open to working toward peace. Wait until you hear how Nimrod taught teachers-in-training last year about distressing, little-known aspects of Israel's history - and how that opened their hearts (at least a bit) t...
2025-03-2256 minTWO REPORTERSCould a deep fake turn your own life upside down?AI recreations of real people, which clone their faces, distinctive voices and all, have become so convincing that even top computer specialists are finding it hard to tell the difference between fakery and reality. Creative "deep fakes" aren't all bad - they can bring dead artists and historical figures alive, to energize museums and schools - but most uses so far have been evil: Think fake pornographic videos of your sister or daughter, or scams that bilk people out of millions of dollars. Our guest, law professor Danielle Citron at the University of Virginia, has been advising companies...
2025-02-2250 minTWO REPORTERSHere's another break from depressing events: Can you start a sentence with "And" or "But"?? / From the archiveDazzle friends with the grammar smarts you'll get from our second chat with Bryan Garner, one of America's language gurus. Finally, you're about to learn if you can - or cannot - end a sentence with a preposition; if you can use "like" instead of "as"; and if you can banish "whom" and "whomever" from your brain. Just wait until you hear Bryan's rant about lawyers' terrible writing. Speaking of which, can you guess which common five-letter word (which lawyers love) causes endless legal battles?
2025-01-3135 minTWO REPORTERSWant a respite from distressing news? OK, grammar is a serious topic, but ...... we've never had so much fun debating it! Bryan Garner, one of America's grammar gurus, tells us where we're going wrong grammatically - and what we're getting right. You're sure to find (you'll surely find?) answers to some of your own burning questions, like (or is it "such as"?): should you feel bad about using adverbs? Or should you feel badly? How will this episode impact your own language? (Actually, is "impact" even a verb?) After hearing our conversation with Bryan, you might not write or s...
2025-01-1132 minTWO REPORTERSWhat emergency powers could Trump declare next? / From the archiveAs we post this episode, Trump has sent Marines and Army National Guard troops to the streets to try to quash protests by fellow citizens - the vast majority of them peaceful. Our guest Elizabeth Goitein, of the nonpartisan Brennan Center for Justice, has warned us before that any U.S. president could wield dozens of sweeping emergency powers to dismantle democracy, some so secret that members of Congress don't even know about them. We repeated Liz's episode last year and we're repeating it again: The crisis created by Trump and his allies is that serious.
2024-12-2131 minTWO REPORTERSIt's easy to use media to foster hate. Hear how an innovative group uses media to DEFUSE ethnic tensionsIn this uplifting chat, John Marks joins us again to tell how Search for Common Ground created radio and TV programs from Africa to Asia - designed to help bring former enemies together. His case studies from Burundi, Kenya and the Democratic Republic of the Congo show how Search’s broadcasts helped soothe conflicts between warring groups, and reduced the scourge of rape by rampaging soldiers. The programs obviously are no panacea, but as John says, they are “keeping hope alive.”
2024-11-3031 minTWO REPORTERSWill Trump follow the playbook of autocrats who destroyed the democracies that brought them to power? / FROM THE ARCHIVETrump has already shown that when he moves back to the White House, he's likely to use the strategies of dictators he admires, such as Viktor Orbán of Hungary: pack courts and agencies with ideological cronies, intimidate and harass the press, and continue to denigrate opponents as “evil,” “low IQ,” "vermin" and “enemies from within.” Harvard professor Steven Levitsky, co-author of How Democracies Die and Tyranny of the Minority, tells us why it could take years to rescue America’s democracy. Even if you heard this episode when we first posted it...
2024-11-0942 minTWO REPORTERSCan you get enemies to see what they share in common, and prevent war?John Marks says yes - and he and the organization he founded, Search for Common Ground, have made it happen. He tells us surprising stories about how they get people to listen to each other, across hard lines of hatred and suspicion: Russian and American intelligence officers, Iranians and Americans, Israelis and Arabs, Hutus and Tutsis in Africa - and more. John's memoir, From Vision to Action: Remaking the World Through Social Entrepreneurship, is like a how-to guide - filled with candid accounts of his successes and failures.
2024-10-1950 minTWO REPORTERSWant to know what whales are saying with their magical sounds?Scientist Michelle Fournet and her colleagues from the University of New Hampshire hang out with humpback whales in Alaska, recording their daily communications - and then sending whale recordings back to the giant animals to see if and how they respond. Some of her latest findings could break new ground: she can identify individual whales by their sounds. Michelle tells us the moving story of how she morphed from broke actor to internationally-respected whale researcher - and how she hopes research on humpbacks' "language" can help humans protect them.
2024-09-2853 minTWO REPORTERSWe're sad and angry that it makes sense to repost this episode - on mass shootings / FROM THE ARCHIVEFour more have been murdered by a teen with an assault-style rifle - many more were injured - at Apalachee High School in Winder, GA. Still, this episode gives us a glimmer of hope: specialists in “behavioral threat assessment” have been quietly trying to spot potential killers for decades, in places from schools and companies to government agencies - and the latest carnage could probably have been avoided if authorities had followed their manual. Our guests, practitioners Monique Boudreaux and Matt Talbot, say everybody in America needs to help them instead of looking the other way.
2024-09-0738 minTWO REPORTERSAre you sure you get how the Supreme Court ban on affirmative action could change America?Lee Bollinger, who was president of Columbia University and the University of Michigan, predicts that the number of black students at many colleges will plummet to low levels they haven't seen since the 60s and 70s. He says Chief Justice John Roberts and the other Republican extremists on the Court misinterpret the Constitution. And as for the belief that under affirmative action, college officials generally admitted blacks who weren't qualified? Lee says: Not true.
2024-08-1751 minTWO REPORTERSWhen Trump praises Hungary's Viktor Orbán, do you realize exactly how Orbán has gutted its democracy? / FROM THE ARCHIVETrump, the Republican party and Project 2025 are echoing Orbán's autocratic playbook - along with strategies of other leaders who got elected democratically and then turned their nations into autocracies. Key steps: pack courts and agencies with their cronies, slander and intimidate the media, and denigrate their opponents as "evil" and "vermin." Harvard professor Steven Levitsky, co-author of How Democracies Die and Tyranny of the Minority, tells us why it could take years to rescue America's democracy - even if Trump loses the upcoming election.
2024-07-2742 minTWO REPORTERSCan you teach kids today to tackle social issues - and make it fun? (Hint: Think protest songs from the 60s.)Sesame Street changed TV by using music to help kids learn how to spell and how to share. Singer-songwriter Anya Rose and the group Ants on a Log write social action songs to help children in primary school learn edgier lessons, about problems from environmental pollution to racist and sexist behavior - inspired in part by 60s satirist Tom Lehrer. After hearing these tunes, the 9-year-olds in your family might feel inspired to research a problem in your own neighborhood - and then write your members of Congress about it!
2024-07-0628 minTWO REPORTERSA prominent judge’s braided - and surprising - life of blindness and the law / Part 2Now that Judge David S. Tatel has retired from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, he feels freer to warn us all: the Supreme Court is threatening America's democracy by inventing spurious legal doctrines and grabbing more power for itself. There are also lighter moments in this revealing interview, as David pulls the curtain aside and tells us how the judges on this powerful court really do their work. Spoiler alert #1: It used to involve a red children's sand pail. Spoiler alert #2: Because David is blind, he used to hire "readers" who rattled...
2024-06-1549 minTWO REPORTERSA prominent judge’s braided - and surprising - life of blindness and the law / Part 1David Tatel - who retired recently from the U.S. Court of Appeals - has led what he calls a "braided life" that intertwines hardship and accomplishment. With his wife, Edie, he describes how he struggled to hide his gradual loss of sight from friends and colleagues alike - including tricks like counting rows and seats in a movie theater and following the clicks of high heels. Meanwhile, David became an accomplished lawyer who fought landmark civil rights cases. You can read their full story in David's new book, Vision: A Memoir of Blindness and Justice
2024-06-011h 02TWO REPORTERSHow a sniper almost killed our guest (plus other chilling tales of a foreign correspondent) Part 2 / FROM THE ARCHIVELewis Simon's Pulitzer Prize-winning reporting, in collaboration with colleagues, helped spark an international scandal and topple a corrupt dictator in the Philippines; he tells us in this episode how they did it. Lew also gives us remarkable insight into how he could do his work - taking notes as people got beaten to death and blown up in front of him, in countries like Cambodia and Bangladesh - and survive emotionally. And finally, a roving correspondent talks honestly about the toll that constant traveling took on his spouse. After hearing Lew, you might think differently about what reporters f...
2024-05-1144 minTWO REPORTERSHow a sniper almost killed our guest (plus other chilling tales of a foreign correspondent) / FROM THE ARCHIVENext time you hear details of the horrific wars in Ukraine and Gaza, think about how you're learning them: journalists are risking their lives to report from the front lines. Lewis Simons won the Pulitzer Prize during decades of reporting on the Vietnam war and other conflicts across Asia. He lived by a motto: "Whatever the threat or danger, I had to be there."
2024-04-2131 minTWO REPORTERSCheck out how foreign autocrats whom Trump admires gutted their democracies, step by step - legallyNow Trump and the Republican party are following their autocratic playbooks, whether by design or by instinct: pack courts and agencies with their cronies, slander and intimidate the media, and denigrate their opponents as "evil" and vermin. Harvard professor Steven Levitsky, co-author of How Democracies Die and Tyranny of the Minority, tells us why it could take many years to rescue America's democracy - even if Trump loses the next election.
2024-03-3042 minTWO REPORTERSWhen they taught you the history of these intrepid explorers, was it pretty much a lie?When you learned about the American explorers who claimed to discover the North Pole, the answer seems to be, "Yes." In fact, the fabled drama of Robert E. Peary and Frederick Cook was an early example of how powerful newspapers - in this case The New York Times and New York Herald - spread fake news (although critics still debate whether the newspaper owners knew it was fake or didn't bother to corroborate the explorers' stories). Journalist Darrell Hartman tells us life and death tales from his recent book, Battle of Ink and Ice...
2024-03-0849 minTWO REPORTERSWhen apps ask to "share your location" or use voice ID, could it hurt you? / FROM THE ARCHIVEIt could happen to you: police mistakenly suspect or arrest you, because an app's location data show you were near the scene of a crime. The ACLU's Nathan Wessler returns to explain how geolocation, voice recognition and other high-tech tracking methods - including the way you walk! - could disrupt your life in ways you hardly expect.
2024-02-1739 minTWO REPORTERSShould you worry about facial recognition at airports, malls and unexpected places? / From the archiveAmerica's surveillance network is nowhere near as pervasive and chilling as China's, but U.S. companies and government agencies are already using high-tech tools like facial recognition to track you more than you might think. As the ACLU's Nathan Wessler tells us, the facial recognition software sometimes goofs - and ordinary, innocent people like you end up in jail.
2024-01-2739 minTWO REPORTERSOMG if Trump wins again, he could take over the internet (maybe) / FROM THE ARCHIVEPresidents have drawn up plans to wield sweeping emergency powers - and some of those plans are so secret that even Congress has never seen them. Elizabeth Goitein, of the nonpartisan Brennan Center for Justice, has unearthed dozens of emergency presidential powers. Voters should understand the potential powers they could give any president, before they cast their ballot.
2024-01-0631 minTWO REPORTERSHere's another episode that should boost your spiritsDavid K. Shipler (aka "Dave," our podcast co-host) is not only a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist: He's a poet, and just published his debut volume of poems, The Wind is Invisible. Given the grim news in the world, Dave's lovely poetry - glimpses of nature, reflections on family, moving insights about love - is a refreshing antidote. It's also (according to Danny) a surprising change from Dave's tough-minded journalism. Dave reads some of his poems and explains what influences his work - including his mother, who taught English, and Robert Frost, the legendary poet whom...
2023-12-1638 minTWO REPORTERSDo you know any idealistic politicians? Here's one!Shekar Krishnan just got re-elected to the New York City Council with three times as many votes as the runner-up. And so far, he's showing how politics and government can actually make people's lives better. Shekar fights for immigrant taxi drivers, the LGBTQ community, and minorities who need good low-income housing; he went briefly to jail and got smeared by the Proud Boys, along the way. Oh - and he's doing the usual political things like getting potholes fixed.
2023-12-0244 minTWO REPORTERSWhy do Iran's leaders mistrust and even hate the US - and its allies? / FROM THE ARCHIVEAs the horrific war between Israel and Hamas continues, US and Iranian officials are sending each other warnings, just as they have for decades: Back off. When you hear this episode, it will help remind you one reason why Iran's government learned to hate the US long ago: The US and Britain secretly ran the plot to topple its leader in the 1950s. Why? For Iran's oil. Filmmakers Taghi Amirani and Walter Murch discuss their riveting documentary, Coup 53 - which shows step by step how the CIA and MI6 carried it out.
2023-11-1242 minTWO REPORTERSWill Republicans ever back a decent leader again - like this one? / FROM THE ARCHIVEAs we publish this, Congressional Republicans have just elected their new Speaker - a right-wing extremist who led the fight, which many consider seditious, to overthrow Joseph Biden’s 2020 democratic election. So it’s more astonishing than ever to revisit the presidency of Republican Dwight D. "Ike" Eisenhower. His granddaughter, Susan Eisenhower, describes some of Ike's visionary and controversial policies - which many if not most Republicans would likely oppose today.
2023-10-2851 minTWO REPORTERSThe pleasures - and perils - of driving a 2-mile long freight train / Railroads Part 2Railroad supervisors ignore safety problems. Railroad executives lay off thousands of workers and see accident rates soar. Railroad corporations make record profits while their customers complain about lousy freight service. Marilee Taylor and Ron Kaminkow, veteran train engineers and labor organizers, have encountered those problems just about every day they've climbed aboard a locomotive - and they describe them in vivid detail. Still, they get a thrill from driving trains, if things go well. As Marilee says, sometimes she'd fire up the massive engine, and "I'm, like, yes." But they're...
2023-10-0739 minTWO REPORTERSDo you realize that America’s railroads are probably the worst in the industrialized world? / Part 1The freight railroad industry is crucial, but companies have slashed tens of thousands of workers in recent years while trains have become less reliable and derailments have threatened entire towns. Meanwhile, railroad companies have reported record and near-record profits. Historian Peter Rachleff and train engineer Ron Kaminkow, who’s also a labor leader, guide us through the colorful, brutal history of America’s railroads - built by “oligarchs” on the backs of Black convicts, slaves and Chinese laborers. Once you know that saga, you’ll understand the industry’s current problems better. And you might not get so nostalgic wh...
2023-09-2350 minTWO REPORTERSThis former Russian diplomat is in hiding - since he dared to denounce Putin's war in Ukraine / Part 2 FROM THE ARCHIVEBoris Bondarev says he wanted to quit his job as a Russian diplomat long ago, to protest Putin's policies, but it took years to gather courage to take that life-changing step. Putin's war in Ukraine pushed him to act - and now he and his wife are living under protection in Switzerland (with their cat; more about that in our episode). In Part 2 of this introspective conversation, Boris explains why resigning was a moral act of “redemption” after a career serving policies that he gradually decided were unworthy of his country. Is Boris right that the war against Ukrai...
2023-09-0233 minTWO REPORTERSThis former Russian diplomat is in hiding - since he dared to denounce Putin's war in Ukraine / FROM THE ARCHIVEBoris Bondarev represented Russia as a diplomat for more than 20 years. But after Russia invaded Ukraine, he took a rare and potentially dangerous step: he resigned, to protest the horrors of Vladimir Putin's "fascist state." In Part 1 of this candid chat, Boris explains why he overlooked Putin's crimes for years - and why the invasion of Ukraine propelled him to act. His actions have turned his own family's life upside down.
2023-08-2638 minTWO REPORTERSIf you were an editorial cartoonist, how would you capture Trump's twisted mind? / Part 2 with Darrin BellDarrin Bell won the Pulitzer Prize for doing exactly that - depicting Trump as a shrieking infant, a naked tyrant, and as a god giving life to racists instead of to Adam. Darrin explains how his own encounters with racism pushed him to draw, as an emotional escape. And he tells why his cartoons attack not only Trump but sometimes leaders he likes. HINT: young people should hear this interview to learn how perseverance can pay off!
2023-08-0542 minTWO REPORTERSHow did this poor black kid grapple with racism and then win the Pulitzer Prize? / Part 1Darrin Bell's white, wealthy classmates bullied him because he had big lips, and store clerks automatically assumed he was shoplifting. Today, Darrin has transformed his struggles into a brilliant and acclaimed graphic memoir, "The Talk" - named for the conversation that parents of color often have with their children to explain why the world likely won't treat them the same as whites.
2023-07-2340 minTWO REPORTERSHow did this poor black kid grapple with racism and win the Pulitzer Prize? / Part 1Darrin Bell's white, wealthy classmates bullied him because he had big lips, and store clerks automatically assumed he was shoplifting. Today, Darrin has transformed his struggles into a brilliant graphic memoir, "The Talk" - named for the conversation that parents of color often have with their children to explain why the world likely won't treat them the same as whites.
2023-07-2339 minTWO REPORTERSHow right-wing radicals are reshaping what's taught in your local schools / FROM THE ARCHIVERepublicans and their allies are banning books, courses and even brief classroom chats about "divisive topics" - and passing laws to punish teachers who disobey. They're also spending big money to elect school boards that embrace their extremist visions. Jonathan Friedman of PEN America describes some of the most threatening developments across the country.
2023-07-0332 minTWO REPORTERSHow book banning is spreading across America, Part 1 / FROM THE ARCHIVEYou've heard that it's happening - and now two librarians tell us in this moving episode how they became targets of extremists. When Suzette Baker refused to ban books on racial and LGBTQ issues, right-wing parents and local officials in Texas got her fired. Meanwhile, librarian Martha Hickson was fighting her own battle against censorship, 2000 miles away in New Jersey - but she managed to organize supporters to rally against censorship. And they won.
2023-06-2457 minTWO REPORTERSThis famous professor got in trouble with some students - and he adjusted his teaching / FROM THE ARCHIVENone of us can listen to Geoffrey Stone, the First Amendment scholar at the University of Chicago, tell about his encounter with African American students without asking ourselves some tough questions: what kinds of speech do we really want to allow, or prevent, on college campuses? And how do we keep universities faithful to their mission of teaching young people to think? Stone walks us through the controversy and how he responded to it.
2023-06-0347 minTWO REPORTERSWhen many African Americans speak, what are they speaking?They're speaking African American English, according to linguist Lisa Green at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Lisa grew up speaking AAE in Louisiana, and since then, her ground-breaking research has found that AAE is based on a system of consistent grammatical rules, pronunciations and definitions - in other words, Lisa's studies show, "it's not mainstream English with mistakes." Some call it a dialect, which evolved from the African languages that slaves spoke blended with plantation English; in fact, when someone says, "she aks" instead of "she asks," they might be echoing Old English from centuries ago. Lisa argues...
2023-05-1440 minTWO REPORTERSCan you start a sentence with "And" or "But"?? We all need this grammar lesson / Part 2You'll dazzle friends with the grammar smarts you'll get from our second chat with Bryan Garner, one of America's language gurus. Finally, you're about to learn if you can - or can't - end a sentence with a preposition; if you can use "like" instead of "as"; and if you can banish "whom" and "whomever" from your brain. Just wait until you hear Bryan's rant about lawyers' terrible writing. Can you guess which common five-letter word (which lawyers love) causes endless legal battles?
2023-04-2235 minTWO REPORTERSCan you start a sentence with "And" or "But"?? We all need this grammar lesson / Part 1Bryan Garner, one of America's grammar gurus, tells us where we're going wrong - and what we're getting right. You're sure to find (you'll surely find?) answers to some of your own burning questions, like (or is it "such as"?): should you feel bad about using adverbs? Or should you feel badly? How will this episode impact your own language? (Actually, is "impact" even a verb?) After hearing our conversation with Bryan, you might not write or speak quite the same way.
2023-04-1532 minTWO REPORTERSHow do we teach kids - and everybody - to tell the difference between the lies swirling around them and actual facts?Ebonee Rice is a senior vice president of a national group that’s doing exactly that: the News Literacy Project. They’ve created programs for students across the country - adults can use them too – to teach them how to dissect and evaluate everything from tweets and catchy ads and TikTok posts to news stories on national TV. You might be stunned when you hear statistics showing just how gullible many kids are.
2023-03-2631 minTWO REPORTERSAttacks on free speech at universities - by students on the right and the left - are getting seriously scaryNone of us can listen to Geoffrey Stone, the famous law professor at the University of Chicago, tell about his own encounter with upset students without asking ourselves some tough questions: what kind of speech do we really want to allow, or prevent, on college campuses? And how do we keep universities faithful to their mission of teaching young people to think?
2023-03-2447 minTWO REPORTERSAttacks on free speech at universities - by students on the right and the left - are getting seriously scaryNone of us can listen to Geoffrey Stone, the famous law professor at the University of Chicago, tell about his own encounter with upset students without asking ourselves some tough questions: what kind of speech do we really want to allow, or prevent, on college campuses? And how do we keep universities faithful to their mission of teaching young people to think?
2023-03-0548 minTWO REPORTERSHow a sniper almost killed our guest (plus other chilling tales of a foreign correspondent) / Part 2Lewis Simon's Pulitzer Prize-winning reporting, in collaboration with colleagues, helped spark an international scandal and topple a corrupt dictator; he tells us in this episode how they did it. Lew also gives us remarkable insight into how he could do his work - taking notes as people got beaten to death and blown up in front of him - and survive emotionally. And finally, a roving correspondent talks honestly about the toll that his constant traveling took on his spouse.
2023-02-1144 minTWO REPORTERSHow a sniper almost killed our guest (plus other chilling tales of a foreign correspondent) / Part 1Lewis Simons won the Pulitzer Prize during decades of reporting across Asia. He lived by a motto: "Whatever the threat or danger, I had to be there." When you hear him describe his harrowing adventures covering the Vietnam war, it brings that tragic conflict alive better than history books.
2023-02-0531 minTWO REPORTERSMillions of children in America are going hungry - can you believe it? / Part 2 FROM THE ARCHIVEWhen you see students across the nation struggling with learning and behavioral problems, it might be partly because their families can’t afford enough good food. Dr. Megan Sandel has a bold idea, which Congress tried briefly - and successfully - but then scuttled: give low income parents more money.
2023-01-1519 minTWO REPORTERSMillions of children in America are going hungry - can you believe it? / Part 1 FROM THE ARCHIVEDr. Megan Sandel takes us into the GROW clinic in Boston, where kids look like malnourished children in poor countries. Some 2 year olds look half their age. The Biden administration eased the crisis by expanding child tax credits, but Congress has let those credits expire. So, it's back to crisis.
2023-01-0724 minTWO REPORTERSEnjoy the holidays. Still, please be aware that black cops confront racism every day. FROM THE ARCHIVEOfficer Shanette Hall and Lt. Ray Rice joined St. Louis County's police department because they were passionate about making things better, by exposing racial injustice and bringing the police and community closer together. They told us in this moving interview that instead, department officials punished them for speaking out. (PS Since our interview, Hall quit the force.)
2022-12-2557 minTWO REPORTERSWould YOU throw away a prestigious career - and maybe risk your life - to protest Russia’s war in Ukraine? / Part 2Boris Bondarev says he wanted to quit his job as a Russian diplomat long ago, to protest Putin's policies, but it took years to gather courage to take that life-changing step. Putin's war in Ukraine pushed him to act - and now he and his wife are living under protection in Switzerland (with their cat; more about that in our episode). In Part 2 of this introspective conversation, Boris explains why resigning was a moral act of “redemption” after a career serving policies he thought unworthy of his country. Is Boris right that the invasion of Ukraine won’t strengt...
2022-12-1133 minTWO REPORTERSWould YOU throw away a prestigious career - and maybe risk your life - to protest Russia’s war in Ukraine? / Part 1Boris Bondarev represented Russia as a diplomat for more than 20 years. But after Russia invaded Ukraine, he took a rare and potentially dangerous step: he resigned, to protest the horrors of Vladimir Putin's "fascist state." In Part 1 of this candid chat, Boris explains why he overlooked Putin's crimes for years - and why the invasion of Ukraine propelled him to act.
2022-12-0438 minTWO REPORTERSAre right-wing conservatives reshaping what's taught in your local schools?Republicans and their allies are banning books, courses and even brief lessons about "divisive topics" - and passing laws to punish teachers who disobey. They're also spending big money to elect school boards that embrace their extremist visions. Jonathan Friedman of PEN America describes some of the most threatening developments across the country.
2022-10-3032 minTWO REPORTERSWill extremists ban YOUR favorite books, next?Librarian Suzette Baker refused to ban books on racial and LGBTQ issues. So, as she recounts in this moving episode, right-wing parents and local officials in Texas got her fired. Meanwhile, librarian Martha Hickson was fighting her own battle against censorship 2000 miles away in New Jersey - but she describes how she organized supporters to rally against censorship, and won.
2022-10-0957 minTWO REPORTERSWhite extremists are brainwashing your neighbors - and family? FROM THE ARCHIVEAttacking the Capitol, trying to overturn the presidential election, sabotaging voting rights: extremists have gone mainstream, with support from the Republican Party. While TWO REPORTERS are on vacation, hear chilling details about the extremists’ game plan - in this compelling episode with Cynthia Miller-Idriss, from our archive.
2022-09-181h 05TWO REPORTERSCan you name a Republican with morals and scruples? FROM THE ARCHIVESTWO REPORTERS are on vacation - meanwhile, we hope you'll find this repeat episode from our archive more compelling than ever. Hear what Bob Inglis - a former conservative Republican congressman - has to say about his former party and politics. It's especially important against the backdrop of Trump's and fellow Republicans' continuing efforts to sabotage America's democracy.
2022-08-2741 minTWO REPORTERSCould YOU help prevent mass shootings?Specialists in “behavioral threat assessment” have been quietly trying to spot potential killers for decades, in places from schools and companies to government agencies. Our guests, practitioners Monique Boudreaux and Matt Talbot, say everybody in America needs to help them - and could.
2022-08-0738 minTWO REPORTERSIs George Orwell's 1984 coming true? / Part 3It could happen to you: police mistakenly suspect or arrest you, because an app's location data show you were near the scene of a crime. The ACLU's Nathan Wessler returns to explain how geolocation, voice recognition and other high-tech tracking methods - including your gait! - could disrupt your life in ways you hardly expect.
2022-07-0939 minTWO REPORTERSIs George Orwell's 1984 coming true? / Part 2America's surveillance network is nowhere near as pervasive and chilling as China's (hear about China in our last episode), but U.S. companies and government agencies are already using high-tech tools like facial recognition to track you, more than you might think. As the ACLU's Nathan Wessler tells us, the facial recognition software sometimes goofs - and ordinary, innocent people like you end up in jail.
2022-07-0239 minTWO REPORTERSIs George Orwell's 1984 coming true? / Part 1It's not just fiction anymore: the frightening vision of mass surveillance that Orwell painted has come to life - in China. In fact, Conor Healy of IPVM says that China's vast network of cameras, cell phone tracking, face and voice recognition, and other advanced technology surpasses what Orwell made up. In Part 2, coming soon, we'll examine whether the U.S. is traveling down a similar road.
2022-06-1130 minTWO REPORTERSTwo black cops: "Almost nothing's changed since Black Lives Matter. Nothing." / Part 2If you could wave a magic wand and make racist behavior disappear from America's police departments, how would you do it? Ray Rice and Shanette Hall, both black officers, have ideas: fire racist cops starting tomorrow, and transform recruiting and training. All their suggestions face huge obstacles.
2022-05-0839 minTWO REPORTERSTwo black cops: "Almost nothing's changed since Black Lives Matter. Nothing." / Part 1Officer Shanette Hall and Lt. Ray Rice joined St. Louis County's police department because they were passionate about making things better - by rooting out racism and bringing police and their community closer together. Instead, they say department officials are punishing them for speaking out about racial injustice. You'll be moved by their unsettling stories.
2022-04-1057 minTWO REPORTERSIf you eat meat, or don’t eat meat, listen to this! / Part 2Imagine meat that's cultured in factory tanks instead of grown on a farm. Thinks it's a fantasy of the future? They're already selling it in Singapore - and professional tasters can't tell the difference between the laboratory and the farm-raised version. Bruce Friedrich, CEO of the Good Food Institute, joins us again to explain how pathbreaking companies are "cultivating" meat from animal cells - and how it could help solve some of the world's most dangerous problems.
2022-03-2032 minTWO REPORTERSIf you eat meat - or don’t eat meat - you need to hear this! / Part 1Bruce Friedrich, former master strategist at PETA, streaked naked past Buckingham Palace with "GoVeg" painted on his body. Like that tactic or not, you'll be astonished as Bruce explains how you can fight global poverty, help prevent a medical crisis, fight climate change - and prevent massive suffering - simply by cutting back on (or shunning) farm-raised meat.
2022-03-1336 minTWO REPORTERSDoes Iran mistrust/hate the US for justified reasons?Nations are like people: once they've been traumatized, it's hard to forget. The US and Britain toppled the democratically-elected leader of Iran almost 70 years ago. Why? For the oil. Filmmakers Taghi Amirani and Walter Murch discuss their riveting documentary, Coup 53 - which shows step by step how the CIA and MI6 carried it out.
2022-02-1942 minTWO REPORTERSCan you name a Republican with morals and scruples? / Part 2Whatever your political leanings, you're about to go, Really?! when you hear what Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower did in the White House. Many historians used to rank "Ike" among the worst American presidents; last year they ranked him 5th best. Granddaughter Susan Eisenhower, who consults with international executives and government leaders, dug up astonishing facts about his policies that even surprised her.
2022-01-2951 minTWO REPORTERSCan you name a Republican with morals and scruples? / Part 1Here’s one – but he died more than 50 years ago. In an era when Republican leaders are trying to destroy America’s democracy, it’s a revelation to reconsider Dwight D. Eisenhower. His granddaughter, Susan Eisenhower, dug through diaries, letters and government documents to bring him back to life.
2022-01-2336 minTWO REPORTERSWant to hear a strategy that can help save America’s democracy? - Part 2An ingenious news site for immigrants just might be the model for reviving local journalism. Actually, every media company should study how Documented keeps attracting a bigger audience, learning from them and forging bonds with the community.
2021-12-2934 minTWO REPORTERSWant to hear a strategy that can help save America’s democracy? - Part 1Local newspapers and other local news sources are dying, which is one reason many people can’t separate fact from fiction - a crisis we began to detail a few episodes ago. But the American Journalism Project has a solution - and director Sarabeth Berman joins Two Reporters to lay it out. Hint: your local news site might become your favorite charity.
2021-12-2632 minTWO REPORTERSBehind the scenes of TV news / Part 2In Part 2 of our chat with Terence Smith - veteran of The New York Times, CBS and PBS - he takes us behind the scenes to show us the dramatically different ways in which print and broadcast reporters cover the news. Example: cute animals sometimes beat out Terry on TV.
2021-11-2635 minTWO REPORTERSHe covered four wars and five presidents / Part 1And now Terence Smith takes us back to the golden era in modern American journalism - the 1960s, 70s and 80s, when he sent dispatches from around the globe back to The New York Times and CBS. Marilyn Monroe, the Six-Day War in the Middle East, the war in Vietnam - Terry gives us fascinating glimpses of them all, in his new memoir and on Two Reporters. Coming soon in Part 2: the love/hate world of TV news.
2021-11-2152 minTWO REPORTERSAs local newspapers die, is America’s democracy dying with them?Maybe you never read the Birmingham Post-Herald or Green Bay News-Chronicle, but thousands of papers like them have died in recent years. That’s left a vacuum – which other media have helped fill with propaganda, opinion and outright lies. The New Yorker’s Evan Osnos returns to Two Reporters to diagnose the troubling causes, and describe an intriguing strategy to revive local news.
2021-10-3137 minTWO REPORTERSHow can hedge fund executives make so much money, anyway?The New Yorker’s Evan Osnos tells us the infuriating answer in Part 2 of our chat about his new book, Wildland. As Evan says, hedge fund executives and their political allies have shaped America’s laws to benefit themselves more than you. Yet, Evan explains why he’s optimistic about America’s future.
2021-10-0633 minTWO REPORTERSWhat do poor blacks, hedge fund executives and coal miners have in common?Evan Osnos, staff writer for The New Yorker, gives a provocative answer as he chats about his new book, Wildland. Democrats and Republicans alike should hear what Evan has found, as he’s explored why America is so fractured.
2021-10-0136 minTWO REPORTERSWill Republicans allow Alona Whitebird to teach her students about racism?Oklahoma is one of the latest states where Republicans have passed a law that gives history teachers chills - when it comes to teaching about race, gender and other human rights issues. Teachers can lose their licenses if state officials don't like what they teach. NOTE: We wish Alona had been our teacher in high school ...
2021-09-1134 minTWO REPORTERSCongressional Republicans: “Would you rather lose your soul or lose an election?”Bob Inglis, the former conservative Republican congressman, explains his strategy for getting Democrats and Republicans to fight climate change - together. Plus, in Part 2 of our conversation: will Republicans destroy America’s democracy?
2021-07-2554 minTWO REPORTERSGod helped prod this Republican to fight climate change / Part 1After Bob Inglis collapsed and lay on the floor, in the wake of losing a Congressional election, he heard a voice in his head. The words spurred him to see political enemies - and the world - in a new light.
2021-07-1641 minTWO REPORTERSWhite extremists are brainwashing your neighbors – and maybe some of your family, tooHome repair and cooking lessons on youtube, martial arts classes and catchy music: white extremists are using them all to spread racist, anti-semitic and anti-immigrant ideas, sometimes more cleverly than you think. Cynthia Miller-Idriss joins us again, to help us spot when loved ones are getting hooked - and then know how to handle it.
2021-06-231h 05TWO REPORTERSWe thought we knew about white extremists …... but what Cynthia Miller-Idriss tells us in this two-part episode gives us chills. Hear in Part 1 about key extremist groups, their philosophies and growing violence. Coming soon: How President Biden’s new plan to fight extremism might – or might not - help.
2021-06-1635 minTWO REPORTERSWhat's up with Walmart and food programs for hungry people?Maria Rose Belding joins us again with one of her mentors, Robert Egger, who founded one of America’s most acclaimed food programs for hungry people. Robert used to run nightclubs but now he's devoted to helping the poor. He and Maria Rose argue that corporations have taken over many of the nation's food programs - not always helping the people they serve.
2021-05-3032 minTWO REPORTERSYou'll feel better about the future of America ...… after you meet Maria Rose Belding. It’s corny but true: Maria Rose is not quite 26, she’s exuberant and seemingly tireless, and her path-breaking app that helps hungry people is used across the nation. But Maria Rose’s inspiration for this great idea came from a troubling place.
2021-05-2330 minTWO REPORTERSOMG the U.S. President could take over the internet! (maybe)Presidents have drawn up plans to wield sweeping emergency powers - and some of those plans are so secret that even Congress has never seen them. Elizabeth Goitein, of the nonpartisan Brennan Center for Justice, has unearthed dozens of emergency presidential powers. You'll give thanks Trump didn't use them.
2021-05-0831 minTWO REPORTERSReopen the schools! BUT ...Dr. Joshua Sharfstein is a big name in the world of public health, and he warns that America will make a huge mistake if it rushes to reopen schools just as they all were BC (Before Covid). Plus: everybody should hear Josh on the gratifications of compromise.
2021-04-1129 minTWO REPORTERSHunger in America - Part 2 (hear how to end it)When you see students across the nation struggling with learning and behavioral problems, it could be partly because their families can’t afford enough good food. Dr. Megan Sandel has a bold idea: give them more money.
2021-03-2819 minTWO REPORTERSHunger in America - Part 1 (get ready to be shocked)We all wish we had a doctor like Megan Sandel - kind, eloquent, a great story-teller, and passionate about social justice. Children she treats at the GROW clinic echo poor regions of Africa, they’re so malnourished - but it’s Boston. Megan says America has barely begun to tackle social problems that make tens of millions of people “food insecure.”
2021-03-1424 min