Embedded

There's a promise that all Marines make to defend the Constitution. After Sgt. Joshua Abate participated in the events on January 6, the Corps has to decide: Did he break his oath when he entered the Capitol that day? And what does his case say about the changing narrative around January 6? To listen to this series sponsor-free and support NPR, sign up for Embedded+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

"Have you ever tried to overthrow the U.S. government?" Marine Sgt. Joshua Abate was in the middle of a routine polygraph test to receive top-secret clearance when he made an extraordinary admission: He had followed the crowd that broke into the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. This admission leads to a different kind of January 6 story. Abate says he's not an insurrectionist. So why did it take him so long to talk openly about that day? To listen to this series sponsor-free and support NPR, sign up for Embedded+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Sergeant Joshua Abate says that he's not a rioter or an insurrectionist. Those closest to the active-duty Marine call him "a good guy." But he was part of the mob that attacked the Capitol on January 6th, 2021. On the eve of a new presidential election, what does his case tell us, as the nation still grapples with the legacy of that day? As they look into the military's reckoning with extremism in the ranks, NPR's Tom Bowman and Lauren Hodges examine Abate's main line of defense: Don't focus on what he did; focus on his promising career as a Marine, instead. Embedded's new two-part series "A Good Guy" drops Thursday, October 24. To listen to this series sponsor-free and support NPR, sign up for Embedded+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Episode 6: Christine and Max are some of the most recent female athletes in this century-long history to face tests, stigma, and restrictions. But they are unlikely to be the last. In this episode, we find out whether Christine qualifies for the Paris Olympics, as well as the fate of Max's court case. And we explore the broader implications of the sex binary in sports. Is there a better way for sports to be categorized? To listen to this series sponsor-free and support NPR, sign up for Embedded+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Episode 5: A battle over science and ethics unfolds. World Athletics releases and then tweaks multiple policies impacting DSD athletes, while critics cry foul. In this episode, World Athletics doubles down on its claims, Caster Semenya challenges the rules again, and we dig deep on a big question: what constitutes an "unfair" advantage on the track? To listen to this series sponsor-free and support NPR, sign up for Embedded+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Episode 4: In 2009, South African sprinter Caster Semenya won gold at the World Championships. But instead of a celebration, she endured endless speculation about her body, her biology, and her gender. And soon, sports organizations would launch a new round of regulations, lead to multiple court cases, and require sporting organizations to justify their claim that DSD athletes have an unfair advantage.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Episode 3: We meet Kenyan sprinter Maximila Imali, who—like Christine Mboma—has been sidelined by DSD policies. She makes a different choice from Christine: to fight the regulations in court. And we learn about a previous fight, when scientists, athletes, and journalists spent thirty years trying to end an earlier version of sex testing.To listen to this series sponsor-free and support NPR, sign up for Embedded+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Episode 2: We go back almost 100 years, to the beginning of women's inclusion in elite sports. It turns out that men had an odd variety of concerns about women athletes. Some doubted these athletes were even women at all. And their skepticism resulted in the first policies requiring sex testing. To listen to this series sponsor-free and support NPR, sign up for Embedded+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Episode 1: Would you alter your body for the chance to compete for a gold medal? That's the question facing a small group of elite athletes right now. Last year, track and field authorities announced new regulations that mean some women can't compete in the female category unless they lower their body's naturally occurring testosterone levels. You'll meet one of those runners, Christine Mboma, a reigning Olympic silver medalist, and hear about the difficult choice she faces. To listen to this series sponsor-free and support NPR, sign up for Embedded+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Who gets to compete? Since the beginning of women's sports, there has been a struggle over who qualifies for the women's category. Tested follows the unfolding story of elite female runners who have been told they can no longer race as women, because of their biology. As the Olympics approach, they face hard choices: take drugs to lower their natural testosterone levels, give up their sport entirely, or fight. To understand how we got here, we trace the surprising, 100-year history of sex testing. Tested is a new 6-part series from NPR's Embedded and CBC. Hosted by journalist Rose Eveleth, it launches July 15, ahead of the 2024 Olympic Games. Embedded+ supporters enjoy early and ad-free access.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The end of the 113th General Assembly of Tennessee is fast approaching. Melissa Alexander, Mary Joyce and Sarah Shoop Neumann have reached a new stage in their understanding of the statehouse. But they also face a new challenge: how to square their long-held conservative beliefs with the new politics they've picked up in the year since the shooting at their kids' school. When two of the women make a controversial decision, it threatens to upend everything they've worked for and splinter the bonds they've formed with one another. How will the women continue on? And what do the bills they've been tracking – ones that pass, and those that fail – mean for Tennessee's future? To listen to this series sponsor-free and support NPR, sign up for Embedded+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Melissa Alexander came to the Tennessee statehouse to convince members of the Republican party – her party – to adopt gun control measures after a mass shooting at her son's school. A year later, she doesn't feel like she's gotten through to many lawmakers. But there's at least one Republican senator who's made Melissa and the other Covenant moms feel welcome: Richard Briggs. Briggs has been in office for about a decade. He's a doctor and an army veteran. And recently, he's had to navigate a statehouse in transition. Briggs represents a faction of the Republican majority that isn't often visible: those who are concerned about the GOP's shift further to the right. They feel that they are a minority within the majority – stewards of what the party used to be. As Melissa contemplates a big decision, we turn to Briggs' story. What can more moderate Republicans achieve in the Tennessee legislature? And will Melissa decide to follow the path that Briggs has already been down? To listen to this series sponsor-free and support NPR, sign up for Embedded+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

It's been four months since the Covenant moms – lifelong conservatives Melissa Alexander, Mary Joyce and Sarah Shoop Neumann – pleaded with their lawmakers to pass gun control measures during a special session at the Tennessee statehouse. Now they're back – for months, not days – and this time, they feel prepared to face the GOP-dominated legislature. But when the 2024 legislative session begins, the mothers realize that the Republican majority's new bills may be more complicated than they anticipated. The women discover a long line of dissenters flocking to the statehouse, to protest bills about abortion, education, police violence and LGBTQ rights. Will the women stand alongside these other constituents and broaden their objectives beyond gun control? And what happens when they begin to imagine unseating one of their lawmakers? To listen to this series sponsor-free and support NPR, sign up for Embedded+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

In 2023, a mass shooter attacked The Covenant School, a private Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee, and three mothers were compelled to act. Their mission: help pass some kind of gun control in one of the reddest states in the country, a state where the Republican Party has a supermajority in the legislature. But these women aren't your typical gun control activists. They're lifelong conservatives, believers in the Second Amendment and – at first – sure that their own party will understand their concerns. In episode 1 of Supermajority from NPR's Embedded, host Meribah Knight follows the women as they enter the state capitol for the first time in their adult lives. Will these political newcomers get what they came for? And what happens if they challenge those in power to do it? To listen to this series sponsor-free and support NPR, sign up for Embedded+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Supermajority is a new 4-part series from NPR's Embedded, in partnership with Nashville Public Radio. As Americans focus on national politics this election year, we zoom in on one state and its political majority. Host Meribah Knight has been following three conservative moms in Tennessee over the course of a year as they learn to navigate their Republican-controlled state legislature. These political newcomers will confront powerful lawmakers, a dizzying legislative process and most importantly – their own long-held beliefs. What can these women accomplish? How will the work change them? And what might it all reveal about democracy? Launching Thursday, June 20. Embedded+ supporters enjoy early and ad-free access.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The second in a two-part special series featuring conversations between Embedded host Kelly McEvers and NPR reporters who have been on the ground during the current conflict between Israel and Hamas In this episode, Morning Edition's Leila Fadel paints an intimate portrait of displacement in Gaza. She shares voice memos she's been receiving from a college student trying to survive and the story of a family that escaped the war only to find that it had followed them home.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The first in a two-part special series featuring conversations between Embedded host Kelly McEvers and NPR reporters who have been on the ground during the current conflict in Gaza. In the first episode, NPR's Daniel Estrin talks about the challenges of reporting on the Israel-Hamas war and the work of his colleague Anas Baba from inside Gaza.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

In this Taking Cover update, a U.S. senator wants answers from the Marines about what went wrong - and we meet an Army soldier still serving on active duty who's been denied the truth about his war wounds. To listen to this series sponsor-free and support NPR, sign up for Embedded+ in Apple Podcasts or plus.npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Since activist Karima Baloch's mysterious death in 2020, her family has been searching for answers. Journalist Mary Lynk has, too. The documents Mary gets and the people she talks to will lead her closer to the truth of what happened that day. But is the truth enough closure for a family? For the people Karima was fighting for back home in Balochistan? For other dissidents like her, in exile or hiding across the globe? The Kill List is a 6-part podcast from the CBC's investigative series, Uncover. To listen to this series sponsor-free and support NPR, sign up for Embedded+ in Apple Podcasts or plus.npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

As her native Balochistan mourns activist Karima Baloch's death, we dive deeper into what Karima was fighting for and why – and learn about the intense history of the Baloch people and the state of Pakistan. Also – the story of what happens to dissidents who disappear... and then come back alive. The Kill List is a 6-part podcast from the CBC's investigative series, Uncover. To listen to this series sponsor-free and support NPR, sign up for Embedded+ in Apple Podcasts or plus.npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

We talk to the people closest to Karima Baloch, including some who are opening up for the very first time, to try to understand what could have led to her death. The Kill List is a 6-part podcast from the CBC's investigative series, Uncover. To listen to this series sponsor-free and support NPR, sign up for Embedded+ in Apple Podcasts or plus.npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Critics of the Pakistani government, like Karima Baloch and Sajid Hussain, find themselves in this kind of nightmarish club of exiles who flee to far away countries in the West but still fear the reach of Pakistan's intelligence agency. In this episode, we meet some members of that club and ask: could Pakistan be targeting exiles in the West? The Kill List is a 6-part podcast from the CBC's investigative series, Uncover. To listen to this series sponsor-free and support NPR, sign up for Embedded+ in Apple Podcasts or plus.npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Before Karima's death, another prominent Baloch dissident was found dead in Sweden. The two deaths bear a striking resemblance. Could they be connected? The Kill List is a 6-part podcast from the CBC's investigative series, Uncover. To listen to this series sponsor-free and support NPR, sign up for Embedded+ in Apple Podcasts or plus.npr.org. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Karima Baloch was forced to flee to Canada because of her work fighting for human rights in her home of Balochistan, a province of Pakistan. But when Karima's body washes ashore on Lake Ontario, it raises questions about the disappearances and deaths of other Pakistani dissidents. The Kill List is a 6-part podcast from the CBC's investigative series, Uncover. To listen to this series sponsor-free and support NPR, sign up for Embedded+ in Apple Podcasts or plus.npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

In the final episode of the series, we meet Christine, an 18 year old from New Mexico, shortly after starting hormone replacement therapy, as she navigates her freshman year of college. We also meet Dr. Charles Ihlenfeld, who was a physician at the John Hopkins Gender Clinic, working with many young people as they transitioned in the 1970s. We spend time with one of his patients, Joanna, whose path to transition meant hiding her past, and how in 2023, being visible can be empowering, but also dangerous.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

In part 2, we meet Parker, a senior in high school in Columbus, Ohio. Parker is a top field hockey athlete, but as a trans person, he is faced with making a difficult decision: either pursuing his dreams as a D1 trans field hockey player in college next year, or pursuing his dreams of starting hormone replacement therapy, which could get him banned from playing. We also meet two historical trans youth of the 1960s, Vicky and Donna, both facing barriers to getting the care and treatment they need after repeatedly looking for help.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

In our first episode, we meet Zen, a Mexican-American, New Orleans native, coming into their transness, exploring its spectrum, as we learn about an historic trans person, Bernard, from Alabama in the early 1900s, fighting to be seen. They're both navigating their identities in a world that is constantly trying to define them.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

All The Only Ones is a new 3-part series from NPR's Embedded. Host Laine Kaplan-Levenson unearths the little known and often neglected history of trans youth in America. We follow the lives of young transgender people today and travel back in time to the turn of the 20th century to meet some of the earliest trans youth documented in American history. Launching on November 2.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

When Annette Vega was seven years old, she found out the man she called "dad" wasn't her biological father. But all she knew was that her mom had had a teenage romance with a guy named Angel Garcia. Annette has searched for Angel for more than 30 years. That search is coming to the end."The Unmarked Graveyard: Stories from Hart Island" is a new series from Radio Diaries that tells the stories of seven people buried on Hart Island through a range of circumstances. Hart Island, an uninhabited strip of land off the Bronx in Long Island Sound, is America's largest public cemetery, sometimes known as a "potter's field." Since 1869, more than a million people have been buried on Hart Island, including early AIDS patients, unidentified and unclaimed New Yorkers, immigrants, incarcerated people, artists, and about ten percent of New Yorkers who died of COVID-19.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

A few years ago, a young man who called himself Stephen became a fixture in Manhattan's Riverside Park. Locals started noticing him sitting on the same park bench day after day. He said little and asked for nothing. When Stephen's body was found dead in 2017, the police were unable to identify him, and he was buried on Hart Island. Then, one day, a woman who knew him from the park stumbled upon his true identity, and his backstory came to light."The Unmarked Graveyard: Stories from Hart Island" is a new series from Radio Diaries that tells the stories of seven people buried on Hart Island through a range of circumstances. Hart Island, an uninhabited strip of land off the Bronx in Long Island Sound, is America's largest public cemetery, sometimes known as a "potter's field." Since 1869, more than a million people have been buried on Hart Island, including early AIDS patients, unidentified and unclaimed New Yorkers, immigrants, incarcerated people, artists, and about ten percent of New Yorkers who died of COVID-19.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

In this bonus episode of Love Commandos, Gregory Warner interviews musician John Ellis, who composed Rough Translation's original theme music in 2017, and songwriters Amira Gill and VASU, who jointly created the new theme song for Love Commandos. They discuss their musical processes, and how they incorporate stories into their music. Follow the musicians: John Ellis: https://www.johnaxsonellis.com Amira Gill: https://www.instagram.com/amiragill VASU: https://www.vasundharagupta.com Love Commandos will be releasing more bonus episodes like this one over the next few weeks, where the team will continue to take listeners behind the scenes of the show and continue exploring the themes of love and marriage in modern India. To access those episodes, sign up for Embedded+ at plus.npr.org/embedded.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

In Episode 5 of Love Commandos, couples seeking to shut down the Love Commandos' shelter band together in a risky plan. Want to hear bonus episodes of Love Commandos? Sign up for Embedded+ at plus.npr.org/embedded.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

On Episode 4 of Love Commandos, couples in the shelter feel pressured to stay indefinitely. We try to figure out why. Want to hear episodes of Love Commandos a week before everyone else? Sign up for Embedded+ at plus.npr.org/embedded.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

On Episode 3 of Love Commandos, stories of life inside the Love Commandos shelter begin to diverge as co-founder Sanjoy Sachdev shows a different side. Want to hear episodes of Love Commandos a week before everyone else? Sign up for Embedded+ at plus.npr.org/embedded. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Threatened by their families, an inter-caste couple in India hits a breaking point. Their last option to stay together? The Love Commandos. Want to hear episodes of Love Commandos a week before everyone else? Sign up for Embedded+ at plus.npr.org/embedded. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

When falling in love can mean risking your life, the Love Commandos in India will protect you. But at what cost? Want to hear episodes of Love Commandos a week before everyone else? Sign up for Embedded+ at plus.npr.org/embedded.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

How deep can you dig for the truth before it gets dangerous? In March 2022, reporter Lauren Chooljian published her first story detailing allegations against Eric Spofford, the founder of New Hampshire's largest addiction treatment network. Over the following months, Lauren received a first-hand glimpse into the ways powerful, wealthy people can intimidate sources and try to stop journalism from happening. And then, there was the vandalism... This is episode three of The 13th Step, produced by our friends at New Hampshire Public Radio. Listen to the entire season of The 13th Step here.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

As Eric Spofford tells it, he spent his teen years in the throes of addiction and crime. When he got sober, he became a crusader for recovery. On the second episode of The 13th Step from New Hampshire Public Radio, host Lauren Chooljian unravels how the founder of New Hampshire's largest addiction treatment network built his company – and the allegations that he abused that power by sexually assaulting members of his own staff. This is episode two of The 13th Step, produced by our friends at New Hampshire Public Radio. Listen to the entire season of The 13th Step here.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

So many of us have been touched by America's addiction crisis. And we look to treatment for solutions. But what happens when communities dedicated to treatment turn out to be dangerous? In the first episode of The 13th Step – the new investigative series from our friends at New Hampshire Public Radio (NHPR) – host Lauren Chooljian uncovers the culture of sexual misconduct in America's recovery communities, a phenomenon known as 13th stepping. This is a story that some people tried to stop NHPR from telling. It's a story about the limits of the #MeToo movement. And it's a story about the dangers journalists and their sources face when they expose alleged wrongdoing by people in positions of power. Listen to the entire season of The 13th Step here.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

It's competition season, and the girls say they're over what happened at the Tops supermarket last year. "I'm fine!" But then the shooter has his sentencing hearing, and those feelings come flooding back. When they hit the stage — they're wobbly. And argumentative. The girls and Coach Yani open up about the hard truth: where they really stand one year later.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

How do you make sense of something terrible that's happened—and move forward? From the cheer gym to the therapy office, we follow the parents, coaches and kids of Buffalo All-Star Extreme in the year after the Tops massacre. The mass shooting set back the cheerleaders' training schedule by months, and now competition is just weeks away. After everything that happened to her community, Coach Yani wants her team to win more than ever.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Ayanna Williams Gaines is the coach and founder of Buffalo All-Star Extreme, a Black competitive cheerleading and dance team from Buffalo, New York. Williams Gaines started the gym as a space for Black girls to feel safe and to thrive in the predominantly white world of cheer. But on May 14, 2022, a white supremacist came to a predominantly Black neighborhood on the east side of Buffalo and killed ten Black people at a grocery store just a few blocks away from the gym. In the wake of the massacre, feeling like a target, Williams Gaines and her cheer families are faced with the challenge of making sure their cheerleaders feel safe and confident, on and off the stage.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

What happens after a racist mass shooting in your neighborhood? On May 14, 2022, the world changed for residents of Buffalo, New York, when a white man approached the Jefferson Street Tops supermarket and started shooting. He murdered ten and injured three people, almost all Black. That same day, teenagers and children — members of a Black cheer team called BASE — were at their gym around the corner. "Buffalo Extreme" is their story: a 3-part series where NPR hands the mic to the girls, their moms and coaches as they navigate the complicated path to recovery in the year after.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Tom and Graham meet Shihab's brother in Baghdad — but he's wary. They also visit Fallujah, to find the schoolhouse and talk with people who were on the other side of the occupation. Then, finally... back to Camp Pendleton.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The team turns to Pat Tillman's family for help. Duncan Hunter the elder, and the younger, respond to NPR's questions... kind of. A breakthrough in the search for the interpreter has Tom and Graham planning a trip back to where it all began.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Tom and Graham work their way up the chain of command, looking for someone — anyone — who can explain how and why this incident was buried. One general claims he can't recall the incident. Another talks with the team at the Pentagon, then changes his story about Duncan Hunter's involvement.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

As Tom and Graham work to track down the men in the courtyard, one of the wounded Marines has long remained elusive. His former comrades wonder if he's even still alive. Eventually, with help from Carlos, the team finds David. His chilling story reflects the lingering wounds of war.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Hoping to get their hands on the official investigation, the NPR team flies to Tucson. But problems begin shortly after arrival. The widow of a man who died in the explosion wants to know why the Marine Corps lied to her. Tom and Graham want to know why the recommended punishments were overturned. The team finally confirms a crucial detail from the original tip.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The wounded are evacuated. The battle subsides. Now the men of Echo 2/1 begin to wonder: What happened? The Marine Corps says "no records exist" but Tom and Graham find testimony before an obscure Congressional subcommittee that says otherwise. The team also finds that promises made — to Congress, to the families of the dead and to wounded Marines — have been broken. And, they hear from one man who knows exactly what happened in the courtyard of that schoolhouse — but they still have to wonder, why was this covered up?Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

NPR's Pentagon Correspondent, Tom Bowman, receives a shocking tip from a trusted source: A deadly explosion during the Iraq War was an accident—friendly fire, covered up by the Marine Corps—and the son of a powerful politician may have been involved. He partners with an old pal, Graham Smith, to investigate, and they discover the truth is even worse than the tipster realized. After dozens of interviews, the team patches together the story of the First Battle of Fallujah — the days and hours before the explosion — from the men who were there.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

In our final episode of the season, we start researching the names on the secret list of 2,746 Cuban excludables. What we find confirms many of our suspicions about the arbitrariness of how the U.S. government created the list. Our reporting takes us — where else? — to Cuba, to finally track down the men on the roof and hear them tell their own stories. What had they hoped to find in this country and what had they found instead? Finally, our journey takes us to one last interview in a high rise in Vancouver, Canada, where we hear from the man who led the uprising at Talladega, and made the decision to take to the prison's roof to display banners made from bedsheets that read, Pray for Us and Please Media: Justice, Freedom, or Death. Want to hear the first episode of Embedded's next series a week before everyone else? Sign up for Embedded+ at plus.npr.org/embedded.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Hosted by NPR's Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman and Graham Smith of the Investigations unit, Taking Cover isn't just a show about the worst Marine-on-Marine friendly fire incident in modern history. It's a story of betrayal, brotherhood, and what's owed—to families, the wounded, and to the American public—when we send our young to war. Coming soon, after this week's conclusion of White Lies.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Since we began reporting this story, we've been after a list. A secret list. On it are the names of 2,746 people whom the US government deemed excludable, including the men on the roof. The government has kept this list so secret that at one point it went so far as to classify it. None of the Mariel detainees knew if their name was on the list or not. In fact, nobody knew what names were on the list. Until now. In Episode 7, the story of a list that sparked uprisings, separated families, and changed the trajectory of U.S. immigration policy. And the story of what we learned when we finally got our hands on it. Want to hear the next episode of White Lies a week before everyone else? Sign up for Embedded+ at plus.npr.org/embedded.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

In Episode 6, we sneak into the graveyard of the Atlanta federal penitentiary with a radical peace activist to learn more about what happened in the prison in late 1984. A peaceful protest by detainees held in the Atlanta pen resulted in a violent crackdown, and one of the detainees, a man named Jose Hernandez-Mesa, was charged in federal court with inciting a riot. We tell the story of his trial — and the surprising verdict that began reshaping public opinion about the Mariel Cubans who were being detained. Want to hear the next episode of White Lies a week before everyone else? Sign up for Embedded+ at plus.npr.org/embedded.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

On May 18, 1980, a man named Genaro Soroa-Gonzalez arrived in Key West from the port of Mariel. With no family waiting to sponsor him, he was sent by plane to a resettlement camp at an army base. There he was interviewed by the INS and, a few days later, he boarded another plane, this one bound for the federal prison in Atlanta. But wait - he'd committed no crime, so why was the US government detaining him? And how long could they hold him? In Episode 5, the story of Genaro Soroa-Gonzalez and the beginning of the indefinite detention of Mariel Cubans. Want to hear the next episode of White Lies a week before everyone else? Sign up for Embedded+ at plus.npr.org/embedded.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

When President Carter promised to welcome the men and women arriving on the Mariel boatlift with "an open heart and open arms," he had referred to them as refugees. But technically speaking, they weren't refugees. They were classified as entrants, an immigration status with a peculiar legal standing in the United States. While entrants are physically allowed to enter the country, legally they're still at the border, asking to come in. Their presence in the country is known as a legal fiction — specifically, the "entry fiction." So even as Cubans were disembarking boats in droves through the summer of 1980, they were officially still floating off the coast of Key West. And this immigration status followed them to where they went next: an army base in rural Arkansas. In episode 4, the curious case of the militarized border in the middle of the Ozark Mountains. Want to hear the next episode of White Lies a week before everyone else? Sign up for Embedded+ at plus.npr.org/embedded.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

During our reporting, we heard one story over and over again: that Fidel Castro had emptied his prisons to fill the boatlift. It's a story that's been told so often and with such conviction that of course it must be true, right? But what if this was more theater than history? What was happening in 1980 in Miami and throughout the country that made this story so compelling? Why did it feel so true to so many people? In Episode 3, we go to Miami to find out. Want to hear the next episode of White Lies a week before everyone else? Sign up for Embedded+ at plus.npr.org/embedded.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Note: Due to a technical error, some listeners did not hear the correct audio for Episode 2. We are re-publishing it with the corrected audio. The story of the men on the roof didn't start with that prison takeover in 1991. It didn't start when they were detained in federal prisons. And it didn't start when the government made a secret list of their names in 1984. Instead, it started in the spring of 1980, with one of the largest refugee crises in American history: the Mariel Boatlift. Want to hear the next episode of White Lies a week before everyone else? Sign up for Embedded+ at plus.npr.org/embedded.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

It all started with a photograph. A photograph from 1991 of a prison takeover in rural Alabama. A photograph of a group of men on the roof of that prison holding a bedsheet scrawled with a message: "Pray for us." In the first episode of the new season of White Lies, hosts Chip Brantley and Andrew Beck Grace go searching for answers to the questions raised by this photograph. Who were these men? What on earth had made them want to take over that prison? And what became of them after? As they search, they uncover a sprawling story: a mass exodus across the sea, a secret list, and the betrayal at the heart of this country's ideals. Want to hear the next episode of White Lies a week before everyone else? Sign up for Embedded+ at plus.npr.org/embedded.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

In 1991, a group of men took over a federal prison in rural Alabama. But these men weren't prisoners, they were immigration detainees, all of them from Cuba. And none of them were serving time for a sentence; they were being indefinitely detained. Who were these men? What in the world had brought them from Cuba to a prison in rural Alabama, and what became of them afterward? On the new season of White Lies, hosts Chip Brantley and Andrew Beck Grace set out to find the men who took over the prison and, in the process, unspool a sprawling story of a mass exodus across the sea, back-channel cold war communiques, family separation, and a secret list.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The 2022 World Cup has ended. With his left foot, Messi wrote a more spectacular finale than we could have imagined. In the final installment of The Last Cup, Jasmine Garsd reveals the magic of Argentina's first World Cup victory since 1986. This final episode of our series is mainly in English, with some Spanish. Este último capítulo está disponible en ingles, e incluye comentario en español.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Argentina has made it to the quarter finals of the 2022 World Cup, but the road has been a winding one. In our bonus episode, we take a moment to reflect on the scores and stumbles of the qualifying rounds, and speculate on what's to come for our hero, Lionel Messi. Host Jasmine Garsd discusses Argentina's anxiety with producer Julieta Martinelli and sports reporter Fidel Martinez. The Latinx Files is a weekly newsletter written by Fidel Martinez about the American Latinx experience. Julieta Martinelli is a Senior Producer at Futuro Media, where she also produced the Pultizer Prize-winning podcast Suave.The Last Cup is a dual language limited series from NPR and Futuro Studios. Listen to the Spanish versions here.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

After a falling-out with the Argentine national team and a shaky reconciliation, Messi eventually finds his way back to play at the 2021 Copa America for yet another chance at redemption. And then it's on to Qatar for the 2022 World Cup, his last shot at the most coveted trophy. In the final chapter of Lionel Messi's journey, we catch up to the present. Our host Jasmine Garsd reflects on what a win would mean for Messi and for Argentina - and what it really takes to come home. The Last Cup is a dual language limited series from NPR and Futuro Studios. Listen to the Spanish versions here.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

With the disappointment of the 2010 World Cup behind them, Argentines are hopeful that Lionel Messi might break their losing streak at the 2011 Copa America, the largest tournament in South America. Messi is prepared to give his all, looking for a way to deliver a victory for his home country. Meanwhile, host Jasmine Garsd makes the long journey back to Argentina after many years away and faces an unexpected tragedy. The Last Cup is a dual language limited series from NPR and Futuro Studios. All episodes will be released in English and Spanish. Listen to the Spanish versions here.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Lionel Messi finally gets a chance to put on Argentina's national jersey, but something is off. His time abroad has fundamentally changed the way he plays. Things get even more complicated when the Argentine soccer legend, Diego Maradona, becomes coach of Messi's 2010 World Cup team. With Messi under increasing scrutiny, the hometown crowd begins to question if he can ever get out from under Maradona's shadow. The Last Cup is a dual language limited series from NPR and Futuro Studios. All episodes will be released in English and Spanish. Listen to the Spanish versions here.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

From his earliest goals on the soccer fields of his hometown in Argentina to his arrival in Spain's Barça Football Club, host Jasmine Garsd follows the journey of a gifted kid who would go on to become one of the best. In Argentina, where the national sport is a fierce obsession, Lionel Messi was the one that got away.As Garsd retraces Messi's early career, she examines the consequences of Argentina's devastating economic crisis of 2001, how it shaped Messi's path, and what it meant for her own life.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

NPR and Futuro Studios present The Last Cup, a podcast series about soccer and the immigrant experience.As Lionel Messi rose up the ranks of the storied Barça football club in Spain, he dreamed of winning a World Cup for his home country. But playing with Argentina's national team has proven to be this soccer superman's kryptonite. For most of his career, Messi has wrestled with the disappointment of the home crowd after each devastating World Cup loss. Over time, his connection to his own country has been questioned after spending time abroad. What can Messi's story tell us about the cost of leaving home, and the struggle to return? The Last Cup is a dual language limited series. All episodes will be released in English and Spanish. Listen to the Spanish versions here. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The series concludes: we check back in with John Mueller after his resignation as head of the Yonkers Police Department. And we consider what his departure means for police reform efforts in the city at a time when tensions between police and some members of the community remain high.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

In Yonkers, as in the rest of the country, a substantial number of police calls involve situations where someone is having a mental health crisis. But are cops the right people to answer those calls? A growing number of cities across the country think the answer might be "No." Some have launched crisis response programs that offer alternatives to the police for non-violent mental health emergencies. But in Yonkers, for now, the police still handle these calls. In this episode, Embedded, along with its series partner, The Marshall Project, looks at what happens when the police are the only option people have. And we ask: when it comes to how much the police "police," is less more?Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Every four years, the Yonkers Police Department starts the process of hiring new officers. This time, the department is specifically recruiting people of color through a program known as "Be The Change." Of course in Yonkers, there are plenty of Black people who don't feel it's up to them to "change" a department that has a long history of misconduct. But there's also a strong community of Black officers who question whether reform is possible until the Yonkers Police more accurately reflect the community they serves. In this episode, Embedded, in partnership with the Marshall Project, explores why there are so few officers of color on the Yonkers police force and why even those who've made it onto the force often feel the odds are stacked against them.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

For a long time, the police department in Yonkers, New York had a reputation as overly aggressive, especially when it came to policing the poorer parts of the city. There were lots of stories of "bad apples"-police officers who allegedly roughed people up or planted drugs during random stops and arrests. Eventually, the U.S. Department of Justice stepped in to investigate. Now the Yonkers Police Department says it is transforming. With the help of a progressive police chief, it has adopted new policies and procedures to minimize force and make the police more accountable to the public. As Embedded, in partnership with The Marshall Project, continues its look at police reform in one American city, we confront a question many of those who say they were mistreated by the police have raised: is it enough? For some alleged victims the answer is clear: there can never be real reform until the police have fully accounted for the wrongs of the past.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Episode 1 takes listeners to Yonkers, New York, a city with a long and ugly history of bad policing. The Justice Department has demanded an overhaul of the department and has been monitoring it for more than a decade. The commissioner in Yonkers has promised to do what the feds want and more. He has promised to "reform" policing in Yonkers and turn his officers into guardians of the community, accountable to its citizens. Can it be done and what does this kind of reform even look like?Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

In a new multi-part series, Embedded listeners will get to know the Yonkers Police Department, located just outside New York City. For over a decade, the department has been monitored by the federal government because of its history of misconduct. A new generation of leaders say they are fixing what's been broken in Yonkers and will soon finish the reform process. But what does this really mean and how will it change things?Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Part 5: There's one important part of the newspaper's story we couldn't bring you until now: what it's like to have their attacker stand trial. And the unexpected ways that trial can affect you. Plus a big update about the newspaper itself.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

One of the first police shootings to be captured on cell phone, millions saw Bay Area Rapid Transit police Officer Johannes Mehserle fire a single, fatal gunshot into Oscar Grant's back as the 22-year-old lay face down on the train station platform. Now, a lawsuit filed by NPR member station KQED has forced BART to comply with California's 2019 police transparency law, and release never-before-heard tapes from inside that investigation.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Fellow officers long suspected a veteran detective in Antioch, Calif., was leaking operational police secrets to a drug dealer. For years, the department didn't act on their concerns. Even after the detective was finally fired in 2017, his record remained secret. In episode six of On Our Watch we look at the incentives departments have to investigate dishonest cops and what the secrecy around police misconduct means for criminal defendants who are prosecuted on their testimony.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

An officer is repeatedly disciplined for not turning in his police reports on time. A mom goes to the police asking for help with her missing daughters. In the fifth episode of On Our Watch, we look at what can happen when police don't follow through on reports of victimization, and an accountability process that doesn't want to examine those failures.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

A 16-year-old Black kid walks into a gas station in Stockton, Calif. to buy gummy worms for his little sister. When the teen gets in an argument with the clerk over a damaged dollar bill, a white officer in plainclothes decides to intervene — with force. In the fourth episode of On Our Watch, we trace the ripple effects of this incident over the next 10 years in a department trying to address racism and bias. But can the chief's efforts at truth and reconciliation work when the accountability process seems to ignore the truth?Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

After his son is shot and killed by a Richmond, Calif. police officer, a father looking for answers becomes a police transparency advocate. When the files about his son's death are released, they show an accountability system that seems to hang on one question: did the officer fear for their life? And in a rare interview, we hear from the officer who pulled the trigger.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

A police officer in Los Angeles told women he'd let their cars pass inspection if they had sex with him. In the San Francisco, Bay Area, another woman says an officer used police resources to harass and stalk her. The California Highway Patrol quietly fired both men for sexual harassment, but never looked into whether their misconduct was criminal. The second episode of the NPR series On Our Watch examines the system of accountability for officers who abuse their power for sex and exposes where that system falls short.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

In the small Northern California town of Rio Vista, a woman named Katheryn Jenks calls 911 for help. But after the police arrive, she ends up injured and inside a jail cell, facing serious charges. That same day, California Governor Jerry Brown signs a new law, State Senate Bill 1421, that opens up long hidden records of police misconduct, including files that might change the outcome of Jenks' case. This story is from the new NPR series, On Our Watch.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Part 4: In our final episode, the Capital Gazette is swept up in the troubles of the newspaper industry. Its corporate owners are making painful cuts, and a hedge fund with an ominous reputation seeks control. Staff members, who survived the 2018 shooting and kept the Capital going, wonder if the paper can last.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Part 3: The Capital Gazette takes on a new beat: itself. As the shooter's case works its way towards trial, the staff tries to balance coverage obligations with personal feelings. Here is Capital photographer Paul Gillespie's stunning collection of photographs of the newspaper's staff and the families of the victims.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Part 2: How do you try to return to normal after a mass shooting? The Capital Gazette moves into a tiny, temporary office, and staff members confront the challenges of producing a daily paper while dealing with fear and guilt.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Part 1: Five colleagues are shot dead. Everyone is traumatized. On that day, June 28, 2018, what can the remaining staff of the Capital Gazette do that might make a difference? Publish "a damn paper."Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

In a new four-part series, Embedded listeners will get to know the surviving staff of The Capital Gazette newspaper in Annapolis, MD, where a gunman murdered five people in June 2018.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

You may have seen fragments of footage from the siege on the Capitol. Now, hear from those who lived it.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Mitch McConnell has consistently rejected the rules and norms that once guided Supreme Court nominations. He says he's taken his cue from the Democrats. This week, we dig into the history that shaped Mitch McConnell's views on judicial nominations.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Embedded heads to the U.S. Senate for an in-depth conversation with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

This week, Embedded takes a look at how Mitch McConnell managed four years of the Trump Presidency with shrewdness and surprising success.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

A lot of us don't pay much attention to money in politics. But Mitch McConnell does. And unlike most politicians, he speaks bluntly in favor of more political spending, not less. That stance led to a long battle with one Senator, who fought McConnell harder than just about anyone else.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Mitch McConnell has no problem with money in politics. In fact, his view is the more the better. This week, Embedded digs into Mitch McConnell's long and singularly focused effort to keep the money pipeline open and flowing into American politics.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

What is it about Mitch? How did a politician famous for his lack of charisma become one of the most powerful men in Washington? This week, we continue our deep dive into the world of Mitch McConnell, looking back on his early years as an up-and-coming politician.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

It looks very likely President-elect Joe Biden and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will be "Washington's new power couple." What do their non-relationship in the Senate, their negotiations during the Obama administration, and their warm speeches over the years tell us about how they will or won't work together under a Biden presidency?Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

A new NPR podcast delves into a world where the NRA is viewed as too soft on guns and where a new network of more extreme pro-gun groups is on the rise. We hear a preview of NPR's "No Compromise" podcast.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

For weeks and weeks, when millions of Americans were still under lockdown, there were pretty clear rules about what to do. Now that things are opening up, many people are having to decide for themselves what's safe and what risks they're willing to take.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The workers who produce pork, chicken, and beef in plants around the country have been deemed "essential" by the government and their employers. Now, the factories where they work have become some of the largest clusters for the coronavirus in the country. The workers, many of whom are immigrants, say their bosses have not done enough to protect them.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

A small but vocal minority of people are pushing back against public health measures experts say are life-saving. Turns out this is not the first time Americans have resisted government measures during a pandemic with lives at stake.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Amid a pandemic: couples getting together, staying together, falling apart. Reach out if you want to tell your story of the pandemic. Send us a voice memo to embedded@npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

What do you get when you have a deadly virus, fear, uncertainty and not enough tests? ... Also, we want to hear from you. If you or someone you know has tried to get anything calling itself an at home coronavirus test, write to reporter Tom Dreisbach (tdreisbach@npr.org or on Twitter @TomDreisbach). We also want to honor the people who've been lost to this virus. If you or someone you know has lost someone to covid-19 please reach out and tell us their story. Send us a voice memo or write us an email at embedded@npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

We're putting together episodes about this virus and we want to hear from you. You can send us a voice memo or an email to embedded@npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

When a flash flood ripped through Old Ellicott City in Maryland, residents thought it was a freak occurrence. Instead, it was a sign of the future. And adapting to that future has been painful. To see photos from Ellicott city and video from the floods, go to npr.org/flooded.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

When a student starts down the path towards racist extremism, there's no set plan for how a school should respond. But teachers and fellow students are often the first to spot the warning signs. So what can they do?Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Frazier Glenn Miller spent years spreading racist, violent rhetoric, training Ku Klux Klan-affiliated paramilitary groups, and gathering arms to launch a "race war." But time and again, he escaped serious consequences. Many say that's because the government - and the media - failed to see the danger Miller posed until it was too late.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

As the summer winds down, we're taking a look at the latest developments in two of our recent series. What's the story behind #MoscowMitch? And why have Kentucky coal miners been camped out on a set of train tracks for more than a month?Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

There are more than 30,000 state judges in America. And the vast, vast majority of them are not shielded from politics: They have to fight for their seats in elections. Sometimes very contentious elections, funded by millions of dollars in dark money. Is that a good idea? And what does it mean for how justice works in our country?Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The U.S. Supreme Court does not have an army to enforce its rulings, the way the President does. It doesn't control budgets, the way Congress does. So what happens when the process to nominate and confirm judges becomes so politicized that people start to lose faith in the courts?Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Mitch McConnell knows that he is not popular. But, he says, the only judgment that really matters is on election day. And of the people who have challenged him, he says, "so far, there have been nine losers."Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Mitch McConnell says he never expected Donald Trump to become president. And during the campaign, he was openly critical of Trump's rhetoric. So how are these two very different men working together now? And how are they changing the country?Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Mitch McConnell continues his rivalry with John McCain, and dramatically changes the role of money in American politics.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

A lot of us don't pay much attention to money in politics. But Mitch McConnell does. And unlike most politicians, he speaks bluntly in favor of more political spending, not less. That stance led to a long battle with one Senator, who fought McConnell harder than just about anyone else.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Mitch McConnell has been described as "opaque," "drab," and even "dull." He is one of the least popular - and most polarizing - politicians in the country. So how did he win eight consecutive elections? And what does it tell us about how he operates?Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Coming soon from NPR's Embedded: How did Mitch McConnell become one of the most powerful people in the world? And how did he change America in the process? Episodes available beginning May 30, 2019.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

In 2015, Bashir Shikder returned from an overseas trip to an empty house. His wife had taken his two young children to live in the Islamic State. For the past four years he's done everything he can to try to get them back. And now that ISIS has lost all his territory, he wants to know... Where are they?Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

How It Ends: JudgmentLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

What would you do if your brother wound up far away, having made a terrible mistake? What would you do if it involved ISIS? How far would you go? On today's show, we find out.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Now that ISIS has lost its territory, what happens to all the people from around the world who ran off to join it? Their governments don't want them. But their families do. We follow them as they try to get their loved ones out.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

For months, officials claimed fewer than 100 people died from Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. Then, all of a sudden, the official estimate rose to nearly 3,000 deaths. How did that happen? We have the story of one family that helps make sense of it.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

This is a story about who is allowed to vote... and who is not. In Florida, the ultimate swing state, 1.5 million people cannot vote, because they have a past felony on their record. And there is one way to try and get that right back: Ask the governor directly.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Omarosa Manigault Newman has a new book. What about those tapes? We re-visit an episode from our "Trump Stories" season.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

President Trump's travel ban has been upheld by the Supreme Court. People from the seven banned countries can still come to the U.S. if they get a special "waiver." So far, few people have gotten them. We follow one Yemeni family as they try to get a waiver to escape a civil war. Supreme Court audio in this episode comes from Oyez.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

From 2011-2013, Kelly covered the war in Syria, where people would ask, "Why won't the U.S. intervene?" Then came a chemical attack, ordered by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, that killed more than 1,000 people, and the U.S. almost intervened, but didn't. Now, a new book tells why.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Police shoot the wrong guy. A collaboration with WNYC Studios and their podcast Aftereffect.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

This week, an episode from NPR's Rough Translation podcast.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

It's been a year and a half. Gary, Kyle, and Brad move on.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

We meet someone new. Derek.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

It's not all about Trump. Kyle makes progress. Gary has decisions to make. Brad makes a change.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

After the election. The price of a certain kind of coal goes up. People's lives start changing. Some think it's because of Trump.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The "war on coal." Getting Appalachia wrong. Which side are you on? What it's like to live a decline.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Starts May 3.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

As Donald Trump's EPA Administrator, Scott Pruitt is popular with conservatives for his aggressive rollback of Obama-era environmental regulations. He has also been strongly criticized for alleged ethics violations. But there's another side of Pruitt that's less well known. Pruitt is a Southern Baptist, and for years, his politics focused on faith-based issues like abortion and religious freedom. Pruitt has publicly said he doubts the science behind the theory of evolution. In this episode, we examine how Pruitt's faith informs his views on the environment, and how he handled a major pollution case in Oklahoma. Follow us on Twitter @NPREmbedded and @kellymcevers, and follow the reporters for this episode: @TomDreisbach and @JoeWertz. (Supreme Court audio in this episode comes from Oyez.)Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Embedded tells the story of another part of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation--the question of whether President Trump may have obstructed justice by attempting to thwart the Russia investigation. It's a crime that could have been committed regardless of whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia in the 2016 election.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Embedded tells the story of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. What contacts did people in Trump campaign have with Russia? What financial and business ties has President Trump had with Russia over the years? And what more can we expect from the investigation? Through new interviews, archival research, and a look at key moments — from Miss Universe in Moscow, to hacked emails and promises of "dirt" — Embedded pieces together the story that defined the first year of the Trump White House.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

NPR's Embedded tells the story of the investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller of President Donald Trump.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

As a businessman, President Trump was known for his towering buildings. Today we tell the story of one of those skyscrapers and what it says about how and with whom Trump does business. Follow Kelly McEvers on Twitter @kellymcevers, Alina Selyukh @alinaselyukh, @JimZarroli, Chris Benderev @cbndrv, Tom Dreisbach @TomDreisbach, and the show @nprembedded. Email us at embedded@npr.orgLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Jared Kushner has taken on a lot of responsibilities in the Trump White House, from tackling the opioid crisis to negotiating Middle East peace. But like many members of the administration, he has no previous government experience. In this episode, we examine Kushner's business dealings and his family's history to better understand how he might handle his government work. Follow Kelly McEvers on Twitter @kellymcevers, Chris Benderev @cbndrv, Tom Dreisbach @TomDreisbach, and the show @nprembedded. Email us at embedded@npr.orgLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Now that Steve Bannon has left the Trump Administration, he says he is waging #war against the Republican establishment in the name of populist nationalism. But before he got involved in politics, Bannon spent decades in Hollywood, and his time there can tell us a lot about the origins of his beliefs. Follow Kelly McEvers on Twitter @kellymcevers, Tom Dreisbach @TomDreisbach, and Chris Benderev @cbndrv. Email us at embedded@npr.org and find us on Twitter @nprembedded.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

When Donald Trump came to Rancho Palos Verdes in Southern California in 2002, he was greeted as a "white knight." Trump was buying a golf club that had gone into bankruptcy when the 18th hole had literally fallen into the ocean. But what followed was a decade of public insults, lawsuits, and broken rules. Follow Kelly McEvers on Twitter @kellymcevers, Sonari Glinton @Sonari, and Embedded producers Tom Dreisbach @TomDreisbach and Chris Benderev @cbndrv. Email us at embedded@npr.org and find us on Twitter @nprembedded.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

13 years ago, one TV show changed how the world saw Donald Trump. Today, the story of how it became a hit, why it may have helped his eventual election and how the people involved feel about it now. Follow Kelly McEvers @kellymcevers and producers @TomDreisbach and @cbndrv. Email us at embedded@npr.orgLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

NPR's Embedded takes a story from the news and goes deep. And in a new series of episodes, host Kelly McEvers tells the inside stories of what Donald Trump and members of his administration were doing before they got into politics - from a new kind of reality show, to the troubled development of a golf course, to the Hollywood background of a presidential adviser. Subscribe now to hear the latest episodes beginning October 5. Have story ideas or tips? Email us at embedded@npr.org and find us on Twitter @nprembeddedLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

On April 16, 2015, police officer Jesse Kidder encountered a murder suspect named Michael Wilcox in a suburb outside of Cincinnati, Ohio. What happened next was caught on video and surprised a lot of people, including police. And the incident tells us a lot about how these videos have changed us. Follow us on Twitter @nprembedded, follow Kelly McEvers @kellymcevers, and producer Tom Dreisbach @TomDreisbach. Email us at embedded@npr.orgLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

On Dec. 28, 2014, Robert "Bobby" Smith shot police officer Tyler Stewart and himself in Flagstaff, Arizona. The video of that shooting has since taken on a life of its own. Police use it to talk about the dangers they face every day. Other people see it as a painful loop that will never stop playing. Follow Kelly McEvers and the show on Twitter @kellymcevers and @nprembedded. Email us at embedded@npr.orgLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

On Sept. 14, 2013, Jonathan Ferrell was shot and killed by a police officer named Randall "Wes" Kerrick in Charlotte, North Carolina. Like a lot of recent police shootings, much of what we know about what happened comes from a video. But the way you see that video depends on who you are. Follow the show @NPREmbedded on Twitter, and follow our host @kellymcevers, and producers @cbndrv, @tomdreisbach, and @jonathanihirsch. Email us at embedded@npr.orgLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

So often, it seems like there's a new video of a deadly police encounter in the news. But those videos only tell us part of the story. Embedded is back March 9, and we'll have three episodes that each tell the story of a different video. We'll find out what happened before, during and after. And we'll explore what that tells us about policing in America.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Kelly's here for a quick assurance: Yes we are working on more episodes at this very moment, and we'll tell you more as soon as we can. But in the meantime, check us out LIVE on stage in Anaheim, CA on Saturday October 29th at the Now Hear This Podcast Festival. There'll be tons of other great podcasts there all weekend long: Pop Culture Happy Hour, How I Built This, The Moth, WTF with Marc Maron, The Gist, Criminal and much more. Get tickets and more info at nowhearthisfest.com.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

It's happening all across the country, for complicated reasons: Schools are closing. And this is disproportionately affecting poor, black students. Shereen Marisol Meraji and Chris Benderev go to Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania to ask kids, parents, and teachers what it's like when the neighborhood school that's been there for more than a century is about to shut down. Follow Kelly McEvers @KellyMcEvers, Shereen Marisol Meraji @RadioMirage, and Chris Benderev @cbndrv. Email us at Embedded@npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Reporter Rebecca Hersher spent three months in Greenland trying to understand why that country has the highest suicide rate in the world. And then, the story came to her. Follow Kelly McEvers on Twitter @KellyMcEvers and Rebecca Hersher @rhersher. Email us at Embedded@npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Medicins Sans Frontieres is also known as MSF, or Doctors Without Borders. They are the first ones to arrive when there's a war, an earthquake, an outbreak, or a famine. And increasingly, they are coming under attack. We spend a week inside one MSF hospital in South Sudan to find out what life is like for the people who do this work. Follow Kelly McEvers on Twitter @KellyMcEvers and Jason Beaubien @jasonbnpr. Email us at embedded@npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

When you play basketball in the NBA's minor league – it's called the D-League — the stands aren't full, the schedule is grueling, and the pay can be as low as $13,000 a year. Compare that to the NBA, where the profile is high and the salary is way higher. Playing in the D-League is a moonshot for every player, just waiting to get that call-up to the NBA. We follow two players through the highs and lows of an entire D-League season. You can follow Kelly McEvers on Twitter @KellyMcEvers, Uri Berliner @uberliner and Tom Goldman @TomGoldmanNPR. You can email us at Embedded@npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

A dispatch from Embedded HQ. Follow Kelly on Twitter @KellyMcEvers. Email us at embedded@npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

We go back to Austin, Indiana to see how Joy, the nurse from our first episode, is dealing with her addiction to a painkiller called Opana. Follow Kelly McEvers on Twitter @KellyMcEvers. Email us at embedded@npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

On its face, the immigration system can look a lot like the criminal justice system: prisons, courts, judges, prosecutors. But the rules are different and the details are often hard to access. Today we go inside an immigration courtroom to follow the story of one man and his family. Follow Kelly McEvers @KellyMcEvers. Follow Caitlin Dickerson @itscaitlinhd. Email us at embedded@npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

On Skid Row in Los Angeles, where thousands of poor, homeless people live — many of them black — questions of how police should use force and interact with people come up all the time. We embed with both the police and the locals after the police shot and killed an unarmed black man. And we see what police tactics, from glad-handing to tough love, look like up close. Follow Kelly McEvers on Twitter @kellymcevers and Tom Dreisbach @TomDreisbach. Email us at embedded@npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

El Salvador is the murder capital of the world, by many estimates. It has the highest homicide rate anywhere outside of war zones. The reason? Violent street gangs, exported from the U.S. We spend 24 hours in the capital city, San Salvador, when the gangs try to flex their muscle like never before. Follow Kelly McEvers on Twitter @kellymcevers. Email us at embedded@npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

A shootout last year in Waco, Texas between rival biker groups the Cossacks and the Bandidos ended with nine people dead, 20 injured, and a lot of questions. Hear bikers give eyewitness accounts of the shootout and their predictions for what's next in this "war." Find Kelly McEvers on Twitter @kellymcevers. Email us at embedded@npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Meet the people inside a house at the center of an HIV outbreak in Indiana. Find Kelly McEvers on Twitter @kellymcevers. Email us at embedded@npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Here's a preview of what's coming up on Embedded, a new show from NPR hosted by Kelly McEvers. Each episode we'll pick a story from the news that might seem far away, and take you deep into the place where it's happening. Subscribe now.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy