-
1 week ago | 
wrvo.org | Rund Abdelfatah |Ramtin Arablouei |Casey Miner |Julie Caine
Abortion wasn't always controversial. In fact, in colonial America it would have been considered a fairly common practice: a private decision made by women, and aided mostly by midwives. But in the mid-1800s, a small group of physicians set out to change that. Obstetrics was a new field, and they wanted it to be their domain—meaning, the domain of men and medicine.
-
3 weeks ago | 
wrvo.org | Rund Abdelfatah |Ramtin Arablouei |Lawrence Wu |Julie Caine
From Social Security and the minimum wage to exit signs and fire escapes, Frances Perkins transformed how people in the U.S. lived and worked. Today on the show: how a middle class do-gooder became one of the savviest and most powerful people in American politics — and built the social safety net we have today. Guests:Kirstin Downey, author of The Woman Behind the New DealStephanie Dray,author of
-
1 month ago | 
wrvo.org | Rund Abdelfatah |Ramtin Arablouei |Julie Caine |Lawrence Wu
Gangsters, banksters, and politicians. Today on the show, how the hunt for Al Capone helped turn the IRS into one of the U.S. government's most powerful tools — and most effective weapons. Guests:Joe Thorndike, historian for Tax Analysts and author of Their Fair Share: Taxing the Rich in the Age of FDR. Paul Camacho, retired special agent for the IRS Criminal Investigation Division and member of the board of directors at the Mob Museum in Las Vegas.
-
1 month ago | 
npr.org | Rund Abdelfatah |Ramtin Arablouei |Julie Caine |Lawrence Wu |Devin Katayama |Cristina Kim | +2 more
Your Opt Out Preference Signal is HonoredManage PreferencesWe process your data to deliver content or advertisements and measure the delivery of such content or advertisements to extract insights about our website. We share this information with our partners on the basis of consent and legitimate interest. You may exercise your right to consent or object to a legitimate interest, based on a specific purpose below or at a partner level in the link under each purpose.
-
1 month ago | 
npr.org | Rund Abdelfatah |Ramtin Arablouei |Anya Steinberg |Cristina Kim |Casey Miner |Julie Caine | +2 more
California's 'Bum Blockade' Download Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1249919763/1269278090" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> The story of the Los Angeles police chief who, faced with one of the largest internal migrations in American history, tried to close California's borders to stop it. Guests Bill Lascher, author of The Golden Fortress: California's Border War on Dust Bowl Refugees.
-
1 month ago | 
wrvo.org | Ramtin Arablouei |Rund Abdelfatah |Cristina Kim |Julie Caine
Baby bonuses, childless cat ladies: the rhetoric around motherhood is politically charged right now. And the fantasy of an ideal mother remains powerful, even as real-life parents struggle to reconcile its demands. Today on the show, three myths of motherhood, and the people who have fought to break them down. This episode originally ran in 2023 as The Labor of Love.
-
1 month ago | 
npr.org | Ramtin Arablouei |Rund Abdelfatah |Cristina Kim |Julie Caine |Casey Miner |Anya Steinberg | +4 more
Baby bonuses, childless cat ladies: the rhetoric around motherhood is politically charged right now. And the fantasy of an ideal mother remains powerful, even as real-life parents struggle to reconcile its demands. Today on the show, three myths of motherhood, and the people who have fought to break them down. This episode originally ran in 2023 as The Labor of Love.
-
2 months ago | 
wrvo.org | Ramtin Arablouei |Rund Abdelfatah |Julie Caine |Cristina Kim
When James Garfield won the Presidency in 1880, Charles Guiteau got ready to accept his new government job. No one had actually offered him a job – but he'd campaigned for Garfield, so he assumed he'd be rewarded. That was the spoils system, and it was how the government worked. But President Garfield didn't hire him. Guiteau was furious. And on July 2, 1881, he followed Garfield to a Washington D.C. train station and shot him.
-
2 months ago | 
npr.org | Ramtin Arablouei |Rund Abdelfatah |Julie Caine |Cristina Kim |Lawrence Wu |Devin Katayama | +2 more
The Deadly Story of the U.S. Civil Service Download Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1246832478/1269205844" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Hulton Archive/Getty Images Hulton Archive/Getty Images When James Garfield won the Presidency in 1880, Charles Guiteau got ready to accept his new government job.
-
2 months ago | 
npr.org | Rund Abdelfatah |Ramtin Arablouei |Lawrence Wu |Julie Caine |Casey Miner |Cristina Kim | +2 more
In March 2025, President Trump issued an executive order invoking a centuries-old law: the Alien Enemies Act. The Act allows a president to detain or deport citizens of foreign adversaries to the United States, but only in the case of a "declared war" or "invasion." Now, the Trump administration and the courts are locked in a battle over whether the president's use of the Act, under which people have already been deported, is legal.
