Nation Dec 21 What’s behind the sharp rise in murders across the U.S.? Murders across the U.S. have skyrocketed in 2020, while nonviolent offenses have largely dropped, according to publicly available crime data. But efforts to curb homicides come at a time when police departments are facing both staffing shortages because of the…
Nation Dec 07 Free from prison after 23 years, but facing new challenges during the pandemic The coronavirus pandemic has upended the lives of all Americans but it’s been especially hard on individuals known as returning citizens -- formerly incarcerated men and women who are re-entering society. William Brangham has the story of one man in…
Politics Nov 23 A grandmother, a granddaughter and a deep post-election divide After a bruising election, one President Donald Trump has so far refused to concede, Americans are left trying to repair divides that are deeper and more personal than ever. In this episode, PBS NewsHour correspondent William Brangham speaks to a…
Nation Sep 10 Residents face harrowing escape from ‘unprecedented’ western wildfires Wildfires are sweeping across more of the West Coast, with no relief in sight. Dozens of fires have wiped out small towns and destroyed hundreds of homes in Oregon, Washington state and Northern California. At least eight people have been…
Health Sep 10 Could the pandemic change addiction medicine for the better? For many Americans facing addiction, the pandemic has made life significantly harder. Across the country, overdoses have soared, with more than 40 states reporting increases in opioid-related mortality. But the coronavirus is also changing how addiction medicine can be provided,…
Nation Aug 28 A new March on Washington through the eyes of Black families — including Jacob Blake’s Thousands of people gathered on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. on Friday to commemorate the iconic 1963 March on Washington -- and to communicate a message of their own, calling for an end to the killing of Black Americans…
Politics Aug 21 What happened when Democrats threw an all-virtual convention It's official: Joe Biden is now the Democratic nominee for president. But there was no confetti, no balloon drop, no applause or even a crowd. The pandemic-era four-day convention was all-virtual -- which meant no chance to sell a vision…
Health Jul 22 How the pandemic is complicating America’s addiction crisis According to preliminary data, drug overdoses killed nearly 72,000 Americans in 2019, a record high. Now, it appears that 2020 is on track to be even worse, as the U.S. has witnessed a startling rise in overdoses during the pandemic.
Nation Jun 29 Why police unions are so powerful – and what that means for reform Police unions are under the microscope like never before. Though police unions play a critical role in protecting officers rights, experts say they can also block reform and prevent officers from being held accountable in cases of misconduct. In this…
Science Jun 15 Meet people volunteering to be exposed to COVID-19 for vaccine research As the world anxiously awaits development of a vaccine for COVID-19, new and controversial research measures are being considered for the first time. These include the possibility of deliberately exposing volunteers to the disease to see if they are infected.