Consider This from NPR

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is butting heads with Democratic Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona again — this time, over Kelly’s recent statements that the U.S. is depleting its weapons supply in this war with Iran.

Secretary Hegseth says that in discussing information from Pentagon briefings, Senator Kelly violated protocol. 

But the back-and-forth does raise the question: What's the status of the Pentagon's weapons stockpile amid the war with Iran? 

Barbara Starr, former CNN Pentagon correspondent and current senior fellow at the The USC Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership & Policy, provides insight.

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This episode was produced by Lauren Hodges, with audio engineering by Hannah Gluvna.

It was edited by Courtney Dorning and Tinbete Ermyas.

Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.

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Flying discs, metallic orbs, and a mysterious cylinder tumbling past the Apollo spacecraft. Those are just a few of the unidentified anomalous phenomena, or UAP, contained in a batch of government files the Department of Defense released this month. 

The DoD report, coming on President Trump’s orders, is another step towards the federal government taking the question of UAPs more seriously. But how much of this is really new – and what more can we learn from the files?

Astrophysicist Adam Frank of the University of Rochester, who’s involved in the search for intelligent life elsewhere in the universe, weighs in on this new trove of ‘alien files.’

For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. 

Email us at [email protected]. 

This episode was produced by Gabe Sanchez and Jordan-Marie Smith, with audio engineering by Damian Herring. 

It was edited by Christopher Intagliata and Courtney Dorning. 

Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.

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President Trump promised Americans, fair, equal and impartial justice…is that what he’s delivering?

President Trump campaigned on a promise to undo the levers of the justice system that he said were weaponized against him.

His administration has gutted the Justice Department unit that investigates and prosecutes public corruption.

But since the beginning of Trump’s second term investigations into corrupt public officials have dropped nearly 90 percent.

Meanwhile, pardons of officials convicted of corruption have risen. 

For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at [email protected].
It was edited by Kelsey Snell, Jeanette Woods and Courtney Dorning. 

Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.

  

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Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last year, for her work to promote democracy in her country.

Many Venezuelans expected Machado would eventually become their president once authoritarian ruler Nicolas Maduro was ousted from power. But Maduro has been out of power and in a U.S. prison since January, and Machado is still on the outside looking in. Host Mary Louise Kelly spoke with Maria Corina Machado about her plans to return to Venezuela, her relationship with President Trump and the burden Machado’s political career has placed on her own family.

This conversation is part of NPR’s Newsmakers video podcast series. For more, follow or subscribe to Newsmakers on Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you watch or listen. You can also find the show in the NPR app. 

For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at [email protected].

This episode was produced by Alejandra Marquez Janse, with
audio engineering by Tiffany Vera Castro, David Greenburg, and Robert Rodriguez. It was edited by William Troop and Courtney Dorning. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.

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China’s nuclear weapons capabilities are small compared to that of Russia and the U.S. However, China has been expanding its nuclear arsenal under the leadership of Xi Jinping, doubling in size in just the last decade. 

NPR's Emily Feng explains the current state of China's nuclear program and why the country is seeking to further develop it. 

For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. 

Email us at [email protected].

This episode was produced by Daniel Ofman.

It was edited by Hannah Bloch, Sarah Robbins and Michael Levitt.

Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.

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