Episodes
Essential Mitch: The Money, Part 1
Nov 24 2020
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.
Essential Mitch: The Early Years
Nov 18 2020
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.
Essential Mitch: The Relationship
Nov 11 2020
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?
Not On the Same Team
Sep 23 2020
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.
Covering Covid: Life After Lockdown
Jun 10 2020
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.
Covering Covid: Essential
May 08 2020
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.
Covering Covid: Backlash
May 03 2020
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.
Covering Covid: Couples
Apr 18 2020
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.
Covering Covid: Not Enough Tests
Apr 04 2020
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 ...more
Covering Coronavirus
Mar 25 2020
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.
There Is No Playbook
Dec 19 2019
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.
This Is Not A Joke
Nov 07 2019
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?
The Terrorist
Oct 31 2019
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.
End Of Summer Update
Sep 05 2019
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?
Judges 2: 'Worse Than Willie Horton'
Aug 01 2019
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?
Judges 1: 'A Downward Death Spiral'
Jul 26 2019
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?
Mitch Part 5: '9 And 0'
Jun 27 2019
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."
Mitch Part 4: 'Not A Happy Choice'
Jun 21 2019
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?
Mitch Part 3: 'Darth Vader Has Arrived'
Jun 13 2019
Mitch McConnell continues his rivalry with John McCain, and dramatically changes the role of money in American politics.
Mitch Part 2: 'Money Money Money'
Jun 06 2019
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.
Mitch Part 1: 'Win This Thing'
May 30 2019
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?
Coming Soon: Mitch
May 23 2019
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.
How It Ends: The Search
Apr 18 2019
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?
How It Ends: Judgment
Apr 11 2019
How It Ends: Judgment
How It Ends: The Brother
Apr 06 2019
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.
Coming Next Week: How It Ends
Mar 28 2019
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.
After The Storm
Feb 21 2019
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.
The Hearing
Nov 01 2018
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.
Trump Stories: The Apprentice
Aug 17 2018
Omarosa Manigault Newman has a new book. What about those tapes? We re-visit an episode from our "Trump Stories" season.
The Waiver
Jul 04 2018
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.
The Red Line
Jun 27 2018
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.
Police Videos: North Miami
Jun 21 2018
Police shoot the wrong guy. A collaboration with WNYC Studios and their podcast Aftereffect.
The Apology Broker
Jun 14 2018
This week, an episode from NPR's Rough Translation podcast.
Coal Stories 5
Jun 01 2018
It's been a year and a half. Gary, Kyle, and Brad move on.
Coal Stories 4
May 25 2018
We meet someone new. Derek.
Coal Stories 3
May 17 2018
It's not all about Trump. Kyle makes progress. Gary has decisions to make. Brad makes a change.
Coal Stories 2
May 10 2018
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.
Coal Stories 1
May 03 2018
The "war on coal." Getting Appalachia wrong. Which side are you on? What it's like to live a decline.
Coming Soon: Coal Stories
Apr 30 2018
Starts May 3.
Trump Stories: Scott Pruitt
Apr 26 2018
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 e...more
Trump Stories: Obstruction
Feb 15 2018
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.
Trump Stories: Collusion
Feb 09 2018
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 t...more
Coming Soon: Trump Stories - Russia
Feb 07 2018
NPR's Embedded tells the story of the investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller of President Donald Trump.
Trump Stories: Trump SoHo
Nov 04 2017
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.org
Trump Stories: Kushner
Oct 26 2017
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...more
Trump Stories: Bannon
Oct 19 2017
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.
Trump Stories: The Golf Course
Oct 12 2017
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...more
Trump Stories: The Apprentice
Oct 11 2017
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.org
Coming In October: Embedded On President Trump
Sep 07 2017
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 ...more
Police Videos: Cincinnati
Mar 23 2017
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.org
Police Videos: Flagstaff
Mar 16 2017
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.org
Police Videos: Charlotte
Mar 09 2017
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.org
Coming Soon: Embedded On Police Videos
Feb 23 2017
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.
An Update + Embedded Live
Oct 13 2016
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.
The School
Jun 11 2016
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.
The Arctic
Jun 02 2016
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.
The Hospital
May 26 2016
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.
The League
May 19 2016
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 Berli...more
Update
May 12 2016
A dispatch from Embedded HQ. Follow Kelly on Twitter @KellyMcEvers. Email us at embedded@npr.org.
We Found Joy
May 05 2016
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.
The Immigrant
Apr 28 2016
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.
The Police
Apr 21 2016
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.
The Capital
Apr 14 2016
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.
The Bikers
Apr 08 2016
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.
The House
Mar 31 2016
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.
Introducing Embedded
Mar 09 2016
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.