Consider This from NPR

President Trump wants to close the Kennedy Center for two years. He says a massive renovation is coming.But so far, there are few details about what that renovation will look like, physically, and what it will mean to the nation’s performing arts center and its patrons.David Graham has been sifting through the clues, and he talks with NPR about what is known, and what could be lost in the upheaval.For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.  Email us at considerthis@npr.org.This episode was produced by Henry Larson and Connor Donevan, with audio engineering by Ted Mebane. It was edited by Sarah Handel.Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The Justice Department says their review into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein is done, with the release of millions of documents and thousands of images and videos last Friday.Annie Farmer is one of many people who testified in court about Epstein, and Ghislaine Maxwell. She says they sexually abused her when she was 16 years old. She's also been a leading voice in calling on the DOJ to release all records related to Epstein.The release included pictures of nude women, or possibly girls, and the names of victims, all of which should have been redacted. A DOJ spokeswoman subsequently told the New York Times the department was addressing victim concerns and making additional redactions.Farmer tells NPR she's "really upset," saying the release of victims' names and images is "really disgusting." However she adds that, "what I do feel clear about is the fact we still believe transparency is important."For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.  Email us at considerthis@npr.org.This episode was produced by Jonaki Mehta and Karen Zamora, with audio engineering by Ted Mebane. It was edited by Sarah Handel. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Stephen Cook, the senior pastor of Second Baptist Church in Memphis, has become friends with Latif Salar, the leader of the Christ Community Afghan Church - and since the Trump administration halted asylum processing for all immigrants from Afghanistan last Fall, the two have been working closely together to support members of Salar's congregation who fear deportation. For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at considerthis@npr.org. This episode was produced by Kathryn Fink. It was edited by Sarah Robbins. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Tensions remain high in Minnesota. Despite the Trump administration signaling a willingness to de-escalate tensions in the state earlier this week, Minnesota’s governor is now skeptical.“I know who I'm dealing with. I know that they're not going to keep their word,” Walz told NPR.Walz, a Democrat, sat down with All Things Considered host Juana Summers on Friday following weeks of protests, and the deadly shootings of Renee Macklin Good and Alex Pretti.For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.  Email us at considerthis@npr.org.This episode was produced by Megan Lim, Matt Ozug and Karen Zamora, with audio engineering by Andie Huether. It was edited by Ashley Brown and William Troop.Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The civilian killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Macklin Good by federal immigration agents have launched a larger debate in Washington about funding for the Department of Homeland Security.Senate Democrats want to carve off DHS money from the broader spending package to keep the government open, and they want new limits on immigration agents, like a prohibition on masks and a requirement that officers carry ID. Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin says he blames the actions of state and local leaders for the shooting deaths of Alex Pretti and Renee Macklin Good. He insists local leaders should have done more to cooperate with immigration enforcement efforts in Minneapolis.NPR’s Ailsa Chang spoke with Wisconsin Republican Senator Ron Johnson to discuss his thoughts on whether ICE, and other immigration enforcement agencies, need the reforms Democrats have asked for.At the time this episode aired, lawmakers were at an impasse regarding the federal spending package. But Senate Democrats now say they’ve reached a deal to separate DHS funding from the other five appropriations bills. You can read more details on npr.org.For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.  Email us at considerthis@npr.org.This episode was produced by Brianna Scott. It was edited by Christopher Intagliata, Courtney Dorning and Kelsey Snell. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

After the shooting of Alex Pretti, the Trump administration is making a leadership change in Minneapolis. Will anything change?A new Trump administration official has taken over the immigration crackdown in Minneapolis.Tom Homan, the  White House’s so-called border czar, takes over after the departure of Border Patrol’s Gregory Bovino, who has been the public face of the operation, including encounters that left two American citizens dead.NPR's Scott Detrow talks to The Atlantic investigative journalist Caitlin Dickerson about Homan's background and what it will mean for Minneapolis.For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at considerthis@npr.org.This episode was produced by Karen Zamora and Vincent Acovino. It was edited by Courtney Dorning and Sarah Handel. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Pennsylvania democratic Governor Josh Shapiro on resisting Trump policies, his faith and whether he plans to run for president.Shapiro is one of the most prominent Jewish officeholders in the US.  In a new memoir “Where we Keep the Light” Shapiro explores his faith, as well as his career in politics… one that's taken him from state representative, to Pennsylvania attorney general to a swing state governor.For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at considerthis@npr.org.This episode was produced by Tyler Bartlam, with audio engineering from Becky Brown. It was edited by Sarah Handel.Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Tensions escalate in Minneapolis after a second U.S. citizen is killed by immigration officers.It was a deadly weekend in Minneapolis. On Saturday, federal immigration officers fatally shot a 37-year-old ICU nurse and U.S. citizen — Alex Pretti.Multiple videos captured the moments before, during and after the shooting.Federal officials claim Pretti “brandished” a weapon and tried to assault officers as they conducted an immigration enforcement operation.There is no evidence in the videos, which NPR has verified, that Pretti was ever brandishing his handgun. For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at considerthis@npr.org.This episode was produced by Henry Larson, Vincent Acovino and Karen Zamora, with audio engineering by Ted Mebane and Damian Herring.It was edited by Justine Kenin, Rebekah Metzler, Patrick Jarenwattananon and Courtney Dorning.Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The third Minneapolis shooting in three weeks has renewed questions about immigration agents’ role, training, and use of force. Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, says the border patrol and ICE agents operating in Minneapolis aren’t using the kinds of de-escalating tactics that local police have been using for at least a decade.For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at considerthis@npr.org. This episode was produced by Henry Larson. It was edited by Ahmad Damen. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Even before this latest war in Gaza, NPR’s Jerusalem-based Correspondent Daniel Estrin and Gaza reporter Anas Baba had spent years working together in challenging circumstances. Once war broke out, they had to adapt to a situation that made reporting together even more difficult.For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at considerthis@npr.orgThis episode was produced by Linah Mohammed.. It was edited by Adam Raney and James Hider. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

So much has happened since ICE ramped up efforts in Minneapolis. It can be hard to get a sense of the big picture. Two NPR reporters on the ground do just that.It’s been nearly two months since ICE descended on the streets of Minneapolis.  In that time, Renee Macklin Good has been shot and killed, children have been detained, and the federal government’s campaign to arrest undocumented immigrants has only grown bigger, more aggressive, and more intense.For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at considerthis@npr.org.Each step of the way, Minnesotans have protested what’s been happening in their state.This episode was produced by Michael Levitt, with audio engineering by Tiffany Vera Castro.It was edited by Courtney Dorning and Eric Westervelt.Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Scientists say research into a vaccine for HIV is further along than it’s ever been.But Trump administration cuts to scientific research have set that effort back.Including a promising trial for an HIV vaccine in Africa – which was shut down altogether.NPR’s Ari Daniel has the story of how researchers there refused to give up.Ari’s reporting for this story was supported by a grant from the Pulitzer Center. The Gates Foundation is a financial supporter of NPR. This episode was produced by Mallory Yu and Kira Wakeam.It was edited by Rebecca Davis and Courtney Dorning.Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

In the first year of his second term, President Trump has repeatedly said and done things that were previously assumed to be unacceptable to voters.Whether on Greenland or Gaza, federal prosecutions or federal spending, immigration enforcement or sending the U.S. military to protests of immigration enforcement, the Trump administration appears undeterred on almost all of its agenda.As Ashley Parker wrote in The Atlantic this week — the Trump administration has pushed the window of what’s possible in American politics so far that his opposition seems exhausted.She discusses her essay, “Trump Exhaustion Syndrome.”For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at considerthis@npr.org.This episode was produced by Alejandra Marquez Janse, with audio engineering by Tiffany Vera Castro. It was edited by Patrick Jarenwattananon. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

President Trump’s insistence that the U.S. acquire Greenland could become a major international crisis.He's now threatened tariffs on eight NATO allies who have expressed their opposition to the idea, and that is shaking up the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland this week. And more tariffs would increase costs for American businesses at a time when American voters are talking about affordability at home.Willem Marx reports from Davos, and NPR’s Scott Horsley and Mara Liasson recap the economic and political fallout.For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at considerthis@npr.org.This episode was produced by Marc Rivers and Karen Zamora, with audio engineering by Ted Mebane and Hannah Gluvna. It was edited by Kelsey Snell, Rafael Nam, Nick Spicer and Patrick Jarenwattananon. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

President Trump has spent his first year back in office blurring the lines between business and government. The administration has bought shares in private companies like Intel, NVIDIA, and others involved in mining and energy. President Trump has also publicly pressured CEOs, and forced the restructuring of social media giants like TikTok.NPR financial correspondent Maria Aspan says that’s generating a lot of questions, and worries, about the future of the U.S. economy. For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.  Email us at considerthis@npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

A week after an arson fire at Mississippi's oldest synagogue, Rachel Myers, a leader of the congregation's religious school, talks about how the congregation is doing and how it will rebuild. It’s not the first time the congregation has been attacked. In the late 1960s, the synagogue and the rabbi’s home were bombed by the Ku Klux Klan in retaliation for the congregation’s work on behalf of civil rights.For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at considerthis@npr.orgThis episode was produced by Avery Keatley and Henry Larson, with additional reporting from Shamira Muhammad of Mississippi Public Broadcasting. It was edited by Sarah Robbins. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Under the Trump administration, federal prosecutors have been sent to investigate federal lawmakers, the chairman of the Federal Reserve and the widow of Renee Macklin Good.The Department of Justice is once again at the center of the news.At least five federal lawmakers say they have been contacted for questioning from federal prosecutors. So has the chairman of the Federal Reserve.And in Minnesota, career federal prosecutors resigned after being asked to investigate not the shooting that killed Renee Macklin Good, but her widow’s potential ties to activist groups.NPR senior political editor and correspondent Domenico Montanaro and NPR justice correspondent Carrie Johnson break down the week in Justice Department news.For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.  Email us at considerthis@npr.org.This episode was produced by Megan Lim and Karen Zamora. It was edited by Kelsey Snell, John Ketchum and Patrick Jarenwattananon. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Vice President J.D. Vance says the ICE officer who shot and killed Renee Macklin Good last week has "absolute immunity." Some legal experts have pushed back.For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.  Email us at considerthis@npr.org.This episode was produced by Kathryn Fink. It was edited by Christopher Intagliata. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

What began two weeks ago as a demonstration against an economic crisis has become a broader antigovernment movement, in cities and towns across Iran.Iran’s authoritarian government has responded with violent repression. More than 2,500 people have been killed, according to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency. NPR has not been able to independently verify that number.Many who watch Iran now believe the current round of protests feels different.We hear from the Washington Post’s Jason Rezaian, who was imprisoned by the Iranian government while serving as a foreign correspondent for the newspaper. His op-ed this week is titled: “I’ve waited for this electrifying moment in Iran for 10 years.”For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at considerthis@npr.org.This episode was produced by Linah Mohammad with engineering support from Ted Mebane. It was edited by Patrick Jarenwattananon and Courtney Dorning. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The Trump Justice Department has subpoenaed the Federal Reserve for information related to its multibillion-dollar renovation of the Fed's headquarters in Washington.The move comes on the heels of months of President Donald Trump trying to influence Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to lower interest rates.And while he told NBC News he doesn’t know anything about the Department of Justice investigations, members of Congress, including some Republicans, say they’re concerned the independence of the Federal Reserve is now at risk.The Federal Reserve decides monetary policy across the United States. Its decisions help shape the global economy. What happens if that independence is threatened?  President Trump has been trying to influence Federal Reserve policy, since his first term.For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at considerthis@npr.org.This episode was produced by Henry Larson. Audio engineering by Ted Mebane.It was edited by Courtney Dorning and John Ketchum.Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy