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Kelly McEvers Kelly McEvers is the host of NPR's Embedded podcast.
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Kelly McEvers

Kelly, 2015. Stephen Voss/NPR.
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Kelly, 2015. Stephen Voss/NPR.
Stephen Voss/NPR

Kelly McEvers

Host, Embedded

Kelly McEvers is a two-time Peabody Award-winning journalist and former host of NPR's flagship newsmagazine, All Things Considered. She spent much of her career as an international correspondent, reporting from Asia, the former Soviet Union, and the Middle East. She is the creator and host of the acclaimed Embedded podcast, a documentary show that goes to hard places to make sense of the news. She began her career as a newspaper reporter in Chicago.

Story Archive

Friday

Business

The busiest ports in North America are set to take a hit with new tariffs

A huge amount of U.S. imports and exports come through the L.A. and Long Beach ports. Port officials say truckers, longshore members and customs house brokers will see less work and fewer hours ahead.

LA PORTS

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Tuesday

National

A look at the massive fire fighting effort in L.A. — from the sky

One thing that was impossible to miss -- as fires raged through L.A. -- was the fight from the air. Officials say it might have been the largest number of aircraft at a fire event, ever.

A look at the massive fire fighting effort in L.A. — from the sky

Listen · 3:55
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Monday

Evacuees from the Palisades Fire are seen at the Westwood Recreation Center, which is being used as a shelter in Los Angeles, Calif., on January 8, 2025. Ferocious wildfires devoured buildings and sparked panicked evacuations January 7, as hurricane-force winds tore through the region.

Evacuees from the Palisades Fire are seen at the Westwood Recreation Center, which is being used as a shelter in Los Angeles, Calif., on January 8, 2025. Ferocious wildfires devoured buildings and sparked panicked evacuations January 7, as hurricane-force winds tore through the region. AGUSTIN PAULLIER/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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AGUSTIN PAULLIER/AFP via Getty Images

National

Older adults who evacuated to shelters in L.A. struggle to figure out what's next

Many seniors who left their homes in the Pacific Palisades area evacuated to emergency shelters. Now they're trying to navigate life without their belongings. Several say learning basic information about the status of the wildfires is a struggle.

How have displaced older folks fared in the LA fires?

Listen · 3:34
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Thursday

National

California voters approve strengthening penalties for certain crimes

California voters have overwhelmingly approved strengthening penalties for certain theft and drug crimes. They also ousted Los Angeles County's progressive district attorney.

California voters approve strengthening penalties for certain crimes

Listen · 3:43
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Friday

Sports

Los Angeles celebrates the Dodgers' eighth World Series win with a downtown parade

The Dodgers beat the Yankees to win their eighth World Series title. An estimates 200,000 turned out for a celebratory parade in Los Angeles.

Los Angeles celebrates the Dodgers' eighth World Series win with a downtown parade

Listen · 3:12
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Sunday

National

A program in LA sends unarmed civilians to answer 911 calls involving unhoused people

In Los Angeles, a 9-1-1 diversion program sends unarmed civilians to respond to calls that involve unhoused people, and help connect them with resources. Amidst the city's ongoing homelessness crisis, housing experts say that only goes so far in addressing the problem.

A program in LA sends unarmed civilians to answer 911 calls involving unhoused people

Listen · 7:16
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Monday

Africa

The Rwanda genocide tribunal wraps up investigation 29 years after it was created

The United Nations tribunal tasked with finding and prosecuting war criminals from the Rwandan genocide has wrapped up operations, nearly 30 years after it was created.

RWANDA TRIBUNAL

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Friday

What It's Like to Cover the War Between Israel and Hamas

Left: NPR producer Anas Baba reports in Rafah, southern Gaza, after an Israeli strike hit the area on Oct. 17, 2023. Right: NPR's Jerusalem correspondent Daniel Estrin reports in Sderot, Israel on Oct. 11, 2023. Anas Baba/NPR and Tanya Habjouqa for NPR hide caption

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Anas Baba/NPR and Tanya Habjouqa for NPR

State of the World from NPR

What It's Like to Cover the War Between Israel and Hamas

In this longer episode we go deep on what it's like to cover both sides of the war between Israel and Hamas. Our friends at the Embedded podcast talk to NPR's Daniel Estrin about some of the people he's reported on and how he approaches covering this difficult and divisive story.

What It's Like to Cover the War Between Israel and Hamas

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Thursday

Movies

Doc about singer Bobi Wine and his fight against Uganda's leader is up for an Oscar

The Oscar-nominated documentary Bobi Wine: The People's President is the gripping story of Ugandan singer Bobi Wine and his campaign against the country's long-standing president.

Doc about singer Bobi Wine and his fight against Uganda's leader is up for an Oscar

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Wednesday

Field Notes: On Losing the Gaza They Knew

Left: A screenshot of Shaymaa Ahmed, who has been sharing videos and audio from Gaza since Oct. 7. Right: Palestinian residents leave their homes in horse-drawn carriages with their belongings after the Israeli army attacked the eastern part of the Nuseirat refugee camp and sent a notice asking the people to leave the area in Deir al Balah, central Gaza on Jan. 3. @gazanvoices/Screenshot by NPR/Ali Jadallah/Anadolu via Getty Images hide caption

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@gazanvoices/Screenshot by NPR/Ali Jadallah/Anadolu via Getty Images

Embedded

Field Notes: On Losing the Gaza They Knew

The second in a two-part special series featuring conversations between Embedded host Kelly McEvers and NPR reporters who have been on the ground during the current conflict between Israel and Hamas In this episode, Morning Edition's Leila Fadel paints an intimate portrait of displacement in Gaza. She shares voice memos she's been receiving from a college student trying to survive and the story of a family that escaped the war only to find that it had followed them home.

Field Notes: On Losing the Gaza They Knew

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Thursday

Field Notes: On Reporting, the Israel-Hamas War

Left: NPR producer Anas Baba reports in Rafah, southern Gaza, after an Israeli strike hit the area on Oct. 17, 2023. Right: NPR's Jerusalem correspondent Daniel Estrin reports in Sderot, Israel on Oct. 11, 2023. Anas Baba/NPR and Tanya Habjouqa for NPR hide caption

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Anas Baba/NPR and Tanya Habjouqa for NPR

Embedded

Field Notes: On Reporting, the Israel-Hamas War

The first in a two-part special series featuring conversations between Embedded host Kelly McEvers and NPR reporters who have been on the ground during the current conflict in Gaza. In the first episode, NPR's Daniel Estrin talks about the challenges of reporting on the Israel-Hamas war and the work of his colleague Anas Baba from inside Gaza.

Field Notes: On Reporting, the Israel-Hamas War

Listen · 35:16
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Thursday

Changing the Police: The Walk-Out

Former Police Commissioner of the Yonkers Police Department John Mueller and former head of the Yonkers' NAACP Karen Edmonson. José A. Alvarado Jr. for NPR hide caption

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José A. Alvarado Jr. for NPR

Perspective

Embedded

Changing the Police: The Walk-Out

The series concludes: we check back in with John Mueller after his resignation as head of the Yonkers Police Department. And we consider what his departure means for police reform efforts in the city at a time when tensions between police and some members of the community remain high.

Changing the Police: The Walk-Out

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Thursday

Changing the Police: To Police or Not To Police

Social worker with the FDNY, Morgan Nevins, goes out on a mental health call. Cities across the country are trying alternatives to the police to respond to mental health crises. José A. Alvarado Jr. for NPR hide caption

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José A. Alvarado Jr. for NPR

Embedded

Changing the Police: To Police or Not To Police

In Yonkers, as in the rest of the country, a substantial number of police calls involve situations where someone is having a mental health crisis. But are cops the right people to answer those calls? A growing number of cities across the country think the answer might be "No." Some have launched crisis response programs that offer alternatives to the police for non-violent mental health emergencies. But in Yonkers, for now, the police still handle these calls. In this episode, Embedded, along with its series partner, The Marshall Project, looks at what happens when the police are the only option people have. And we ask: when it comes to how much the police "police," is less more?

Changing the Police: To Police or Not To Police

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Thursday

Changing the Police: Reckoning with the Past

Karen Edmonson, the former head of the Yonker's NAACP, gathered complaints of police misconduct in Yonkers. Her efforts led to a federal Department of Justice investigation José A. Alvarado Jr./José A. Alvarado Jr. for NPR hide caption

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José A. Alvarado Jr./José A. Alvarado Jr. for NPR

Embedded

Changing the Police: Reckoning with the Past

For a long time, the police department in Yonkers, New York had a reputation as overly aggressive, especially when it came to policing the poorer parts of the city. There were lots of stories of "bad apples"-police officers who allegedly roughed people up or planted drugs during random stops and arrests. Eventually, the U.S. Department of Justice stepped in to investigate. Now the Yonkers Police Department says it is transforming. With the help of a progressive police chief, it has adopted new policies and procedures to minimize force and make the police more accountable to the public. As Embedded, in partnership with The Marshall Project, continues its look at police reform in one American city, we confront a question many of those who say they were mistreated by the police have raised: is it enough? For some alleged victims the answer is clear: there can never be real reform until the police have fully accounted for the wrongs of the past.

Changing the Police: Reckoning with the Past

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Thursday

Changing the Police: The John Mueller Show
José A. Alvarado Jr. for NPR

Embedded

Changing the Police: The John Mueller Show

Episode 1 takes listeners to Yonkers, New York, a city with a long and ugly history of bad policing. The Justice Department has demanded an overhaul of the department and has been monitoring it for more than a decade. The commissioner in Yonkers has promised to do what the feds want and more. He has promised to "reform" policing in Yonkers and turn his officers into guardians of the community, accountable to its citizens. Can it be done and what does this kind of reform even look like?

Changing the Police: The John Mueller Show

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Tuesday

Coming Soon: Changing The Police

Embedded podcast tile. Kelly Manno/Kelly Manno hide caption

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Kelly Manno/Kelly Manno

Embedded

Coming Soon: Changing The Police

In a new multi-part series, Embedded listeners will get to know the Yonkers Police Department, located just outside New York City. For over a decade, the department has been monitored by the federal government because of its history of misconduct. A new generation of leaders say they are fixing what's been broken in Yonkers and will soon finish the reform process. But what does this really mean and how will it change things?

Coming Soon: Changing The Police

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Tuesday

Essential Mitch: The Judges

Sen. Mitch McConnell speaks at a news conference on Miguel A. Estrada's withdrawal of his nomination to be a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. That day, Republicans castigated Democrats for "obstructing" the nominations of Estrada and other judicial candidates. Scott J. Ferrell/Congressional Quarterly/Getty Images hide caption

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Scott J. Ferrell/Congressional Quarterly/Getty Images

Embedded

Essential Mitch: The Judges

Mitch McConnell has consistently rejected the rules and norms that once guided Supreme Court nominations. He says he's taken his cue from the Democrats. This week, we dig into the history that shaped Mitch McConnell's views on judicial nominations.

Essential Mitch: The Judges

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Tuesday

Essential Mitch: The Interview

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell walks to a closed-door GOP policy lunch on Capitol Hill in 2016. Senate Republicans, including McConnell, argued that appointing a Supreme Court justice was too important to be determined by a lame-duck president. J. Scott Applewhite/AP hide caption

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J. Scott Applewhite/AP

Embedded

Essential Mitch: The Interview

Embedded heads to the U.S. Senate for an in-depth conversation with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Essential Mitch: The Interview

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Tuesday

Essential Mitch: The Trump Question

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell escorts President Donald Trump after a meeting in McConnell's office. Bill Clark/Getty Images hide caption

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Bill Clark/Getty Images

Embedded

Essential Mitch: The Trump Question

This week, Embedded takes a look at how Mitch McConnell managed four years of the Trump Presidency with shrewdness and surprising success.

Essential Mitch: The Trump Question

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Tuesday

Essential Mitch: The Money, Part 2

Sen. John McCain and Sen. Mitch McConnell talk to reporters after a meeting on the campaign finance reform bill in 2002. Scott J. Ferrell/Getty Images hide caption

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Scott J. Ferrell/Getty Images

Embedded

Essential Mitch: The Money, Part 2

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.

Essential Mitch: The Money, Part 2

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Tuesday

Essential Mitch: The Money, Part 1

Sens. Mitch McConnell and John McCain walk down a corridor to a TV studio, where they will discuss their different positions on the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform bill. Stephan Savoia/AP hide caption

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Stephan Savoia/AP

Embedded

Essential Mitch: The Money, Part 1

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 Money, Part 1

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Saturday

Friday

National

Family Of COVID-19 Victim Who Criticized 'Hysteria' Around Virus Faces Online Attacks

An evangelical pastor shared a Facebook meme calling concerns about the coronavirus "mass hysteria." He later died of COVID-19. Then his family became the target of online harassment.

Family Of COVID-19 Victim Who Criticized 'Hysteria' Around Virus Faces Online Attacks

Listen · 8:16
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Wednesday

National

Teachers Struggle With How To Address Domestic Terrorism, Radicalization Of Students

The government says domestic terrorism is a top national security threat, and is on the rise. School teachers throughout the country are struggling to find ways to prevent students from radicalizing.

Teachers Struggle With How To Address Domestic Terrorism, Radicalization Of Students

Listen · 8:17
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