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Investigations Read the latest from NPR's investigative team. If you have solid tips or documents on stories we should probe, please send them to us.

Investigations

Friday

Nearly Dying In Childbirth: Why Preventable Complications Are Growing In U.S.

Leah Bahrencu, 35, of Austin, Texas, developed an infection after an emergency C-section to deliver twins Lukas and Sorana, now 11 months. Ilana Panich-Linsman hide caption

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Ilana Panich-Linsman

Lost Mothers: Maternal Mortality In The U.S.

Nearly Dying In Childbirth: Why Preventable Complications Are Growing In U.S.

The rate of life-threatening complications for new mothers in the U.S. has more than doubled in two decades as a result of pre-existing conditions, medical errors and unequal access to care.

Monday

Choosing Between Squalor Or The Street: Housing Without Government Aid

Millions of Americans struggle to afford their rent and most don't get any help at all. In Dallas, the city and a prominent landlord are the latest moving pieces in this problem. Allison V. Smith for KERA hide caption

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Allison V. Smith for KERA

The Housing Fix

Choosing Between Squalor Or The Street: Housing Without Government Aid

Millions of Americans struggle to make rent and most don't get any government help. In Dallas, city hall and a prominent landlord are some of the latest moving pieces in this decades-long problem.

Choosing Between Squalor Or The Street: Housing Without Government Aid

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Thursday

Black Mothers Keep Dying After Giving Birth. Shalon Irving's Story Explains Why

Wanda Irving holds her granddaughter, Soleil, in front of a portrait of Soleil's mother, Shalon, at her home in Sandy Springs, Ga. Wanda is raising Soleil since Shalon died of complications due to hypertension a few weeks after giving birth. Becky Harlan/NPR hide caption

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Becky Harlan/NPR

Lost Mothers: Maternal Mortality In The U.S.

Black Mothers Keep Dying After Giving Birth. Shalon Irving's Story Explains Why

Black women are three times more likely to die from complications of childbirth than white women in the U.S. Racism, and the stress it causes, can play a leading role in that disparity.

Black Mothers Keep Dying After Giving Birth. Shalon Irving's Story Explains Why

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Friday

Thursday

A Battle Of Guitar Tonewoods: Can You Hear The Difference?

A lot factors come into play in creating a guitar's sound.There's size and shape of the instrument and its parts. Then, there's the skill and the approach of the musician to consider. kertu_ee/Getty Images/iStockphoto hide caption

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kertu_ee/Getty Images/iStockphoto

A Battle Of Guitar Tonewoods: Can You Hear The Difference?

An NPR sound engineer evaluated the difference in sound between Mahogany and Rosewood guitars. See if you can tell the two instruments apart.

The Tree That Rocked The Music Industry

Cellos are lined up backstage at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra before a Nov. 8 rehearsal of Schubert's Ninth Symphony. The CITES Rosewood regulations have made some musicians apprehensive about taking instruments containing the wood across international borders. Meg Anderson/NPR hide caption

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Meg Anderson/NPR

The Tree That Rocked The Music Industry

This year, new international regulations on rosewood have reverberated through the music industry, costing tens of millions in lost sales and extra administrative costs.

The Tree That Rocked The Music Industry

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Thursday

Florida Lawmakers To Review Law Targeting Injured Undocumented Workers

Yuliana Rocha Zamarripa's workers' comp claim for a serious knee injury at work prompted her arrest. The mother of three spent the next year cycling through county and immigration jails. Scott McIntyre for ProPublica hide caption

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Scott McIntyre for ProPublica

The Two-Way

Florida Lawmakers To Review Law Targeting Injured Undocumented Workers

ProPublica

Employers and insurers were using the statute to deny workers' comp benefits, an NPR and ProPublica investigation found. Republican state Sen. Anitere Flores is now calling for action.

Wednesday

They Got Hurt At Work — Then They Got Deported

Yuliana Rocha Zamarripa's workers' comp claim for a serious knee injury at work prompted her arrest. She was shuffled from county to immigration jails for a year and blames the sexual abuse of her daughter on her inability to protect her at home. Scott McIntyre for ProPublica hide caption

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Scott McIntyre for ProPublica

They Got Hurt At Work — Then They Got Deported

ProPublica

A joint investigation by NPR and ProPublica shows how a loophole in Florida law has led to the arrest and even deportation of undocumented immigrants after they suffer legitimate injuries on the job.

They Got Hurt At Work — Then They Got Deported

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Thursday

'If You Hemorrhage, Don't Clean Up': Advice From Mothers Who Almost Died

Marie McCausland holds her newborn shortly after delivery. A ProPublica/NPR story about preeclampsia prompted her to seek emergency treatment when she developed symptoms days after giving birth. Courtesy of Marie McCausland hide caption

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Courtesy of Marie McCausland

Lost Mothers: Maternal Mortality In The U.S.

'If You Hemorrhage, Don't Clean Up': Advice From Mothers Who Almost Died

We've heard from 3,100 women who survived life-threatening complications of pregnancy or childbirth. They told us what they wished they had known and what they would say to new and expectant mothers.

Tuesday

Housing Program Worth Billions Lacks 'Basic Accountability,' Says GAO

A man walks into the building of the Internal Revenue Service, which oversees the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Program, in Washington, D.C., on March 10, 2016. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images

The Housing Fix

Housing Program Worth Billions Lacks 'Basic Accountability,' Says GAO

Government auditors can't determine if the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program costs too much because the program lacks adequate IRS oversight, according to testimony before Congress.

Thursday

Tuesday

Reading, Writing And Fracking? What The Oil Industry Teaches Oklahoma Students

Teachers gathered at Choctaw High School for a workshop by the Oklahoma Energy Resource Board, where they were taught pro-energy science lessons to bring back to their students. Joe Wertz/StateImpact Oklahoma hide caption

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Joe Wertz/StateImpact Oklahoma

Environment And Energy Collaborative

Reading, Writing And Fracking? What The Oil Industry Teaches Oklahoma Students

Oklahoma's oil industry is spending millions on science lessons for public schools. But environmentalists say omitting climate change leaves students unprepared.

Reading, Writing And Fracking? What The Oil Industry Teaches Oklahoma Students

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Wednesday

U.S. Hospitals Struggle To Protect Mothers When Childbirth Turns Deadly

A joint NPR and ProPublica investigation finds the U.S. medical system can be unprepared when the complications of childbirth turn deadly.

U.S. Hospitals Struggle To Protect Mothers When Childbirth Turns Deadly

Listen · 12:15
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Saturday

NPR Continues To Find Hundreds Of Cases Of Advanced Black Lung

A display case at NIOSH shows a normal lung and a diseased black lung, caused by inhaling coal dust and other harmful particles while coal mining. Howard Berkes/NPR hide caption

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Howard Berkes/NPR

The Two-Way

NPR Continues To Find Hundreds Of Cases Of Advanced Black Lung

Black lung results from exposure to coal dust. Progressive massive fibrosis is an especially aggressive form, blamed on inhalation of silica dust from the cutting of quartz rock and coal together.