Consider This from NPR Folgen

In the last week, the Taliban have gained control of large sections of Afghanistan faster than most people expected. The Pentagon is dispatching troops to assist in evacuating staff from the American embassy in Kabul, where refugee camps are growing more crowded. The U.N. says the country may be on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe. State Department spokesperson Ned Price told Audie Cornish the 300,000-member Afghan military needs "the willpower" to stand up to the Taliban. In participating regions, you'll also hear a local news segment that will help you make sense of what's going on in your community.Email us at considerthis@npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

What struck John Kerry the most about this week's landmark U.N. report on climate change? "The irreversibility" of some of the most catastrophic effects of global warming, he tells Audie Cornish. Kerry, the U.S. Special Envoy for Climate, tells NPR the U.N. report underscored the need for the world to respond more forcefully to climate change — and he's called an upcoming U.N. climate summit in Scotland the "last best hope" for global action. At the same time, the Biden administration faces an uphill battle to take major action on climate at home. Hear more on that from the NPR Politics Podcast via Apple, Spotify, or Google. In participating regions, you'll also hear a local news segment that will help you make sense of what's going on in your community.Email us at considerthis@npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

In the next few weeks, millions of children will head back to school. Many of them are too young to be vaccinated. At the same time, children are being hospitalized with COVID-19 in small but growing numbers — and approaching rates higher than the winter surge. Dr. Marcos Mestre with Niklaus Children's Foundation Hospital in Miami told NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday many of the children his hospital is treating come from families with unvaccinated parents or caretakers. Unlike last year, many schools will have no remote learning option this fall. While some may have mask mandates, a handful of Republican governors — including Florida's Ron DeSantis — have issued executive orders banning those mandates. NPR's Pien Huang surveyed experts about how to keep children safe during the delta surge. Read more coverage from the NPR science desk here.In participating regions, you'll also hear a local news segment that will help you make sense of what's going on in your community.Email us at considerthis@npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy