Episodes

  • A Chatty Thanksgiving Primer

    A Chatty Thanksgiving Primer
    Nov 22 2024
    Fresh cranberries or canned? Northern pumpkin pie or Southern sweet potato pie? An assembling of intergenerational family members, a handful of friends, or a group of strangers? Almost everything about Thanksgiving, from travel to table talk about politics, has the potential to become fraught. Calm can prevail when a simple sense of gratitude gets its place at the table. The Monitor’s Kendra Nordin Beato joins host Clay Collins to talk turkey and more.
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  • Encore: Respect, Dignity, and Getting Along

    Encore: Respect, Dignity, and Getting Along
    Nov 8 2024
    Another U.S. election is behind us. Can civility – deep civility, not just politeness – heal divides? Stephen Humphries, the Monitor’s chief culture writer, joined host Clay Collins in this encore episode to talk about his expansive view of the culture beat and about how he came to write about Alexandra Hudson’s book, “The Soul of Civility.” Ms. Hudson, too, joined the 2023 episode to talk further about how to bridge the empathy gap that reveals itself around so many issues.
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  • Why We Went Deep on Sudan

    Why We Went Deep on Sudan
    Nov 1 2024
    A land war grinds on into another winter in Europe’s east. The Mideast keeps spiraling, old enmity refueled. A U.S. presidential election claims whatever sliver of attention is left. The West tends to forget about the African continent even in less distracting times. But stories from many of its more than 50 countries abound – of wars, yes. Of starvation. But also of human courage and resilience. In this episode, the Monitor’s Peter Ford, our international news editor, joins host Clay Collins to explore the why and how of our recent series on Sudan.
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  • Election Unprecedented, Part 2

    Election Unprecedented, Part 2
    Oct 22 2024
    Georgia’s voting-rules dispute has been given a lot of attention. So have process changes in other states, along with the standard complexities of mail-in ballot counts and the (now standard, it seems) preelection charges of a “rigged” process. In the second of two parts of a conversation with guest host Gail Russell Chaddock, the Monitor’s Cameron Joseph talks about this presidential election cycle compared with the past two, and about how he works to hold both sides to account in telling the full story.
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  • Election Unprecedented, Part 1

    Election Unprecedented, Part 1
    Oct 21 2024
    The late-game ouster of an incumbent as candidate, state rules in flux, and back-to-back hurricanes in battleground states? Yes, the 2024 U.S. presidential election sits in a category of its own. Beneath those big factors: a set of wedge issues and a pair of candidates with stark differences of approach and appeal. Monitor politics writer Cameron Joseph joins guest host Gail Russell Chaddock to talk about the work of covering the wild run-up – and bracing for what’s next.
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  • Gaza’s Story, From the Inside

    Gaza’s Story, From the Inside
    Oct 11 2024
    Amid intensifying strife and humanitarian disaster, how do you report a story like the war in Gaza accurately and compassionately? How do you recognize the complexities of a war in which intense suffering exists alongside a powerful humanity and an effort to cling to hope? Monitor correspondents Ghada Abdulfattah in Gaza and Taylor Luck in Jordan join Managing Editor Amelia Newcomb, our guest host, to talk about the challenges they face – and, in Ghada’s case, how she navigates the danger and chaos that confront her every moment of the day.
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  • Encore: The Power of Porches

    Encore: The Power of Porches
    Oct 4 2024
    Americans’ loss of social connection has long been an issue, and it worsened during the pandemic era to the point where loneliness hit epidemic levels. Today, some 6 Americans in 10 are reluctant to talk politics with those whose views oppose their own, even though it’s well known that such exchanges can be a balm. In this episode – an encore of one recorded in May 2023 – writer Sophie Hills talks about how she crafted a kind of antidote story, one about front-porch culture and the power of people to collectively make their lives a bit richer. Hosted by Clay Collins.
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  • A Fuller View of Taiwan

    A Fuller View of Taiwan
    Sep 27 2024
    Western news reports about Taiwan tend to focus on the island’s relationships with global superpowers, notably China and the United States. The people of Taiwan and their history can sometimes get lost in those narratives. Writer Ann Scott Tyson made a return trip to Taiwan to gather more of those important perspectives. Her cover story is a sort of coming of age story for Taiwan, exploring issues of national identity, civic responsibility, and peace. She joins guest host Lindsey McGinnis, the Monitor’s Asia editor, to discuss it.
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