"“My family was whole, and suddenly, in an instant, I am searching refrigerators in morgues for my sister,” he said. “May God spare everyone this experience.”" www.newyorker.com/news/letter-...

“Has there ever been an episode of presidential corruption so blatant and threatening to constitutional order? Certainly not in modern times.” www.nytimes.com/2026/05/20/o...

A GOVERNMENT OF LAWS NOT MEN -- JOHN ADAMS (projected tonight on Donald Trump's large face outside the Department of Justice)

Absolutely not surprising but a limited leak of a Chinese local surveillance platform drawing off an apparently large national one has a special drop down for tracking for tracking foreign journalists in China… including me. @netaskari.bsky.social found the data open.substack.com/pub/netaskar...

”It is the latest, and by far the most sweeping, tool the president has aimed at financially rewarding supporters and political allies” www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

Survivor's had 50 seasons??? I interviewed a 2x contestant on what it takes to win these days. www.npr.org/2026/05/16/n...

Here's what the US National Science Board wanted to say about competing with China before its members were fired www.science.org/content/arti...

A massive lift from @npr.org - we go to the National Mall to interview speakers, attendees, at a prayer festival that wants to see American history more grounded in religion and what that looks like www.npr.org/2026/05/17/n...

When the Assad regime crumbled and I went to Syria for the first time, I immediately noticed some Uyghur fighters among the rebels. I wanted to know more. www.npr.org/2026/05/17/g...

Very moving interview with Scott Tong on the hidden and painful family history he has been unearthing in Shanghai www.npr.org/2026/05/16/n...

Listen, don't read: "AmirReza lights a cigarette before he records a voice message. It’s like he’s gathering his thoughts..." www.npr.org/2026/05/16/n...

Gorgeous soundscape piece that took me directly to lush, volcano land in Indonesia's Java island www.npr.org/2026/05/16/n...

A very therapeutic (and meta) conversation with NPR Wild Card's podcast producers and editors on how they get celebrities to open up www.npr.org/2026/05/16/n...

Putting the finishing touches on a very big project from Syria I’m excited about and that will go live soon.

Hundreds of Iranians in and outside the country have had their property confiscated for even mildly dissenting against the Iranian government. My story from my weeks at the Iranian border earlier this year: www.npr.org/2026/05/15/n...

Some days I wish I were back in Southeast Asia giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... Philippines drug war ‘enforcer’ turns fugitive as ICC case expands

Listen (don't read): @wbur.org Here and Now has a story from host Scott Tong, who was just in China reporting on the US-China meetings, and a hidden, painful piece of family history of his grandfather, who died in a labor camp in Shanghai www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2...

Wild story

I always say China and the US- despite their real differences - have many substantial similarities. This essay from @yilingliu95.bsky.social highlights on of them. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/12/o...

A @npr.org Ipsos and Chicago Council pol finds China largely sees China as an economic rival, not a security one - and have greater suspicions of Russia still www.npr.org/2026/05/12/n...

When Trump sits down with Xi in Beijing this week one of the things they’ll likely talk about is nuclear arms control. In this episode of Consider This, I dive deep into why China started expanding its nuclear program in the first place one.npr.org/i/nx-s1-5817...

Super fun convo with my fellow Nippers on women action stars and our favorite stars www.npr.org/2026/05/10/n...

On CBC's Sunday program this morning to talk about the US, China, and Iran in the lead-up to Trump's China trip www.cbc.ca/listen/live-...

Firefighters are bracing for a bad wildfire season: "We're dry and we're expecting the pace to pick up significantly here any time," said the recently appointed head of that service, Brian Fennessy, in an interview with NPR's All Things Considered host Emily Feng. www.npr.org/2026/05/09/n...

I am really loving these Reporters' Notebook series @npr.org does, peeling back how we do the reporting we do, across the NPR newsroom. This week's is with a senior political reporter on covering the midterms. www.npr.org/2026/05/09/n...

Opening Weekend All Things Considered today with this sound-rich two-way with @npr.org's Charles Maynes from Moscow on Russia downsizing its Victory Day parade: www.npr.org/2026/05/09/n...

Smart piece flipping on its head the usual analysis of Beijing’s military confidence, arguing instead this means an invasion is incredibly unlikely, bc China “it currently believes that unification will become easier and less costly as time passes.” www.foreignaffairs.com/taiwan/why-c...

NPR's @bobbyallyn.bsky.social tracked down Polymarket's "headquarters" in Panama City. Why is Polymarket in Panama? "If you're someone trying to enforce a judgement, good luck getting a Panamanian court to do that," one lawyer told him. www.npr.org/2026/05/05/n...

“Less than 30 seconds later came the shriek of the two missiles that lanced through Turmus’ car.” www.latimes.com/world-nation...

How does diplomacy work during a military deadlock? one.npr.org/i/nx-s1-5809...

Interesting blog post analyzing a new academic journal article in China on the cold, hard mechanics proposed for 'soul-casting' and forging a national identity jamesleibold.substack.com/p/chinas-sou...

I am the weekend afternoon show All Things Considered this weekend and for the next two weeks. Tune in 5 pm wherever you are!

In 2024, I saw Sheng Wang trial his stand up in a dark comedy club in Taipei. Today we had really fun conversation about his newest comedy special "Purple," which I loved, and how he finds such everyday, specific life moments and turns them into jokes www.npr.org/2026/05/02/n...

I loved this conversation with two other NPR reporters who are reporting on the war in Iran and Israel's invasion in Lebanon...talking how we report on war and lonely life on the road and holding all that pain during reporting really hit home for me www.npr.org/2026/05/02/n...

I speak to the head of the ICRC who just came back from Tehran last night and who speaks to the fear and uncertainty among the Iranian people about whether the ceasefire will hold. npr.org/2026/05/02/nx-s1-5807914/icrc-president-mirjana-spoljaric-warns-of-the-wars-impact-on-civilians

The Chinese Commerce ministry is outright saying it will not recognize nor comply with new U.S. sanctions on five Chinese oil refineries which the U.S. says imports Iranian oil www.mofcom.gov.cn/zwgk/zcfb/ar...

Two days after China and Zambia sign an economic agreement, Zambia abruptly cancels a huge human rights conference it was supposed to host this week, per organizers, who now say they were told the cancellation was due to Chinese diplomatic pressure: www.rightscon.org/rc26-stateme...

"In no other period in my life did I live with such intensity. I never drank more extravagantly, loved more fiercely, hated more passionately, worked more diligently or partied more recklessly than I did in those 15 years." www.equator.org/articles/the...

Multiple people in Taiwan approached by people likely working for security agencies in China but impersonating journalists, after real journalists published an investigation on China www.icij.org/investigatio...

Incredible reporting and a scene here - and an inside look at the risks the journalists took to report this story. "One miner threatened the colonel with a stick. Then he doused the soldiers and me with gas and shouted, “We’re all going to burn!”" www.nytimes.com/2026/04/26/w...

1/ Totally fascinating story from NYT on how homeowners associations and private property are spaces for political resistance in China: www.nytimes.com/2026/04/27/w...

How one company embodies the rise - and fall - and rise again? Of rare earths in the U.S. Planet Money and i did a deep dive episode into the materials at the center of U.S.-China trade tension www.npr.org/2026/04/24/n...

“Faraj helped her friend into a nearby building as an Israeli surveillance drone hovered above them… Another Israeli strike hit the building where they were hiding, causing it to collapse. “Amal was gone,” Faraj said. “And I was left alone." www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/20...

Baifang Schell book prizes announced chinabooksreview.com/2026/04/23/2... —congrats to Barbara Demick & Fang Fang (& translator @bairuiwen.bsky.social ) for their awards (& congrats too to honorable mention awardees, @emilyzfeng.bsky.social & the authors and translators of 3 notable books)

“When rescuers returned to help Khalil, the Israeli military dropped a sound grenade, blocking their access to the damaged building, Moufarrej and the senior military official said.” www.sbs.com.au/news/article...

This case - of a former US military guy turned prison guard turned hired brawn for Chinese spies - is fascinatingly bizarre. Also among his targets was a sculpture of Xi Jinping as a coronavirus particle in the middle of the California desert, as I chronicle in my book Let Only Red Flowers Bloom.

Striking statement from China’s foreign press club, explicitly making clear its condemnation of China revoking visas, China detaining journos over coverage, not associated w/any media outlet. Media orgs - powerful ones - are not speaking up, and they should. fccchina.org/2026/04/20/f...

Funny, cool, so good at what he did Remembering NPR audio engineer Brian Jarboe www.npr.org/2026/04/13/n...

China’s ten points to improve relations with Taiwan suggests setting up more regular mechanisms for leaders to meet, edu exchanges, and also the broadcast of “healthy” Taiwanese TV, animations, to be broadcast in China: www.gwytb.gov.cn/topone/20260...