Melissa Block
Melissa Block is a 28-year veteran of NPR and has been hosting All Things Considered since 2003, after nearly a decade as an NPR correspondent. Frequently reporting from communities in the center of the news, Block was in Chengdu, China, preparing for a weeklong broadcast when a massive earthquake struck the region in May 2008. Immediately following the quake, Block, along with co-host Robert Siegel and their production team, traveled throughout Sichuan province to report extensively on the destruction and relief efforts. Their riveting coverage aired across all of NPR's programs and was carried on major news organizations around the world. In addition, the reporting was recognized with the industry's top honors including a Peabody Award, a duPont-Columbia Award, a National Headliner Award and the Society of Professional Journalists' Sigma Delta Chi Award.
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President-elect Biden and Democrats in Congress have called Trump's insistence that the election was rigged the "big lie." The term has roots in Nazi Germany and echoes throughout fascist states.
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In her victory speech, Kamala Harris spoke directly to young girls, saying, "This is a country of possibilities." Girls who met Harris during the campaign say they're inspired by her as a pathbreaker.
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President Trump's recent executive order banning some diversity training has had a widespread effect as government agencies, contractors and universities scramble to figure out how to comply.
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The 19th amendment secured all women the right to vote, but in practice many women of color were excluded. This continues to resonate today with voter suppression among marginalized communities.
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Tennessee was the final state needed to ratify the amendment that secured women the right to vote. At the last moment, a young state legislator switched his vote to yes after his mom asked him to.
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The fans can't come back because of the coronavirus pandemic, so Major League Baseball will pump crowd sounds into the empty ballparks when its season begins on July 23.
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With soccer stadiums empty of fans because of COVID-19, broadcasters are juicing up their feeds with prerecorded sound of crowds. Major League Baseball will take a similar approach.
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Statues have been taken down; names scrubbed from institutions. The national reckoning over race has reenergized debates over historical figures and the scrutiny goes beyond Confederate monuments.
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Statues have been taken down. Names are being scrubbed from institutions. The national reckoning over race has led to closer scrutiny of which figures from history we honor, and how.
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This week at the protests in Washington, D.C., thousands of voices joined spontaneously in singing the Bill Withers classic "Lean on Me," led by local musician Kenny Sway.