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Popular culture is filled with stories of the underground railroad - the legendary secret network that helped enslaved people escape from southern slave states to free states in the north. Harriet Tubman is the underground railroad's best known conductor. Tubman, who was a Union spy during the Civil War, escaped slavery in Maryland, but returned again and again, risking her own freedom to help free others, including members of her family. Inevitably there's much we don't know ...including how the term, the Underground Railroad, came to be. Journalist Scott Shane, stumbled on the answer while he was writing his book "Flee North: A Forgotten Hero and the Fight for Freedom in Slavery's Borderland." His book tells the story of Thomas Smallwood, an activist and writer who's story and the key role he played in the abolition movement has mostly been lost to history. For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at considerthis@npr.org. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

In the last few years, a new trend has emerged on social media: De-influencers. Instead of selling, de-influencers encourage their followers to stop buying things they don't actually need. De-influencers are also using this trend as an opportunity to raise awareness about the negative impact of overconsumption on the environment. From plastic packaging to useless gadgets that end up in landfills, over-consumption doesn't just have a negative effect on our wallets - but also on our planet and climate change. We look at what role can de-influencers play in helping address climate change and spreading the message of sustainable living. For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at considerthis@npr.org. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

In Kansas City neighborhood organizations do the work of violence prevention one block, and one person at at time. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Quote – "The fight is here; I need ammunition, not a ride." That statement, from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to the U-S Embassy, came two days after Russian missiles began raining down on his country two years ago. After weeks of speculation and warnings Russian President Vladimir Putin had declared war. Fueled by grit, patriotism and billions of dollars from the US, Ukraine has waged a fight no one expected they could. But nearly two years in that could be changing. US aid is stuck in Congress. This week, Russian forces captured their first city in 9 months. And that plea Zelensky made for ammunition in February 2022 – he's still making it. Ukraine has waged a war against Russia that has exceeded expectations. Can it continue to stand up to Russia if western aid doesn't come through? We get the view from the battlefield from a Ukrainian writer turned soldier. For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at considerthis@npr.org. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Keyser, West Virginia, was once known for coal. But the jobs have been disappearing. First because of automation, then cheap natural gas. And now, the urgency to address climate change is one more pressure on this energy source that contributes to global warming. Now the town, like so much of the country is attempting to transition to renewable energy. The country's first major climate policy, known as the Inflation Reduction Act, gave that transition a boost. It passed with the key vote of West Virginia's own Senator Democrat Joe Manchin. Keyser represents a national shift in American energy production. And in a town that was defined by coal for generations, change can be difficult. For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at considerthis@npr.org. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Brian Mann covers the U-S opioid and fentanyl crisis for NPR. That means he talks to a lot of people struggling with addiction. Again and again, he's heard stories of people who have succumbed to their addiction — last year 112, 000 — more than ever in history. But when Mann traveled to Portugal to report on that country's model for dealing with the opioid crisis, he heard a very different story. Overdose deaths in Portugal are extremely rare. The country has taken a radically different approach to drugs – decriminalizing small amounts and publicly funding addiction services – including sites where people can use drugs like crack and heroin. Portugal treats addiction as an illness rather than a crime. No one has to pay for addiction care, and no one scrambles to navigate a poorly regulated recovery system. Could Portugal's approach help the U-S fight its opioid epidemic? For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at considerthis@npr.org. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Much of the world has spent the weekend mourning Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. And asking why he chose to return to Russia, after he'd been poisoned, and when it was clear he was in danger. Filmmaker Daniel Roher, who interviewed Navalny for the Oscar-winning documentary "Navalny," says the Russian opposition leader was an incredibly optimistic and certain about himself and his mission. And that Navalny believed he could usher in a brighter future for Russia. So what happens to that future now? Aleksei Miniailo an opposition activist and researcher in Moscow weighs in on how the Russian opposition sustains its movement after the death of its most prominent figure. For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at considerthis@npr.org. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

About two years ago, New Jersey's Democratic Governor Phil Murphy said that the state would be partnering with the Danish company Orsted, the largest developer of offshore wind projects in the world. The company had agreed to build Ocean Wind 1, the state's first offshore wind farm, powering half a million homes and creating thousands of jobs in the process. The following year, Orsted inked another deal with the state for Ocean Wind 2, a second offshore wind farm with similar capacity. After years of review, the projects were approved in summer 2023. Construction of the first turbines was slated to begin in the fall. And then Orsted backed out, cancelling the contracts full stop. Despite the setbacks, Murphy is still all-in on wind. A month after Orsted dropped out, Murphy directed the state's Board of Public Utilities to seek new bids from offshore wind developers. And the state just approved two new offshore wind contracts. After several setbacks, could this mean a second wind for offshore wind? For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at considerthis@npr.org. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Rent has skyrocketed in the United States. That means Americans are handing over a bigger portion of their paycheck to their housing costs. They have less money for things like food, electricity, and commuting. The pandemic and inflation have both played a role in pushing rents higher. Whitney Airgood-Obrycki a Senior Research Associate at Harvard's Joint Center on Housing Studies says rents are actually going down, but that increases have been so large it's going to take time for the market to even out. We look at how rent prices got so high and what it might take to bring them down. For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at considerthis@npr.org. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

For half a century, during the Cold War, every U-S president painted Russia as the dominant threat. America's ideological opposite, a hostile and nuclear-armed power. Ronald Reagan went so far as to call the Soviet Union an Evil Empire. So the events of recent days have been noteworthy. On top of a holdup of U-S aid for Ukraine, former President Trump said he might NOT come to the defense of a NATO ally who hadn't spent enough on defense. And Tucker Carlson, the erstwhile Fox news host, flew to Moscow to sit down with Vladimir Putin for more than two hours of mostly softball questions. Afterward, he pronounced Putin "impressive" on stage at the World Government Summit. So what gives? Why the romance between the American right and Russia? For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at considerthis@npr.org. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

One single election does not a trend make. But does Democrat Tom Suozzi's victory in the special election for New York's 3rd Congressional District mean something bigger for democrats? The Congressman won his seat – which until recently had been held by disgraced Republican George Santos – by diving head on into an issue that democrats would usually rather avoid – immigration. Was that the opening chapter in a playbook Suozzi is writing, for fellow Democrats trying to find a way to deal with the thorny political issue of immigration? For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at considerthis@npr.org. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

On June 14, Donald Trump will turn 78 years old. Joe Biden turned 81 in November. Whether the candidates like it or not, age, mental acuity and physical fitness are issues dominating the 2024 election cycle. Though the two men were born fewer than four years apart, voters have consistently expressed more concern about Biden's age than Trump's. Is a double standard being applied when it comes to the presidential candidates and age? For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at considerthis@npr.org. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy