Meg Anderson

Community bail funds face backlash from GOP lawmakers after a 2020 surge in popularity Bail Funds — where community members donate money to help others post bail — exploded in popularity after the 2020 protests against police brutality. Since then, they've faced political blowback, and ...

Community bail funds became much more visible after 2020.

That has led GOP lawmakers to call for more scrutiny, often citing public safety concerns. But advocates of the funds say those calls are an attack on a form of solidarity across communities.

www.npr.org/2025/07/21/n...

It is a privilege to work with such incredibly smart, thoughtful, kind colleagues. They take their work seriously, and understand that to tell these stories, to shine light on issues, to put people on the radio you don't normally hear, that's no small thing. Feeling proud to keep doin' that work.

I am (obviously) leaving out a mountain of other work from other amazing colleagues.

YouTube video by NPR Music Anderson .Paak & The Free Nationals: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert

My favorite Tiny Desk www.youtube.com/watch?v=ferZ...

Planet Money Makes A T-Shirt The world behind a simple shirt, in five chapters.

This fun, but also very informative!, series from Planet Money where they followed a t-shirt as it got manufactured. apps.npr.org/tshirt/#/title

The Last Person You'd Expect To Die In Childbirth The U.S. has the worst rate of maternal deaths in the developed world: Sixty percent of the 700 to 900 deaths each year are preventable, including that of neonatal nurse Lauren Bloomstein.

This story, one of the first I helped produce when I joined the NPR investigations team, about the high rate of maternal mortality in the U.S., which helped spark a conversation about this issue across the country. www.npr.org/2017/05/12/5...

74 Seconds: An MPR News podcast Officer Jeronimo Yanez shot Philando Castile during a traffic stop in a Twin Cities suburb. The world watched the aftermath. Yanez was charged in Castile's death. Jurors found him not guilty on all ch...

And this one from @mprnews.org about the death of Philando Castile at the hands of police in a Twin Cities suburb. www.mprnews.org/podcasts/74-...

Believed How did Larry Nassar, an Olympic gymnastics doctor, get away with abusing hundreds of women and girls for two decades? Believed is an inside look at how a team of women won a conviction in one of the ...

This chilling podcast from Michigan Radio and NPR about Larry Nassar. www.npr.org/podcasts/510...

An Artist And A Warrior: Colleague Remembers Fallen NPR Photographer David Gilkey Seven years ago, NPR's David Gilkey was killed while on assignment in Afghanistan. A longtime colleague pays tribute to his life and passion: "He played the role of witness for us all."

This collection of beautiful work by the late NPR photographer David Gilkey, who died while on assignment in Afghanistan. www.npr.org/sections/pic...

After The Water: Flash Floods Pose Existential Threat To Towns Across U.S. When a flash flood ripped through Old Ellicott City in Maryland, residents thought it was a freak occurrence. Then, less than two years later, it happened again.

This immersive visual story about flooding in a Maryland town, which also deftly broke down how flooding is becoming increasingly common because of climate change. apps.npr.org/ellicott-city/

State Foster Care Agencies Take Millions Of Dollars Owed To Children In Their Care In at least 36 states and the District of Columbia, child welfare agencies use a child's benefit checks to offset the cost of foster care, often leaving them with a tattered safety net as adults.

This story from Joe Shapiro and @themarshallproject.org on how most U.S. states use the Social Security benefits owed to foster children to pay for their own care. www.npr.org/2021/04/22/9...

How the war in Ukraine has forever changed the children in one kindergarten class Broken glass, empty desks and a love story: War brought upheaval, scattering classmates across the world. Here's how they're settling in after schooling, friendships and families were uprooted.

This stunning story from Elissa Nadworny, which tells the story of a kindergarten class in Ukraine and made me want to cry.

The lighter side of immigration: A day at the park in Queens : Code Switch This week on Code Switch, we're doing a different kind of immigration coverage. We're telling a New York story: one that celebrates the beautiful, everyday life of the immigrant. Code Switch producer,...

This beautiful Code Switch episode, from @jasgarsd.bsky.social and the Code Switch team, which breezily, like an afternoon in the park, injects so much humanity into a topic that so often gets sterilized in coverage. www.npr.org/2025/07/02/1...

Clinging to a tree, and praying: how a family survived the Texas flash floods "I thought my mom was going to die in front of me," said Taylor Bergmann, a 19-year-old who fought to save the people in his family after the Guadalupe River smashed through their home.

Recently, this story from @sergiomarbel.bsky.social which lets you hear from people in a really intimate way what this terrible disaster was like for them. www.npr.org/2025/07/09/n...

For no reason at all, just want to say I'm proud of my work over my nearly 10 years at @npr.org and of the work of so many of my colleagues and our member station partners.

Here's a list of things I've loved over the years.

Houston Public Media loses $4.4M in previously allocated federal funding over next two years The rescission package proposed by President Donald Trump and approved by Congress claws back nearly $1.1 billion for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which provides annual federal funding to PBS, NPR and their member stations across the country, including Houston Public Media.

Houston Public Media will lose $2.2 million annually for the next two years -- or nearly 10% of its annual operating budget -- after Congress voted to rescind $1.1 billion in previously approved federal funding for public media.

From the CEO: Congress defunds public media The latest announcements and updates from WBUR

Congress voted to cut all federal funds for public media. For WBUR, it means we'll lose at least $1.6 million annually.

Yet the news won't stop, and neither will we.

Our commitment to thoughtful, fair and trustworthy coverage is undiminished.

But we need your help.

We at Louisville Public Media just lost $376,000 due to Congress passing the rescission bill last night to claw back funds from public media across America. Today we’re asking those who value our work to help make up those funds in an emergency drive so we can maintain the staff/services we provide:

I wish everyone could see behind the scenes at NPR today. It's inspiring to see people get back up and do their jobs, just as they do every day. Journalism is important work and it will continue.

Last night, Congress voted to clawback funds for public media. Support WPLN now at wpln.org/give

NPR Network and WRVO Public Media - Federal funding for public media has been eliminated. Support WRVO's continuing mission. Donate Now at wrvo.org.

Federal funding for public radio has been eliminated—putting independent journalism at risk across central and upstate New York.
WRVO won't back down. We're here for our communities from Syracuse to Watertown and beyond, but we need you with us. Support local public media: bit.ly/WRVOFedS25

Senate advances deep cuts to public media funding - Poynter The $1 billion cut would strip two years of federal support from NPR, PBS and more than 1,500 local stations, many of which could go dark

The Senate voted early Thursday, largely along party lines, to cut $1 billion dollars in already approved funding for NPR, PBS and more than 1,500 local stations, many of which could go dark.

The amended bill now requires final approval from the House.

www.poynter.org/business-wor...

ICE wants to work in secret. We shouldn’t let it Journalism about ICE is increasingly under attack by officials who prefer government propaganda

The government is putting more and more pressure on journalists reporting on ICE.

We all must speak out against these chilling tactics.

I want to thank NPR for this discussion of what is being lost at my former agency. One of the best overviews I've seen (and not because I'm in it). So many things are being lost and destroyed, it is easy to miss the sabotaging of any one agency, even one that does critical work like ATF.

Trump administration targets ATF, with plans to cut jobs and ease gun restrictions DOGE staffers have been working on changes at the ATF that would roll back dozens of gun restrictions. The DOJ wants to downsize the agency — a move some fear will hinder criminal investigations.

The DOJ wants to dramatically reduce the capacity of the ATF to inspect gun dealers, along with loosening dozens of gun regulations.

It's a move that will make Americans less safe, sources told me, and is at odds with the DOJ's claim that it is tough on crime.

www.npr.org/2025/07/02/n...

Pardoned Jan. 6 Rioter Who Threatened Police Joins Justice Dept.

This guy is working for the Justice Department: "As violence erupted, his charging document said, he told other rioters who were attacking law enforcement officers, 'Kill ’em! Kill ’em! Kill ’em!'"
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/01/u...

Murders are down nationwide. Researchers point to a key reason Homicides are falling dramatically in many U.S. cities, after a surge in 2020 and 2021. Analysts say a reinvestment in communities from local government after the pandemic's disruption is a key reason...

Murders surged during COVID. Now they are WAY down nationwide.

Researchers point to a key reason: The pandemic ripped away vital local government services. Like community centers, sports, social workers, teachers, health providers. Turns out, these things are helpful!

www.npr.org/2025/06/30/n...

For those scoring at home: Elected officials protest aggressive ICE actions—> Administration claims they are “assaulting” & threatening federal agents, so it arrests & charges them —> Journalists writing about the situation contrast the video evidence with the allegations—>White House says:

‘It feels different in here’: Walz returns to the Capitol after death of friend and colleague Gov. Tim Walz called Rep. Melissa Hortman, who was fatally shot Saturday, his “closest ally” and praised her bipartisanship as a model for a divided country. Walz told MPR News he has asked his staff ...

In his first interview since the shootings, Walz previewed a much larger remembrance to come. He told MPR News that he’s notified his team to prepare for the possibility of Hortman and her husband to lie in state at the Capitol.

Helping Paws, a local org that trains assistance dogs, confirms the Hortman’s family dog Gilbert died in the attack. Melissa was set to train him, but he became family instead. Helping Paws is starting a fund in their honor.