Up First

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Daily News

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Politics

Politics

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21/12/2025 • UP FIRST+ ONLY

Where Kids Play

During the holidays, the kids are off from school, so they might be enjoying some extra screentime. It’s a reality many parents begrudgingly accept. But is time spent playing online games always a cause for concern? On The Sunday Story, host Ayesha Rascoe (whose kids are spending a lot of time lately playing Roblox, Minecraft and Fortnite) sits down with researcher Eli Stark-Elster to clear up some misconceptions around the harms of screentime.

21/12/2025

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15 min
15/04/2024 • UP FIRST+ ONLY

What Do We Need?

How can Black women face workplace challenges without losing faith—or losing themselves—in the process?Today on The Sunday Story, host Ayesha Rascoe sits down with Lauren Wesley Wilson, author of the new book, What Do You Need? Lauren has dedicated her career to helping women of color thrive in the workplace as the founder and CEO of ColorComm, a networking community for women of color in communications and media. In this episode, she reflects on big moments in her career, and shares advice for women who may still be searching for a workplace where they can belong.

15/04/2024

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22 min
26/11/2023 • UP FIRST+ ONLY

Meeting the Puzzlemaster

Today on The Sunday Story host Ayesha Rascoe heads to Westchester County in upstate New York to meet with The New York Times Crossword editor Will Shortz. The two sit down at the table tennis center Will owns and talk about how he became the Puzzlemaster on Weekend Edition Sunday, his love for all things puzzles and how recently, in his seventies, he has finally found love in his personal life as well.

26/11/2023

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24 min
29/01/2023 • UP FIRST+ ONLY

Chapter 3: The Call Home

For many African migrants who set out on long and dangerous journeys to Europe, the end point is Huelva province in southwestern Spain. Here, strawberry fields spread for miles and miles and jobs are plentiful. Each year, thousands of seasonal workers cultivate the soil, plant seedlings, water and fertilize and harvest the crops.In Huelva, workers from sub-Saharan Africa often live in dense settlements of semi-permanent structures without electricity or running water. And many are haunted by the question of when—or whether—they'll finally receive the documentation they need to travel home and see their families.

29/01/2023

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31 min
31/08/2025 • UP FIRST+ ONLY

A CLEAR Path to the Front of the Line

Air travel is stressful enough–and then there are people who can pay to jump the queue. How do some people get ushered straight to the front of the airport security line, while others find themselves waiting? The answer lies in the rise of a private company, CLEAR. Today on The Sunday Story, we look at how CLEAR inched its way into airport security. What actually happens when public and private interests try to coexist?

31/08/2025

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24 min
31/03/2024 • UP FIRST+ ONLY

A Song for Grief in China

In China, a man has been playing the piano outdoors, often in places of great sadness—the epicenter of an earthquake, a dam that submerged villages, a street emptied during a COVID lockdown.He plays just one song: "Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence," by the late composer Ryuichi Sakamoto.In the fall of 2022, one of his performance videos goes viral, tapping into years of unexpressed collective grief. In this episode of The Sunday Story, NPR correspondent John Ruwitch asks: who is the piano man, and why has he chosen this path?

31/03/2024

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39 min
09/06/2024 • UP FIRST+ ONLY

Video Game Economics (It's Not Play Money)

Can you get a college scholarship for playing video games? Are they becoming more accessible? Will forever games really last... forever? Wailin Wong, a host of The Indicator from Planet Money, joins us to discuss the economics of gaming and efforts to make the industry sustainable in the wake of mass layoffs.

09/06/2024

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28 min
26/05/2024 • UP FIRST+ ONLY

Planet Money Investigates Zombie 2nd Mortgages

Imagine being a homeowner and paying your mortgage on time every month and then, suddenly, losing your house to foreclosure. It sounds like a nightmare. But an NPR Planet Money investigation reveals that this is happening to a striking number of people because of something called 'zombie 2nd mortgages.

26/05/2024

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31 min
25/08/2024 • UP FIRST+ ONLY

Arresting Your Brothers and Sisters

In the Xinjiang region of western China, the government has rounded up and detained at least hundreds of thousands of Uyghurs and other Muslim ethnic groups. Many haven't been heard from in years, and others are still desperately searching for their families. Western governments have called this crackdown a cultural genocide and a possible crime against humanity.

25/08/2024

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42 min
06/07/2025 • UP FIRST+ ONLY

When News Broke

Just a few decades ago most people used — and trusted — the same news sources. Now, Americans are siloed in separate ecosystems, consuming conflicting depictions of reality. Misinformation runs rampant. Conspiracy theories flourish. And extremism grows. Today on The Sunday Story from Up First, reporter Ben Bradford brings us back to the moment when the first crack formed in America's news media. And how that crack widened and widened, until we split into separate worlds.

06/07/2025

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27 min

NPR's Up First is the news you need to start your day. The three biggest stories of the day, with reporting and analysis from NPR News — in 10 minutes. Available weekdays at 6:30 a.m. ET, with hosts Leila Fadel, Steve Inskeep, Michel Martin and A Martinez. Also available on Saturdays at 9 a.m. ET, with Ayesha Rascoe and Scott Simon. On Sundays, hear a longer exploration behind the headlines with Ayesha Rascoe on "The Sunday Story," available by 8 a.m. ET. Subscribe and listen, then support your local NPR station at donate.npr.org.Support NPR's reporting by subscribing to Up First+ and unlock sponsor-free listening. Learn more at plus.npr.org/upfirst

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DAILY NEWS
“The Sunday Story” from Up First is where storytelling meets the issues of the day. Hosted by Ayesha Rascoe, “The Sunday Story” is NPR’s weekly news and culture magazine exploring one topic in depth through conversations, interviews and deeply-reported narrative journalism. Publishing every Sunday in the Up First feed.

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POLITICS

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Top Shows

Where Kids Play

What Do We Need?

Meeting the Puzzlemaster

Chapter 3: The Call Home

A CLEAR Path to the Front of the Line

A Song for Grief in China

Video Game Economics (It's Not Play Money)

Planet Money Investigates Zombie 2nd Mortgages

Arresting Your Brothers and Sisters

When News Broke

Support NPR. Listen sponsor-free.

Where Kids Play

What Do We Need?

Meeting the Puzzlemaster

Chapter 3: The Call Home

A CLEAR Path to the Front of the Line

A Song for Grief in China

Video Game Economics (It's Not Play Money)

Planet Money Investigates Zombie 2nd Mortgages

Arresting Your Brothers and Sisters

When News Broke

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