Consider This from NPR Consider This

When Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace hit screens across the country in 1999, Return of the Jedi felt like ancient history to Star Wars fans. But after 16 long years, the movie let down fans and critics alike. Twenty-five years have changed how a lot of people feel. For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

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Louis Sahagún first arrived at the Los Angeles Times in his early twenties as a utility worker, sweeping lead dust around the printing machines.

But it was the buzzing newsroom that inspired Sahagún to soon spend his lifetime writing stories about the undiscovered characters and corners of California.

Now after 43 years, he's retiring from the paper, and reflecting on what motivated him to cover a side of the Golden state that remained unknown to many.

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The Biden administration has put a hold on an arms shipment to Israel. A senior administration official speaking on the condition of anonymity told NPR it was due to concerns the bombs could be used in Rafah.

Rafah is the site of Israel's latest campaign in its war against Hamas. It's also home to some 1.3 million Palestinians. More than half of those people have fled fighting in other parts of Gaza.

On Monday night, Israeli tanks rolled into Rafah taking control of the Palestinian side of the border crossing with Egypt.

The seizure of the border crossing cuts a key supply line for humanitarian aid.

Israel says its incursion in Rafah is a "precise counterterrorism operation." But possible further military action along with the closed border crossing could exacerbate a humanitarian catastrophe.

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Brittney Griner didn't know the flight she was taking to Moscow in February 2022 would upend her life. But even before she left for the airport, Griner felt something was off.

It was a premonition that foreshadowed a waking nightmare.

She had accidentally left two vape cartridges with traces of cannabis oil in her luggage. What followed was nearly 10 months of struggle in a cell, and diplomatic efforts from the U.S. to get her home.

Griner reflects on the experience in her new memoir, 'Coming Home' and discusses it in depth with NPR's Juana Summers.

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The term "outside agitator" has staying power.

It's been used against protestors throughout history, from the Civil Rights Movement, to the anti-Vietnam War protests and now during the pro-Palestinian demonstrations on college campuses.

"Outside agitator" was also used to describe some of the people who protested the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri In 2014.

Who exactly are the "outside agitators" and what purpose does it serve to call them out?

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On Friday, China launched its Chang'e-6 mission carrying a probe to the far side of the moon to gather samples and bring them back to Earth. If successful, it would be a first, for any country.

The race to get astronauts back on the moon is in full swing. The U.S. has serious competition. China wants to put astronauts on the moon by 2030. Other countries are in the race, too.

If the U.S. stays on schedule it will get humans back on the moon before anyone else, as part of NASA's Artemis program. That's a big if. But NASA is making progress.

The space agency's making a bit of a bet, and mostly relying on private companies, mainly Elon Musk's SpaceX .

With limited resources and facing a more crowded field, it's unclear if the U.S. will dominate space as it once did.

Host Scott Detrow talks to NASA Administrator Bill Nelson about what he is doing to try to keep the U.S. at the front of the race back to the moon.

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