PODCAST · society
Embedded
by NPR
NPR's home for audio documentaries brings untold stories to light through deeply reported narrative series. We go to hidden corners of the headlines to explore what's been sealed off, undisclosed, or overlooked – and the people at the heart of those stories. Support public media by joining NPR+ at plus.npr.org. You’ll get perks for over 25 NPR podcasts, including early access and sponsor-free listening for Embedded (Embedded perks may vary between seasons).
Episodes
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Where is Austin Tice: The hardest thing
Josh and Sara track down a witness who says he knows what happened to Austin Tice. He gives them names, places and a version of events that is terrifyingly detailed. He says people are trying to stop the truth from coming out. Josh and Sara test his story. As the pieces begin to fit, Josh tells...
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Where is Austin Tice?: Those who know
Josh and Austin’s mother Debra arrive in Beirut chasing the same man — someone who may hold the key to Austin’s fate. But he is not the only one who knows something, there are others. As Josh and Sara close in, competing accounts begin to emerge: stories of detention, death, survival and…
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Where is Austin Tice?: The escape
When was the last time Austin was seen alive? Josh and Sara find the people who claim to know. Josh meets a man who says he interrogated Austin. Then two more witnesses are found. Each of them helps fill gaps in Austin’s story, and the hidden months of his captivity are revealed. Support public...
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Where is Austin Tice?: A meeting in Muskat
Josh uncovers a hidden world of secret negotiations, backchannels, and high-level talks. And, after years of failed promises, Austin’s mother Debra decides to go to Syria herself - alone. She believes the U.S. government could have done more to get her son home. Josh finds the men who took part…
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Where is Austin Tice?: The video
A video appears online titled: “Austin Tice Still Alive”. It shows Austin bound, blindfolded and terrified, surrounded by armed men. But as Josh and Sara dig deeper, the story begins to change. They uncover a trail that leads to the door of the most powerful man in Syria. Austin’s case is like no...
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Where is Austin Tice?: The driver
Josh and Sara piece together Austin’s final route into Damascus. They find the farm, where he celebrated his 31st birthday — the last place his mother spoke to him. Then comes an unprecedented discovery. For years, the story was that Austin was taken at a checkpoint. But what Josh and Sara…
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Where is Austin Tice?: The American journalist
The Austin Tice files begin to give up their secrets. Josh and Sara uncover names, locations and new leads about what happened to Austin Tice. But to understand them, they have to go back to the start - to Austin’s own journey through Syria, the rebels he befriended, and the road he took before…
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Where is Austin Tice?: A black box
In the chaos after the Syrian regime’s downfall, the hunt for Austin Tice is on. Josh Baker and his fellow investigative journalist Sara Obeidat are in Damascus as bombs fall and gunfights break out. Armed with a list of locations where Austin may have been held, they race across the Syrian…
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Where is Austin Tice?: We believe he’s alive
American journalist Austin Tice has been missing in Syria for more than a decade. Nobody knows what happened to him. Austin’s mother and even the president of the United States believe he is still alive. Then suddenly, the Syrian regime falls. As Josh Baker travels to try to find him, a source...
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Introducing “Where is Austin Tice?” from NPR and the BBC
This is the story of one of the biggest missing-person cases of our time. It’s been more than fourteen years since American journalist Austin Tice vanished in Syria. There have been many stories about what happened to him. His disappearance has reached the highest levels of power and yet, so…
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We Keep Us Safe: Circles of Silence
EPISODE 8: As the lawsuit over Antonio Mays Jr.’s death goes to trial, more clues bring us closer to identifying the person who shot him at close range. Will Antonio’s father finally get answers, and will anyone be held accountable? Support journalism like this by signing up for NPR+ at...
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We Keep Us Safe: The Sentinels
EPISODE 7: The hunt for Antonio’s killer leads us to a mysterious security group called the Sentinels. For the first time, former members speak about their operation at CHOP and describe the person they say shot Antonio at close range. Support journalism like this by signing up for NPR+ at...
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We Keep Us Safe: Inside the White Jeep
EPISODE 6: An interview with a protester who witnessed the aftermath of the shooting leads to a tip that changes the entire investigation. Support journalism like this by signing up for NPR+ at plus.npr.org See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for...
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We Keep Us Safe: The Chase
EPISODE 5: What really happened the night Antonio Mays Jr. was killed? Protesters claim he was attacking CHOP and they had to defend themselves. But new evidence from that night turns everything we thought we knew about the shooting upside down. Support journalism like this by signing up for NPR+...
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We Keep Us Safe: Pocket’s World
EPISODE 4: Who was Antonio Mays Jr.? What was he up to at CHOP? A deep dive into Antonio’s last few weeks leads to perplexing rumors, new details about the night he was killed and conversations with the people whose lives were changed by his death. Support journalism like this by signing up for...
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We Keep Us Safe: This Ain’t Coachella
EPISODE 3: After police retreat from their precinct, protesters begin occupying roughly eight blocks of Seattle. It's their attempt at a police-free world. But as rumors spread, fear and paranoia take over, setting a dangerous stage for Antonio Mays Jr.'s arrival. Support journalism like this by...
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We Keep Us Safe: The Standoff
EPISODE 2: In the summer of 2020, protests are happening all across the country. But Seattle is different. A confrontation between protestors and police outside a precinct leads to the birth of CHOP. A thousand miles away, Antonio Mays Jr. hears about what’s happening in Seattle. He was shot and...
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We Keep Us Safe: Who Killed Antonio Mays Jr.?
EPISODE 1: When 16-year-old Antonio Mays Jr. was shot and killed inside Seattle's CHOP protest zone in 2020, protesters claimed self-defense. For years, that version of events went unchallenged. Reporters Sydney Brownstone, Will James and David Gutman investigate what really happened the night...
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Introducing "We Keep Us Safe" from NPR, KUOW and The Seattle Times
In the summer of 2020, sixteen-year-old Antonio Mays Jr. traveled a thousand miles to join the racial justice movement of his generation. He arrived in Seattle during the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest, known as CHOP. Less than a week later, he was shot and killed there. The case remains unsolved....
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The Girls: “This is my story to tell”
Alleged victims of the Stoners find each other online and band together to demand justice. But they run up against police and prosecutors who have different ideas than they do about the best path to accountability. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data...
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The Girls: “If it was your daughter”
17-year-old Aryalle Stoner runs away from home and tells the police that her father, Ronnie Stoner, has been sexually abusing her for years. The cursory investigation that follows is representative of a larger issue with child sex abuse investigations in Louisville. See pcm.adswizz.com for...
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The Girls: “This isn’t ringing alarms to y’all?”
Allegations pile up, but Child Protective Services declines to investigate and the school district continues to promote Ronnie Stoner. We include an update at the end of the episode. “The Girls” is a 4-part series from the Louisville Public Media’s investigative podcast, Dig. See pcm.adswizz.com...
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The Girls: “I need to tell you something”
In 2023, 17-year-old Abbie Jones and her family accuse her high school football coach, Donnie Stoner, of child sex abuse. Another Louisville woman, Alexis Crook, says she was abused by Donnie too, and his twin brother Ronnie, when they were coaches at her private Christian school almost 20 years...
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The Network: Pivoting as mifepristone access shifts
After next Monday, doctors may not be able to mail people the abortion pill Mifepristone. That would increase barriers, but experts say it won't stop people's ability to get the pills in the mail. Getting abortion pills without a doctor’s oversight isn’t new—in fact its history begins nearly 50...
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Alternate Realities: Double or Nothing
As soon as Alternate Realities publishes, Zach Mack calls his dad to hear his reactions to the series. The conversation takes an unexpected turn, launching them into another year-long experiment. To listen to this series sponsor-free and support NPR, sign up for Embedded+ in Apple Podcasts or at...
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The Harvard Plan: The Endless Frontier
Universities were not always so vulnerable to the whims of politics. The whole system of taxpayer-funded, university-led scientific research came about at the end of World War II, and was the brainchild of a man named Vannevar Bush. He felt the partnership of government and academics had to be...
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The Harvard Plan: Jay & Alan
Harvard president Alan Garber and National Institutes of Health head Jay Bhattacharya are two main characters at the heart of the national fight over the future of academia. Alan Garber has been cast as the defender of academic freedom and democracy; Jay Bhattacharya is Donald Trump’s pick to…
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The Harvard Plan: And so it begins…
The Harvard Plan, a collaboration between On the Media and The Boston Globe, is about the fight for the soul of America’s oldest and most prestigious university. In the new season, they explore what has unfolded at Harvard since Donald Trump’s inauguration in 2025. Three main characters, inside...
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Alternate Realities: A Question for Listeners
After we released Alternate Realities, hundreds of listeners reached out, sharing stories about friends and family members who had also fallen under the spell of conspiracy theories. Many of them had tried everything they could think of to get that person back... and failed. Has anyone had…
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Congress has voted to eliminate government funding for public media
Act now to ensure public media remains free and accessible to all. Your donation will help this essential American service survive and thrive. Visit donate.npr.org now. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast...
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The Network: Déjà vu
Part 3: The network and its method took off in countries where women didn't have a legal option for abortion. Since Roe v. Wade was overturned, many Americans have found themselves in that very situation. We travel to the US to see how the network is responding to exploding demand and mounting...
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The Network: Breaking Bread
Part 2: The network had developed a method that had the potential to get women widespread access to safe abortions. But to make that happen, a whisper network wasn't enough. Hosts Marta and Victoria travel across Latin America to trace how the network entered a new era. Women spoke up and teamed...
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The Network: Saint-o-tec
In the mid-1980s, an OBGYN in Brazil noticed that far fewer pregnant women at his hospital were dying from abortion complications. It wasn't a coincidence. Brazilian women had made a discovery that allowed them to safely have abortions at home, despite the country's abortion restrictions. That...
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Introducing "The Network" from NPR and Futuro Media
Decades ago, Brazilian women made a discovery that allowed them to have safe abortions without a doctor, regardless of the law. Now, as abortion restrictions rise across the United States, their method is shaping how American women have abortions, too. In this three-part series, hosts Victoria...
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Alternate Realities: Facing the Facts
Episode 3: After a year of waiting, the bet is finally over. Reporter Zach Mack takes stock of his father's predictions and confronts him about the future of the family. To listen to this series sponsor-free and get early access, sign up for Embedded+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. See...
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Alternate Realities: Down the Rabbit Hole
Episode 2: After reporter Zach Mack accepts a bet with his father over 10 politically apocalyptic predictions, he sets out on a journey to change his dad's mind. To listen to this series sponsor-free and get early access, sign up for Embedded+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. See...
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Alternate Realities: A Strange Bet
Episode 1: Reporter Zach Mack thinks his dad has gone all in on conspiracy theories, while his father thinks that Zach is the one being brainwashed. In 2024, after the latest round of circular arguments, they decided to try something new, an attempt to pull each other out of the spell each of…
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Introducing Alternate Realities from NPR
Zach Mack and his dad are living in separate realities, and it's tearing their family apart. Like so many Americans, Zach's dad has gotten swept up in conspiracy theories. After years of circular arguments, the father challenged his son to a bet: $10,000 on ten politically apocalyptic predictions...
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Five Fingers Crush The Land from NPR's Throughline
As NPR correspondent Emily Feng reported in our three-part series "The Black Gate," hundreds of thousands of Uyghur people have been detained in China. They've been subjected to torture, forced labor, religious restrictions, and even forced sterilization. In this episode from 2021, our colleagues...
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The Black Gate: Arresting Your Brothers and Sisters
As NPR correspondent Emily Feng reported on the Kucar family, she encountered a mysterious figure working to keep her sources from speaking out. Later, she meets another Uyghur man who - perhaps unwillingly - becomes an actor within China's systems of control. These men are accused of working to...
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The Black Gate: Like a Bullet from a Gun
Abdullatif Kucar returns to China, determined to find his children, who have been sent to state-run "boarding schools," and his wife, who has spent two years in prison. They're among hundreds of thousands of Uyghurs arrested and detained over the years. Kucar is trying to do what is virtually...
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The Black Gate: Vanished in the Night
In the Xinjiang region of western China, the government has rounded up and detained hundreds of thousands of Uyghurs and other Muslim ethnic groups, including the wife and young children of a Uyghur businessman named Abdullatif Kucar. NPR correspondent Emilly Feng follows Kucar as he desperately...
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Introducing The Black Gate from NPR
This is the story of a people being erased, one family at a time. For almost a decade, the Chinese government has been detaining hundreds of thousands of ethnic Uyghurs in what critics call a systematic attempt to dismantle their culture. And since the beginning, NPR correspondent Emily Feng has...
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A Good Guy: Under Oath
There's a promise that all Marines make to defend the Constitution. After Sgt. Joshua Abate participated in the events on January 6, the Corps has to decide: Did he break his oath when he entered the Capitol that day? And what does his case say about the changing narrative around January 6? To...
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A Good Guy: 279 Hours
"Have you ever tried to overthrow the U.S. government?" Marine Sgt. Joshua Abate was in the middle of a routine polygraph test to receive top-secret clearance when he made an extraordinary admission: He had followed the crowd that broke into the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. This admission…
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Introducing "A Good Guy" from NPR
Sergeant Joshua Abate says that he's not a rioter or an insurrectionist. Those closest to the active-duty Marine call him "a good guy." But he was part of the mob that attacked the Capitol on January 6th, 2021. On the eve of a new presidential election, what does his case tell us, as the nation...
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Tested: Lumpers and Splitters
Episode 6: Christine and Max are some of the most recent female athletes in this century-long history to face tests, stigma, and restrictions. But they are unlikely to be the last. In this episode, we find out whether Christine qualifies for the Paris Olympics, as well as the fate of Max's court...
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Tested: Unfair Advantage?
Episode 5: A battle over science and ethics unfolds. World Athletics releases and then tweaks multiple policies impacting DSD athletes, while critics cry foul. In this episode, World Athletics doubles down on its claims, Caster Semenya challenges the rules again, and we dig deep on a big…
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Tested: Running in Circles
Episode 4: In 2009, South African sprinter Caster Semenya won gold at the World Championships. But instead of a celebration, she endured endless speculation about her body, her biology, and her gender. And soon, sports organizations would launch a new round of regulations, lead to multiple court...
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Tested: Card-Carrying Females
Episode 3: We meet Kenyan sprinter Maximila Imali, who—like Christine Mboma—has been sidelined by DSD policies. She makes a different choice from Christine: to fight the regulations in court. And we learn about a previous fight, when scientists, athletes, and journalists spent thirty years trying...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
NPR's home for audio documentaries brings untold stories to light through deeply reported narrative series. We go to hidden corners of the headlines to explore what's been sealed off, undisclosed, or overlooked – and the people at the heart of those stories.
Support public media by joining NPR+ at plus.npr.org. You’ll get perks for over 25 NPR podcasts, including early access and sponsor-free listening for Embedded (Embedded perks may vary between seasons).
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