Consider This from NPR

It's been more than a decade since 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' was repealed. Introduced in 1993, the law remained in effect until 2011. During that time an estimated 114,000 troops were forced out of the military because of their sexual orientation.

Veterans who received an "other than honorable" discharge from the military under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" were ineligible for veterans' benefits. That meant missing out on benefits like free VA healthcare, VA-backed home loans or funds for college tuition.

While the Pentagon says that 90% of applications to change discharge status have been granted, advocates say that as of March 2023, only 1,375 vets have had benefits reinstated – a tiny fraction of the number of affected vets believed to be out there.

NPR's Quil Lawrence follows the story of two gay veterans, both affected by "Don't Ask Don't Tell", but in very different ways.

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There's nothing obviously patriotic about scarfing down as many hot dogs as you can in ten minutes. So how did competitive eating become so synonymous with the holiday celebrating the Fourth of July?

To find out, host Scott Detrow visits a hot dog eating contest in Washington, D.C.

And producer Matt Ozug unpacks the evolution of eating as a sport, from a 17th century farmer to today's televised competitions.

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The Supreme Court ended its term this week with three rulings that will have far reaching consequences in the lives of millions of Americans.

The court struck down President Biden's student debt relief program. It also sided with a Colorado website designer who wants to refuse business to a same-sex couple, and it effectively killed affirmative action in college admissions.

All three rulings were a 6-3 split. All of the court's Republican-nominated justices voting against the three justices who were put forward by Democratic presidents.

NPR's Scott Detrow speaks with two legal experts, journalist Dahlia Lithwick and law professor Leah Litman from the University of Michigan, about what this term tells us about the current Supreme Court.

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A week on from an aborted uprising, Vladimir Putin is still standing. But for how long? The brief rebellion, launched by the leader of the mercenary Wagner Group Yevgeny Prigozhin, marked the greatest challenge to Putin's rule since he came to power, 23 years ago.

The mercenary leader is now in exile in Belarus and no charges are being filed against him or his followers. So where does that leave Putin, who has a reputation for being ruthless with his enemies?

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The Supreme Court effectively killed race-conscious admissions in higher education on Thursday.

In two cases, the court decided that the admissions policies of Harvard and the University of North Carolina - both of which consider race - are unconstitutional, ruling the policies violated the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.

The decisions reversed decades of precedent upheld over the years by narrow court majorities that included Republican-appointed justices. The rulings could end the ability of colleges and universities, public and private, to do what most say they still need to do: consider race as one of many factors in deciding which of the qualified applicants is to be admitted.

NPR's Legal Affairs Correspondent Nina Totenberg reports on the ruling and what it means for college admissions. NPR's Adrian Florido looks at how colleges and universities in California adjusted their admissions policies when the state banned affirmative action 25 years ago.

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A punishing heat wave has left more than a dozen people dead across Texas. In recent days temperatures have climbed above 100 degrees in many parts of the state. Now the extreme heat is heading east, putting people's health at risk across the Mississippi Valley and the Central Gulf Coast.

NPR's Lauren Sommer reports on how climate change and the El Niño climate pattern are increasing the intensity and frequency of heat waves. And Monica Samayoa from Oregon Public Broadcasting reports on how one county is suing oil and gas companies for damages caused by a heat wave.

This episode also features reporting from KERA's Toluwani Osibamowo in Dallas.

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When it comes to American politics, Florida regularly finds its way to the center of the conversation. Often important, if not pivotal in presidential elections, Florida is home to former President Trump and his strongest opponent in the Republican presidential primary for 2024, Governor Ron DeSantis. As he campaigns for the nomination Gov. DeSantis has taken center stage in some of the most contentious battles of the culture war, those around trans rights, book censorship and immigration.

But just how did the Sunshine State end up the center of the political universe? NPR's Political Correspondent Kelsey Snell and National Correspondent Greg Allen explain.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin faced a direct challenge to his authority over the weekend. Mercenary fighters with the Wagner group took over a military headquarters and launched a march toward Moscow.

The group's leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, eventually called off the uprising. He's apparently accepted a deal to live in exile, and claims the weekend's events were a protest, not an attempt to overthrow the government.

NPR's Charles Maynes in Moscow, and Greg Myre in Kyiv, explain what the turmoil could mean for the future of Putin's rule and the course of the war in Ukraine.

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The Bipartisan Infrastructure Act is a $1.2 trillion law meant to spur a massive infrastructure renewal and rebuilding program complete with new bridges, railroads and highways.
It also allocates $65 million to expand internet access to all.
Mitch Landrieu, the former mayor of New Orleans, is the man Biden tapped to make sure the massive job gets done.
We speak with Landrieu about the Affordable Connectivity Program – which provides monthly $30 subsidies for lower-income individuals to buy Internet access.
Then we speak with Kathryn de Wit, project director for the Pew Charitable Trust's Broadband Access Initiative, about why accessing the internet is no longer a luxury, but a necessity.
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Last June, when the Supreme Court reversed the Roe v. Wade decision, which had stood for nearly 50 years, the constitutional right to abortion ceased to exist.

While reproductive health providers had been fearing, and preparing for the possible reversal for years, it still left millions of people seeking reproductive health care in flux.

A year on, state controlled access to abortion continues to shift in many locations across the country.

We hear from people who have been forced to make decisions that they never imagined. And, we learn how lawmakers plan to defend reproductive rights.

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