Consider This from NPR

So often, telling the story of the Israel-Hamas war is reduced to a catalog of numbers.

But this war is much more than all of that. It is the daily life of the people living in the midst of the war that has now been raging for 10 months.

The war has also come to encompass a sense of insecurity that permeates, as the humanitarian crisis worsens in Gaza through famine, unclean water and dwindling resources. Pair that with the prospect of a wider regional conflict with Iran that looms nearby.

On Thursday, U.S. and Arab mediators will launch new talks to attempt a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas. But hopes for tensions to be diffused are not high.

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This week, the Biden administration announced it is taking on more of what it calls "everyday headaches and hassles that waste Americans' time and money."

And it's doing that by having federal agencies make new business rules.

There are actions to simplify health insurance paperwork, crack down on fake product reviews, streamline parent-teacher communications in schools and circumvent those automated customer service calls that the White House labels "doom loops."

It's all part of a wider economic mission to eliminate modern business practices that the Biden administration believes exploit Americans.

Neera Tanden, the director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, breaks down why this is happening and how it will work in reality.

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This week, the Biden administration announced it is taking on more of what it calls "everyday headaches and hassles that waste Americans' time and money."

And it's doing that by having federal agencies make new business rules.

There are actions to simplify health insurance paperwork, crack down on fake product reviews, streamline parent-teacher communications in schools and circumvent those automated customer service calls that the White House labels "doom loops."

It's all part of a wider economic mission to eliminate modern business practices that the Biden administration believes exploit Americans.

Neera Tanden, the director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, breaks down why this is happening and how it will work in reality.

For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

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By most measures, the new Democratic ticket has had an impressively smooth launch.

But there is one caveat to that — controversy over how vice presidential nominee Tim Walz described his military service.

A spokeswoman for the Harris-Walz campaign has said in a statement that the Democratic vice-presidential nominee "misspoke" when talking about his military service.

Walz, who served for 24 years in the National Guard, had made a comment that sounded like he had been to war.

Walz's Republican opponent, JD Vance, pounced on that comment to accuse Walz of what's called "stolen valor," a serious charge among veterans.

But there's also a history of playing politics with military service – one that's been used in past elections.

Is Tim Walz guilty of deliberately misrepresenting his military record or the victim of a familiar political smear tactic?

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Overdose death rates have spiked dramatically for young adults, rising 34 percent between 2018 and 2022, according to recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Yet, there are ways to mitigate the risk of overdose, and even ways to reverse it.

Notably there's Narcan.

It's a brand of the medication naloxone, and it's often used in the form of nasal spray. If administered quickly, it can fully reverse an opioid overdose.

Are college campuses and their students prepared?

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Three Taylor Swift concerts were canceled in Austria this week, after authorities foiled planned attacks on the venue.

Three young men are now in custody, and at least two of them recently pledged allegiance to the Islamic State — specifically an affiliate group known as ISIS-K.

This isn't the first time Islamic State-related groups have been tied to attacks in Europe — over 140 people were killed in an attack on a Moscow concert hall earlier this year, and an explosion at an Ariana Grande concert in 2017 killed 22 and injured more than a thousand.

So - what exactly is ISIS-K, and how should we think about their presence in Europe?

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Ever since women began competing in weightlifting in the Olympics, in the year 2000, only one American woman has won a gold medal.

This year, there are hopes that might change.

And many of those hopes rest on the (very strong) shoulders of a 21-year-old college student in Chattanooga, Tenn. named Olivia Reeves.

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Speaker of the House Emerita Nancy Pelosi once told Washington Post Columnist Karen Tumulty quote "Nobody ever gives away power. If you want to achieve that, you go for it. But when you get it, you must use it."

That was in 2020, and Nancy Pelosi used her power then. She's still using it. Most recently to influence President Joe Biden's decision to end his presidential campaign.

First as a volunteer and democratic fundraiser, then as a member of Congress, and finally as the most powerful woman in political history, Nancy Pelosi has spent the better part of four decades amassing power and using it to achieve her legislative goals.

Now she's put pen to paper about HOW she did that.

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Kamala Harris has tapped Minnesota governor Tim Walz to be her running mate. Democrats hope he can secure Midwestern swing states.

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There are some 43 million refugees in the world, according to the U.N.'s refugee agency.

The 37 of them competing in Paris as the Refugee Olympic Team are fighting for something more than just athletic excellence.

We hear from judoka Muna Dahouk and kayaker Saman Soltani.

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