Why We Wrote This

What goes into writing a weekly survey of where in the world things are going right? A fair assessment of what credible “progress” actually is, and a determination to present a diversity of coverage. Staff writer Erika Page talks with editor Clay Collins about the Monitor’s long-running Points of Progress feature.

As a reporter, Ned Temko had a front-row seat to a remarkable string of world-changing events. As a Monitor columnist, he looks for global patterns. And at a time of mounting global stressors, he sees a spirit of communality emerging as a simple human response. In this episode, Ned speaks with the Monitor’s Clay Collins about the work of connecting world events and the underlying human impulses.

How did a reporter’s story evolve from being a report on Saudi Arabia’s economic reorientation to one about that society’s fundamental, bottom-up change? The Monitor’s Taylor Luck speaks with host Samantha Laine Perfas about finding in a notebook the scribbled asides that would actually form the heart of his story.

What happened on Jan. 6, 2021, at the U.S. Capitol? The answers are shaded by deeply held perspectives. How can a journalist cover such an event and its fallout without being prejudicial? The Monitor’s Christa Case Bryant speaks with host Samantha Laine Perfas about the sense of fairness that guides her reporting work, and how that helps define the Monitor’s approach.

Alfredo Sosa, the Monitor’s director of photography, relishes fieldwork – no matter how challenging – for the humbling connections that it brings. He spoke to the Monitor’s Samantha Laine Perfas about his rigorous recent assignment to capture the high-altitude work of a wildfire lookout in Montana’s Bob Marshall Wilderness.

What does it mean for democracy if the public education system breaks? Host Samantha Laine Perfas and Managing Editor Amelia Newcomb discuss the Monitor’s latest series, which explores public education, democracy, and the future of America.

Title IX is complicated. Reporting on the 50th anniversary of this 37-word law, the Monitor's Kendra Nordin Beato saw the many and varied ways it reshaped US society. In today's episode, she shares how women have pushed for equal treatment with courage and resilience, inspiring generation after generation. Hosted by Samantha Laine Perfas.

For someone with a speech disability, what does it mean to have a voice? In our final episode, we pose the question to two families: one with a husband losing his ability to talk, and another with a disabled son on the cusp of adulthood. Each is looking to technology to help them literally be heard with their own unique voices. At the same time, they remind us that to be human is to be so much more than the sounds we make.

In this episode, we break format to have a conversation about accent, language, and identity with special guest and recurring contributor Katherine Kinzler from the University of Chicago. We talk about the challenges of overcoming bias, share listeners’ experiences (as well as our own), and reflect on the series so far.

Imagine teaching a language you’re still learning. Or raising your kids to speak it when you’re not yet fluent. For communities trying to revive their Indigenous languages, these are daily challenges – and at stake are both the history and future of their culture. In this episode, we meet educators and parents fighting to give their children their ancestral language, Lingít (Tlingit). What does it take to save a language?