Why We Wrote This
Who reports the news? People. And at The Christian Science Monitor, we believe that it’s our job to report each story with a sense of shared humanity. Through conversations with our reporters and editors, we explain the qualities behind our reporting that affect how we approach the news. Behind today’s headlines we find respect, resilience, dignity, agency, and hope. “Why We Wrote This” shows how. The Monitor is an award-winning, nonpartisan news organization with bureaus around the globe. Visit CSMonitor.com/whywewrotethis to learn more.
Title IX at 50 Plus Two
What’s happening in women’s sports besides Caitlin Clark? A lot. Two years to the week since this podcast soft-launched with a conversation with writer Kendra Nordin Beato on Title IX’s 50th anniversary, we offer an update. This encore episode adds some discussion of how much has transpired in all three braids of the Title IX story: women in education, women in college sports, and progress in fighting sexual harassment and abuse. Hosted by Clay Collins.
Turning Trust Into Tree Cover
Urban tree loss is a widespread phenomenon that has been addressed, with different degrees of success, in cities from New York to Nashville. For multimedia reporter Jingnan Peng, a story about a tree-planting initiative in Louisville, Kentucky, became a story about rebuilding community trust. He spoke to host Clay Collins for this episode, which includes encore material from a 2023 show on Jing’s coverage of another greening-of-cities phenomenon – compact Miyawaki forests – and a discussion about how a multimedia reporter matches storytelling format to story.
A Kinder Brand of Capitalism
Maybe it’s because she came up through the Monitor’s Points of Progress franchise. We like how Erika Page, our Madrid-based writer, frames one big part of her beat. “It’s [about] looking for where creativity and ingenuity and humanity are in operation,” she tells host Clay Collins in this episode. “Because once you start to look for these things, you kind of start to see them everywhere.” A return guest on this podcast, she talks this time about reporting from northern Spain on a particular brand of capitalism that workers appear to believe in.
A Writer’s Retrospective
Capturing the nation’s mood in the hours after 9/11. Trading parts of a Soviet Army uniform for some “CIA trinkets.” Keeping that one big foster beagle no one else would have. All are episodes in the writing life of Peter Grier, a 45-year Monitor veteran whose quick mind and economy of language have brought Washington politics down to earth for Monitor readers (and no doubt still will, sometimes, even from retirement). For this episode, he spoke with guest host Gail Chaddock, a Monitor alum and fellow D.C. traveler, about his rich Monitor career.
In Voting We Trust?
To some degree, members of one major political party or the other have historically swung into distrust mode when it comes to elections – typically (and predictably) when their own parties have been down. What’s different now: One side is stuck on denialism. That’s despite a lack of evidence that fraud exists on a scale that could change an election, especially on the national level. Veteran Washington-watcher Peter Grier joins host Gail Chaddock to talk about mistrust – and about the fact that it might not really run nearly as deep as many seem to think.
Where Black Women Reclaim Power
What might help give Black women more agency and control around their care when it comes to maternal health? It’s a realm in which positive outcomes have historically (and significantly) lagged behind those for other groups of women. In this episode, writer Cameron Pugh talks about reporting on how birth doulas may be one key to restoring some expectant mothers’ trust in a medical system that has a long history of underserving them. Hosted by Clay Collins.
Looking for Trust as India Votes
What does it take to run a democratic election in a nation of 1.4 billion people? Well, time, for one thing. And as the 40-plus-day process has been elapsing, Monitor correspondent Fahad Shah has confronted his own logistical challenges – including a (literal) landslide. What’s more, he’s worked with his editor, Lindsey McGinnis, to frame coverage as a Monitor story, not just a play-by-play from the polls. In this episode, guest host Lindsey talks to Fahad about this high-stakes election and the high-wire work of exploring it through the lens of trust.
Writer’s Read: What Gaza’s Women Endure
“I grew up in Gaza, loved it – and complained about it for most of the time.” From that honest starting point of resilience, writer Ghada Abdulfattah, a contributor to the Monitor since the start of the latest conflict in Gaza last October, has produced a remarkable series of stories from the conflict zone. Moving to stay ahead of airstrikes, she has brought to Monitor readers a rare and important perspective. In this writer’s read format episode, Ghada shares her observations about a war like no other she’s seen. Then she offers a full read of her recent story on how women, in particular, have been affected.
Telling Stories Readers Can’t Resist
What does it take to weave a creative nonfiction tale that’s engaging and universal enough to draw readers all the way through? Owen Thomas, a longtime editor of essays for The Home Forum at the Monitor – and now a contributing essayist himself – joins host Clay Collins to talk about that question, and about how his work aligns with the Monitor’s mission to find and celebrate the humanity behind every story we tell.
When Trump Speaks, What’s Heard?
Whether prepared or uttered on the fly, the campaign statements of former President Donald Trump often appear to be at least as fiery as his 2016 rhetoric. It’s impossible to ascribe intent. Some see unvarnished truth; others hear dog whistles that they fear will yield trouble. For this episode, guest host Gail Chaddock spoke with Linda Feldmann, a veteran White House reporter, on the challenge of sizing up Mr. Trump’s speech. How it’s interpreted by fervent fans – and by impassioned detractors – will help decide a critical U.S. election.