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America, Interrupted

Since the coronavirus pandemic hit, nothing about America life has been normal. More than 500,000 people have been killed by COVID-19 and that number keeps growing. Economies have closed and reopened and closed again. The police killing of a Black man ignited the biggest protest movement in a generation. And a contested presidential election, buoyed by misinformation and conspiracy theories, culminated in an attack on the Capitol and another impeachment trial, deepening already fraught political divisions. America, Interrupted is an original podcast from the PBS NewsHour about the events that have turned our lives upside down and how we’re making sense of it all.

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Episode

The Longest Year: The people we’ve lost to COVID-19

Four people who lost a loved one in the pandemic tell us about what they remember, how they’re grieving and how they're trying to move forward.

Episode

The Longest Year: How the pandemic made inequality in America worse

Generations of inadequate medical care, deeply entrenched economic disparities and a biased system of justice all came to a head, a reminder that for many Americans the hazards of structural racism are a daily reality. We hear the story of…

Episode

The Longest Year: How COVID-19 has reshaped our lives

Take a second to remember what your life was like one year ago. For most of us, it all feels like a distant memory. From how we work to how we learn, who we see and where we can go,…

Episode

The Longest Year: Fighting ‘the invisible enemy’

In the first episode of a series we're calling "The Longest Year," which tells the stories of the isolation, uncertainty, fear, loss and new understanding that have spread alongside the virus, we focus on the people on the front lines.

Episode

PBS NewsHour Special Report: American Reckoning

We explore what drove the Jan. 6 attack on the nation’s capital, the failures to heed warnings about growing anti-government and white nationalist extremism, the role of misinformation and disinformation online, and where we as a country go from here.

Episode

What we saw the day the Capitol was attacked

On Jan. 6, for the first time in more than two centuries, Congress was attacked and overrun, this time by its own citizens. The PBS NewsHour's anchor and managing editor Judy Woodruff talks to correspondents Lisa Desjardins, Amna Nawaz and…

Episode

What’s at stake in the Georgia Senate runoffs

Amna Nawaz talks to Emory University political science professor Andra Gillespie about why the state found itself with not one, but two runoff elections Jan. 5 – and what we can learn from the state’s changing political landscape.

Episode

How COVID-19 could worsen America’s childhood trauma crisis

In this episode, PBS NewsHour correspondent William Brangham talks to special correspondent Cat Wise and reporter Laura Santhanam about why the pandemic is likely making the childhood trauma crisis worse and how caregivers can help their kids and themselves through…

Episode

How rocky presidential transitions have shaped American history

For most of American history, the transition from president to president-elect has been smooth. The loser accepts his fate, publicly concedes and the winner prepares to take the reigns. And although this election and President Donald Trump’s response to losing…

Episode

A grandmother, a granddaughter and a deep post-election divide

After a bruising election, one President Donald Trump has so far refused to concede, Americans are left trying to repair divides that are deeper and more personal than ever. In this episode, PBS NewsHour correspondent William Brangham speaks to a…

Episode

In an unprecedented election, two key swing states show how we got here

Election Day has come and gone, but there are still many unanswered questions, along with uncertainty about how we got here and where we go next. In this episode, we talk to our reporters who have been covering this election…

Episode

Why voter suppression continues and how the pandemic has made it worse

The disenfranchisement of voters has been a part of America’s history for as long as it’s held elections, and this year is no different. A look at the history of voter suppression and what it looks like in a pandemic.

Episode

Special Episode: Ricky Kidd on life after a 23-year wrongful conviction

Twenty-three years after he was wrongfully convicted of a double homicide, Ricky Kidd was freed from prison. In this special episode from our Broken Justice series, producer Frank Carlson talks with Ricky Kidd about life after prison, the complications of…

Episode

A conversation with coronavirus survivors

The coronavirus has killed 200,000 Americans and infected more than 6.5 million. But of those that contracted the virus, more than 2.5 million have now recovered. As researchers learn more about the coronavirus, it is clear that it can affect…

The GOP’s norm-shattering convention showed how the two parties are worlds apart

PBS NewsHour’s senior national correspondent Amna Nawaz talks with White House correspondent Yamiche Alcindor and political reporter Daniel Bush about what happened this week and what it means for the 2020 race.

Episode

What happened when Democrats threw an all-virtual convention

It's official: Joe Biden is now the Democratic nominee for president. But there was no confetti, no balloon drop, no applause or even a crowd. The pandemic-era four-day convention was all-virtual -- which meant no chance to sell a vision…

Episode

Why 1920 can offer clues about the 2020 elections

In 1920, Americans were reeling from a flu pandemic, recovering from an economic crisis and grappling with violence against Black people, creating political divisions and debates that are similar to the ones we're having today. Yale University professor Beverly Gage…

Episode

How the UK is reopening amid COVID-19 — and what the U.S. can learn

The United Kingdom is entering a new phase of reopening after more than three months in lockdown. Hair salons, movie theaters and the all-important English pubs can finally do business again. The key question now: How will the government get…

Episode

Why police unions are so powerful – and what that means for reform

Police unions are under the microscope like never before. Though police unions play a critical role in protecting officers rights, experts say they can also block reform and prevent officers from being held accountable in cases of misconduct. In this…

Episode

This city already rebuilt its police department. Did it work?

Protesters across the country are continuing to fill the streets, looking to turn their outrage over police violence against black people into action. Many point to the city of Camden, New Jersey, as an example of what reforming a police…

Episode

‘A very long, very loud existential scream’

Amid the largest pandemic in a century, we're also experiencing the biggest protest movement in a generation. In this episode, protesters in Minneapolis and Washington, D.C., tell White House correspondent Yamiche Alcindor and Political Reporter Daniel Bush about why they’ve…

Episode

Why coronavirus misinformation is so hard to fight

If you've been paying attention to the news lately, you've probably heard some wild claims about the coronavirus. We talk to two fact checkers who walk us through what they're seeing during this pandemic -- including one specific claim about…