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NPR's home for audio documentaries brings untold stories to light through deeply reported narrative series. We go to hidden corners of the headlines to explore what's been sealed off, undisclosed, or overlooked – and the people at the heart of those stories. Support in-depth storytelling that matters by subscribing to Embedded+ and unlock early access to new episodes and sponsor-free listening. Learn more at plus.npr.org/embedded

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NPR

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NPR's home for audio documentaries brings untold stories to light through deeply reported narrative series. We go to hidden corners of the headlines to explore what's been sealed off, undisclosed, or overlooked – and the people at the heart of those stories. Support in-depth storytelling that matters by subscribing to Embedded+ and unlock early access to new episodes and sponsor-free listening. Learn more at plus.npr.org/embedded

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English


Episodes
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The Network: Breaking Bread

6/12/2025
The network had developed a method that had the potential to get women widespread access to safe abortions. But to make that happen, a whisper network wasn't enough. Hosts Marta and Victoria travel across Latin America to trace how the network entered a new era. Women spoke up and teamed up. They challenged each other and sometimes even broke the law. Embedded+ supporters get first access and sponsor-free listening for every Embedded series. Sign up at plus.npr.org/embedded. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Duration:00:34:44

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The Network: Déjà vu

6/12/2025
The network and its method took off in countries where women didn't have a legal option for abortion. Since Roe v. Wade was overturned, many Americans have found themselves in that very situation. We travel to the US to see how the network is responding to exploding demand and mounting abortion restrictions. Embedded+ supporters get first access and sponsor-free listening for every Embedded series. Sign up at plus.npr.org/embedded. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Duration:00:43:09

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The Network: Saint-o-tec

6/5/2025
In the mid-1980s, an OBGYN in Brazil noticed that far fewer pregnant women at his hospital were dying from abortion complications. It wasn't a coincidence. Brazilian women had made a discovery that allowed them to safely have abortions at home, despite the country's abortion restrictions. That discovery eventually spread across the globe. Embedded+ supporters get first access and sponsor-free listening for every Embedded series. Sign up at plus.npr.org/embedded. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Duration:00:41:07

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Introducing "The Network" from NPR and Futuro Media

5/29/2025
Decades ago, Brazilian women made a discovery that allowed them to have safe abortions without a doctor, regardless of the law. Now, as abortion restrictions rise across the United States, their method is shaping how American women have abortions, too. In this three-part series, hosts Victoria Estrada and Marta Martinez of Futuro Media's Latino USA chart the global, loosely connected network that brought this abortion method to millions of women. All episodes will be available for NPR+ subscribers on June 5 and for all listeners on June 12. To listen to this series sponsor-free and get early access, sign up for Embedded+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Duration:00:02:14

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Alternate Realities: Facing the Facts

2/21/2025
Episode 3: After a year of waiting, the bet is finally over. Reporter Zach Mack takes stock of his father's predictions and confronts him about the future of the family. To listen to this series sponsor-free and get early access, sign up for Embedded+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Duration:00:28:20

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Alternate Realities: Down the Rabbit Hole

2/21/2025
Episode 2: After reporter Zach Mack accepts a bet with his father over 10 politically apocalyptic predictions, he sets out on a journey to change his dad's mind. To listen to this series sponsor-free and get early access, sign up for Embedded+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Duration:00:31:49

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Alternate Realities: A Strange Bet

2/21/2025
Episode 1: Reporter Zach Mack thinks his dad has gone all in on conspiracy theories, while his father thinks that Zach is the one being brainwashed. In 2024, after the latest round of circular arguments, they decided to try something new, an attempt to pull each other out of the spell each of them thinks the other is under. Can one family live in two realities? To listen to this series sponsor-free and get early access, sign up for Embedded+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Duration:00:26:34

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Introducing Alternate Realities from NPR

2/14/2025
Zach Mack and his dad are living in separate realities, and it's tearing their family apart. Like so many Americans, Zach's dad has gotten swept up in conspiracy theories. After years of circular arguments, the father challenged his son to a bet: $10,000 on ten politically apocalyptic predictions that would all happen in 2024. In this three-part series, we follow Zach on an intimate journey to bring his father back from the rabbit hole. All episodes will be available for NPR+subscribers on February 21 and for all listeners on February 23. To listen to this series sponsor-free and get early access, sign up for Embedded+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Duration:00:02:34

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Five Fingers Crush The Land from NPR's Throughline

12/19/2024
As NPR correspondent Emily Feng reported in our three-part series "The Black Gate," hundreds of thousands of Uyghur people have been detained in China. They've been subjected to torture, forced labor, religious restrictions, and even forced sterilization. In this episode from 2021, our colleagues at the history podcast Throughline explore who the Uyghur people are, their land, their customs, their music and how they've become such a target in China today. To listen to this series sponsor-free and support NPR, sign up for Embedded+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Duration:00:55:32

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The Black Gate: Vanished in the Night

12/5/2024
In the Xinjiang region of western China, the government has rounded up and detained hundreds of thousands of Uyghurs and other Muslim ethnic groups, including the wife and young children of a Uyghur businessman named Abdullatif Kucar. NPR correspondent Emilly Feng follows Kucar as he desperately searches for his missing family. To listen to this series sponsor-free and support NPR, sign up for Embedded+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Duration:00:27:52

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The Black Gate: Like a Bullet from a Gun

12/5/2024
Abdullatif Kucar returns to China, determined to find his children, who have been sent to state-run "boarding schools," and his wife, who has spent two years in prison. They're among hundreds of thousands of Uyghurs arrested and detained over the years. Kucar is trying to do what is virtually impossible in China: bring his loved ones home for good. To listen to this series sponsor-free and support NPR, sign up for Embedded+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Duration:00:32:25

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The Black Gate: Arresting Your Brothers and Sisters

12/5/2024
As NPR correspondent Emily Feng reported on the Kucar family, she encountered a mysterious figure working to keep her sources from speaking out. Later, she meets another Uyghur man who - perhaps unwillingly - becomes an actor within China's systems of control. These men are accused of working to silence others, but they say they've found themselves silenced as well. To listen to this series sponsor-free and support NPR, sign up for Embedded+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Duration:00:41:45

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Introducing The Black Gate from NPR

12/2/2024
This is the story of a people being erased, one family at a time. For almost a decade, the Chinese government has been detaining hundreds of thousands of ethnic Uyghurs in what critics call a systematic attempt to dismantle their culture. And since the beginning, NPR correspondent Emily Feng has reported on these detentions, which were described by the United Nations as possibly constituting crimes against humanity. In this three-part series, Emily follows one man desperately trying to reunite with his wife and children. Along the way, she uncovers surprising new details about some of the Uyghurs enabling this massive surveillance state. To listen to this series sponsor-free and support NPR, sign up for Embedded+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Duration:00:02:35

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A Good Guy: Under Oath

10/31/2024
There's a promise that all Marines make to defend the Constitution. After Sgt. Joshua Abate participated in the events on January 6, the Corps has to decide: Did he break his oath when he entered the Capitol that day? And what does his case say about the changing narrative around January 6? To listen to this series sponsor-free and support NPR, sign up for Embedded+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Duration:00:34:10

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Introducing "A Good Guy" from NPR

10/21/2024
Sergeant Joshua Abate says that he's not a rioter or an insurrectionist. Those closest to the active-duty Marine call him "a good guy." But he was part of the mob that attacked the Capitol on January 6th, 2021. On the eve of a new presidential election, what does his case tell us, as the nation still grapples with the legacy of that day? As they look into the military's reckoning with extremism in the ranks, NPR's Tom Bowman and Lauren Hodges examine Abate's main line of defense: Don't focus on what he did; focus on his promising career as a Marine, instead. Embedded's new two-part series "A Good Guy" drops Thursday, October 24. To listen to this series sponsor-free and support NPR, sign up for Embedded+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Duration:00:02:04

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Tested: Lumpers and Splitters

8/1/2024
Episode 6: Christine and Max are some of the most recent female athletes in this century-long history to face tests, stigma, and restrictions. But they are unlikely to be the last. In this episode, we find out whether Christine qualifies for the Paris Olympics, as well as the fate of Max's court case. And we explore the broader implications of the sex binary in sports. Is there a better way for sports to be categorized? To listen to this series sponsor-free and support NPR, sign up for Embedded+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Duration:00:42:52

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Tested: Unfair Advantage?

7/29/2024
Episode 5: A battle over science and ethics unfolds. World Athletics releases and then tweaks multiple policies impacting DSD athletes, while critics cry foul. In this episode, World Athletics doubles down on its claims, Caster Semenya challenges the rules again, and we dig deep on a big question: what constitutes an "unfair" advantage on the track? To listen to this series sponsor-free and support NPR, sign up for Embedded+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Duration:00:35:56

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Tested: Running in Circles

7/22/2024
Episode 4: In 2009, South African sprinter Caster Semenya won gold at the World Championships. But instead of a celebration, she endured endless speculation about her body, her biology, and her gender. And soon, sports organizations would launch a new round of regulations, lead to multiple court cases, and require sporting organizations to justify their claim that DSD athletes have an unfair advantage. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Duration:00:32:23

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Tested: Card-Carrying Females

7/22/2024
Episode 3: We meet Kenyan sprinter Maximila Imali, who—like Christine Mboma—has been sidelined by DSD policies. She makes a different choice from Christine: to fight the regulations in court. And we learn about a previous fight, when scientists, athletes, and journalists spent thirty years trying to end an earlier version of sex testing. To listen to this series sponsor-free and support NPR, sign up for Embedded+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Duration:00:39:32

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Tested: The Choice

7/15/2024
Episode 1: Would you alter your body for the chance to compete for a gold medal? That's the question facing a small group of elite athletes right now. Last year, track and field authorities announced new regulations that mean some women can't compete in the female category unless they lower their body's naturally occurring testosterone levels. You'll meet one of those runners, Christine Mboma, a reigning Olympic silver medalist, and hear about the difficult choice she faces. To listen to this series sponsor-free and support NPR, sign up for Embedded+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Duration:00:38:54