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The Sunday Story

The Sunday Story

By: NPR
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“The Sunday Story” from Up First is where storytelling meets the issues of the day. Hosted by Ayesha Rascoe, “The Sunday Story” is NPR’s weekly news and culture magazine exploring one topic in depth through conversations, interviews and deeply-reported narrative journalism. Publishing every Sunday in the Up First feed.

Support public media by joining NPR+ at plus.npr.org. You’ll get perks for over 25 NPR podcasts, including sponsor-free listening for The Sunday Story.Copyright 2015-2026 NPR - For Personal Use Only Political Science Politics & Government
Episodes
  • Should we worry about the end of the world?

    Should we worry about the end of the world?
    Jul 12 2026
    From climate change to the rise of AI - it’s hard not to feel like human civilization could be nearing the end. What threats are really worth worrying about? And what can we do to survive a global catastrophe? Today on The Sunday Story, Ben Bradford, host of the new NPR Network podcast Are We Doomed?, tells us what he’s learned about the end of the world.

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    19 mins
  • The growing movement to secede from Illinois and become the 51st state

    The growing movement to secede from Illinois and become the 51st state
    Jul 5 2026
    Two hundred and fifty years ago, the Declaration of Independence was signed, marking the birth of a new nation. But if you read the Declaration closely, it’s not just about creating something new; it’s about ridding itself of something unwanted. It’s a break-up text, announcing secession from the British Crown. Today, that same spirit is fueling a modern-day movement in Illinois.

    A growing number of rural counties want to secede from Illinois and create a 51st state called “New Illinois.” Driven by frustration over the dominance of Chicago politics, they are organizing for a new future. This week on The Sunday Story, reporter Connor Towne O'Neill takes us inside the movement to split Illinois, and the challenges facing a modern secessionist movement in the land of Lincoln.


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    28 mins
  • Infertility doctor secretly fathered dozens of children: how strangers became family

    Infertility doctor secretly fathered dozens of children: how strangers became family
    Jul 19 2026
    What defines a family? For a group of strangers, that question took on a profound, unexpected meaning after DNA tests revealed a hidden, decades-old deception. They discovered they were all half-siblings conceived through artificial insemination in the mid-20th century. Their biological father was not the man who raised them, but Dr. Charles Charny, a Philadelphia fertility specialist.

    In this week's episode of The Sunday Story, Frank Langfitt follows this unique family as they piece together their strange creation tale and decide to become a family.

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    32 mins
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