How can you outsmart scammers? How do everyday people cope when they go up against big business? How safe are big airliners? What would you do if you were out with a friend 鈥� and they were attacked by a wild cougar?
NPR readers wanted to know the answers to those questions and more in 2024 鈥� that is, when they weren't trying to absorb the latest news from a tumultuous general election. Along the way, we witnessed the massive power of nature 鈥� and the tragedies of more mass shootings.
A wildly unpredictable presidential campaign season drove readers to NPR, looking for context and analysis. They flocked to stories like our of the Trump-Harris debate; an of a Trump news conference; Kamala Harris's ; and analysis of .
These stories also resonated with our audience:
(March 16). "Just imagine ... that your house was in the middle of Manhattan surrounded by high-rise buildings," the owner says. "That's what it's like."
(May 18). A nurse in Quincy, Mass., was stunned to learn her house was about to be auctioned off. An NPR investigation found thousands of cases like hers.
(Jan. 13). The Yurok Tribe won a long-fought battle to restore habitat for salmon and other wildlife, with far-reaching effects.
(Feb. 15). A Super Bowl celebration became a shootout that wounded at least 22 people, including children, and killed a woman. Two juveniles and were charged.
(Feb. 22). Alexis Ratcliff wants to go to college near her family 鈥� but the hospital that's been housing her for years wants her to go to a nursing home in Virginia.
(April 15). Kitboga is a millennial who uses improv skills and a voice-changer to bait scammers, turning the fight against online crime into a lucrative gig.
(May 10). One of the biggest solar storms on record disrupts infrastructure and induces bright auroras in the U.S.
(Dec. 16). A sad statistic: In the U.S., firearms are the cause of death for people ages 1 to 19, the CDC says.
(Dec. 6). "A lot of people are in deep pain, and maybe didn't have anywhere to put that pain," a professor of health care ethics says, after the killing of UnitedHealthcare's CEO prompts an outpouring of frustration.
(Jan. 8). A terrifying incident on an Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9 brought scrutiny that at Boeing and a supplier.
Stories from across the NPR network
Across the country, readers turned to member station websites for , from important races to ballot measures.
Voters in California devoured LAist's . From to and , readers turned to member stations to understand local ballot measures.
These readers also dove into a wide range of local news:
(March 14). Five women on a bike ride in Washington state were set upon by an apex predator that clamped its jaws on one of them, as KUOW reports.
(Sept. 26). "My sons and I lived a life of closeness," an adoptive mom tells WBUR in Boston. But meeting their birth mothers presented her with tough questions.
(May 7). Its leaders have a penchant for "elixir ceremonies" 鈥� and for changing their names and living in luxury. Oregon Public Broadcasting later reported the group was .
/ KCUR
(March 25). "Nobody returned fire because there was a child inside the camper trailer," an officer said, according to KCUR. But then, a sniper squeezed his trigger.
(April 19). It dates to 1930 and has old automobile parts in its walls 鈥� and a dungeon, as KJZZ reports. A stay of demolition from the historic preservation office .
(May 20). The Oklahoma Panhandle's past is rooted in disputes over slavery. Its present is marked by immigration and good Mexican food, a local tells Colorado Public Radio.
(Aug. 22). A "syndicate buyer" bought 25.8 million number combinations to win $57.8 million, according to Texas Standard, which says lawmakers will look at more changes.
(Nov. 19). It's a bit like a Coen brothers movie: Defendants on trial for siphoning $47 million from government child nutrition programs got word that a juror could be bribed 鈥� but another fraud was playing out, as Minnesota Public Radio reports.
(April 25). The California Dream for All program had about $250 million to help buyers. But as KQED says, the money didn't reach the people or the areas it had targeted.
(July 16). Calls for President Joe Biden to stop his reelection race led CapRadio in Sacramento to explore key events that shaped Harris' career
(Sept. 28). In the desperate frenzy to get aid and supplies to people whose lives were upended by a hurricane, Blue Ridge Public Radio compiled efforts of government, schools and charity organizations.
This is only a tiny sample: is made up of over 200 local newsrooms at across the country, which share local reporting with their communities.
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