Sarah McCammon
speaker
540 appearances
47 recordings
8 series
first heard Dec 2024
last heard 24 Mar
Sarah McCammon’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
Trend
recordings per month · last 12 monthsRecordings per month over the last 12 months — 13 in all, peaking in Dec 2025 with 6.
Appearances
And not only that, right, but presumably a merger would also make these companies, both of which are based in Japan, more competitive against Chinese automakers. Why is that important? Yeah.
You know, there was a time back in the 1980s when Japan was really emerging as a global force in the auto sector. Are Chinese companies now stepping into that kind of role in the industry?
That's NPR's Raphael Nam. Thank you so much.
In Nigeria, the holidays are less festive this year as the country is in the grip of one of its worst economic crises in decades. The government imposed a set of controversial economic reforms that critics say have only made poverty worse. And despite recent quarters of economic growth, inflation has soared. NPR's West Africa correspondent Emmanuel Akinwotu joins us now. Hi there.
So just paint a picture for me. How difficult is the economy for people right now?
Yeah, just an absolutely tragic example of how these economic struggles are hurting people. But what is the underlying cause of the economic situation?
So, Emmanuel, what is the government doing to soften that blow that you just mentioned for the people in Nigeria?
NPR West Africa correspondent Emmanuel Akinwotu, thanks so much.
And that's Up First for Thursday, December 26th. I'm Sarah McCammon. For your next listen, why not consider Consider This from NPR. We here at Up First give you the three big stories of the day. Our Consider This colleagues take a different approach. They dive into a single news story and what it means for you in just 15 minutes. Listen now on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.
Today's episode of Up First was edited by Peter Granitz, Emily Kopp, Miguel Macias, Lisa Thompson, and Alice Wolfley. It was produced by Ziad Butch, Nia Dumas, and Ana Perez. We get engineering support from Josephine Neoni, and our technical director is Carly Strange. Join us again tomorrow.
Yeah, so the NIH has funded hundreds of different kinds of studies on COVID, but just eight of those studies have been clinical trials looking at possible treatments, and patient advocacy groups say this pace is just way too slow.
And also they feel that there's been too much focus in trying to understand why people get sick with long COVID, but not enough attention on trying to relieve their suffering, helping them feel better. And somebody who I've talked to a lot about this is someone named Megan Stone, who is the executive director of the Long COVID Campaign.
Also, I'll note, Asma, that an estimated 17 million adults in the U.S. have long COVID, and that means many of them are unable to work or care for their families. And that is why some consider the COVID pandemic a mass disabling event. So, Sarah, what does the NIH say about these criticisms?
Well, the agency agrees that there is a real urgency to find treatments, but they told me that scientists need a solid understanding of the underlying biology of long COVID, which is a complicated disease that can damage nearly every organ system. And researchers have learned a lot. For example, one NIH-funded study found that people are less likely to get long COVID if they've been vaccinated.
And I talked to one NIH-funded researcher, Dr. Leora Horowitz. She's at NYU. And she told me that, you know, you have to remember we're only five years into this pandemic. And there is real concern that jumping into clinical trials too soon might not be safe. It could waste money. It could waste time.
But it is also true that so far, we still don't have any FDA-approved drugs or devices or any therapies specifically for long COVID.
Well, for a lot of people, their only option is to go on long-term disability while they keep trying different drugs and therapies to manage their symptoms. And patients tell me they're exhausted, they're frustrated, and doctors feel this way too. For example, Dr. Michael Broad at UT Health Austin, he says there's a lot of guesswork in treating long COVID because there's just not enough research.
Broad also told me he prescribes medications that are not approved by the FDA for long COVID, but they are approved for other illnesses. This is called off-label prescribing. And often insurance companies don't cover these prescriptions, and that leaves very sick people having to decide whether to pay out-of-pocket for treatment. Thanks so much, Sarah, for your reporting.
Politics is a lot these days. I'm Sarah McCammon, a co-host of the NPR Politics Podcast, and I'll be the first to tell you what happens in Washington definitely demands some decoding. That's why our show makes politics as easy as possible to wrap your head around. Join us as we make politics make sense on the NPR Politics Podcast, available wherever you get your podcasts.
Politics is a lot these days. I'm Sarah McCammon, a co-host of the NPR Politics Podcast, and I'll be the first to tell you what happens in Washington definitely demands some decoding. That's why our show makes politics as easy as possible to wrap your head around. Join us as we make politics make sense on the NPR Politics Podcast, available wherever you get your podcasts.
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