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Why We Wrote This

Why We Wrote This

By: The Christian Science Monitor
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Who reports the news? People. And at The Christian Science Monitor, we believe that it’s our job to report each story with a sense of shared humanity. Through conversations with our reporters and editors, we explain the qualities behind our reporting that affect how we approach the news. Behind today’s headlines we find respect, resilience, dignity, agency, and hope. “Why We Wrote This” shows how. The Monitor is an award-winning, nonpartisan news organization with bureaus around the globe. Visit CSMonitor.com/whywewrotethis to learn more.© 1980–2026 The Christian Science Monitor Politics & Government
Episodes
  • He Said, Xi Said

    He Said, Xi Said
    May 22 2026
    This month’s Trump-Xi summit in Beijing was an important plot point in the long and complex arc of U.S.-China relations. In this episode, Ann Scott Tyson, the Monitor’s Beijing bureau chief, joins host Matt Bell to probe the deeper meaning of the summit, discuss the work of gathering Chinese (and Taiwanese) perspectives, and explore how Ann covers the newly shifting dynamic at the world’s preeminent geopolitical fulcrum.
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    Less than 1 minute
  • Imagining First Contact

    Imagining First Contact
    Apr 3 2026
    Movies about aliens have fascinated audiences for decades. But two new movies about alien life – “Project Hail Mary” and “Disclosure Day” – led Monitor culture writer Stephen Humphries to wonder, What does our fascination with aliens tell us about our views of humanity? In this writer’s-notebook variation on our “Why We Wrote This” podcast, Stephen shares excerpts of his conversations with three of the experts in his recent story.
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    Less than 1 minute
  • A Place To Belong

    A Place To Belong
    Mar 10 2026
    Amid recent ICE operations in Portland, Maine, Monitor staff writer Cameron Pugh and Director of Photography Alfredo Sosa traveled to see how Mainers were responding in the face of the immigration enforcement surge. But the story of one activist, documentary filmmaker, and self-described “African Mainer” offered an exploration of an age-old question: What does it really mean to be an American?
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    Less than 1 minute
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