Why We Wrote This

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.

Why We Wrote This is a news podcast hosted by The Christian Science Monitor, with 185 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

The Christian Science Monitor hosts Why We Wrote This, a news show with 185 episodes published.

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  Why We Wrote This

  Three Days That Shook the World

  Aug 14, 2026—

  Daniel Sneider was the Monitor’s Moscow bureau chief 35 years ago this month when Kremlin hard-liners grabbed Mikhail Gorbachev at a dacha in Crimea, in a short-lived coup attempt. In this special episode, we surface some newly unearthed archival Monitor Radio audio and talk with Dan about what Monitor multimedia reporting looked like (and sounded like) in 1991, about what the story of that era presaged, and about the qualities of Monitor journalism that Dan still holds dear. Clay Collins hosts.

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  Why We Wrote This

  He Said, Xi Said

  May 22, 2026—S0

  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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  Why We Wrote This

  Imagining First Contact

  Apr 3, 2026—S0

  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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  Why We Wrote This

  A Place To Belong

  Mar 10, 2026—S0

  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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  Why We Wrote This

  Chasing the Rings in Milan

  Feb 20, 2026—S0

  In our last episode, we spoke with a veteran of Olympics coverage, in Milan for his eighth Games. This week, we sit down with an Olympics rookie, also in Milan, who has brought to bear the reporting skills she honed covering hardball national politics. Olympics editor Kendra Nordin Beato guest hosts this conversation with Story Hinckley. They discuss how Story attacked her assignment like a slalom skier running the gates, got thoroughly swept up in the spirit of competition – and learned a few things about herself while delivering some gold-medal coverage.

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