Joe Shapiro
@nprjoeshapiro.bsky.social
NPR Correspondent/Investigations Unit, author of NO PITY: People With Disabilities Forging a New Civil Rights Movement. Contact: jshapiro@npr.org or (encrypted) Shapirojoe@proton.me
More ground-breaking reporting on brain injuries in the military from @davephilipps.bsky.social Rescue Boat Crews Show Signs of Brain Injuries, but Coast Guard Isn’t Looking www.nytimes.com/2026/07/30/u...
Rescue Boat Crews Show Signs of Brain Injuries, but Coast Guard Isn’t Looking
Untreated and undiagnosed, the crews that save lives in the roughest seas face the relentless pounding of waves.
nytimes.com
The story of how disabled people fought for the right to live in the community--and how those rights are at risk. (On this 36th anniversary of the ADA.) A podcast from The Sunday Story with @stephrwolf.bsky.social www.npr.org/2026/07/26/n...
‘We want to ride’: the 1978 protest that sparked the disability rights movement : The Sunday Story
Thirty-six years ago, the Americans with Disabilities Act was signed into law, guaranteeing civil rights for millions of Americans. But the movement that made that day possible began years earlier. ...
npr.org
What if you're in prison and deal with abuse by staff, other prisoners, or sexual abuse. You complain and no one listens. Or worse, they retaliate. From @npr.org and @themarshallproject.org www.npr.org/2026/07/13/n...
A guard punched him on camera. It was still nearly impossible for him to sue
Prisoners are allowed to file complaints about mistreatment — but doing so often comes with retaliation. That's according to an investigation by NPR and The Marshall Project.
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The prison grievance process is set up to make prisoners fail. They win in less than 2 percent of cases. In 1 percent when they seek medical care. Our latest radio and print stories from @npr.org and @themarshallproject.org www.npr.org/2026/06/17/n...
'Rejected': How federal prisons stonewall grievances and deny care for years
People who go to prison keep one important right — to file a grievance over their treatment: from abuse to denied medical care. But in the vast majority of cases, those efforts go nowhere, according t...
npr.org
I’ve taken a buyout. Feel privileged to work at NPR (since 2001). Proud of my stories, their impact. Grateful for the best audience. Tomorrow, NPR will lay off colleagues. Talented journalists will lose jobs. But fewer laid off, we’re told, for each who takes buyout. 1/2
In an act of civil disobedience in 1978, disabled protesters blocked Denver buses to demand wheelchair lifts. But before they could build a civil rights movement--they needed to go to court to win the right to be arrested. My story. @npr.org stephrwolf.bsky.social www.npr.org/2026/03/19/n...
European officials (and royals) are being investigated and losing jobs for ties to Epstein. Unlike in the U.S.....
NPR@npr.org · 6mo agoUnlike in Europe, officials in the U.S. with ties to Epstein have largely held their positions of power.
In October, ICE grabbed Maher Tarabishi. He was a 24/7 caregiver for his disabled son Wael. At the time of Maher’s detention, disability advocates warned that taking away Wael’s caregiver put his life at risk. Wael died on Friday at age 30. ICE caused his death. They didn’t get to say goodbye.
Disabled son of ICE detainee dies after 30 days of hospitalization
It had been months since Wael Tarabishi seen his father. The family is calling on ICE to release Maher Tarabishi so he may attend his son's funeral.
wfaa.com
R.I.P. disability rights leader Bob Kafka. The ADAPT leader was known for leading protests. But was also a savvy policy wonk who could work with government officials--of any party--to win programs. www.npr.org/2006/09/15/6...
What if you showed up at your hotel and they didn't have the room you reserved? Or there was a shower or toilet you couldn't use. This is common for people who use wheelchairs. Even 35 years after federal law said hotels must be accessible. My NPR story. www.npr.org/2025/12/24/n...
35 years after ADA, people with disabilities still find hotels unaccommodating
AN NPR survey finds that people with disability still find hotels unaccommodating, even 35 years after passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
npr.org
What a privilege it is to be a younger disabled person in a community shaped by Alice Wong. Rest in peace, Alice.
Judge: "White House press briefings engage the American people on important issues affecting their daily lives — in recent months, war, the economy, and healthcare, and in recent years, a global pandemic." From NPR's Kristin Wright www.npr.org/2025/11/05/n...
Judge orders White House to use American Sign Language interpreters at briefings
The National Association of the Deaf is celebrating a legal victory against the White House. A judge ordered ASL for briefings conducted by the press secretary or President Trump.
npr.org
Remembering Paul and Sheila Wellstone and the others we lost on Oct 25, 2002.
On undisclosed investors--including foreign ones--owning our voting systems: "If this seems like a bad idea to you, you’re right." slate.com/news-and-pol...
Trump’s Most Reviled Voting Company Sold to a GOP Official. That’s Not the Worst of It.
Earlier this month, news broke that Dominion Voting Solutions had been sold to a former Republican election official.
slate.com
The Trump Administration wants to add a work requirement for "able-bodied" Medicaid recipients. But medical professionals don't use that term. @juliametraux.bsky.social explains the history of a political term www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
The deceptive phrase behind Trump's Medicaid purge
How the idea of “able-bodied” is abused
motherjones.com
U.S. Department of Justice sues Uber for driving past would-be customers in wheelchairs or with service animals www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justi...
Justice Department Sues Uber for Denying Rides to Passengers with Service Dogs, Wheelchairs
The Justice Department filed a lawsuit against Uber Technologies Inc. for discriminating against passengers with disabilities, including those who use service animals and mobility devices such as stow...
justice.gov
NPR wants to write about what makes travel difficult for people who use wheelchairs--with hotels. Tell us your stories. www.npr.org/2025/09/11/g...
Are hotel rooms accessible for people who use wheelchairs? NPR wants to hear from you
Hotels have accessible rooms for wheelchair users. If you or someone you know has experienced problems with those rooms, we'd like to hear about it.
npr.org
On the left: Nate Cavanagh, a 28-year-old DOGE staffer and college dropout. On the right: Mohammad Halimi, a 53-year-old exiled Afghan scholar. This is the story of how DOGE targeted Halimi on social media. Then the Taliban took his family. 🧵
Susan Stamberg helped build NPR, paved a path for women journalists, writes radio copy that sounds like poetry, has one of the best voices in broadcast.. and is a warm, supportive and treasured colleague. Retirement? Hard to imagine NPR without her. www.npr.org/sections/npr...
Susan Stamberg Retirement News
npr.org
The Biden Administration expanded benefits to many of the poorest disabled on SSI. Now Trump Administration proposes a reversal. www.cbpp.org/research/soc...
Trump Administration Poised to Cut SSI Benefits for Nearly 400,000 Low-Income Disabled and Older People | Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
The average annual savings from these benefit cuts would barely pay for a single day of the massive tax cuts for the wealthy that are part of the Republican megabill enacted in July.
cbpp.org
Disabled people say they love riding trains. Does Amtrak love them back? (My NPR story on a new federal report.) www.npr.org/2025/07/17/n...
A federal report looks at Amtrak's efforts to improve for passengers with disabilities
For years, disabled passengers have complained about Amtrak and its poor service -- that it's too hard for them to ride the train. A new federal report looks at its efforts to get better.
npr.org
Shackled for days, weeks--DOJ report finds abuse of restraints in federal prisons. (My story from NPR) www.npr.org/2025/07/14/n...
Shackled for weeks: Federal report finds abuse of restraints in prisons
The Justice Department's Office of the Inspector General found widespread abuse of shackles in federal prisons. One prisoner was held in restraints so tight that he had to have a limb amputated.
npr.org
"We didn’t necessarily see ourselves as the kind of journalists NPR would want, but NPR not only wanted us, they wanted to support us, help us grow and nurture our perspectives." www.poynter.org/commentary/2...
After leaving the military, NPR’s public service mission gave us a new opportunity to serve - Poynter
After serving in the Coast Guard and Army, we received internships at NPR. The roles launched our careers and let us keep serving the public.
poynter.org
"I'm only 19. I've got a lot of life to live." Alexis Ratcliff spent six years inside a North Carolina hospital. Now she's finally moved to her own home. Trump Administration wants to end program that got her out. My radio and print stories for NPR: www.npr.org/2025/07/01/n...
The disabled teen stuck in a hospital for six years finally gets her own home
When a disabled young woman moved out of a hospital to her own apartment, the Trump administration celebrated — even though it's ending the federal program that made it possible.
npr.org
When Stanley Nelson investigated unsolved KKK killings, some of his best sources were the spouses and children of the Klansmen. The men who would torture and kill were often abusive to their family at home--and those spouses and kids talked. My expanded story for npr.org. www.npr.org/2025/06/07/n...
Louisiana journalist Stanley Nelson exposed secrets of the civil rights era
Stanley Nelson, the editor of a small-town weekly newspaper in Louisiana, exposed secrets about unsolved murders by the Ku Klux Klan. Nelson died this week at the age of 69.
npr.org
Stanley Nelson, editor of a small town newspaper in Louisiana, reported, obsessively, about unsolved murders by the Ku Klux Klan. I wrote about Stanley, who died unexpectedly after surgery. www.npr.org/2025/06/07/n...
There are barriers to Deaf people trying to make careers as scientists and teachers. The federal government helped--until the Trump Administration said "no more" www.npr.org/2025/04/28/n...
Deaf students had a path to science careers -- until their federal grants ended
For years, the U.S. government tried to encourage deaf people to study science. But the programs were just ended by the Trump Administration, leaving deaf students unsure about their future.
npr.org
Why are nonprofit groups so worried? DOGE went into federal agencies--cut programs and staff. New target: Nonprofits that get federal grants, especially for immigration, environmental and criminal justice work www.npr.org/2025/04/20/n...
Nonprofits discuss how to handle potential backlash from the Trump administration
A number of nonprofit leaders have met to discuss how to handle potential backlash from the Trump administration.
npr.org
