Readers' picks: 10 deeply engaged stories from July

By Britt Cheng

Published August 3, 2024 at 2:35 PM CDT

Despite avoiding plastic for a week, I produced around 102 pieces of plastic or mixed-material waste.

As the Trump assassination attempt and big Paris Olympics stars dominated the headlines in July, what about the stories that fell under the radar? Here's a look at 10 of the stories that caught the NPR audience's attention. (Our readers spent a combined nearly 80,000 hours on these stories.) Enjoy!

How hard is it to live without plastic for a week?
Trump or Harris? What voters in a crucial swing state think — in their own words.
What we learned from Biden's decision to step aside.
The other president who declined his party's nomination, Lyndon B. Johnson.
The origins of "abstinence" in American sex education.
She was 17. He was 47. #MeToo changed how she thinks of their relationship.
The woman who inspired Kamala Harris to break barriers.
What's it like to live with a disability?
Game of Thrones prequel House of Dragons, recapped.
The overnight hero on Team USA who's being compared to Clark Kent and Captain America.