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President Biden uses his clemency authority to commute the sentences of 37 of the 40 men on federal death row to life without parole. The National Institutes of Health recently announced it's investing $300 million dollars to research treatments for long COVID. Antiquities in Lebanon were destroyed during the Israel-Hezbollah war despite protections for cultural sites under the laws of war. Join the new NPR Plus Bundle to support our work and get perks like sponsor-free listening and bonus episodes across more than 25 NPR podcasts. Want more comprehensive analysis of the most important news of the day, plus a little fun? Subscribe to the Up First newsletter.Today's episode of Up First was edited by Dana Farrington, Carrie Feibel, Denice Rios, Lisa Thomson and Ally Schweitzer. It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Nia Dumas and Ana Perez. We get engineering support from Nisha Heinis. And our technical director is Carleigh Strange. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

In part two of our story about Ben Spencer, a man sentenced to life in prison for a crime he said he didn't commit, former NPR correspondent Barbara Bradley Hagerty begins her own investigation. She returns to the scene of the crime and reinterviews witnesses. Hagerty finds new evidence of Spencer's innocence. And yet, the courts refuse to release him. In this episode of The Sunday Story from Up First, a look at what finally happens to a man who pinned his hopes on the idea that the truth would eventually set him free.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

In 1987, Ben Spencer, a young black man from Dallas, Texas was convicted in the killing of a white businessman. He was sentenced to life in prison by an all-white jury. There was no physical evidence linking him to the crime and he had an alibi. Over the years, eyewitnesses recanted their testimony and a judge, after reviewing all the prior evidence, declared Spencer to be an innocent man. Nonetheless, Spencer remained in prison for more than three decades. For seven of those years, former NPR correspondent Barbara Bradley Hagerty follows and followed the twists and turns of this case. Her dissection of wrongful convictions and the criminal justice system is at the heart of her new book, Bringing Ben Home: A Murder, A Conviction And The Fight to Redeem American Justice. Today on The Sunday Story from Up First, part one of a two-part series looking at why it is so hard to get a conviction overturned even when evidence of innocence is overwhelming. Part two is also available now on the Up First podcast feed.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy