Of course NPR is US state-affiliated media. It's funded by the US government, all its reporting advances the information interests of the US government, and its CEO's last job was running overt propaganda organs of the US government. If it doesn't deserve that label, no one does.
Case study in the efficacy of state propaganda: a news outlet that unequivocally and emphatically supports the American empire can't POSSIBLY be compared to news outlets that unequivocally and emphatically support the Russian government (???)
Wow, way to make this label meaningless. NPR is absolutely not even comparable to propaganda outlets like RT & Sputnik, which have no editorial independence. This is ridiculous and only helps actual propaganda outlets blend in with legitimate news outlets.
Strongest possible advice to early grad students: you need outside hobbies or projects that are meaningful to you. It is dangerous for your only source of value, identity, and friendship to be academia. You absolutely have to find something else to invest in, itโs just not safe