I don't listen to NPR directly, but I think RadioLab and This American Life are generally pretty good. I don't know how much those are NPR as a whole or works by affiliate stations, but they are media that I enjoy, so I kind of see why people would listen.
I will say, though, PBS is generally better. I think Frontline is very consistently excellent.
Older episodes of RadioLab are absolute gems. Around the time Robert Krulwich retired I noticed a palpable shift. The new hosts' motivation shifted from inform to influence. It still has good stories, but the framing is somewhat more manipulative, in a way that's hard to pin down but makes me distinctly uncomfortable and sometimes exhausted.
The way Radiolab chops their interviews into tiny little pieces and then glues them back together with snippets from the hosts is basically the best way to make sure your guests always tell the story YOU want them to tell...
RadioLab did the same thing. Was science for the first ~10 yrs, then turned politics from a fairly left POV. I finally stopped listening after they passed the torch.
This American Life is also pretty far left. It's still on my podcast list but I only listen when I run out of others. And then, 2 out of 3 times the story a race/identity piece and fast forward to the next part.
I will say, though, PBS is generally better. I think Frontline is very consistently excellent.