ERA5 records go back to 1940. But it could have been supplemented with other records…and it appears that 1936 was hotter than 2023. So NPR could have at least mentioned that.
1850 - 2023
https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/climate-at-a-gla...
1936 was below the long term average, 1937 was above ... but still much cooler than 2023.