Year: 2021

Mark Zuckerberg says the metaverse is not just the next chapter of his company: it’s the next chapter of the internet. There are a lot of questions about what role Meta, the company formerly known as Facebook, should play in building that future.

Meta’s Vice President of metaverse, Vishal Shah, argues that the company has learned from its struggle to moderate content on Facebook, and will build safety and privacy into the metaverse.

Jason Moore — Assistant Professor at Brooklyn College teaching television and virtual reality — explains how he uses the metaverse today.

And Benedict Evans, an independent technology analyst, argues that the metaverse may never emerge as one cohesive movement. Read his essay about Facebook’s rebrand: Metabrand.

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Now that the hot takes have cooled after Virginia’s gubernatorial election, NPR correspondents Anya Kamenetz and Tamara Keith dissect the role of education in the race — and why it was about way more than critical race theory.

Read more from Anya here.

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Waking up at dawn with the bakers and the baristas may not be for everyone — especially night owls. Whether you have to wake up early, or you’d like to become more of a morning lark, here are a few habits that can help you set yourself up for success at that first alarm.

In this episode of NPR’s Life Kit, host Kavitha George speaks with early risers who have tips to help adjust one’s biological clock.

Listen to more episode’s of Life Kit on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or NPR One.

In recent years, Sudan has been home to one of the most successful pro-democracy movements on the African continent. Now, a military coup threatens that movement’s progress.

NPR’s Eyder Peralta, who has been reporting in the region, explains how it all unfolded — and what could happen next.

Read more on the events in Sudan from NPR’s Becky Sullivan: The coup in Sudan could threaten U.S. influence in a strategically important region.

In participating regions, you’ll also hear a local news segment that will help you make sense of what’s going on in your community.

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The CDC made it official on Tuesday: kids 5 – 11 are now eligible to receive Pfizer’s COVID-19 pediatric vaccine. Within hours, some of the first shots were administered in Hartford, Connecticut.

Jenny Brundin of Colorado Public Radio spoke to parents and kids in Denver about getting a shot. While some are eager, others want to ‘wait and see.’

NPR’s Allison Aubrey and Selena Simmons-Duffin wrote about why pediatricians say it’s better not to wait. Read their piece: Some parents want to wait to vaccinate their kids. Here’s why doctors say do it now.

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Any ruling is months away, but this week’s oral arguments provided some clues. NPR’s Nina Totenberg watched them unfold. Hear more from Nina’s coverage on the NPR Politics Podcast via Apple, Google, or Spotify.

Also in this episode: Dr. Ghazaleh Moayedi, an OB-GYN in Texas, who told NPR pregnant people in Texas have been travelling to Oklahoma for abortions.

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In what some have called “Striketober,” workers in factories as well as the health care and food industries have either started or authorized strikes in the past month.

Thousands of workers across the U.S. are on strike, demanding better wages, better working conditions and more benefits.

NPR’s Ailsa Chang speaks with Joseph McCartin, professor of history at Georgetown, about what this moment means for the future of labor in America and how long the momentum may last.

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A U.N. climate summit is underway this week in Glasgow, Scotland. Many of the world’s top carbon emitting-countries will be represented there. Scientists say they need to do more to curb greenhouse gas emissions in order to avoid the most catastrophic effects of climate change.

The U.S, along with the China, are the world’s top greenhouse gas emitters. India is third. And Brazil plays a crucial role in global climate, because it is home to vast rainforests that feed on carbon. But those rainforests are disappearing faster until the current government.

Ahead of the summit, NPR international correspondents in China, India, and Brazil gathered to discuss what climate action those countries are taking: Emily Feng in Beijing, Lauren Frayer in Mumbai, and Philip Reeves in Rio de Janeiro.

NPR’s Lauren Sommer outlined the stakes at the Glasgow summit here.

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In this episode of NPR’s investigative podcast Embedded, Chris Benderev reports on the trial of a man who shot and killed five people in the office of an Annapolis newspaper in 2018.

Embedded‘s series of episodes on the Capitol Gazette began in February of 2021. Listen via Apple, Spotify, or Google.

A final girl in the horror genre is the woman who is left to deal with the aftermath of surviving a terrifying killer. From The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, to Friday the 13th, to Halloween.

The term ‘Final Girl’ was first coined by writer Carol J. Clover in her book Men, Women, and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film.

Society knows this trope well. But after the credits roll, audiences typically don’t know much about what actually happens to that final girl. Or whether she can live a normal life after being hunted down by a masker killer.

Author Grady Hendrix unpacks that in his latest novel, The Final Girl Support Group.

“The ultimate faceless killer they can’t escape is the forces of market capitalism. There’s always a sequel. So even if you survive Part I and II, they’re going to get you in Part III. And there’s something terrible about that to me, that you never get to let your guard down,” Hendrix said.

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