Year: 2022

When President Biden announced that he would nominate a Black woman—the Supreme Court’s first—to the seat that will be vacated by retiring Justice Stephen Breyer, criticism from some on the right began almost immediately.

Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said it was “racist” to consider only Black women for the post, and Biden’s decision was “insulting to African-American women.”

The conversation about identity and qualifications echoes some of the questions that arose when another breakthrough appointment was announced more than 50 years ago.

In 1966, Constance Baker Motley became the first Black woman to serve on the federal bench. Her identity and lived experience as a civil rights attorney loomed large in the debate about her fitness to serve.

Tomiko Brown-Nagin, dean of Harvard Radcliffe Institute, and author of Civil Rights Queen: Constance Baker Motley and the Struggle For Equality, discusses Motley’s nomination and her career. She says Motley supported the appointment of women and people of color to the federal judiciary as a way to strengthen the institution.

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As the standoff over Ukraine continues, tensions are rising around another old conflict in Europe.

Brutal ethnic fighting left at least 100,000 dead in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 1990s. The U.S. brokered peace there, but the fragile, multi-ethnic state is once again in crisis, as NPR’s Frank Langfitt saw on a recent trip.

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Russia never wanted NATO to spread east through the former soviet republics. But it especially didn’t want it to reach Ukraine. A compromise in 2008 put Ukraine on the path to membership, and Russian President Vladimir Putin is now effectively holding the country hostage in effort to keep that from happening.

NPR’s Becky Sullivan reports on the history of NATO and how a disagreement over a past proposal is fueling Putin’s frustration. Read more about that here.

And NPR’s European correspondents describe how U.S. allies France, Germany and the U.K. are attempting to work together to stop Russia from crossing the Ukraine border.

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Last Thursday morning, before dawn, U.S. special troops arrived at a house in Syria to capture the ISIS leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi alive. Two hours later, he was dead after detonating an explosive that also killed the lives of at least 13 others.

The U.S. opted for a ground attack in an effort to protect civilians but the mission didn’t go as planned. Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby explains some of the complications.

And Charles Lister, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, explains what might happen now that the leader of ISIS is dead.

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It was an abrupt move that not many could have foreseen. Despite an impressive three-year showing with the Miami Dolphins, Brian Flores was fired from his position as head coach last month in a surprising end to a contract that was supposed to last for two more years.

What’s followed could be described as a “reckoning” for the NFL: Flores filed a class-action lawsuit against the league citing racial discrimination, a move that’s prompted a closer look at the NFL’s hiring practices and the racial makeup of those in power.

Flores sat down with NPR’s Jay Williams, host of The Limits with Jay Williams, to talk about his experience.

Listen to more of The Limits with Jay Williams on NPR One, Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Firearm-related injuries are among the 5 leading causes of death for people ages 1-64 in the United States, according to the CDC. In 2019, there were 39,707 firearm-related deaths in the United States. That’s an average of 109 deaths per day. Firearm-related injuries are harder to quantify, but the Gun Violence Archive reports that there were over 40,000 last year.

CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky has called gun violence a “serious public health threat.” She’s the first CDC Director to make strong public statements about gun violence since 1999. For decades, gun violence research received no federal funding. That’s in large part because of pressure from the NRA.

Once again, the United States is investing in a public health approach to stemming gun violence. Dr. Mark Rosenberg, founding director of CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, explains what this means.

Additional reporting in this episode from NPR’s Eric Westervelt.

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User-generated content specific to TikTok has propelled songs old and new to viral success. Whether it’s someone lip-syncing to a song, or participating in a dance or trend using that song, it’s made music discovery more participatory.

Success on the app can lead to success on the charts, and record labels are looking to TikTok for their next stars.

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China has been detaining and arresting ethnic Uyghurs in the region of Xinjiang en masse while their children are often sent to state boarding schools.

China closely guards information about Xinjiang, including about these forced family separations. But NPR’s Beijing correspondent Emily Feng managed to talk to two children who made it out of one such school and are sharing their story for the first time.

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Masks and at-home COVID-19 test kits have become staples of pandemic life. The Biden Administration announced in January that it would distribute 400 million free N95 respirators to pharmacies and grocery stores around the country. The U.S. Postal Service has begun taking orders for free at-home test kits. Supply remains limited, so many are still purchasing masks and tests on their own, and the costs can easily add up.

Wendy Edelberg is a Senior Fellow of Economic Studies at the Brookings Institution who studies household spending and saving habits. She explains how time is one of the hidden costs associated with obtaining high-quality masks.

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The world is watching as Russia continues it’s threat of invasion with troops at the border of Ukraine. But close to that border, in the Donbas region, people look at you a little funny if you ask whether they’re worried about war with Russia, because they are already living through it.

Areas of Eastern Ukraine have been at war since 2014 when Russia-backed separatists moved in and declared breakaway republics. And that’s where NPR’s Mary Louise Kelly has been, talking with residents about what this new threat might mean for them.

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