Author: Matt

The men on death row in Allan B. Polunsky Unit, a maximum security prison in southeastern Texas, spend most of their time in solitary confinement, isolated from each other. Now, a prison radio station is giving them a sense of community and a way to be heard.

Keri Blakinger talks about how it started and the impact it’s had. Read her piece “The Prisoner-Run Radio Station That’s Reaching Men on Death Row” at The Marshall Project.

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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Many public spaces across the country now require negative COVID-19 tests for entry. But the cost of testing can vary widely, and some say they have had to spend hundreds of dollars to purchase tests.

Adam Tanner explains some of the reasons for the drastic difference in at-home test prices. Read his piece ‘How Much Should It Cost to Get Tested for COVID-19’ on Consumer Reports.

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As Democrats are making a push for voting rights legislation in Congress, more faith leaders want Americans to approach it as a moral – even spiritual – issue, including pastor and Democrat, Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia.

Warnock explains why he thinks ending the legislative filibuster in the Senate may be a necessary step, a move that President Joe Biden also endorsed while speaking in Warnock’s home state on Tuesday.

And Warnock describes his spiritual motivation for this voting rights push. He says democracy is the “political enactment of a spiritual idea.”

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A surge in COVID-19 cases fueled by the Omicron variant has meant many school districts across the country have considered or committed to returning to remote learning for the time being.

WBEZ reporter Sarah Karp spoke with parents in Chicago where a standoff between the teachers union and mayor has resulted in no teaching happening in person or virtually for the last few days.

And we hear from three mothers who share how they’ve been coping with the stress and unpredictability of a very confusing return to school.

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Before they built one of the biggest athlete-driven business empires in the world, LeBron James and Maverick Carter were just two kids from Akron, Ohio.

On this episode of NPR’s newest podcast, The Limits With Jay Williams, Carter explains how he and James succeeded — on their own terms. Carter is CEO of the SpringHill Company.

Listen to more of The Limits via Apple, Google, or Spotify.

If you’re confused about the new CDC Coronavirus guidelines, you’re not alone.

In fact, this week, the American Medical Association released a statement saying, “The new recommendations on quarantine and isolation are not only confusing, but are risking further spread of the virus.”

Adherence to public health guidelines is built on trust, and over the last few weeks, trust in the CDC seems to be eroding.

Jessica Malaty Rivera, a Senior Advisor at the Pandemic Prevention Institute and a science communicator, explains how we got to this point…and what steps need to be taken to ensure public trust in the CDC.

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A new owner can change everything for a professional sports team. And in the world of professional soccer, more and more of those new owners are countries accused of human rights abuses.

Former Manchester City player Nedum Onuoha describes what it was like when a member of the Abu Dhabi royal family took charge of his club.

Plus, New York Times reporter Tariq Panja explains why complaints about where money is coming from does little to change this growing trend, as evidenced by the recent purchase of Newcastle United by a Saudi-led investment group.

And in case you missed it on our All Things Considered radio broadcast, co-host of the show and of this podcast Audie Cornish is considering a new adventure and leaving NPR. You can hear the show’s tribute to Audie here.

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A year since the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol, the belief in ‘the big lie’ is now mainstream. And in states around the country, that belief is driving people to run for public office, where they would oversee elections this year. NPR’s Miles Parks reports. Here’s his complete report on where election-denying candidates are running to control voting.

And NPR’s Tovia Smith reports on why ‘the big lie’ is still so hard to dispel.

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New daily cases are at an all-time high. The good news: vaccines and boosters have never been more widely available — but not for everyone. Children five and under still do not have a vaccine available as the omicron surge stretches health care workers thin.

For advice on navigating the pandemic in this moment, we turn to Dr. Ibukun Kalu, a pediatric infectious disease doctor at Duke University.

Additional reporting in this episode from NPR’s Allison Aubrey.

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A year ago, insurrectionists stormed the Capitol building in hopes of overturning the election results – fueled by the “Big Lie” that Donald Trump actually won. He did not.

As NPR Special Correspondent Melissa Block reports, this lie has become entrenched in the Republican party. And Republican state legislators across the country have used it to justify passing new laws restricting voting access.

We look at those changes, and what all this might mean for elections in 2022 and 2024.

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