Author: Matt

Three weeks ago, semi trucks flooded the streets of Canada’s capital city. Drivers were protesting a vaccine mandate at the U.S. border. But since then, the demonstration in Ottawa has evolved to be about much more and is spreading to other cities throughout the world.

NPR correspondents Shannon Bond and Odette Youseff have been following this story and explain how the movement began and what has kept it going.

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Just under three dozen of China’s athletes competing at the Olympics this year were born in other countries. Most famously, ski prodigy Eileen Gu, who has dozens of brand sponsorships and is praised on Chinese social media. That’s in contrast to skater Zhu Yi, who has been called a “disgrace” after she fell during her short program. And the rhetoric appears on both sides. Some U.S. commentators have criticized Gu for her decision to compete for China.

Jules Boykoff is a political science professor at Pacific University and studies the politics of sports. He explains how politics play out in the Olympics. Amy Qin is a China correspondent for the New York Times. Her article on the subject is “The Olympians Caught Up in the U.S.-China Rivalry.”

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Despite reports that Russia may have withdrawn some troops from the Ukraine border, NATO says there’s no evidence of de-escalation and forces remain ready to attack. But it’s not just the border that is at risk.

NPR correspondent Frank Langfitt reports on hybrid war tactics like cyberattacks that Russia can, and may already be using to spark unrest in Ukraine.

And Mary Louise Kelly speaks with Russian journalist Vladimir Pozner about how the crisis feels in his country.

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More and more states are loosening their mask mandates as COVID-19 cases fall throughout the country. But the CDC says there isn’t enough of a drop with deaths and hospitalizations to warrant this change. This muddled messaging can make it difficult to navigate this current phase of the pandemic.

NPR correspondent Mara Liasson explains that while politics have played a role in public health decision making from the beginning of the pandemic, the divide between Republic and Democratic states is starting to close.

And NPR science correspondent Rob Stein offers guidance on how to make sense of the ever evolving risk factors for daily life.

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Fans of the Cincinnati Bengals may be licking their wounds after Sunday’s Super Bowl loss, but every sports fan can relate to the pain that follows a big game not going their way. And while it’s normal to be upset, those feelings of disappointment can occasionally turn into grief and even depression.

Dr. Eric Zillmer, a professor of Neuropsychology at Drexel University, explains how the pandemic and brief pause on professional sports helped him understand just how strongly we rely on those games.

And Greg Miller, a licensed therapist, discusses ways to deal with grief from your team’s loss in a healthy way. A lesson he’s learned first hand.

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We’re still learning how the coronavirus pandemic is affecting us emotionally and socially. Experts believe we will be seeing and analyzing its effects for years to come. But, thanks to popular online platforms, we do have some data on single people, their dating preferences and how those preferences changed during the pandemic.

Helen Fisher, a biological anthropologist and chief science advisor for the online dating company Match, shares the latest trends from the 11th annual Singles In America study.

Then, Logan Ury, Director of Relationship Science at the dating app Hinge and author of the book How To Not Die Alone: The Surprising Science That Will Help You Find Love, lays out some tips and tricks for how to get better at dating.

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The fashion world has recently lost three of its greats – Andre Leon Talley, Thierry Mugler and Virgil Abloh. Each man was a pioneer in his own way: Mugler and Abloh pushed boundaries as designers, Talley was a Black editor at a time when they were few and far between.

Robin Givhan, the Washington Post’s senior critic-at-large, reflects on each man’s influence and impact on the industry, and what these losses across the fashion industry mean.

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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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