Author: Matt

The Delta variant is more dangerous and contagious than many experts initially realized. In response to the uptick in cases and hospitalizations countrywide, some government leaders are implementing mask mandates.

President Biden announced on Thursday that federal government employees will be asked to attest to their vaccination status. White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Jeff Zients explains what the new requirement will look like.

And NPR Correspondent Brian Naylor reports on how federal employees are feeling about this change.

When Simone Biles dropped out of her Olympic competitions this week, the whole world took notice. At 24 years old Biles is the most decorated gymnast ever, she’s won 36 medals—27 of those are gold. And she said via Instagram that it can feel like she “has the weight of the world,” on her shoulders at times.

When an athlete performs on a stage as hallowed and renowned as the Olympics, it’s not surprising to see that this can have a negative psychological effect. University of Denver professor Mark Aoyagi explains that in many ways, elite competitions are inherently unhealthy.

The stress can be even more acute for Black athletes like Biles. Sociologist Harry Edwards wrote about this over 50 years ago and says these young Olympians are forced to deal with both the aspiration and fear of “Black excellence.”

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Four police officers offered harrowing testimony of their experiences protecting the U.S. Capitol on January 6th during the first hearing for a new Democrat-led House Select Committee investigating the attacks.

The committee was proposed as a bi-partisan effort by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi but after she rejected two nominees from Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, the hearings have begun without support from Republican leaders.

Since January 6th the Justice Department has arrested hundreds of people who were at the Capitol. NPR Investigations Correspondent Dina Temple-Raston reports that while those cases initially seemed like they’d be a slam dunk, the process of bringing them to trial has proved more difficult than anyone could have imagined.

Rising seas are threatening coastal communities around the world, which will need billions of dollars to protect themselves. It’s clear the water is coming. What’s not clear is who pays.

This tension is playing out on the shoreline of San Francisco Bay, where the wealthiest companies in the world have built their headquarters next to low-income communities of color. Both need protection, but as cities there plan massive levee projects, they’re struggling to figure out what’s fair. Will the cost fall on taxpayers or private landowners who benefit the most?

NPR climate correspondent Lauren Sommer reports from San Francisco.

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Food service workers in America have newfound bargaining power, and they’re using it — quitting jobs for better ones at record rates.

NPR’s Alina Selyukh reports on why some are leaving the restaurant industry for good.

Additional reporting this episode from NPR’s Andrea Hsu, who examined the pros and cons of one-time hiring bonuses for workers.

Follow more coverage from NPR’s special series, Where Are The Workers?

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One officer in Los Angeles used car inspections to hit on women. Three hundred miles away in the San Francisco Bay Area, another woman says an officer used police resources to harass and stalk her.

Starting over can be scary. But not for Rodrigo Amarante. After an established musical career in Brazil, he made the jump to the U.S., where his relative anonymity was a source of creative energy — and an opportunity to reinvent himself.

Amarante’s second solo album, Drama, is about rejecting traditional forms of masculinity and embracing imperfections — then releasing them as a beautiful symphony of chaos and, well, drama.

Hear Rodrigo Amarante’s live performance of the song “Tara” from his new album.

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It’s still unclear who is responsible for planning and funding the assassination of Haiti’s president Jovenel Moïse earlier this month. But violence and unrest in the country has been ramping up for months.

The United Nations says that over the last six weeks nearly 15,000 people have been forced from their homes in Port-au-Prince. NPR’s Jason Beaubien reported the story of one family who fled in early June.

Moïse’s death left a power vacuum that’s been filled by Interim Prime Minister Ariel Henry, a 71-year-old neurosurgeon. NPR International Correspondent Carrie Kahn has been tracking his attempt to rebuild the Haitian government.

And Jean Eddy Saint Paul, a professor at Brooklyn College, explains why the turmoil in Haiti has been decades in the making.

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The delta variant now makes up an estimated 83% of coronavirus cases in the U.S., a sharp increase over recent weeks. Cases are rising more rapidly in places with low rates of vaccination. Arkansas is one of those places. The state’s Republican governor, Asa Hutchinson, tells NPR what he’s doing to try to convince more people to get a shot.

Amid those localized surges and reports of breakthrough infections, NPR’s Alison Aubrey explains how to think about your own risk.

Find more NPR coverage of breakthrough infections here.

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Tens of millions of American families are beginning to receive direct cash payments as part of the expanded child tax credit, which was part of the COVID relief bill passed back in March.

Those payments top out at $3,600 a year per child — an amount experts say could lift tens of millions of children out of poverty. But the expanded credit is only scheduled to last one year. The question now is: will Democrats succeed in making it permanent?

Here’s a breakdown of what you need to know from NPR’s Andrea Hsu.

This episode contains excerpts from NPR’s daily economics podcast The Indicator. Listen and subscribe via Apple, Spotify, Google, or Pocket Casts.

Additional reporting this episode from NPR’s Cory Turner and Mara Liasson.

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