Author: Matt

There’s evidence of at least seven U.S. variants of the coronavirus, while another that emerged from the U.K. is poised to become the dominant strain here by the end of March. One adviser from the Food and Drug Administration tells NPR there’s a tipping point to watch for: when a fully vaccinated person winds up hospitalized with a coronavirus variant.

NPR science correspondent Richard Harris reports on concerns that COVID-19 vaccines themselves could cause the virus to mutate.

NPR science reporter Michaeleen Doucleff explains why the story of one COVID-19 patient may hold clues to how variants develop in the first place. For a deeper dive on variants, listen to Michaeleen’s recent episode of NPR’s Short Wave on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

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 United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, says more than 60 countries around the world are using COVID-19 as an excuse to skirt international law by closing borders and ports to asylum-seekers. That has contributed to an increase in delayed rescues and unlawful expulsions of refugees to dangerous places.

NPR’s Joanna Kakissis tells the story of one teenage survivor.

And NPR’s Ruth Sherlock reports on a doomed journey of Lebanese refugees attempting to cross the Mediterranean sea — where over 1,000 migrants died in 2020.

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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We asked for your questions on navigating love and dating during the pandemic. Therapist and sexologist Lexx Brown-James has answers. She’s joined by Sam Sanders, host of NPR’s news and pop culture show, It’s Been A Minute. Listen via Apple or Spotify.

And University of Georgia social scientist Dr. Richard Slatcher shares some findings from his global research project, Love In The Time Of COVID.

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The pandemic economy has left different people in vastly different situations. Today, we introduce four American indicators — people whose paths will help us understand the arc of the recovery. Hear their stories now, and we’ll follow up with them in a few months:

Brooke Neubauer in Nevada, founder of The Just One Project; Lisa Winton of the Winton Machine Company in Georgia; Lee Camp with Arch City Defenders in Missouri; and New Jersey-based hotel owner Bhavish Patel.

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The Biden administration has set a goal: a majority of public schools open “at least one day a week” by the 100th day of his presidency. But it’s possible the country is already there — and decisions about when to reopen largely fall to cities and school districts, where administrators and teachers sometimes don’t see eye-to-eye.

Students are losing a lot of academic ground the longer their schooling is disrupted. Maine Public Radio’s Robbie Feinberg reports on how one rural district is trying to reach students who haven’t been showing up for online classes.

This week, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expected to release new guidelines about how schools can reopen safely, three public school teachers weigh in: Mike Reinholdt of Davenport, Iowa; Maxie Hollingsworth of Houston, Texas; and Pam Gaddy of Baltimore, Md.

For more education coverage, follow NPR’s Anya Kamentez on Twitter, and check out her recent story “Keep Schools Open All Summer, And Other Bold Ideas To Help Kids Catch Up.”

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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In the weeks after Jan. 6. insurrection, even top Republicans like Mitch McConnell said Donald Trump provoked the mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol, leaving five people dead.

But it appears unlikely enough Republican Senators will find that he bears enough responsibility to warrant conviction in his second impeachment trial — which could prevent him from ever holding office again.

Charlie Sykes, founder and editor at large of the conservative site The Bulwark, argues that Republicans are failing to hold themselves accountable.

NPR’s Melissa Block reports on the future of Trump’s “big lie” about the results of the 2020 election.

For more impeachment coverage, listen to the NPR Politics Podcast via Apple or Spotify.

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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Using data from several states that have published their own maps and lists of where vaccination sites are located, NPR identified disparities in the locations of COVID-19 vaccination sites in major cities across the Southern U.S. — with most sites placed in whiter neighborhoods.

KUT’s Ashley Lopez, Shalina Chatlani of NPR’s Gulf States Newsroom, and NPR’s Sean McMinn explain their findings. Read more here.

Also in this episode: how one county in Washington state is trying to make vaccine distribution more equitable. Will Stone reports.

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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People of color experience more air and water pollution than white people and suffer the health impacts. The federal government helped create the problem, and has largely failed to fix it.

In this episode of Short Wave, NPR climate reporter Rebecca Hersher talks about the history of environmental racism in the United States, and what Biden’s administration can do to avoid the mistakes of the past.

Read Rebecca’s reporting on how Biden hopes to address the environmental impacts of systemic racism.

Why does Whitney Houston’s 1991 Super Bowl national anthem still resonate 30 years later? In this episode of NPR’s It’s Been A Minute, host Sam Sanders chats with author Danyel Smith about that moment of Black history and what it says about race, patriotism and pop culture.

Smith wrote about the significance of that national anthem performance back in 2016 for ESPN.

Listen to more episodes of It’s Been A Minute on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

The pandemic leveled live performance, and the industry is last in line for a return to normal.

Musician Zoe Keating and production designer Terry Morgan describe how their work has changed with live venues nationwide shuttered for nearly a year.

Venue owner Danya Frank of First Avenue and Jim Ritts of the Paramount Theatre explain why the gears of the performing arts economy are not designed for a slow return to normalcy.

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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