Month: January 2022

Minimalist lifestyles are in vogue. From books to blogs, to Instagram to YouTube, Marie Kondo and other influencers have popularized living with less.

But many of the dominant voices ignore the ways history and culture influence how and why we consume.

Enter Christine Platt, The Afrominimalist.

Platt is a lifestyle strategist and author of The Afrominimalist’s Guide To Living With Less. She examines how a history of oppression shapes a community’s views on ownership and consumption.

In participating regions, you’ll also hear a local news segment to help you make sense of what’s going on in your community.

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Cases rates are dropping, but the number of people dying each day is not. Many hospitals are still overwhelmed. NPR’s Will Stone reports.

Deaths are a lagging indicator — meaning they, too, will soon fall as the omicron wave continues to recede. What does the next phase of the pandemic look like? NPR’s Allison Aubrey explains why some public health experts think the coronavirus may not disappear — but become easier to live with.

In the meantime, workplaces are still reeling from the surge as employees call out sick or must quarantine. NPR’s Andrea Hsu says it’s even worse than last winter’s pre-vaccine surge.

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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Tensions are not abating as the U.S. and NATO continue efforts to avoid armed conflict with Russia. This week President Biden said a Russian invasion of Ukraine would “change the world.”

State Department spokesperson Ned Price tells NPR what leverage the U.S. has to prevent that from happening.

Mary Louise Kelly reports from Kyiv, where some people are preparing for an invasion, even as the Ukraine government urges calm.

Additional reporting in this episode from NPR’s Michele Kelemen and Daniel Estrin.

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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After 27 years on the Supreme Court, liberal justice Stephen Breyer is retiring. His departure won’t change the balance of the court, but it will give President Biden a chance to put his stamp on it — and cement a new, younger justice in place for decades.

NPR legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg explains who might replace Breyer, and NPR political editor Domenico Montanaro outlines how the process will unfold.

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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Writer-Director Joss Whedon has responded to his former colleagues’ accusations of bullying on set. NY Magazine reporter Lila Shapiro interviewed Whedon, and his accusers, for a profile in Vulture called “The Undoing of Joss Whedon.”

Motherboard’s Gita Jackson considers Whedon’s influence on his fans and, more broadly, pop culture, and freelance tv critic Robyn Bahr talks about the reasons why she doesn’t think she’ll ever rewatch Buffy the Vampire Slayer again.

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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When we talk about the pandemic, we talk about stress. Burnout. Uncertainty. Isolation. We don’t talk as much about trauma. But a growing number of mental health professionals say that’s what people are experiencing as the pandemic drags on — and we may need a new way to talk about what they’re going through. NPR’s Kat Lonsdorf reports.

Psychiatrist, neurologist and author Bessel van der Kolk explains how the brain processes and recovers from trauma. His 2004 book The Body Keeps the Score surged to the top of bestseller lists during the pandemic.

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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A towering figure of the fashion world, André Leon Talley was impossible to ignore. His influence extended well beyond the runway — during his time at Vogue, he was a rare Black editor in a largely white industry, and also a major figure in the LGBTQ+ community.

In this episode of It’s Been A Minute, host Sam Sanders discusses Talley’s influence and legacy with Saeed Jones and Zach Stafford.

Listen to more It’s Been A Minute with Sam Sanders via Apple, Spotify, or Google.

In Florida and Virginia, Governors Ron DeSantis and Glenn Youngkin are bolstering the right of parents to defy school mask mandates. While some parents are celebrating, others are filing lawsuits opposing the policies that make mask-wearing in schools optional.

There are a lot of opinions about how schools should be run during the pandemic, but some key voices are often missing from the conversation – students and teachers.

Over the last few weeks, amid a nationwide surge of coronavirus cases, students across the country have staged walkouts to emphasize various COVID mitigation measures they would like to see implemented. We’ll hear from some of those students.

And we’ll speak to a teacher in Arizona who understands how difficult it is, as a parent, community member and school staffer, to find the right balance between physical health, mental health and educational priorities.

In participating regions, you’ll also hear a local news segment to help you make sense of what’s going on in your community.

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The pandemic has led to a huge rise in online shopping. And record spending from last year means record returns. But what happens to the items we send back is often a mystery.

NPR correspondent Alina Selyukh reports on the like hood of an unwanted holiday gift making it into another customers hands.

And Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi of NPR’s Planet Money podcast visits a bargain bin store in North Carolina where dogged resellers rifle through mounds of unwanted items to find something they can turn for a profit.

Listen to the full Planet Money episode here.

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Today marks one year since President Joe Biden took office. His most immediate challenge was the pandemic, but he also promised action on climate, racial equity, and infrastructure.

One year later, NPR correspondents Kelsey Snell and Tamara Keith take stock of Biden’s accomplishments and shortfalls.

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