Month: February 2022

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.

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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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.

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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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.

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 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.

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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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.

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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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.

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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Last Thursday morning, before dawn, U.S. special troops arrived at a house in Syria to capture the ISIS leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi alive. Two hours later, he was dead after detonating an explosive that also killed the lives of at least 13 others.

The U.S. opted for a ground attack in an effort to protect civilians but the mission didn’t go as planned. Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby explains some of the complications.

And Charles Lister, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, explains what might happen now that the leader of ISIS is dead.

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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It was an abrupt move that not many could have foreseen. Despite an impressive three-year showing with the Miami Dolphins, Brian Flores was fired from his position as head coach last month in a surprising end to a contract that was supposed to last for two more years.

What’s followed could be described as a “reckoning” for the NFL: Flores filed a class-action lawsuit against the league citing racial discrimination, a move that’s prompted a closer look at the NFL’s hiring practices and the racial makeup of those in power.

Flores sat down with NPR’s Jay Williams, host of The Limits with Jay Williams, to talk about his experience.

Listen to more of The Limits with Jay Williams on NPR One, Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Firearm-related injuries are among the 5 leading causes of death for people ages 1-64 in the United States, according to the CDC. In 2019, there were 39,707 firearm-related deaths in the United States. That’s an average of 109 deaths per day. Firearm-related injuries are harder to quantify, but the Gun Violence Archive reports that there were over 40,000 last year.

CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky has called gun violence a “serious public health threat.” She’s the first CDC Director to make strong public statements about gun violence since 1999. For decades, gun violence research received no federal funding. That’s in large part because of pressure from the NRA.

Once again, the United States is investing in a public health approach to stemming gun violence. Dr. Mark Rosenberg, founding director of CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, explains what this means.

Additional reporting in this episode from NPR’s Eric Westervelt.

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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