Year: 2022

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.

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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Federal data released last week showed more than 101,000 Americans died of drug overdoses in a one-year period. This was partly due to the pandemic and disruptions to treatment, as well as a surge in methamphetamine and fentanyl use.

But there is some positive news. A recent study on recovery success, co-authored by Dr. David Eddie, shows that three out of four people who experience addiction eventually recover, if they get the care they need.

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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During his time in office, former President Donald Trump embraced a Christian nationalist stance; the idea that the U.S. is a Christian country and should enforce those beliefs. Now, despite being out of office for nearly a year, those beliefs continue to spread.

NPR correspondent John Burnett reports on the growing movement of Christian nationalism, and the the other Christian congregations that are pushing against it.

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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More people are hospitalized with COVID than at any point in the pandemic. But the omicron variant is also causing more Americans to tune out the pandemic and turn away from public health measures right when they’re needed most. NPR’s Yuki Noguchi reports.

Even some vaccinated and boosted Americans are ready to move on from COVID, writes Derek Thompson in The Atlantic — a group he’s dubbed ‘vaxxed and done.’ Thompson spoke to Jane Clayson on Here & Now, a production of NPR and WBUR Boston.

Additional reporting in this episode from NPR’s Michaeleen Doucleff, who reported on why the omicron variant appears to be less deadly; and from NPR’s Will Stone, who reported on hospitals struggling to manage the omicron 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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Americans’ trust in both their government and in each other is declining. That’s according to the Pew Research Center, who have been collecting this data for decades.

Researchers Bradley Jones and Katerina Eva Matsa discuss how and why Americans are losing trust in two critical institutions: elections and news media.

Then, Eric Liu, the co-founder and CEO of Citizen University, and Tony Marcano, managing editor of member station KPCC and the LAist, share the steps they are taking to help citizens engage in civic life and re-establish trust in our country’s election systems and news media.

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Secretary of State Antony Blinken says the U.S. is planning “things that we have not done in the past” if Russia invades Ukraine. His comments follow days of diplomatic talks and a deadlock on resolving the crisis brewing along the Ukraine-Russia border, where Russia has massed 100,000 troops with tanks and artillery.

Blinken speaks to NPR’s Mary Louise Kelly about the current tensions and this week’s diplomatic efforts.

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The men on death row in Allan B. Polunsky Unit, a maximum security prison in southeastern Texas, spend most of their time in solitary confinement, isolated from each other. Now, a prison radio station is giving them a sense of community and a way to be heard.

Keri Blakinger talks about how it started and the impact it’s had. Read her piece “The Prisoner-Run Radio Station That’s Reaching Men on Death Row” at The Marshall Project.

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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Many public spaces across the country now require negative COVID-19 tests for entry. But the cost of testing can vary widely, and some say they have had to spend hundreds of dollars to purchase tests.

Adam Tanner explains some of the reasons for the drastic difference in at-home test prices. Read his piece ‘How Much Should It Cost to Get Tested for COVID-19’ on Consumer 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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As Democrats are making a push for voting rights legislation in Congress, more faith leaders want Americans to approach it as a moral – even spiritual – issue, including pastor and Democrat, Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia.

Warnock explains why he thinks ending the legislative filibuster in the Senate may be a necessary step, a move that President Joe Biden also endorsed while speaking in Warnock’s home state on Tuesday.

And Warnock describes his spiritual motivation for this voting rights push. He says democracy is the “political enactment of a spiritual idea.”

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 surge in COVID-19 cases fueled by the Omicron variant has meant many school districts across the country have considered or committed to returning to remote learning for the time being.

WBEZ reporter Sarah Karp spoke with parents in Chicago where a standoff between the teachers union and mayor has resulted in no teaching happening in person or virtually for the last few days.

And we hear from three mothers who share how they’ve been coping with the stress and unpredictability of a very confusing return to school.

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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