Consider This from NPR - What You Need To Know About Biden’s Plan to Forgive Student Loan Debt

President Biden's plan to forgive federal student loan debt – up to $20,000 for Pell Grant recipients and up to $10,000 for others who qualify – leaves millions of borrowers with unanswered questions.

NPR's Sequoia Carrillo and Carolina Rodriguez of the Education Debt Consumer Assistance Program in New York, examine the new plan and help answer some of the frequently asked questions about how it would work.

This episode features reporting from NPR's Scott Horsley.

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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Short Wave - Experience The Quietest Place On Earth

In a crater at the top of a dormant volcano lies a place so quiet, the ambient sound is right near the threshold of human hearing. Visitors to the crater say they can hear their own heartbeats. This spot, in Haleakalā National Park, has been nicknamed the "quietest place on Earth."

Getting there is no small feat--the ascent involves hiking upward through five different climate zones. But the reward is an experience of natural silence that is increasingly difficult to find.

Conservationists, park scientists, and communities all over the United States are working to conserve their pristine soundscapes while noise pollution from planes, vehicles, and other human sources increases. Today, Regina G Barber talks with producer Margaret Cirino about the history, culture, and sound of the Haleakalā crater, and why it should matter to all of us.

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NPR's Book of the Day - Paula Hawkins and Amanda Jayatissa highlight class inequality via mystery

The two books in this episode are thrillers that center class as the theme of the narrative. First up is A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins that the author says, in an interview with Mary Louise Kelly, is a crime-murder-mystery in a setting where "the powerful and the powerless" are right next to each other. Next is You're Invited, authored by Amanda Jayatissa, about a wedding invite gone wrong – but, as Jayatissa shared with Ayesha Roscoe, is actually a backdrop to highlight Sri Lanka's present inequalities.

Consider This from NPR - Dr. Anthony Fauci Steps Away

For nearly four decades, Dr. Anthony Fauci has been leading the fight against infectious diseases in America - including AIDS and COVID-19. Now, he's stepping away.

Earlier this week, Dr. Fauci announced he would retire as the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the end of the year. In this episode, we'll talk with Dr. Fauci about his decision to leave, and take a look at the twists and turns of his long - and sometimes controversial - career.

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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Short Wave - Artemis: NASA’s New Chapter In Space

Humans haven't set foot on the moon in 50 years, but NASA hopes to take one step closer with the launch of a new rocket and space capsule on Monday. Today, science correspondent Nell Greenfieldboyce joins Scientist in Residence Regina G. Barber to talk about what NASA hopes to learn from this test flight and why it might be difficult to justify the program's cost.

Planning to tune in for Monday's launch? Email us at shortwave@npr.org.

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NPR's Book of the Day - Sidik Fofana addresses how complicated gentrification is in debut story collection

Sidik Fofana's short story collection can be best described as "addressing the notion that gentrification is complicated." Those were Fofana's words to NPR's Daniel Estrin as they talked about his debut book, Stories from the Tenants Downstairs. Fofana, who's also a public school teacher, uses the emotions he's felt growing up and situations of other people he's known, to ask: "How would I feel if this happened to me?" He writes them down in his collection as distinct voices and characters struggling to get by in a fictional high rise building in Harlem.

Planet Money - SUMMER SCHOOL 7: The Fed & Volcker’s Socks

The Federal Reserve plays a very important role in the economy. When things start to look uncertain, the central bank is tasked with stepping in to restore people's confidence in the economy. But how do they do it? On today's episode we dive deep on monetary policy and the role of the fed. |At this Summer School, phones ARE allowed during class... Check out this week's PM TikTok! | Listen to past seasons of Summer School here.

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Consider This from NPR - For Families Of Ukrainian Prisoners Of War, An Agonizing Search For Answers

The soldiers known as the Azovstal defenders are heroes in Ukraine. They held out for months against the Russians, fighting from a bombed-out steel plant in the southern port city of Mariupol.

When the city fell, the Ukrainian soldiers were taken captive by Russia.

Last month, the prison where they were being held was rocked by an explosion. More than 50 people died according to Russian sources, and both Russia and Ukraine blame each other for the attack.

NPR's Joanna Kakissis and producer Iryna Matviyishyn spoke to some of these soldiers' families as they waited to find out whether the men were dead or alive.

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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