It was only a matter of time before cases of the COVID-19 omicron variant started popping up in the U.S., and now, it's here. Although it's too early to tell how this virus strain will spread, the threat it poses has already lit a fire under public health messaging.
President Biden announced a new strategy to avoid a winter surge of cases that involves free at-home testing, a vaccine booster messaging campaign and heightened international travel safeguards.
Meanwhile, the race is on to detect how omicron is already spreading in this country. NPR reporter Will Stone gives us a look into what's happening in labs right now across the country.
And Saad Omer, director of the Yale Institute for Global Health, discusses what we know about how effective travel bans are scenarios like this.
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Short Wave - Jane Goodall Says There’s Hope For Our Planet. Act Now, Despair Later!
Jane Goodall is a renowned naturalist and scientist. She's made a career studying primates and chimpanzees. But lately — something else has been on her mind: climate change. It might feel like there's nothing we can do, but in her new book, The Book of Hope, co-authored with Douglas Abrams, Jane reflects on the planet and how future generations will fight to protect it.
Check out "Jane Goodall encourages all to act to save Earth in 'The Book of Hope'" for a review of her new book.
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Check out "Jane Goodall encourages all to act to save Earth in 'The Book of Hope'" for a review of her new book.
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NPR's Book of the Day - Louise Erdrich and Kevin Brockmeier are not writing campfire ghost stories
There are all different kinds of ghost stories and types of ghosts. Maybe the ghost is a malicious spirit out for revenge, or a marshmallow man parade float come to life, or maybe it's truly a friendly ghost — Casper, here to be pals. In today's first featured interview, Here & Now's Robin Young talks with Louise Erdrich about her novel The Sentence which is set in a haunted bookstore in Minneapolis. Then NPR's Ailsa Chang interviews Kevin Brockmeier about his book of short spooky stories The Ghost Variations.
Consider This from NPR - Why Americans Love To Shop And What It’s Doing To The Planet
Buying stuff is a part of this country's DNA. It's a tradition that really took off near the end of World War II, when the American economy was thriving and the market exploded with products Americans didn't even know they wanted. And even in an economy rocked by a pandemic, buying is on track to exceed 2020 levels this holiday season.
The result of all that spending means consumption drives 70% of our country's GDP, but it's also the leading driver of nearly every environmental issue our planet faces.
Journalist J.B. MacKinnon, who also wrote "The Day the World Stops Shopping, How Ending Consumerism Saves the Environment and Ourselves," discusses how curbing consumption could positively affect a warming planet.
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The result of all that spending means consumption drives 70% of our country's GDP, but it's also the leading driver of nearly every environmental issue our planet faces.
Journalist J.B. MacKinnon, who also wrote "The Day the World Stops Shopping, How Ending Consumerism Saves the Environment and Ourselves," discusses how curbing consumption could positively affect a warming planet.
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.
Email us at considerthis@npr.org.
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Short Wave - No sperm? No problem.
Scientists have discovered that some female condors don't need males to reproduce. This phenomenon is known as parthenogenesis, and it's been observed in other animals too. The Atlantic's Sarah Zhang explains how it was found in California condors and its implications for these endangered birds.
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NPR's Book of the Day - NPR’s Short Wave: ‘An Outsider’s Guide to Humans’
Camilla Pang talks with NPR's Short Wave host Emily Kwong about her award-winning memoir, An Outsider's Guide to Humans: What Science Taught Me About What We Do And Who We Are. Diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder at age 8, the scientist and writer pairs her favorite scientific principles with human behavior and navigating daily life.
Consider This from NPR - A Supreme Court Case That Could Upend Roe v. Wade
Getting an abortion in Mississippi has never been easy, but it hasn't been impossible. Now, a case before the Supreme Court that centers on a clinic in Mississippi could upend abortion rights for pregnant people across the country.
Today, the conservative-leaning court heard arguments in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. The clinic, which is the only abortion provider remaining in Mississippi, is challenging a 2018 state law that bans termination after 15 weeks of pregnancy. If the court upholds the law, it would reverse its own precedent by allowing states to interfere with the right to abortion at that stage of pregnancy.
NPR Chief Legal Affairs Correspondent Nina Totenberg, SCOTUS Blog's Tom Goldstein, and Florida State University Law Professor Mary Ziegler parse the arguments and weigh in on the possibilities on how the justices could rule.
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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Today, the conservative-leaning court heard arguments in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. The clinic, which is the only abortion provider remaining in Mississippi, is challenging a 2018 state law that bans termination after 15 weeks of pregnancy. If the court upholds the law, it would reverse its own precedent by allowing states to interfere with the right to abortion at that stage of pregnancy.
NPR Chief Legal Affairs Correspondent Nina Totenberg, SCOTUS Blog's Tom Goldstein, and Florida State University Law Professor Mary Ziegler parse the arguments and weigh in on the possibilities on how the justices could rule.
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.
Email us at considerthis@npr.org.
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NPR's Book of the Day - ‘All That She Carried’ weaves together generations of Black women
All That She Carried is the history of a single bag. Historian and author Tiya Miles used what few historical records she could find to tell the stories of three generations of Black women with ties to that sack dating back to 1850. Miles' journey started because of a simple message embroidered on the bag by one of its owners, Ruth Middleton. She told Here & Now's Scott Tong that people have emotional reactions to seeing the sack, because it means the families survived to pass it down to future generations.
Short Wave - Using Math To Rethink Gender (encore)
Gender is infused in many aspects of our world — but should that be the case?
According to mathematician Eugenia Cheng, maybe not. In her new book, x+y, she challenges readers to think beyond their ingrained conceptions of gender. Instead, she calls for a new dimension of thinking, characterizing behavior in a way completely removed from considerations of gender.
Cheng argues that at every level — from the interpersonal to the societal — we would benefit from focusing less on gender and more on equitable, inclusive interactions, regardless of a person's gender identity.
You can reach the show by emailing shortwave@npr.org.
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According to mathematician Eugenia Cheng, maybe not. In her new book, x+y, she challenges readers to think beyond their ingrained conceptions of gender. Instead, she calls for a new dimension of thinking, characterizing behavior in a way completely removed from considerations of gender.
Cheng argues that at every level — from the interpersonal to the societal — we would benefit from focusing less on gender and more on equitable, inclusive interactions, regardless of a person's gender identity.
You can reach the show by emailing shortwave@npr.org.
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Consider This from NPR - The Infrastructure Package Was Signed By The President. Now What?
After years of jokes about unsuccessful Infrastructure Weeks, months of deliberation, and bouts of gridlock on the political left, a $1.2 trillion package made its way through Congress at long last. The president signed it into law earlier this month. Now, the challenge of actually getting the money where it needs to be remains.
NPR's White House Correspondent Franco Ordonez followed President Biden around the country earlier this month to report on the changes to come, now that the bill is law.
And NPR's National Desk Correspondent Nathan Rott reports on the portions of the infrastructure package that address resilience and protecting communities historically hit hardest by climate change.
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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NPR's White House Correspondent Franco Ordonez followed President Biden around the country earlier this month to report on the changes to come, now that the bill is law.
And NPR's National Desk Correspondent Nathan Rott reports on the portions of the infrastructure package that address resilience and protecting communities historically hit hardest by climate change.
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.
Email us at considerthis@npr.org.
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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