Consider This from NPR - How President Biden’s Immigration Plan Would Undo Trump’s Signature Policies

President Biden followed through on a day-one promise to send a massive immigration reform bill to Congress. Now the hard part: passing that bill into law.

Muzaffar Chishti of New York University's Migration Policy Institute explains the president's plans — and the signal they send to other countries around the world.

Biden is also pursuing big changes in how the U.S. admits refugees. Corine Dehabey, an Ohio-based director of the refugee settlement organization Us Together, says families who've been separated for years are looking forward to reuniting.

Follow more of NPR's immigration coverage from Southwest correspondent John Burnett.

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Short Wave - Baltimore Is Suing Big Oil Over Climate Change

The Supreme Court heard arguments this week in a case brought by the city of Baltimore against more than a dozen major oil and gas companies including BP, ExxonMobil and Shell. In the lawsuit, BP P.L.C. v. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, the city government argues that the fossil fuel giants must help pay for the costs of climate change because they knew that their products cause potentially catastrophic global warming. NPR climate reporter Rebecca Hersher has been following the case.

Read Rebecca's digital piece about the Supreme Court case here.

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Consider This from NPR - President Biden Hails ‘Democracy’s Day’ In Unprecedented Transfer Of Power

"Through a crucible for the ages, America has been tested anew," President Biden said in his inaugural address on Wednesday. "And America has risen to the challenge."

Outgoing Vice President Pence was present for the inauguration of the 46th president. President Trump was not. He left the White House in the morning after an overnight issuance of commutations and pardons — including for Steve Bannon, his former adviser who was arrested on charges of wire fraud and money laundering.

NPR's Franco Ordonez reports on what President Biden did during his first day in office.

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Short Wave - The Social Side of Stuttering

President-elect Joe Biden has spoken publicly about his childhood stutter. An estimated 1% of the world's adults stutter, yet the condition — which likely has a genetic component — remains misunderstood. NPR Short Wave reporter Emily Kwong speaks with speech pathologist Naomi Rodgers about her research on adolescent stuttering and why the medical model of stuttering is problematic.

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Consider This from NPR - The 46th President: How Tragedy And Resilience Prepared Joe Biden To Meet A Moment

When Joe Biden takes the oath of office at noon ET on Wednesday, he will become the oldest president to ever hold the office. His journey to the White House spans nearly half a century in public life.

New Yorker writer Evan Osnos has written a book about that journey called Joe Biden: The Life, The Run, And What Matters Now. He explains how Biden's deep "acquaintance with suffering" prepared him to meet the country at a moment of grief and loss.

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Short Wave - Let’s Go Back To Venus!

In 1962, the first spacecraft humans ever sent to another planet — Mariner 2 — went to Venus. The first planet on which humans ever landed a probe — also Venus! But since then, Mars has been the focus of planetary missions. NPR science correspondent Geoff Brumfiel makes the case for why humans should reconsider visiting to Venus.

For more science reporting and stories, follow Geoff on twitter @gbrumfiel. And, as always, email us at shortwave@npr.org.

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Consider This from NPR - 1 Year, 400,000 Dead: What Could Change This Week About America’s Pandemic Response

President-elect Joe Biden has outlined a plan to administer 100 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine in his administration's first 100 days. But before that he'll have to convince Congress to pay for it.

NPR White House correspondent Scott Detrow spoke to Vice President-elect Kamala Harris about that, and her reaction to the siege at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. Listen to more of their interview on the NPR Politics Podcast on Apple or Spotify.

It's been almost a full year since the first case of coronavirus was detected on Jan. 20, 2019 in Washington state. NPR science correspondent Allison Aubrey looks back at what lessons the U.S. has learned — and what lessons we're still learning.

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Consider This from NPR - BONUS: Inside The Capitol Siege

In this episode from the team at NPR's Embedded, hear the stories of two NPR teams that spent January 6th on the grounds of the Capitol — and stories from a lawmaker, photographer, and police officer who were inside the building.

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Consider This from NPR - Their Family Members Are QAnon Followers — And They’re At A Loss What To Do About It

The QAnon conspiracy theory originated in 2017, when an anonymous online figure, "Q" started posting on right-wing message boards. Q claims to have top secret government clearance. Q's stories range from false notions about COVID-19 to a cabal running the U.S. government to the claim there's a secret world of satanic pedophiles. This culminates in the belief that President Trump is a kind of savior figure.

Today, U.S. authorities are increasingly regarding QAnon as a domestic terror threat — especially following last week's insurrection at the Capitol. But the people in the best position to address that threat are the families of Q followers — and they're at a loss about how to do it.

Some of those family members spoke with us about how their family members started following QAnon and how that has affected their relationships.

Travis View researches right-wing conspiracies and hosts the podcast QAnon Anonymous. He explains how the QAnon story is not all that different from digital marketing tactics, and how followers become detached from reality.

Dannagal Young is an associate professor of communications at the University of Delaware and studies why people latch onto political conspiracy theories. She share some ways to help family members who are seemingly lost down one of these conspiracy rabbit holes.

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Short Wave - Micro Wave: How ‘Bout Dem Apple…Seeds

Many folks eat an apple and then throw out the core. It turns out, the core is perfectly ok to eat - despite apple seeds' association with the poison cyanide. In today's episode, host Maddie Sofia talks to producer Thomas Lu about how apple seeds could potentially be toxic to humans but why, ultimately, most people don't have to worry about eating the whole apple. And they go through some listener mail.

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