Today's episode features interviews with two authors whose books on trans and queer gender identity are facing challenges in school districts across the U.S. First, NPR's Steve Inskeep sits down with writer and photographer Susan Kuklin to discuss her book, Beyond Magenta, which features the photos and narratives of six trans and nonbinary teens around the country. Then, NPR's Rachel Martin asks Maia Kobabe about Gender Queer, the graphic memoir detailing Kobabe's own experience navigating gender and communicating that journey to friends and family.
A UC Berkeley study estimates there are about 38,000 acres of land owned by faith groups in California, an area roughly the size of Stockton, that are largely going unused. Some churches want to build affordable housing on that extra land— but building any kind of housing in California means jumping through a lot of hoops. Reporter Adhiti Bandlamudi finds out what it would take for houses of worship to house people in God's backyard.
This story was reported by Adhiti Bandlamudi. Bay Curious is made by Olivia Allen-Price, Katrina Schwartz, Amanda Font and Brendan Willard. Special thanks to Erika Kelly, Christopher Beale and Paul Lancour for their help on this story.
On July 17, 1944, one of the worst disasters to befall the American military during World War II occurred. It didn’t occur in Europe or the Pacific, however. It took place on US soil.
The events leading up to this calamity and its aftermath permanently shaped the United States military.
Learn more about the Port Chicago Disaster and the lasting changes it brought about on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
Geese have the only flights in and out of Chicago that aren’t delayed. But seriously…we find out why the once-migratory Canada geese decided to make Chicago their permanent home, why these birds have become a nuisance, and what’s being done to keep their population in check.
Author and cartoonist Art Spiegelman is familiar with the hysteria surrounding certain library books. In today's episode, he tells NPR's Scott Simon about how comic book burnings during his childhood in the 1950s weren't all that different from book bans taking place across the country today. Spiegelman says that though they tackled difficult subjects, he found then – and continues to find today – great emotional power in comics, such as his reissued collection Breakdowns. And he says he's felt deeply unsettled by the ongoing challenges against these kinds of books.
Just one week after President Abraham Lincoln was re-elected in November 1864, Union General William Tecumseh Sherman set out to execute one of the most audacious plans of the US Civil War.
His plan involved violating several central tenants of warfare which had been established for thousands of years, yet in the process, he helped bring the war to a swift conclusion.
In hindsight, many people consider what he did to have been a war crime.
Learn more about Sherman’s March to the Sea and how it affected the outcome of the US Civil War on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
Author George M. Johnson says they knew their memoir, All Boys Aren't Blue, would be challenged by school boards – but they didn't realize just how much controversy it would stir up. The memoir explores Johnson's upbringing as a queer young person of color in New Jersey and Virginia. In today's episode, they tell NPR's Leila Fadel that despite all the pushback the book has received, it's been overwhelmingly gratifying to see how much it's helped teachers, librarians, parents...and especially the students themselves.
On December 21, 1891, a physical education teacher in Springfield, Massachusetts, looking to keep athletes occupied during the winter, hung some peach baskets on the balcony of the gymnasium.
With these peach baskets and an old soccer ball, he created something that revolutionized sports and became one of the most popular games in the world.
Learn more about the history of basketball and how it became a global phenomenon on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
Jordan Banks, the protagonist of New Kid, is a seventh grade student who loves to draw and hopes to one day become a cartoonist. But the graphic novel following Jordan's arrival at a predominantly white, elite, private school has been challenged numerous times in the state of Texas by people claiming it promotes critical race theory. In today's episode, author Jerry Craft tells NPR's A Martinez how those challenges were often presented by parents who had not truly engaged with the material – and why it's crucial for him to tell coming-of-age stories for Black kids that don't involve catastrophe.
This episode was originally released in August 2016
Note
* Here’s a link to watch an excerpt of the CBS news break.
* One of my favorite things I came across while reading up on the lottery was this site, which includes a remarkable page where folks send in their personal stories of their draft experience.
Music
* Elevator Song by Keaton Henson (feat. Ren Ford)
* Waves by Abby Gundersen
