While the deaths of Travon Martin, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and Sandra Bland galvanized the #BlackLivesMatter movement, the killings of Rayshard Brooks, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery have forced America to reckon with centuries of racial injustice and police brutality in unprecedented ways. Not only have protests demanding change been widespread, but major corporations — which, until now, have been largely silent and hesitant to embrace Black Lives Matter — are pledging to fight racial injustice and declaring their support of the nearly seven-year-old movement. We discuss the significance of those corporate responses, as well as new challenges these companies face to commit to righting past wrongs.

America’s mayors have taken center stage in 2020. Big city mayors feuded with state and federal officials over COVID-19 protections and resources, and have been praised — and condemned — for their handling of protests sparked by the death of George Floyd. These crises may be unfolding on a national scale, but affect lives in every American city and town. With Atlanta officials already in the national spotlight, On Second Thought turned to local leaders in Savannah — Georgia’s first city and the state’s largest coastal municipality — to see how they are responding. We begin with Savannah Mayor Van Johnson , who took office in January of this tumultuous year. He shed light on his decision-making processes and vision for the city’s future.

John Lewis has served as U.S. Representative for Georgia’s 5th Congressional District since 1987, and is known for his passionate work both in the civil rights movements and on Capitol Hill. A new documentary called John Lewis: Good Trouble goes beyond the highlight reel of his storied life and reveals more personal elements of the man and the figure. On Second Thought hears from the film’s director and producer Dawn Porter and producer Erika Alexander about how the film connects his legacy of seeking justice from his youth to his role as a revered congressman today.

As Zuleika Yusuf Daffala walks across Kibera, one of the big informal settlements in Kenya's capital, she greets dozens of kids on the streets. Some are jumping rope, others chasing each other through the alley and another group is trying to make a tiny cooking pan out of an aluminum can. Daffala, a 37-year-old community activist, broke the news this week to many of the neighborhood kids that the Kenyan government had decided that the country's more than 12 million grade school students would not be going back to classrooms until January 2021. Not only that, but the government considers the 2020 school year "lost," so all kids will remain in the same grade for another year. "They are still not believing it," she says. "When you go to school, you have a target. So they have their plans already. They are not taking it easy." She says her son, a junior in high school, is resigned. Like most Kenyans, he doesn't have a tablet or a laptop, so he's trying to keep up with whatever books he can

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST: The pandemic in the United States is spiraling further out of control. This morning, Florida reported 15,000 new coronavirus cases. That's the highest single-day jump for any state. More than 3 million Americans have been infected with the disease, and experts say that is an undercount. There's still not enough testing, not enough mitigation by some states and cities and not enough people taking the precautions that experts strongly recommend. Twenty-six states are now reversing or pausing their plans to reopen their economies. And yet last week, President Trump announced he thinks it's time for schools to open back up. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We want to reopen the schools. Everybody wants it. The moms want it. The dads want it. The kids want it. It's time to do it. GARCIA-NAVARRO: Education Secretary Betsy DeVos jumped into the debate and encouraged teachers to step into this moment and

One week ago, the Trump administration announced it would ban international students from attending U.S. colleges in the fall if they only take online classes. Now hundreds of colleges and universities, dozens of cities, and some of the country's biggest tech companies are pushing back. In several court filings Friday and Monday, the groups stand with the international students. They argue providing remote education is crucial given how contagious COVID-19 is — and they say they crafted policies for the fall by depending on earlier assurances from the federal government that international students would be able to attend class remotely "for the duration of the emergency" while still retaining their F-1 or M-1 visa status. They're supporting an initial legal challenge by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the first to sue the administration over its new policy. Existing law had prohibited international students from taking all their courses online, but the

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit NOEL KING, HOST: There's a hearing today that is crucial for hundreds of thousands of international students. It's about a rule that ICE announced. If a college is doing online learning only in the fall, international students will have their visas revoked. ICE says if you're doing school online, you don't need to be in the U.S. to do it. So now, some schools are suing ICE over this rule. NPR education reporter Elissa Nadworny is covering this. Good morning, Elissa. ELISSA NADWORNY, BYLINE: Good morning, Noel. KING: So explain what's happening here. What did ICE do and say, exactly? NADWORNY: So last week, ICE issued guidance that said if schools were all online because of the pandemic, their students couldn't stay in the U.S. You know, this has actually always been the case. There's always an in-person requirement in order to get a visa to come to the U.S. But last spring, when pretty much every school went virtual, ICE had allowed for

A Distant Shore has just been released in an expanded version by Cherry Red Records, along with demos for songs that would eventually be released on Everything but the Girl's debut album. Tracey Thorn's classic 1982 indie album has long been a favorite of artists from Björk to Massive Attack, and is constantly rediscovered. In 2013 Thorn spoke about the album to the Guardian [archive link] and also wrote about the circumstances of its writing in her memoir Bedsit Disco Queen, excerpted here.

In November, the typically straitlaced Office of Government Ethics surprised observers with a series of tweets mimicking Donald Trump's bombastic style, exclamation points and all: "Brilliant! Divestiture is good for you, good for America!" The controversy was two-fold: (1) The OGE doesn't typically air its positions publicly, advising White House transition teams behind the scenes. (2) Trump hadn't promised the total divestitures of business interests implied by the tweets. New records shared with NPR on Friday show that behind the curious tweets was the head of the OGE himself, Director Walter Shaub Jr. In two emails, dated Nov. 30, just several minutes apart, Shaub sent to OGE Chief of Staff Shelley Finlayson the nine tweets that took the Internet by storm that day. He then followed up with a link to a legal document referenced in one of the tweets and writes: "Get all of these tweets posted as soon as humanly possible." The emails were part of a 365-page document shared with NPR in

Republicans had watched Donald Trump unleash powerful forces inside their party for more than a year. On Election Day last year, the question for many inside the GOP was how to deal with those forces once Trump had lost. Few had figured out what it would mean for the party if he won. Democrats were planning. There were lists of cabinet secretaries and the challenge of breaking the deadlock that set in between President Obama and the GOP Congress once President Hillary Clinton was in office. Few had figured out what it would mean for the party if she lost. Over the past year, Republicans have struggled to come together and govern effectively. Democrats have struggled to unite around a common cause, or move on from bitter infighting. But both parties may finally be figuring out how to exist in the Trump era. Republicans 'No if, ands or buts,' it's Trump's party New York Rep. Chris Collins made the smartest bet of his political career when he became the first House Republican to endorse

Cool Tracks Wanted for Fashion Campaign

Our client is looking for an interesting, cool track for the upcoming campaign for fashion brand. While the visuals feature tropical scenes, young adults having fun and splashing in the sea, the creative team wants to stir away from the typical Summer banger. Tonally, the track should feel fun and energetic, while retaining a level of surprise and sophistication. The focus of this search is hitting the right tone, the track can be old, new, featuring female or male vocals. We are open to several directions, however something with a timeless, vintage inspired sound would contrast the visuals well.

Good luck and please DO NOT contact us directly or via Social Media as this will not be read or listened to.

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I'm trying to find a story published on Clarkes World or tor.com or something similar, in the last ~15 years? A woman protagonist is on an exoplanet, and we become aware that she's being transformed by a parasite from the planet, but her experience of it is expansive and euphoric. I think it explicitly mentions the tongue-eating louse, though I could be misremembering that bit.

Quick, possibly embarrassing, question about using Shoe Goo... So, the soles completely (and cleanly) disconnected from the uppers of an old pair of Merrells of mine. Shoe Goo to the rescue, right? But, in typical fashion, I might be overthinking this. To wit...

Do you apply Shoe Goo to both surfaces to be bonded, like you would an epoxy? Or just one surface?

All epoxies I've ever used always make it clear you are to apply it to both surfaces, but the Shoe Goo instructions are kinda vague on the subject. Nowhere can I find instructions that specifically state applying to both surfaces. The instructions merely say "apply to surfaces" but it's unclear if it means both surfaces to be bonded, or is simply referring to the plurality of surfaces you can use the stuff on.

Yeah, I'm beanplating this like boss.

Hope me?

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit AILSA CHANG, HOST: The United Kingdom is banning Huawei, the Chinese telecom giant, from developing Britain's 5G network. The U.S. welcomes this decision. It's just the latest move in a global struggle between the U.S. and China over technology, business and political power. As NPR's Frank Langfitt reports, it's also a sign of how China's increasingly assertive diplomacy has backfired. FRANK LANGFITT, BYLINE: The British government will forbid companies here from buying Huawei equipment for 5G beginning next year and require the removal of all Huawei equipment by 2027. The government says the decision was triggered by U.S. sanctions on Huawei suppliers that could make the company's equipment easier for China to use for spying. Oliver Dowden is the U.K.'s digital secretary. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) OLIVER DOWDEN: The security and resilience of our telecoms networks is of paramount importance. We have never and will never compromise that

Public health experts generally agree that, in spite of improvements, the U.S. still falls short on the testing needed to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. The official who oversees the country's testing efforts, however, maintains the U.S. is doing well on testing now and will soon be able to expand testing greatly using newer, point-of-care tests that deliver quick results. In an interview with NPR's Morning Edition , Adm. Brett Giroir pointed out the U.S. is currently conducting more than 700,000 tests a day. He argued that some parts of the country are already conducting enough tests to contain outbreaks. "We know that in areas of the country right now that have appropriate mitigation, that the testing we have is sufficient. We know right now that the testing we have is dense enough that we can detect very sensitively where there's going to be a problem," the assistant secretary for health in the Department of Health and Human Services told NPR. A recent analysis for NPR by Harvard

It can be expensive to install rooftop solar panels, but they do pay for themselves over time. Not only does it save on energy costs, but a new University of Michigan study says the value of rooftop solar panels will continue to increase. It will also be vital as the climate continues to warm, and we will need more energy to keep cool. WEMU's David Fair was joined by U-M Energy Systems Assistant Professor Dr. Michael Craig to learn more about the research.

Washtenaw County put three ballot issues before voters in Tuesday's primary elections. All three touch on components of our environment. All three passed by a wide margin. WEMU's David Fair discusses the results and future impacts with Washtenaw County Commissioner Yousef Rabhi.

America sure loves its electronics! The technologies continue to improve and there can be no question; it has made life more convenient. However, these items contain a number of contaminants and are an environmental hazard. WEMU's David Fair talked with Washtenaw County’s Director of Public Works, Theo Eggermont about increased efforts to recycle used electronics.

You may not have noticed, but the Ann Arbor Climate Corps has been quietly working this year to combat the affects of climate change and help the city achieve its goal of carbon neutrality by 2030. The program is designed to increase the Ann Arbor Office of Sustainability’s outreach capacity and help residents take action toward that end. WEMU's David Fair talked it over with Ann Arbor Climate Corps program manager, Maggie Halpern.

The first frost of the season probably isn’t too far away. Properly preparing the agricultural soil for next spring and summer is a matter of timing. Getting the cover crops in place is essential before a hard freeze occurs. The Washtenaw County Conservation District is working to make it convenient and effective for local farmers. Conservation technician Matt Dejonge explained it all in his conversation with WEMU's David Fair.

It's time to talk some trash! The 3rd annual Trash Talk Tour in Washtenaw County is right around the corner. Trash Talk Tour co-organizer and zerowaste.org executive director Samuel McMullen joined WEMU's David Fair with a special brand of "trash talk."

The world population is going up, and human-wildlife overlap is increasing. That can lead to negative outcomes, including spread of disease and species extinction. There can be benefits, too, but it will require some planning. That's the focus of a new study out of the University of Michigan. WEMU's David Fair spoke with Associate Professor in Conservation Science Dr. Neil Carter about the study and what can be done right here in Washtenaw County.

Over the summer, the Huron River Watershed Council conducted an extensive survey of freshwater mussels in the Huron River to determine potential impacts when the Peninsular Paper Dam is removed. It found that removing the Pen Dam could release sediment, potentially smothering downstream mussel populations. Once the dam is removed, though, the river will return to a more natural state, benefiting mussel species over time. WEMU's David Fair looked at the research and its implications with Huron River Watershed Council Ecologist Dr. Paul Steen.

Tree Town is looking to find new and productive ways to avoid wasting wood. The City of Ann Arbor is partnering with the company “Urban Ashes” to repurpose storm-damaged and diseased trees. We often discuss the ecological benefits of planting and maintaining trees but rarely look at the environmental impact wood can have once it’s down. Urban Ashes CEO Paul Hickman joined WEMU's David Fair to look at the partnership, how it will work and the benefits it can provide.

Washtenaw County has elected its next Water Resources Commissioner. Evan Pratt decided against running for re-election after serving four terms. Former Saline Mayor and State Representative Gretchen Driskell won the race. She joined WEMU's David Fair to discuss the priorities and challenges of the new job.

Some difficulties hitting escape velocity with this one. We recorded it in October 5th and, well, here it is now.

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For this edition of Atlanta Considered, I went to Chrome Yellow Trading Company on Edgewood Avenue during the A3C hip-hop festival and conference. A3C is one of the nation’s largest urban music events and stands for All Three Coasts, as Atlanta joins New York and Los Angeles as the pillars of hip-hop culture.

On Friday February 3, GPB Atlanta broadcasted "All Things Considered" live from the High Museum of Art's monthly " First Friday " event.

Tupac Shakur is one of the most famous rappers in history. Until his murder in 1996 at the age of 25, Shakur was a figurehead of the West Coast rap scene. So Tupac Shakur’s connection to Georgia might surprise you.

Sophie Mackintosh wrote her first novel, The Water Cure , while she was also working a full time office job. It was a success — longlisted for the Man Booker prize in 2018. So she left the day job to write her second novel, Blue Ticket. And as she did in her first book, Mackintosh has created a world in Blue Ticket that explores themes of gender, power and family. "On the day of the first period, teenage girls are assigned a blue ticket or white ticket through a lottery system," Mackintosh says. "The blue ticket means you can't have children and a white ticket means that you can. And this one decision that they make very early on in their lives kind of dictates the rest of their life and follows them around." Interview Highlights On the protagonist, Calla, a blue-ticket woman So I had decided — for a long time I decided I wasn't going to have children, and I was very firm on this. And then when I kind of reached my late 20s, I found myself experiencing something which I imagine a lot

Updated at 9:35 p.m. ET Monday The revelation that Fox News prime-time star Tucker Carlson's top writer had posted racist, sexist and homophobic sentiments online for years under a pseudonym has led to renewed scrutiny of Carlson's own commentaries, which have inspired a series of advertising boycotts. The writer, Blake Neff, resigned on Friday after questions raised by CNN's Oliver Darcy led to the posts becoming public. Carlson addressed the controversy on the air Monday night, saying Neff's comments were wrong and "have no connection to the show." After noting Neff had paid the price for his actions, Carlson also spoke about what he called the costs of self-righteousness. "When we pretend we are holy, we are lying," he said. "When we pose as blameless in order to hurt other people, we are committing the gravest sin of all, and we will be punished for it, no question." In an internal memo, Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott and President and Executive Editor Jay Wallace called the postings

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit NOEL KING, HOST: There's something happening in the U.K. right now that is reminiscent of Prohibition in the United States. You remember those old pictures of bar owners pouring out gallons and gallons of booze? STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: Oh, yeah. Well, British pub owners today are dumping all the beer that's gone bad during the months they were in lockdown. DUNCAN SMITH: During the 14-week shutdown, a significant amount of our beers and lagers became out of date. KING: That's Duncan Smith (ph). He's been a bartender for 33 years, and one of the pubs that he operates has been around for 250 years. SMITH: It's been serving the community for that long and, you know, been through world wars and all the rest of it and, obviously, very different times that long ago. And something comes along like this, which could wipe it out, and we've got to take any benefit we possibly can, thrown out by the government and the suppliers, in order to survive. INSKEEP: The

Where is the best place to hide from destruction in these last days? Will an underground bunker keep you safe from the wrath to come? Pastor Doug examines when we should seek shelter during earth’s final events.

Have you ever been tempted to jump from the ship because the seas were too rough? Pastor Doug Batchelor presents the reasons why staying in the boat with the body of Christ is so important in these last days.

It's hard for doctors to do a thorough eye exam on infants. They tend to wiggle around — the babies, that is, not the doctors. But a new smart phone app takes advantage of parents' fondness for snapping pictures of their children to look for signs that a child might be developing a serious eye disease. The app is the culmination of one father's the five-year quest to find a way to catch the earliest signs of eye disease, and prevent devastating loss of vision. Five years ago, NPR reported the story of Bryan Shaw 's son Noah, and how he lost an eye to cancer. Doctors diagnosed Noah Shaw's retinoblastoma when he was 4 months old. To make the diagnosis, the doctors shined a light into Noah's eye, and got a pale reflection from the back of the eyeball, an indication that there were tumors there. Noah's father Bryan is a scientist. He wondered if he could see that same pale reflection in flash pictures his wife was always taking of his baby son. Sure enough, he saw the reflection or glow,

Copyright 2019 NPR. To see more, visit ARI SHAPIRO, HOST: When William Kaelin was a pre-med student, one professor suggested he get a taste for laboratory research. It did not go well. WILLIAM KAELIN: It turns out in hindsight that virtually everything that could have been wrong in a laboratory was wrong in this laboratory. And I remember getting a C-minus, which for a pre-med is like having a wooden stake driven through your heart. SHAPIRO: Safe to say William Kaelin overcame that C-minus just fine. Not only did he make it through medical school and launch a career in research, today it was announced he will be awarded the 2019 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. NPR science correspondent Richard Harris picks up the story. RICHARD HARRIS, BYLINE: After his disastrous start in the lab, William Kaelin figured he would focus his attention on treating patients. And indeed, he started down that path, settling into a job at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. KAELIN: And it

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST: A bipartisan delegation of Congresspeople is just back from Ukraine. It was a trip designed to strengthen the U.S.-Ukraine alliance, and it was planned before news broke of the whistleblower complaint against President Trump involving that same country. Congressman John Garamendi led the delegation as a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee. And the Democrat from California joins us now. Welcome, Congressman. JOHN GARAMENDI: Good to be with you. SHAPIRO: One central question in the impeachment inquiry is whether President Trump demanded help investigating a political rival in exchange for U.S. aid to Ukraine. And I know that aid was a central topic on your trip, so what did you learn about Ukraine's reliance on American assistance? GARAMENDI: Well, first of all, Ukraine is an extraordinary country. These citizens of that country are determined to be independent. They have been fighting a war against Russia for the last five years. They've lost 13- to 14

The public funeral for opera star Jessye Norman has been set for Saturday in Georgia and will feature tributes from actor Laurence Fishburne, civil rights activist Vernon Jordan and Tony Award-winner Audra McDonald. The funeral will be at the William B. Bell Auditorium in Augusta. A private interment will follow. There are two public viewings — on Thursday and Friday.

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST: A bipartisan delegation of Congresspeople is just back from Ukraine. It was a trip designed to strengthen the U.S.-Ukraine alliance, and it was planned before news broke of the whistleblower complaint against President Trump involving that same country. Congressman John Garamendi led the delegation as a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee. And the Democrat from California joins us now. Welcome, Congressman. JOHN GARAMENDI: Good to be with you. SHAPIRO: One central question in the impeachment inquiry is whether President Trump demanded help investigating a political rival in exchange for U.S. aid to Ukraine. And I know that aid was a central topic on your trip, so what did you learn about Ukraine's reliance on American assistance? GARAMENDI: Well, first of all, Ukraine is an extraordinary country. These citizens of that country are determined to be independent. They have been fighting a war against Russia for the last five years. They've lost 13- to 14

To understand the Bible, we need to understand the care of sheep because the Bible is full of stories about sheep and shepherds.

Christians and politics. Do the two mix or are they diametrically opposed?

Some people have perfect hearing, but they don't hear God. The Lord wants to heal our spiritual hearing.

a sea shanty from the New Hampshire Fiddlers' Union

the reverb: friend of mine had an empty room. wood floors, nothing at all in it to obstruct the sound. someday i will live in a house that has just an empty room like this. today is not that day.

Welcome to another week of the MetaFilter 2024 Fundraiser! Our community is mostly run by member contributions like yours and, as always, you can help the community by contributing directly to the site, via Paypal, Credit card or through our GoFundMe Campaign. But, seriously, we also want to have fun, don't we? To kick things off, we'd love to help us build our own Community Cookbook and prepare questions for the Ask Mods Anything Podcast... oh, and did you forget about the Pet Tax Wall? There's still time...

The Joy of MeFi Cooking: A Community Cookbook We'd like to hear all about your food adventures and traditions in this thread! Share your favorite dishes, the ones you can't stand, the ones you like but don't know how to cook and, of course, share any secret recipes you've concocted. Game Rules: 1. Use this thread to ask for recipes you are interested in and to talk about the food you love and miss. 2. Use this form to share your recipes for the cookbook. 3. Wait for the full recipe book and enjoy trying new recipes. Ask the Mods Anything 2.0: The podcast Want to know more about the ins and outs of the mod team? We want to make a podcast where Jessamyn will chat with Loup and ask questions directly from the community and you can vote on which questions get to be asked via one time contributions. Game Rules: 1. Use this form to submit your question (questions can be anonymous) 2. Wait for the next post to vote for your favorite questions.

I just got back from spending the weekend with my brother in NYC building this contraption: It’s a of balancing the projector precariously on a shoebox, the projector is housed inside and a mirror is used to bounce the projections onto the screen: The whole idea is that the music interface is also the visual […]

North Continent Ribbon is a collection of linked short stories including an assassin with a crystal sword, a judge whose best friend is a book, and spaceships on strike. I wrote about the way the worldbuilding intertwines with eighteenth-century crime records for Mary Robinette Kowal's column My Favorite Bit, and the first story, Closer Than Your Kidneys, is available for free at Frivolous Comma.

You can find North Continent Ribbon at Neon Hemlock Press as a paperback or ebook, buy it from your favorite bookstore, or request it from your library.

[Link

The Shakespearean Sonnet Machine is a slighty pointless little randomiser app that spits out endless variations of Shakespeare's 154 sonnets. (Well, not quite endless, but there should be 562,448,656 different ones in there if you're patient enough to keep reloading.)

[Link

Atlanta-based emerging artist Captain Highside hones in on his funky yet sultry musicality with “Technicolor Rewind,” the focus track from upcoming LP SAGITTARIUS II, a smooth neo-soul anthem that comes…

Rising indie artist Jacob Reddy released his first EP, 'These Streets Are Ours.' This EP is a powerful tribute to strength and modern-day rebellion. It features five songs that showcase…

French Horn Rebellion makes music that is an irresistible fusion of funky electronic pop and retro flair, where the grooves are as infectious as the melodies are catchy. Hailing from…