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ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
Who made you the person you are - parents, friends? Sure. But what about people you've never met - musicians, writers, characters in TV and movies? Margo Jefferson is a Pulitzer Prize-winning cultural critic, and she's also a celebrated memoirist. Her new book combines the two forms. It's called "Constructing A Nervous System." She tells her own story through the creators and works of art that shaped her. The critic often writes from a place of power and the memoirist from vulnerability. So I asked Margo Jefferson, what happens when you mix criticism and memoir in one book?
MARGO JEFFERSON: What I wanted to do was reverse that dynamic or at least give it much more texture. I've been very interested, the more years I get into criticism, in how vulnerability in fact can be a kind of critical authority. It probes. It exposes. It allows more, you know, imaginative access to the work. And memoir is always, it seems to me, a mix of power and vulnerability. You have the power of claiming the story and claiming your interpretation of every part of it. And yet you are exposing yourself to all kinds of judgments.
SHAPIRO: Well, let's take a specific example. You write about the influence that many different artists and musicians have had on you in your life, and one of them is Ella Fitzgerald. And you write specifically about her sweat. When you were a child, what did Ella Fitzgerald's sweat represent to you?
JEFFERSON: It represented to me - when I saw her on television, it represented a kind of declasse vision of labor.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "TOO DARN HOT")
ELLA FITZGERALD: (Singing) It's too darn hot. It's too darn hot.
JEFFERSON: Working-class women, you know, sweating.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "TOO DARN HOT")
FITZGERALD: (Singing) ...With my baby tonight and pitch the woo with my baby tonight.
JEFFERSON: Low-level work and...
SHAPIRO: And particularly working-class Black women sweating.
JEFFERSON: Oh, exactly - working-class Black women. One of the things you always noticed watching Ella on TV was that she seemed to be the only woman, including even other Black women who were more glamorous - let's say, like Lena Horne - but she was the only woman among a population largely of white women on television who ever seemed to sweat. Perspiration is a genteel word for sweat - tiny, little feminine drops. She's like, these white women didn't even perspire, it appeared. Oh, that was very unsettling to me. I was very engaged in, as a little Black bourgeois girl, what appeared to be impeccable standards of class, gender, respectability.
SHAPIRO: You write that her sweat and her size, quote, "give me intimations of a Black female destiny she has thwarted. It's a destiny that every hour, day and year of my young life is plotted to prevent." And so if that's what Ella Fitzgerald's sweat and size meant to you as a young person, what does it mean to you today?
JEFFERSON: Well, it means I was able to leave that set of confines and stereotypes and constrictions up behind. It means the world. It means that I can bring to her - looking at her as well as listening to her - the same ebullient sense of freedom that she brought to her music. It also means that the world has changed enormously, you know? It means very everyday things, like I've been taken by history through race consciousness, class consciousness, feminist consciousness. You know, that's the hard work that gives you what you talk about as the freedom, the pleasure, the ebullience.
SHAPIRO: You make a point in the book that I have thought about often since I read this line, which is that a writer works with what she lacks as well as what she has. Will you read this section of the book?
JEFFERSON: A writer works with what she lacks as well as what she has. Watch a dancer adapt a movement to the constraints, the particular length and flexibility of her limbs. Listen to an actor or singer shift the line's rhythms to fit their range and timbre. Assess your lacks to see what use they might be put to. Develop other sources of plenty.
Ask, what do I want desperately to write, and how shall I write it? What am I trying not to write? When do my fluencies become clever distractions from what needs writing? How often have I watched with acute irritation at performance distractions, hissing silently? Why don't you stop making that step, that melody, easier than it is? Why don't you find another way, another technique to get at it? Take the risk that it won't have the same effect you so admire and covet in some other artist. The supple arabesque, that quietly sustained high note - all right. You can't get that longed-for effect by the same means. Have at it another way. Can an unexpected tension in the line, a surreptitious harshness in that note, make it work?
SHAPIRO: I just love that instruction. Assess your lacks to see what use they might be put to. What a brilliant way of thinking about a lack.
JEFFERSON: Well (laughter), hard-won, I might say. You know, there you are, faced with it. You know, And so you must find your way through and around. You must get resourceful. And in that way, I would say performers in every field - theater, dance, whatever, music - have been especially useful to me because you can watch and see and hear them making those adjustments.
SHAPIRO: How important do you think it is that readers are familiar with the many different creators who you reference over the course of this book? It's a staggering range.
JEFFERSON: I hope that I contextualized. I gave each of them a setting, whether it was a scene or whether it was a sentence, that in some way, even if the reader did know this writer or scene or - exactly - it brought something to life. It gave - got your senses going.
SHAPIRO: Because there is so much music in this, do you want to give us a track to go out on, a song that you think would make a fitting conclusion?
JEFFERSON: How about Ella doing "How High The Moon"?
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HOW HIGH THE MOON")
FITZGERALD: (Singing) How high the moon. Does it reach out to Mars? Though the words may be wrong to the song, we're asking, how high, high, high, high, high is the moon?
SHAPIRO: Give us a little insight into this that we might glean from the book.
JEFFERSON: There is a great performance that she did at a Berlin festival in the '60s. When you're listening, you don't see her sweat. But, you know, she just goes chorus after chorus. You know, she goes up. She goes down. She scats. She hums. She even moans a little. And she ends triumphantly, for my purposes, by taking a line from a Jerome Kern love song and changing it around. The song is "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes." And she turns it.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
FITZGERALD: (Singing) Sweat gets in my eyes.
JEFFERSON: Sweat gets in your eyes.
(LAUGHTER)
SHAPIRO: Oh.
JEFFERSON: There it is - the moon and sweat and this voice, fearless and joyous.
SHAPIRO: Margo Jefferson. Her new book is "Constructing A Nervous System." Thank you so much for talking with us about it.
JEFFERSON: It was a pleasure. Thank you.
(SOUNDBITE OF ELLA FITZGERALD SONG, "HOW HIGH THE MOON") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-15/margo-jeffersons-new-memoir-is-like-a-kaleidoscope-into-someones-life | 2022-05-12T14:46:00Z |
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Russia says its missiles struck Kyiv overnight, and the choice of targets was revealing.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
In a statement, Russia's defense ministry says it struck a Ukrainian defense plant that makes missiles, including anti-ship missiles. Ukraine has not confirmed this, but the timing of the alleged strike makes it seem like retaliation for Ukraine's missile attack on a Russian ship, which Russia denies ever happened. Russia claims a fire broke out when ammunition exploded on the Moskva and also that the ship sank in stormy seas as it was being towed to shore.
FADEL: We're going to try to understand what actually happened. And to do that, we've got NPR national security correspondent Greg Myre with us. Hi, Greg.
GREG MYRE, BYLINE: Hi, Leila.
FADEL: OK, Greg, what have we confirmed about this Russian warship?
MYRE: Well, the one point that everybody seems to agree on is that the Moskva is heading to the bottom of the Black Sea, if it's not there already. And that is very significant, no matter what caused it. This is the Russian flagship in the Black Sea, a guided missile cruiser. The Ukrainians are insisting, as we just noted, that was hit by two missiles about 60 miles off the port city of Odesa. Now, Russia still says there was an internal explosion, and it made no mention of casualties among the sailors believed to number about 500. And the Russians also talked about this stormy weather, but the weather reports say the conditions in the Black Sea were mild. So that certainly doesn't help their credibility. The Pentagon, meanwhile, says it can't confirm that the ship was hit by missiles, but it can't refute it either. It says something significant caused an explosion.
FADEL: OK. So we don't know exactly how, but the Russians lost the ship. How significant is this? Will it hurt Russia's naval capabilities?
MYRE: Losing one vessel, even a flagship, isn't going to cripple the Russian navy. But it does reinforce this larger narrative that the Ukrainians can still deliver powerful blows to Russia by being more nimble, more agile, more creative. And this is the second ship that Russia has lost off the southern coast of Ukraine. And the Pentagon said that several other ships, Russian ships in the Black Sea, pulled back further from the coast after this episode with the Moskva. So that certainly suggests that the Russian navy is a bit jittery.
FADEL: So is this the latest example of Russia just underestimating Ukraine and paying a heavy price for it? I understand CIA Director William Burns had something to say on this topic.
MYRE: Yeah. Burns was a former ambassador to Russia. He's been studying President Vladimir Putin for many years. And he likes to joke that Putin is the cause of his gray hair. In a speech yesterday at Georgia Tech in Atlanta, Burns said he thinks that over time, Putin has stopped taking the counsel of his advisers. He thinks he always knows best, and he thinks this has led Putin to make some very bad decisions, like the invasion of Ukraine.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
WILLIAM BURNS: His circle of advisers has narrowed. And in that small circle, it has never been career enhancing to question his judgment or his stubborn, almost mystical belief that his destiny is to restore Russia's sphere of influence.
FADEL: Did he say anything about U.S. intelligence cooperation with Ukraine?
MYRE: Yes, he did. He said the CIA is working very closely with Ukraine, and this certainly wasn't a given. Russian intelligence has long been very active in Ukraine, and there were concerns that any sensitive information in the U.S. - from the U.S. shared with Ukraine could be picked up by the Russians. But Burns said this close cooperation began months before the war started, carries on to this day, and he believes that it has helped the Ukrainians on the battlefield. Still, he warned everybody to expect or be prepared for a protracted conflict.
FADEL: NPR's Greg Myre. Thank you, Greg.
MYRE: My pleasure.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
FADEL: President Biden says Western sanctions have crippled Russia's ability to do business.
INSKEEP: This week, Russian President Vladimir Putin finally responded and said that simply isn't so. In numerous speeches, the Kremlin leaders said Western sanctions aimed at punishing Russia have failed.
FADEL: From Moscow, NPR's Charles Maynes has been tracking this all, and he joins us now. Hi, Charles.
CHARLES MAYNES, BYLINE: Hi there.
FADEL: So, Charles, you've been there in Russia since the beginning of the conflict. Can you describe for us what these sanctions feel like?
MAYNES: Yeah, you know, it's been quite a ride. When sanctions kicked in, the currency, the ruble, cratered, and that sent people scrambling for dollars and euros. Then we saw a run on goods, mainly out of a fear of inflation or that items might disappear. You know, some you might expect, like iPhones; others were more surprising, like sugar. Now, most of these items are back on the shelves, but prices are up across the board. And of course, there's also been this exodus of foreign companies from Russia - so a lot of shuttered storefronts. That said, the ruble, it's back, almost to where it was before the conflict began. And that's thanks to government efforts to prop it up artificially and, of course, money coming in from Russian energy exports. But all of this has created a kind of weird sense of normalcy, although I really hesitate to use that word given the conflict underway.
FADEL: And has Putin seized on that idea, that things are pretty normal and at least manageable?
MAYNES: Yeah. You know, this week in multiple settings, he was defiant and made the case that what he called the blitzkrieg of sanctions had failed. Putin's basic message was sanctions present Russia with opportunities to become more self-reliant and to build new partnerships. Let's listen in.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN: (Speaking Russian).
MAYNES: So here, Putin is saying that economies always adapt. And if you can't find something in one country, well, you can go to another, that it's unavoidable. You know, and behind this idea is that what they can't get from the West you can now get from China or India. And what Russia currently sells to the West, mainly oil and gas, it can provide to new, friendlier markets if it comes to that.
FADEL: So does Putin have a point here? Can Russia just pivot its whole economy to the east?
MAYNES: Well, experts aren't as optimistic. You know, they say these sanctions will be devastating. It's just too early to see. At least that's the view of Natalia Zubarevich. She's a specialist on Russia's regional development with Moscow State University.
NATALIA ZUBAREVICH: (Speaking Russian).
MAYNES: So Zubarevich calls these sanctions a genuine shock to the Russian economy but says we'll only feel the real impact starting in May or June when she says production lines will break down. Now, she argues the reason here is imported parts. Most of what's made in Russia comes with at least some component made in the West, most of it high tech, which China can't provide. And so without these parts, work will just stop, she says, you know, in car factories and offshore drilling for gas, in airplane manufacturing and so on. And of course, all this impacts people's lives.
FADEL: Yeah. So what do we know about what Russians are thinking about sanctions? Do we know?
MAYNES: Well, sort of. You know, polls will tell you a vast majority of Russians, over 80%, support Putin's policies in Ukraine, although most have only access to state media. And that media presents the view that these sanctions are the West trying to keep Russia down. In conversations I have, I also hear another view. You know, people say that this will all be over soon. How realistic that is is questionable. But it's a view the Kremlin can certainly live with, at least for now.
FADEL: NPR's Charles Maynes in Moscow. Thank you, Charles.
MAYNES: Thank you.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
FADEL: Elon Musk is the world's richest person. He runs Tesla and SpaceX. And now he wants to buy Twitter.
INSKEEP: The billionaire's offer values Twitter at more than $43 billion. Musk says he knows how to unlock the company's potential, which is why he's offering more than its past value. And he calls it, quote, "extremely important for the future of civilization."
FADEL: NPR tech correspondent Shannon Bond joins us to discuss. Hi, Shannon.
SHANNON BOND, BYLINE: Hi, Leila.
FADEL: So why does Elon Musk want to buy Twitter?
BOND: Well, of course, Elon Musk knows Twitter really well, right? He tweets all the time. He posts lots of memes. He knows how to get people really riled up. He's like a creature of this platform. And as Musk sees it, Twitter is a public square and has an obligation to let people speak freely. Here's what he said at a conference yesterday after he made this takeover offer.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
ELON MUSK: Well, I think it's very important for - that it be an inclusive arena for free speech.
BOND: But Twitter, like most major social media companies, has increasingly been tightening its rules about what people can say to crack down on disinformation and hate speech. And Musk seems to see this as unfairly restricting speech. But, of course, getting rid of these rules would be a big change.
FADEL: So Musk has a lot of opinions about what needs to change at Twitter. What would it look like under Musk? What would Twitter look like?
BOND: Yeah, I mean, these speech rules are not the only changes he's called for. You know, of course, he's an avid user. Lately, he's been tweeting about Twitter. He's polled people about an edit button which would let you change tweets after they're posted. He suggested the company should rely less on advertising and more on subscriptions to make money. And look, Leila, you know, Musk is a successful product guy. You know, you can just look at what he's done with Tesla. So he may have some good ideas here about revamping the way that Twitter works.
FADEL: True, Shannon, but he's also rubbed a lot of people the wrong way with how he's run Tesla, right?
BOND: Yeah. I mean, he has clashed with regulators over things like product design, including Tesla's self-driving features. He famously got in a lot of trouble with the SEC over his tweets, including a claim he made a few years back that he was going to take Tesla private. Of course, there's also the issue that he already runs two companies, Tesla and the rocket company SpaceX. Is he really going to take on a third? He says he doesn't have confidence in Twitter's current management, but we don't know if he wants to run it himself or bring in a new team. He said yesterday he's not interested in the economics of the business. And we've seen how mercurial he can be. He's fixated on Twitter right now. At that conference, he said, quote, "I don't like to lose," but what if he eventually loses interest in Twitter?
FADEL: So how do people at Twitter feel about all this?
BOND: Well, some employees are dismayed by this whole saga. They're worried about the changes Musk is calling for. The company held an emergency all-staff meeting after this news came out on Thursday. CEO Parag Agarwal said the board is evaluating the bid and will make a decision in the best interests of shareholders. But Musk has been tweeting that shareholders are the ones who should decide. But at least one big Twitter investor, Prince Al Waleed bin Talal of Saudi Arabia, he said he will not support Musk's bid. And ultimately, the board will make this call on whether to move ahead. Meanwhile, Musk is threatening he could sell his stake if he doesn't get his way. At the staff meeting, when one employee compared Musk's bid to a hostage situation, Agarwal pushed back. He says he does not believe that Twitter is being held hostage here.
FADEL: NPR's Shannon Bond. Thank you, Shannon.
BOND: Thanks, Leila. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-15/news-brief-moskva-sinks-impact-of-sanctions-musks-twitter-bid | 2022-05-12T14:46:06Z |
AILSA CHANG, HOST:
Two months after its release, the video game Elden Ring is still the talk of the gaming world, and a lot of the talk is about how incredibly hard it is.
(SOUNDBITE OF VIDEO GAME, "ELDEN RING")
ANTHONY HOWELL: (As Margit, The Fell Omen) Put these foolish ambitions to rest.
CHANG: Like, pretty much every review of Elden Ring opens with how difficult it is and notes that its story is nearly impenetrable. But to many gamers, all of that is just a feature - not a bug.
And to talk about all this, we're going to bring in NPR's James Mastromarino. Hey, James.
JAMES MASTROMARINO, BYLINE: Hey, Ailsa.
CHANG: OK, so you play a lot of games for NPR because you edit and contribute to our video game coverage. In your opinion, how hard is Elden Ring?
MASTROMARINO: So let me put it this way - that clip we heard up top, that's Margit, The Fell Omen. He's the first major boss - just the first you're likely to encounter - and he's there to put you in your place. My colleague, Keller Gordon, wrote about beating him on npr.org. He counted. It took him 43 times. And when he finally got him, he jumped off the couch, screamed and texted his roommate about it.
CHANG: (Laughter).
MASTROMARINO: His heart was pounding, and that's an unparalleled feeling in all of gaming.
CHANG: OK, so is that the key to this game's popularity - like, the extreme perseverance it takes to make it through?
MASTROMARINO: Yeah. You really earn it, right?
CHANG: (Laughter).
MASTROMARINO: It's very rewarding, but the game also surrounds all of this difficulty in this beautiful, open world you can explore at your leisure. So if you're stuck somewhere - if Margit's giving you trouble - you can just go somewhere else and come back later. And everyone who's experienced this world won't shut up about it.
CHANG: (Laughter).
MASTROMARINO: It's this epic fantasy landscape. There's a giant tree that dominates the skyline. There's a volcano filled with serpent people. And there's even goofy stuff. Like, there's this giant talking pot - yes, a ceramic pot with arms and legs...
CHANG: (Laughter).
MASTROMARINO: ...Who you repeatedly come across, and he needs your help.
CHANG: OK, so can I just kind of insert some order here because I'm hearing talking pots, you're beating monsters, there's certain people coming out of volcanoes - what is the plot of this game? Like, what the heck is even going on (laughter)?
MASTROMARINO: That's a really good question. And the game doesn't give you many answers. Even from the opening cinematic, all it really does is just shout these names.
(SOUNDBITE OF VIDEO GAME, "ELDEN RING")
JIMMY LIVINGSTONE: (As Narrator) Fia, the Deathbed Companion; the loathsome Dung Eater...
MASTROMARINO: And these are folks you probably won't meet for hours and hours, if you find them at all. It's all related to this obscure mythology partially written by George R.R. Martin, the "Game Of Thrones" author. And since Elden Ring doesn't spell anything out for you, that mystery makes it perfect for the internet. So if you go to YouTube, TikTok or Twitter, you'll find endless discussion that's trying to unravel this mystery, which is itself part of the challenge.
CHANG: Was there a ton of anticipation about this game? Like, were people expecting this whole formula to be, like, a total hit?
MASTROMARINO: Yes, actually. It's from the same developer that made the incredibly influential Dark Souls series of games, and it sold 12 million copies just weeks after release. Now, for context, those are really strong numbers and actually very similar to how Animal Crossing: New Horizons did when it came out in 2020. Now, you might think those are very different games - Animal Crossing, about cute animal people that you befriend.
CHANG: (Laughter) Yeah.
MASTROMARINO: But, you know, what drives both of these games is the sense of community. You can play this game cooperatively with strangers or friends. I reconnected with folks I haven't talked to for years because of this game.
CHANG: Wow.
MASTROMARINO: And for me, that's what makes it special. Each person is going to find their own completely unique path through the game, but we're all stumbling forward together.
CHANG: Oh, I love that.
MASTROMARINO: (Laughter).
CHANG: That is NPR's James Mastromarino. He edits video game coverage for NPR. Thank you, James.
MASTROMARINO: Thank you, Ailsa.
(SOUNDBITE OF VIDEO GAME, "ELDEN RING") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-15/part-of-the-reason-people-love-video-game-elden-ring-is-because-its-so-hard-to-play | 2022-05-12T14:46:12Z |
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
There's a land rush going on in the part of California, east of Los Angeles, known as the Inland Empire. And it's fueled by online shopping. The logistics industry is changing what was once an agricultural landscape into an industrial one. Gloria Hillard reports.
GLORIA HILLARD, BYLINE: At the end of a small dirt road, visitors to Randy Bekendam's farm are greeted by two cows, the color of butterscotch. The 69-year-old has been leasing and farming this land for more than 15 years. His jeans and cowboy hat are well-worn.
RANDY BEKENDAM: So the chickens are in the orchard to keep the weeds down. They're also fertilizing the orchard. So it's a beautiful synergy.
HILLARD: Residents of the city of Ontario come here to buy organic fruits and vegetables. School teachers and parents bring kids here to see the animals and how things grow, like the long, even rows of broccoli and beets.
BEKENDAM: Right now, we're transitioning from cool weather crops into some warmer weather crops.
HILLARD: And, Bekendam says, transitioning away from what once was agriculture for as far as the eye can see to a different picture. To show me, we get into his truck and drive a few minutes away.
BEKENDAM: Just a line of warehouse. I mean, it continues. No view. There's no vista. There's nothing. And all of it's prime farmland.
HILLARD: A line of 18 wheelers Dosey Doe at every four-way stop.
SUSAN PHILLIPS: I don't think anybody realizes what the cumulative impact is going to be.
HILLARD: Susan Phillips is the director of the environmental conservancy at nearby Pitzer College.
PHILLIPS: It just worsens climate. It worsens pollution. It makes things hotter. There's so many detrimental effects to it that it is a tremendous worry that we've invested so heavily in that infrastructure.
JASON KROTTS: Well, I think there's a lot we bring.
HILLARD: Jason Krotts is the managing principal of Real Estate Development Associates. His latest venture is a 150-acre project called the South Ontario Logistics Center.
KROTTS: Between our three project phases, our projects, once stabilized and fully built out, will create almost 34,000 jobs.
HILLARD: The land, a former dairy with knee-high grass and abandoned barns, became the focus of community backlash after the city modified zoning, paving the way for Krotts' project.
KROTTS: We're constantly monitoring the political climate of all of our cities that we have projects in.
HILLARD: City planners say the decision to move away from agriculture in that area of Ontario was made nearly 25 years ago. Scott Murphy is the city's executive director of community development.
SCOTT MURPHY: The desire was to see this area transition from agricultural use to other uses.
HILLARD: But to some residents, those other uses are heading in the wrong direction.
REGINA SMITH: It's like one warehouse after the next, after the next.
HILLARD: Regina Smith (ph) grew up here.
SMITH: I think we're all guilty of utilizing, you know? Like, that huge Amazon warehouse that went up, I use Amazon every day, you know? So we're all guilty of it. But it is disappointing because you're going to see all this disappear.
BEKENDAM: So it's a fight that has to be fought.
HILLARD: Farmer Randy Bekendam, along with the group Ontario for Agriculture, is trying to block the new logistics center with a referendum, which they hope to place on this fall's ballot.
BEKENDAM: Let's pause. And for certain, don't pave prime farmland. And let's rethink what we really need for the future.
HILLARD: Bekendam's future is uncertain. The owner of the land he farms recently sold it to a developer. Bekendam has three years remaining on his lease. For NPR News, I'm Gloria Hillard in Ontario, Calif.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-15/prime-farmland-in-ontario-calif-is-being-overtaken-by-warehouses | 2022-05-12T14:46:18Z |
DAVID BIANCULLI, HOST:
This is FRESH AIR. I'm David Bianculli, professor of television studies at Rowan University in New Jersey, in for Terry Gross. For over 30 years on our show, we have played recordings by pianist and composer Jessica Williams. We were sorry to learn that she passed away last month on March 10, a week before her 74th birthday, after a period of declining health. She leaves behind dozens of great solo and trio recordings. For several years, Jessica Williams was the house pianist at the Keystone Korner jazz club in San Francisco, where she played with jazz giants, like saxophonists Dexter Gordon, Stan Getz and Charlie Rouse, and drummers Philly Joe Jones and Tony Williams, both of whom she became close to. McCoy Tyner and Dave Brubeck were among the jazz pianists who singled her out for her spectacular playing.
In 1994, she received a Guggenheim Fellowship for composition. After years of trying, we finally were able to bring her to Philadelphia in 1997 to play on FRESH AIR. In a few minutes, we'll hear that performance and the interview she did with Terry. But first, a brief appreciation from our executive producer, Danny Miller.
DANNY MILLER, BYLINE: Jessica Williams has been called the greatest jazz pianist you've never heard of. But there is a good chance you've heard her playing on FRESH AIR because we often end the show with her music. Now, I should say at the top that I'm not a jazz critic. But I've been a devoted and grateful fan of hers for decades.
What we'll be hearing in a few minutes features Jessica at the piano by herself. She was a magnificent solo pianist. But I thought it would also be nice to hear a little bit of her trio playing and along the way, highlight a few musical moments that illustrate how much fun it was to hear her play and what was so distinctive about her touch at the keyboard. Her touch was crisp and precise, full of humor and joy at a romping tempo or expressing really deep emotion in a ballad. But hearing just a few notes, you can always tell it's Jessica because of her touch.
(SOUNDBITE OF JESSICA WILLIAMS TRIO'S "MACK THE KNIFE")
MILLER: That was bandmates Dave Captein on bass, with Mel Brown on drums. Jessica had great chops. But it wasn't about showing off. Though I suspect that every once in a while, she had a little bit of fun demonstrating her incredible technique. She loved other piano players - Monk, Bill Evans and Erroll Garner, to name a few - and her playing acknowledged the history of jazz piano.
(SOUNDBITE OF JESSICA WILLIAMS TRIO'S "I LOVE YOU, I LOVE YOU, I LOVE YOU (BEAUTIFUL GIRL OF MY DREAMS)")
MILLER: Jeff Johnson on bass and Dick Berk on drums - Jessica's playing was always full of fun surprises, like the quotes from other songs she couldn't resist sneaking in during her solos, sometimes obvious, but usually on the sly, like this on her version of "That Old Devil Moon."
(SOUNDBITE OF JESSICA WILLIAMS TRIO'S "THAT OLD DEVIL MOON")
MILLER: In case you missed it, that was just a couple of bars from "Swinging On A Star." It took me a couple of listens before I got it. Maybe the most profound demonstration of great playing is not just the playing that is obviously spectacular, but what you can also say with just a few notes and a gorgeous touch.
(SOUNDBITE OF JESSICA WILLIAMS' "WHEN YOUR LOVER HAS GONE")
MILLER: I had the opportunity to get to know Jessica personally - just a little bit - over the last few years and to learn a little bit about her life and the challenges she overcame to make a career in jazz. It wasn't easy. She never made a lot of money, but she made a lifetime's worth of music. I'll miss her. But like her other fans, I'm grateful for the music she left behind.
(SOUNDBITE OF JESSICA WILLIAMS' "WHEN YOUR LOVER HAS GONE")
MILLER: Thanks for giving me a few minutes to share this with you. And now let's hear the interview she did with Terry when she sat down at the piano at our studios in 1997.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)
TERRY GROSS: Jessica Williams, this is something we've wanted to do for a long time. It's a real pleasure to have you...
JESSICA WILLIAMS: Thank you.
GROSS: ...Here in our studio.
WILLIAMS: Thank you.
GROSS: I'd like you to open with some music. Maybe you can introduce it for us.
WILLIAMS: OK. Well, maybe I'll play a tune that everybody knows - or not everybody, but most everybody - "Getting Sentimental Over You." Is that OK?
GROSS: Sounds great.
WILLIAMS: OK.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
GROSS: Oh, that was wonderful (laughter). And I'm not sure if our listeners could figure out exactly what was happening there when you were strumming inside the piano.
WILLIAMS: Oh, yeah. I don't know...
GROSS: You were strumming the keys sometimes instead of...
WILLIAMS: Yeah. Someone might have thought a string broke or something.
GROSS: Right. You were strumming the strings is what I should say, not strumming the keys.
WILLIAMS: Yes, occasionally. And I'll depress the keys on the piano, trying not to make them sound, not using the sustain pedal. And then I'll just run my fingernail over the strings.
(SOUNDBITE OF PIANO STRINGS THRUMMING)
WILLIAMS: And you can create a chord that way. It sounds a little like an autoharp.
GROSS: It does.
WILLIAMS: And it gets people's attention.
(LAUGHTER)
GROSS: Visually as well as sonically. You do all kinds of interesting sonic things.
WILLIAMS: Actually, the palette for playing inside the piano for me is limited to, I'd say, just a few things that I use pretty regularly. I try not to overuse them. When I first started doing this, I thought they were kind of gimmicky. As time went on, I realized that these were absolutely sounds that the piano could make. The important thing for me is to integrate it into the tune so it doesn't stand out as, you know, a device. Essentially, I use these things to try to add color to the music. I tend to hear a lot of things in the music, particularly when I'm playing solo, that are not physically possible. So to try to - you know, I hear bass, I hear drums, sometimes I hear saxophones, you know, because I've listened to so many records and not just piano players.
GROSS: Now, you're playing is very influenced by Thelonious Monk.
WILLIAMS: Yeah.
GROSS: And I'd like you to talk about what happened when you first started to listen to Monk and what you heard in his playing that you hadn't heard before.
WILLIAMS: Yeah, I remember the first time I heard Thelonious. It was on a record called "It's Monk's Time." It was on Columbia Masterworks and was with Charlie Rouse, Butch Warren and Ben Riley. And the very first time I heard it, I thought that Thelonious sounded like he was wearing boxing gloves because I had heard all this precision piano playing from, like, Oscar, and this was a totally new thing for me. I grew to love Monk's music, and I still do. I had some questions about how he would do certain things.
And I think the one holdover I did have from my classical training was that I always thought there were specific ways to do things, right ways and wrong ways. And I discovered that the only right way is the way that works best for you. For instance, Thelonious Monk would do a whole-tone scale, like, hand over hand.
(SOUNDBITE OF PIANO SCALE PLAYING)
WILLIAMS: OK? I know this because I saw a video because I never saw him play in person. But when I saw him do that, it just made me realize that this guy had a way different technique than the one that I was taught.
BIANCULLI: Jessica Williams from an interview and performance recorded in 1997. She died last month, one week before her 74th birthday. We'll hear more after a break. This is FRESH AIR.
(SOUNDBITE OF JESSICA WILLIAMS TRIO'S "MAKE IT SO")
BIANCULLI: This is FRESH AIR. Let's get back to our 1997 interview and performance from our archives with the late jazz pianist and composer Jessica Williams.
GROSS: I want you to play a short version of a Monk tune that you particularly like and that's affected your way of listening and playing.
WILLIAMS: OK. I think I'll play "Bemsha Swing."
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
GROSS: That's wonderful. That's Jessica Williams at the piano. I wish our listeners could see your fingers.
WILLIAMS: Yeah (laughter).
GROSS: They're really fun to watch. And you played half of that piece with your hands crossed over. So the right hand was playing in the bass clef. And the left hand was playing in the treble clef.
WILLIAMS: Yeah.
GROSS: Why play that part that way?
WILLIAMS: Why play it that way? I do know that it's a pretty standard technique to cross over in - perhaps not in jazz. But I've heard that Art Tatum did it. Now, I've never seen him play. But I've heard that he does it - or he did it. And it's just a way for me to get an effect that I couldn't otherwise get. I have a really good left hand. But it's good for certain things. It's the unconscious part of my playing because it's almost like a subconscious shadow. And it always seems to know what to do. That particular thing that I did was I started a figure...
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
WILLIAMS: ...Where I was keeping the chord changes, kind of like Earl Garner with the left hand...
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
WILLIAMS: ...Down in this register. But I moved it up enough so I could play underneath it with my right hand.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
WILLIAMS: OK?
GROSS: Now, it's interesting, you seem like a born jazz musician. But you really started as a child, basically, studying, I guess, in a program for young people at the Peabody Conservatory of Music in a classical music...
WILLIAMS: Yeah. It was actually a Peabody prep - it was a preparatory school. I started very young. So I guess I was around 12 or 13 years old. And I was playing Rachmaninoff, I think, at that point. And I was playing the C-sharp minor concerto. I had a lot of trouble with that piece, so I went out and got a record. I - believe it or not, I think it was Carmen Cavallaro.
GROSS: (Laughter).
WILLIAMS: And I learned it off the record. So I went and played it for my teacher. And he said, well, you know, most of the notes are right. And the chords are right. But the fingering is all wrong. And then there was this part that I totally improvised. And he says, you know, you're not going to make it as a classical musician if you do this, if you take these liberties with this music. But it was great because he was a moonlighting jazz musician. And we had two pianos in the room. He brought me a Dave Brubeck record. It was the first jazz I'd ever heard. And I learned "Take Five" in, like, a week. And then I went back and we played it together, me on one piano, him on the other. And he passed me in all my courses even though I never learned another classical piece with him.
GROSS: You learned a lot from listening to records.
WILLIAMS: Right.
GROSS: Did you learn solos by heart when you were listening early on?
WILLIAMS: At the very beginning, I learned a few solos from Dave Brubeck from the "Time Out" record. And it was interesting. I went - I attended a gig a couple weeks ago where his - one of his sons, his son Dan, was playing drums. And it was a trio gig. And I sat in with Dan. It was the first time I'd ever played with Dan. And we played "Take Five." And it was interesting how we played it because we played it nothing like it was played on the record, where Dave was, pretty much throughout the entire record, was going...
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
WILLIAMS: Well, our hit on the melody was more like this.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
GROSS: (Laughter).
WILLIAMS: We took rhythmic liberties with it.
BIANCULLI: Jessica Williams talking with Terry Gross in 1997. Jessica Williams died last month, a week before her 74th birthday. We'll hear more of this concert and interview after a break. I'm David Bianculli, and this is FRESH AIR.
(SOUNDBITE OF JESSICA WILLIAMS TRIO'S "I'LL REMEMBER APRIL")
BIANCULLI: This is FRESH AIR. I'm David Bianculli, in for Terry Gross, back with more of our concert and interview with jazz pianist and composer Jessica Williams. She died last month, a week before her 74th birthday. We often play her recordings on FRESH AIR, and we were delighted when she came to our studio in 1997.
GROSS: A lot of what you do in your music is what some people would consider mistakes, you know, dissonances that some people...
WILLIAMS: Sometimes they are mistakes, Terry. I'm sorry (laughter).
GROSS: Well, that's what I mean, though. There's dissonances you use that some people would perceive as, like, wrong notes or out-of-tempo things that some people would perceive as, like, wrong tempos. And I'm wondering, coming from classical music, if you assimilated that really quickly, if there were harmonies that were foreign to you when you started listening to jazz or rhythmic things that were foreign to you and that you learned and then learned to subvert in interesting ways, or if you just kind of naturally felt that as soon as you heard it.
WILLIAMS: Well, I think it was pretty natural. There were certain things that I heard Thelonious do that at first sounded very wrong to me.
GROSS: Like what?
WILLIAMS: Let's take the way he played "I Should Care." This is very interesting. I don't play it exactly, and I never transcribe solos or learn things exactly off the record. But I was very influenced by the way he played it. And I think you'll hear some things in here - and I'll try to point them out...
GROSS: Great.
WILLIAMS: ...That are very unusual from a Western music standpoint.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
WILLIAMS: That is a minor 9th. But we - the human ear is used to hearing...
(SOUNDBITE OF PIANO CHORD STRIKING)
WILLIAMS: That's easy. But this...
(SOUNDBITE OF PIANO CHORD STRIKING)
WILLIAMS: This way - and it's the same notes, but they're transposed differently. Anyway, the way it goes on from there would be this.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
WILLIAMS: I like that.
GROSS: I like that, too.
WILLIAMS: And so it took me a while, I think, to actually hear those things as right. I remember a chord that Monk played on "Ghost Of A Chance." He played...
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
WILLIAMS: Oh, my God, what a chord. And at first I thought, well, that's totally ridiculous. And then he played it throughout the entire tune, and I realized it's exactly what he wanted to do. And that chord, for me, after I heard the record maybe five times or so, I couldn't wait for that chord to come...
GROSS: (Laughter).
WILLIAMS: ...'Cause it was so different. It stood out like a billboard, like an orange billboard against a blue sky. It was like, look at me.
GROSS: You have a composition that's inspired by Monk's music...
WILLIAMS: Yes.
GROSS: ...Called "Monk's Hat." It happens to be a piece that we play on FRESH AIR quite often.
WILLIAMS: OK.
GROSS: It's a great piece, and I'm going to ask you to play a short version of that for us.
WILLIAMS: Sure. Here we go.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
GROSS: I really love that. And I love the way you play with tension and release in that because it's so fulfilling when you start going into more of, like, a swing or a stride tempo after playing with the rhythm and having all this jagged rhythms, and you switch back and forth. Love it (laughter).
WILLIAMS: I like variety.
GROSS: Yeah, yeah.
WILLIAMS: I think as I get older, what I'm starting to do is synthesize all the forms together. A little bit of stride, a little bit of - you know, taking different approaches within a tune, having a left-hand bass line, sometimes having a bass line in the upper register, like if I were to buy a blues - and play it in the lower register with the left hand and the right hand playing a lead line, it would be like...
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
WILLIAMS: It's kind of like playing the baritone saxophone.
(LAUGHTER)
BIANCULLI: We'll hear more of our performance and conversation from our archives with the late pianist Jessica Williams after a break. This is FRESH AIR.
(SOUNDBITE OF JESSICA WILLIAMS' "THAT OLD DEVIL MOON")
BIANCULLI: This is FRESH AIR. Let's get back to our 1997 interview and performance with jazz pianist and composer Jessica Williams. She died last month, one week before her 74th birthday.
GROSS: Jessica, it strikes me from the incredible proficiency that you have at the piano that you must have spent a lot of your childhood in the house, at the piano practicing. While everybody else in the neighborhood went about their kid lives or their teenage lives, you were probably sitting at the piano a lot of that time, practicing.
WILLIAMS: Yeah, actually, actually, I was. And I think I was by choice. I mean, nobody stood over me and said, you have to do this. Matter of fact, I had to beg my family to get me a piano. I mean, it was something I knew I wanted to do, but they took convincing 'cause I had played my grandmother's piano when I was, like, 3 or 4. And I said I knew that was what I was supposed to be doing, you know? I mean, I hit the notes, and I saw colors. It was an intensely visual and visceral experience for me the first time I touched a keyboard, and I knew that I needed one. And it took a while to get one.
I think I did spend an awful lot of time playing and an awful lot of time in isolation. And it's really funny 'cause I became, I think as I got older, more extroverted, and - because I really love people, and I love being around people. And so I went through a period where I hung out in clubs and did some things I wasn't supposed to do. And now that I'm getting older, I'm definitely going full circle, back to - isolation, perhaps, is not a good word, but I do a lot of work when I'm alone at home. I compose a lot. I don't practice much anymore, nor did I ever. It was something that came really easy to me. But as far as sitting there and playing, I spent a lot of my childhood just playing.
GROSS: When you were young and spending a lot of time at home with the piano, did you ever feel like you were sacrificing something in the rest of life to stay home? Did you ever envy the kids who were out going to more parties or playing sports or whatever your peers were doing at the time?
WILLIAMS: I - yeah, that's an interesting question. That's a deep, deep question. Probably yes. I probably felt alienated a lot of times, probably well into adulthood. And - but I think that I tried to bring that to my art and make some sense of it through my art. And now I just - I don't know, at this age - I mean, I've been here almost a half-century. I'm really proud of it. And I really communicate with people well, and I enjoy people. It didn't always be that way, but it's becoming easier, you know, to communicate on other levels besides music. But that's the most important part of the music, is the communication. That's what makes me the happiest. It's what seems to bring people the most joy. That's my job.
GROSS: You do amazing things with jazz standards, with familiar tunes that you kind of take apart and put back together again. I'm going to ask you to play a standard for us and to do what you do with it. Would you play the Gershwin song, "Nice Work If You Can Get It"?
WILLIAMS: Yeah. I'll give it a try.
GROSS: (Laughter) OK. And this is Jessica Williams at the piano.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
GROSS: Oh, it's great. It's Jessica Williams at the piano. I love that. You had a great stride thing going there. You use a kind of stride left hand a lot in...
WILLIAMS: It's...
GROSS: ...In your playing.
WILLIAMS: Yeah. It's an entirely different world for me. Stride piano is something that sometimes I can really get it going, and I can go really fast with it. Other times, I feel the time a little differently. I think it's just about how I'm feeling at the moment.
GROSS: For our listeners who aren't familiar with the expression stride piano, would you just...
WILLIAMS: A stride would be the root in the bass or the 5th or...
(SOUNDBITE OF PIANO CHORD STRIKING)
WILLIAMS: ...A bass note and a chord and...
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
WILLIAMS: Like that. So if you were to play "Cheek To Cheek" as a stride piece, it would be...
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
WILLIAMS: And then I could approach the tune from, say, another angle, which would be more, shall we say, streamlined or modern, which would be...
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
WILLIAMS: OK?
GROSS: That's great.
WILLIAMS: Or we could always do it as a ballad, you know? There's so many ways to play tunes. And the really great tunes you can do almost anything to. You know, you can play them fast, slow, run them up the flagpole. It's - lots of different things you can do with a tune, a good tune.
GROSS: In your listening, did you go back as early as James P. Johnson, who's, you know, one of the fathers of stride piano and started recording in the '20s?
WILLIAMS: I kind of did everything backwards. I started with the music - by the time I was 6 years old, listening to Coltrane, Miles, even Eric Dolphy. I was introduced to free music. And then I turned around and went backwards and got into the history of the music. But it wasn't until, I think, probably the last five or six years that I actually even had heard Albert Ammons or James P. Johnson or Fats Waller - I mean, really heard them, really listened to them, to the point where they became a part of me. And Erroll Garner just changed my life. I mean...
GROSS: What about his playing changed you?
WILLIAMS: Well, first, it was these records with tunes that last two or three minutes, and they're just little gems of pure joy and optimism. He had such a quirky sense of humor, where Thelonious had kind of a - one kind of humor that was kind of an inside humor. Erroll Garner was just flat-out goofy sometimes. It's so much fun to listen to his music. And I think a lot of people are aware that he would play four beats to a measure in the left hand, very similar to what Freddie Green was doing on the guitar in the Count Basie Orchestra. So you would get a feeling like - let's see - "I Wish I Knew."
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
WILLIAMS: And it's funny because that approach even works on very slow tempos. He would play "Body And Soul."
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
WILLIAMS: Yeah, that real - oh, so groovy, you know?
GROSS: (Laughter).
WILLIAMS: And even without a rhythm section, it really swung.
BIANCULLI: Jessica Williams at the piano from an interview and performance recorded in 1997. She died last month, one week before her 74th birthday. We'll hear the final part of her performance and conversation with Terry after a break. This is FRESH AIR.
(SOUNDBITE OF JESSICA WILLIAMS' "YOU'RE DRIVIN' ME CRAZY")
BIANCULLI: This is FRESH AIR. Let's get back to the rest of our concert and interview with Jessica Williams, recorded in 1997.
GROSS: Talking about music that has influenced you, I know a lot of horn players, saxophonists, have influenced you, although they don't play chording instruments. And I'm wondering if you could talk a little bit about, say, the influence of Sonny Rollins on your playing, the saxophone of Sonny Rollins.
WILLIAMS: OK. Well, one thing actually I was thinking about this morning - I had written a tune to dedicate it to Sonny Rollins, several actually. One tune is called "Newk's Fluke." Newk is his nickname. And - like a nuclear power plant. He's so powerful in his playing. And I realized that - and I had forgotten about this, actually. I realized that I got the melody from a fragment of one of his improvisations. And the improvisation was on an album called "The Bridge." And the tune, I believe, was "Without A Song." And he's coming out of the tune, and he's going like...
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
WILLIAMS: That's what he plays, and that's what I wrote the tune around, I realized - was...
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
GROSS: Great. Now, what did you quote in there - "Camptown Races" and "Dixie"?
WILLIAMS: Yeah, I put a whole bunch of quotes in there. I've been...
GROSS: Why do those come to mind?
WILLIAMS: Well, I was just trying to be funny (laughter). I was trying to be cute. Now, I was - while I was playing, it just occurred to me that I had heard Sonny play something - I can't remember. This is in the murky, distant past, and I can't remember if it was at a live concert or on TV. But almost everything he played in the tune was a quote from something. And of course, you can overdo that. But he did it with such style and everything fit together like this big puzzle. And it seemed like he had no end to the inventiveness that he was using these quotes that they didn't set sound cliche-ridden at all. It sounded - it was incredible. It just made a big impression on me. So I was trying to - just trying to sound a little bit like him, I guess.
GROSS: Jessica Williams, I have enjoyed this so much. It's been a concert and a piano lesson. Thank you so much for being with us.
WILLIAMS: Thanks for having me. I'm really honored to be here. Thank you.
GROSS: And we all love your music on FRESH AIR. So thank you.
WILLIAMS: It's been a pleasure meeting you all, and I just - I have enjoyed it immensely. Thank you.
BIANCULLI: Our concert and interview with Jessica Williams was recorded in 1997. Jessica Williams passed away last month, one week before her 74th birthday. We send our sympathies to Jessica's husband of many years, Duncan Atherton. The concert was recorded by Joyce Lieberman with Audrey Bentham and Chris Fraley (ph). It was produced by Danny Miller. Special thanks to Donald Elfman for helping to arrange the concert.
On Monday's show, comic, actor and writer Jerrod Carmichael. He hosted "Saturday Night Live" a couple of weeks ago, and he has a new HBO comedy special that's all about secrets - secrets about his name, his family and his sexual orientation. This is his third HBO comedy special. He's had two others directed by Spike Lee and Bo Burnham. I hope you can join us.
(SOUNDBITE OF JESSICA WILLIAMS' "I LOVE YOU PORGY")
BIANCULLI: FRESH AIR's executive producer is Danny Miller. Our technical director and engineer is Audrey Bentham, with additional engineering support by Joyce Lieberman, Julian Herzfeld and Tina Callique (ph). Our interviews and reviews are produced and edited by Amy Salit, Phyllis Myers, Sam Briger, Lauren Krenzel, Heidi Saman, Therese Madden, Ann Marie Baldonado, Thea Chaloner, Seth Kelley and Joel Wolfram. Our producer of digital media is Molly Seavy-Nesper. For Terry Gross, I'm David Bianculli.
(SOUNDBITE OF JESSICA WILLIAMS' "I LOVE YOU PORGY") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-15/remembering-jazz-pianist-and-composer-jessica-williams | 2022-05-12T14:46:24Z |
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Russia's president is answering Western sanctions by saying they failed. Vladimir Putin made that case in numerous speeches. He spoke after the U.S., the European Union, the U.K., Japan and some other nations, which represent a giant share of the world economy, closed off much business with Russia. So what's Putin's case? NPR's Charles Maynes is in Moscow.
Hey there, Charles.
CHARLES MAYNES, BYLINE: Hi there.
INSKEEP: What do the sanctions feel like where you are?
MAYNES: You know, it's been quite a ride. When sanctions kicked in, the currency, the ruble, cratered. That sent people scrambling for dollars and euros. Then we saw a run on goods, mainly out of a fear of inflation or that items might disappear. You know, and some of them you might expect, like iPhones. Others were more surprising, like sugar. But these days, most items are back on the shelves. Only prices are way up. And, of course, there's also been this exodus of foreign companies from Russia. So that's meant a lot of shuttered storefronts.
But all that said, the ruble - it's back, you know, almost to where it was before the conflict began. And now, that's thanks to government efforts to prop it up artificially and, of course, money pouring in from Russian energy exports, which are huge. But all this has created this kind of weird sense of normalcy here, although I really hesitate to use that word, given the conflict.
INSKEEP: Has Putin played up that sense that there's nothing to see here?
MAYNES: Yeah. You know, in this week in multiple settings, he was defiant and made the case that what he called the blitzkrieg of sanctions had failed. You know, Putin's basic message was they present Russia with opportunities to become more self-reliant and to build new partnerships.
Let's listen in.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN: (Speaking Russian).
MAYNES: So Putin here is saying that economies always adapt. And if you can find something in one country, well, you go to another, and it's unavoidable. And so Putin's idea is that what Russia can no longer get from the West, it can now get from China or India and that what Russia currently sells to the West, you know, mainly gas and oil, it can provide to new, friendlier markets, if it comes to that.
INSKEEP: Well, can Russia pivot its whole economy to places like China and India then?
MAYNES: Well, experts aren't as optimistic. They say these sanctions will be devastating, and it's just too early to see. At least that's the view of Natalya Zubarevich. She's a specialist on Russia's regional development with Moscow State University.
NATALIA ZUBAREVICH: (Speaking Russian).
MAYNES: So Zubarevich calls these sanctions a genuine shock to the Russian economy. But she says, "we'll only feel the real impact starting in May or June, when," she says, "production lines will break down." Now, she argues the reason for that is imported parts. Most of what's made in Russia comes from at least some component made in the West, often specialized and high-tech, which China can't provide, at least not right away. "And so without these parts, work will just stop," she says, "in car factories, in offshore drilling for gas and airplane manufacturing and so on." And, of course, all this impacts people's lives.
INSKEEP: Well, let's talk about the people. To the extent that you can tell, what are ordinary Russians thinking about sanctions?
MAYNES: Well, we sort of know. Polls will tell you that a vast majority of Russians, over 80%, support Putin's policies in Ukraine, although most only have access to state media. That's important 'cause that media presents the view that these sanctions are the West trying to keep Russia down. You know, in conversations I have, at least, I also hear another view. People say this will all be over soon. You know, give it a few months, and everything will go back to normal. How realistic that is is questionable. But it's a view the Kremlin can certainly live with, at least for now.
INSKEEP: NPR's Charles Maynes is in Moscow. Thanks.
MAYNES: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-15/russian-president-vladimir-putin-asserts-that-sanctions-have-failed | 2022-05-12T14:46:30Z |
Updated April 19, 2022 at 6:51 AM ET
In the days before Russia invaded Ukraine, a leading climate scientist, Svitlana Krakovska, was in Kyiv, racing to finish a landmark U.N. climate report. Then, Russian missiles and bombs started landing in her city. Colleagues offered to help her escape, but she stayed, trying to continue her climate research.
Krakovska argues that these two issues are connected – that climate-warming fossil fuels have enabled Russia's invasion.
"With our demand to put this embargo on Russian fossil fuels, it's directly connected because fossil fuels and money, they go directly to the Putin regime, to Russia, and it funds, actually, the war against Ukraine," said Krakovska, who is head of the Applied Climatology Laboratory at Ukraine's Hydrometeorological Institute.
"I hope that for people it will be clear that if we cut this oil and gas to Russia, they will make a very good choice, actually, to stop this aggression and stop to impact the climate system. So, 2 in 1, in fact."
President Biden and the U.S. instituted an import ban on Russian oil, liquified natural gas and coal in early March after Russia's invasion of Ukraine began. According to a White House statement, the U.S. imported nearly 700,000 barrels a day of crude oil and refined petroleum products from Russia last year.
"This step will deprive Russia of billions of dollars in revenues from U.S. drivers and consumers annually," the statement said.
But at the same time, President Biden has acknowledged the rising price at the pump for Americans, and the U.S. has leaned on other oil-producing nations like Saudi Arabia and Venezuela and encouraged them to produce more energy to make up for the shortfall from Russia.
Krakovska said that it's not as simple as shutting off one supply entirely, even though it would be better for the planet if that were the case.
"I understand our human civilization actually depends on energy sources," she said while citing a U.N. climate report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that said changes in human behavior could majorly impact the trajectory of the Earth's temperature.
"I should say that if we go to this IPCC report it states very clearly that half of this emission, they can be cut just from the demand side," Krakovska said. "So maybe they just don't need so much fossil fuel, and we can make this transformation much more quickly."
Even before the war began, Krakovska said she could see the impacts of climate change in Ukraine, but now it was harder to focus on her work.
"In 2020, we even didn't have winter, which was really very unusual," she said. "But now we are in this war situation, and it's just very, very difficult to think about climate change and to speak on it in my country, in fact. That's why I started to speak to the international community, just to push for them to help us and to help the planet."
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-15/russias-invasion-of-ukraine-is-a-fossil-fuel-war-climate-scientist-says | 2022-05-12T14:46:36Z |
ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
Russia's government depends heavily on oil and gas revenues to help bankroll its budget and even to potentially help fund its war in Ukraine. For years, Moscow has sought to ensure its place as one of the world's top energy producers by expanding drilling in the Arctic. But the Kremlin's war in Ukraine could jeopardize those plans, as NPR's Jackie Northam reports.
JACKIE NORTHAM, BYLINE: Russia has vast untapped reserves of oil and gas in the Arctic. Despite harsh conditions and exorbitant cost, Western energy companies - among them Shell, Exxon, Total - have flocked to Russia's far north for over a decade, providing critical financing, technology and expertise to Russian companies.
DAVID GOLDWYN: The oil exploration - just the drilling and the operations and the project management - has all been done with Western technology.
NORTHAM: David Goldwyn is president of Goldwyn Global Strategies, an energy advisory firm. He says Western companies have reduced their involvement in the Russian Arctic since Crimea was annexed in 2014.
GOLDWYN: It will be extremely hard for the Russians to develop oil and gas resources without Western technology. They have some conventional drilling technology themselves, but not the special coatings and pipe and artificial intelligence, which they need to develop those oil and gas fields.
NORTHAM: During a televised government meeting earlier this week, President Putin said Russia must press ahead with development of the Arctic region despite the difficulties of Western sanctions. Matt Sagers specializes in Russian energy at S&P Global, a research and analysis company. He says the U.S. and its allies knew where to target their sanctions.
MATT SAGERS: It was about hitting Russia in their future development. It was about sending a shot across the bow of basically cutting off their future.
NORTHAM: Western oil and gas companies, many with significant stakes in Arctic projects, have announced they will begin unwinding their operations in Russia or pull out completely, says Sagers.
SAGERS: This has been headlined by companies like BP that have been there for a long time. It's become very difficult to do business in Russia now. Not only do you have the reputational risk, but you also have the financial issues as well. How do you transfer money in? How do you run payroll? You know, what kind of risks are your people taking - and all that kind of stuff?
NORTHAM: Some Arctic projects will now be delayed or shelved, but a major liquefied natural gas project called Arctic LNG 2 is near completion and expected to come online soon. And work continues on the high-profile Vostok Oil project, which is expected to pump 2 million barrels per day by 2030, says Daria Melnik, a Moscow-based analyst for Rystad Energy, a research group. Vostok is being developed with the state-owned Rosneft energy company and is critical to Russia's overall energy strategy.
DARIA MELNIK: Rosneft continues to develop the project despite these challenges related to the financing of the project. But it still continues to invest in the project, meaning that this project is very, very important for Russia, even though it is quite expensive and risky.
NORTHAM: But Arctic drilling could be profitable, and Melnik says Russia hopes the Western backing will return someday.
MELNIK: The overall intention of the Russian state is to give some time for foreign companies to cool down, and maybe we will see that some companies actually will not leave Russia and will stay there.
NORTHAM: Ariel Cohen, an energy specialist at the Atlantic Council Eurasia Center, says Russia might have to turn to China for help financing the Vostok Oil project.
ARIEL COHEN: And one of the scenarios we saw again and again is when a Russian project goes down, they run to the Chinese, and the Chinese buy it pennies on the dollar, squeezing the Russians really hard.
NORTHAM: Which means that windfall of Arctic oil money for Russia's energy security may not be a sure thing after all.
Jackie Northam, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-15/russias-oil-drilling-plans-may-be-in-jeopardy-without-the-wests-support | 2022-05-12T14:46:43Z |
AILSA CHANG, HOST:
A national panel of health experts says all kids ages 8 years and older should be screened for anxiety. They also recommend that kids 12 and older continue to be screened for depression. The draft recommendations from the U.S. Preventative Task Force come during widespread concerns about the mental health of children all across the country. And as NPR's Rhitu Chatterjee reports, health care providers have welcomed the panel's recommendations.
RHITU CHATTERJEE, BYLINE: The mental health of children and teens in the U.S. has been getting worse for years before the pandemic. Marti Kubik is a professor of nursing at George Mason University and a member of the U.S. Preventative Task Force.
MARTI KUBIK: We were already seeing rising rates of anxiety, depression and also suicide behaviors and suicide in our young people.
CHATTERJEE: The pandemic only exacerbated things. That's what prompted the task force to look closely at research to see whether screening children using standardized questionnaires might benefit them.
KUBIK: The evidence supports that screening for anxiety and depression in older children and adolescents will help us identify children and allow us to connect them to care.
CHATTERJEE: But the two disorders often manifest at different ages - depression around age 12 or up and anxiety a few years earlier, hence the recommendation to start screening kids for anxiety at age 8.
JENNIFER HAVENS: But anxiety is an internalizing disorder. It can be quiet.
CHATTERJEE: Dr. Jennifer Havens chairs the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at New York University's Grossman School of Medicine.
HAVENS: Kids who are anxious are often very self-conscious and aren't going to share this with their families or their physicians, necessarily. So screening is a very, very good idea.
CHATTERJEE: And it's relatively easy to treat, says Havens, with psychotherapy in mild to moderate cases and medication as well for severe ones.
HAVENS: We have to treat mental health problems like health problems, that there are things that we can do early in life to keep kids healthy and prevent later problems.
CHATTERJEE: It's something that many pediatricians have started to recognize. Dr. Sandy Chung is president-elect of the American Academy of Pediatrics. She says the academy already recommends screening kids for anxiety, depression and even suicide.
SANDY CHUNG: We appreciate the task force, you know, making the recommendation. But in reality, many pediatricians are already doing the work.
CHATTERJEE: Like those at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City, which cares for about 86,000 children.
MIGUELINA GERMAN: Our goal is to screen every single one of those 86,000 children for anxiety, depression and attention problems at their annual checkup once a year.
CHATTERJEE: Miguelina German is a pediatric psychologist at the center. She says the clinic starts screening kids as young as 4 years old.
GERMAN: It is much easier for me as a mental health practitioner to treat a 5-year-old with separation anxiety, which I could probably treat in two sessions, than a 15-year-old who has both anxiety and depression, which is probably going to require 12 sessions.
CHATTERJEE: She hopes the new recommendations will make this the standard of care for all kids across the country. Rhitu Chatterjee, NPR News.
CHANG: And if you or someone you know may be considering suicide, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741.
(SOUNDBITE OF TRACEY CHATTAWAY'S "STARLIGHTS") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-15/screening-kids-for-anxiety-and-depression-early-on-could-help-stop-crises-panel-says | 2022-05-12T14:46:49Z |
AILSA CHANG, HOST:
From the moment Russia invaded Ukraine, it was clear the ripple effects on world hunger would be severe. That's because the two countries provide a massive share of the world's supply of key foods like wheat, corn, barley and more. And aid organizations warned that as the war drove up prices, people around the world would no longer be able to afford these foods. Now, less than two months into this war, it looks like those fears are coming true.
Joining us now to talk about this is NPR global health and development correspondent Nurith Aizenman. Hi, Nurith.
NURITH AIZENMAN, BYLINE: Hi, Ailsa.
CHANG: OK. So what are the signs that you're seeing that show this war has already had an impact on global hunger?
AIZENMAN: Well, it's hard to precisely parse the impact of the war specifically because it's hit in the midst of a whole bunch of other calamities that were already driving up food prices to record levels - a series of droughts in different parts of the world on top of the economic consequences of the pandemic, which had already cut into so many people's ability to pay for food. But that said, just in the last weeks, yes, this already bad situation has definitely gotten worse. The United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization tracks this food price index. And between February and March, it spiked by 12% - a giant leap - to an all-time high.
And so I spoke with Bob Kitchen. He's vice president of emergencies for the aid group International Rescue Committee. And I asked him, how has that price spike affected people?
BOB KITCHEN: We are seeing the number of people who are food insecure and in urgent need of food aid rising rapidly across at least four areas of the world that we're monitoring. So yes, I think we're seeing alarming numbers right now.
CHANG: And where are the places where people seem the hardest hit?
AIZENMAN: Well, it's the places that were already suffering and that just have had no buffer to absorb these price hikes. Afghanistan - a month ago, 55% of the population was facing crisis levels of food insecurity. Now it's gone up 10 points to 65%. We're talking families literally having to feed their kids every other day, every three days. West Africa is also in a very dangerous state. Right now, 27 million people are going hungry there. But aid organizations predict, by June, 11 million more people will fall into that status. And there's also a lot of hunger in Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia, where there's this incredible humanitarian crisis from the conflict in the Tigray region.
CHANG: This is devastating. What's the solution here? Is there even one?
AIZENMAN: You know, Kitchen and others I spoke with say this can be solved with money. Even with the loss of food from Ukraine and Russia, there is still enough to feed people. The issue is the way the reduced supply drives up prices. So basically, cash is needed to help people cover their basic needs.
The problem is that even before the war started, wealthy countries have not provided enough funding for food aid. And now there are signs that some countries are coming up with money to help Ukrainians by diverting it from their existing food aid programs. So it's not like there's more money being given because there's this additional crisis. It's the same pot of money.
This week, the head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, called out the global community in a very stark way. He said, of course all the money and attention the world is giving to Ukraine is very important. That attention is necessary.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
TEDROS ADHANOM GHEBREYESUS: But even a fraction of it is not being given to Tigray, Yemen, Afghanistan, Syria and the rest - a fraction. I don't know if the world really gives equal attention to Black and white lives.
AIZENMAN: So he says he's hoping the world will, quote, "come back to its senses and treat all lives equally."
CHANG: That is NPR's Nurith Aizenman. Thank you so much, Nurith.
AIZENMAN: You're welcome.
(SOUNDBITE OF MY EPIC SONG, "LITURGY") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-15/the-impact-of-the-war-in-ukraine-on-the-global-food-supply | 2022-05-12T14:46:55Z |
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Good morning. I'm Leila Fadel. The ivory-billed woodpecker seemed to disappear in the 1940s. The government declared it extinct, but researchers spent three years combing Louisiana's swampy woods with drones, cameras and audio recorders. They've got grainy photos and eyewitness accounts. And the team, led by the National Aviary in Pittsburgh, tells The Guardian the ivory-billed woodpecker is alive and pecking. To make it official, though, the evidence will need to be impeccable. It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-15/the-ivory-billed-woodpecker-is-not-extinct-researchers-claim | 2022-05-12T14:47:01Z |
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
The flagship of Russia's fleet is headed to the bottom of the Black Sea. The Kremlin says a fire onboard, the guided missile cruiser known as the Moskva, caused an explosion and that the ship sank in bad weather yesterday as it was being towed to shore. But weather reports in the northern Black Sea showed no storms. The Ukrainians have a different narrative, claiming that two of their anti-ship cruise missiles hit the Moskva about 60 miles off the port city of Odesa. The Pentagon says it doesn't have enough information to confirm or refute either version, but it says something caused a significant explosion on the ship. To understand what this means for the Russian navy and for the war in Ukraine, we're joined by retired Admiral James Foggo. He was formerly commander of the U.S. Naval Forces for Europe and Africa and a NATO commander based in Italy. Admiral Foggo, thanks for being on the program.
JAMES FOGGO: Leila, it's great to be here with you this morning.
FADEL: So, Admiral, what we know for sure is that this flagship has sunk. But this is one ship. Can you explain the significance here? How does the loss of the Moskva impact Russia's dominance in the Black Sea?
FOGGO: Well, first and foremost, Leila, probably one of the biggest wake-up calls for everybody is that we've all thought this is just a land campaign so far. And I think the Russians thought that, too. There really is another element to this, and that is the maritime campaign. This is a terribly humiliating blow to the Russian navy. And it's rather astonishing that they could allow this to happen to themselves. So the forensics of what happened are still going on.
You saw the Pentagon spokesman Admiral John Kirby yesterday say, well, you know, this could have been a missile strike. The Russians, of course, claim it was a fire on board that led to explosion of their own ammunition. But I can't underscore the significance. You know, it's also ironic because the flagship of any navy is usually the one that is the biggest and the best and the brightest. For us in Europe, it's the USS Mount Whitney, my favorite ship in the United States Navy. For the Ukrainians, it was the Hetman Sahaidachny, and sadly, President Zelenskyy ordered the scuttling of their flagship in the Mykolaiv shipyard just a few weeks ago. Even more ironically is that these Slava-class cruisers, of which the Moskva was one, was built in Mykolaiv shipyard. Just think about that. And it's named for the capital, the national capital, of Russia.
FADEL: Now, you talked about this being humiliating for Russia. And it surprised a lot of people how fiercely Ukrainian forces have been able to fight back this huge army. The loss of this ship, what does it say about Russia's military performance in its war in Ukraine?
FOGGO: Well, I think it's a carryover of what we've seen in the land campaign. And they're - this ship, the Moskva, carries the Kalibr-class cruise missile, which was used in combat operations by the Russians. It also carries, you know, a surface-to-surface missile that can gauge other ships. But it also has defensive systems that can defend the ship. What it tells me is that the Russians were complacent. They should have been able to defend their ship. But I think they thought they could operate in the Black Sea or the Sea of Azov with impunity.
And when you're in a wartime scenario, you know, you need to be at battle stations. Obviously, they were distracted by something - if, in fact, this was a missile strike - and allowed their ship to be hit. And then even further as far as how they operate, damage control had to be poor on the ship. You know, the United States Navy has had its fair share of accidents or incidents. The USS Stark was hit by an Exocet missile in the Arabian Gulf back in the '80s. And we've had some collisions recently. We didn't lose any ships because we have sailors that know how to do damage control and chief petty officers, noncommissioned officers, who can take care of emergency or crisis on board the ships. This tells me that the Russians don't have the same level of proficiency.
FADEL: Well, let's talk about the capacity of the Russian army. Do they still have the capacity to take over cities that are strategic coastal cities? I'm thinking of the southern port city of Mariupol, which Russian forces are besieging, have been trying to take for weeks now.
FOGGO: Right. And since they were not able to get in there with their naval infantry and actually take over the city, they've just decided to destroy the city.
FADEL: Yeah.
FOGGO: They've also been unable to take over Mykolaiv, that shipyard I was talking about. And they have not touched Odesa. Odesa will be a very tough fight if they go ashore. They might get their marines ashore. They've got these Ropucha-class amphibious assault ships. But they won't get very far because the fierceness of the Ukrainian fighters. And they've got to be worried now that if there is an anti-ship cruise missile like the Neptune, which they claimed hit the Moskva, that all of their ships are in jeopardy when they come close to the shoreline.
FADEL: You also mentioned flagships are your best ship, right? But this is a 40-year-old ship that was sunk. What does that say about Russia's navy?
FOGGO: Well, it says that, you know, they've got the same kind of budget problems that everybody else's navy has. So they put their resources - the Russians put a lot of their resources into their submarine force. And I'm a submariner, and I know that for a fact. They poured rubles into the undersea domain because they see that as an asymmetric threat against the West. They have six Russian Kilo-class submarines running around the Black Sea right now. They're pretty new, and so they've recapitalized that force. But they have ignored the carrier fleet. The Kuznetsov is in drydock. And they haven't paid as much attention to their surface navy. And this is a wake-up call for them.
FADEL: Overnight, Russia says it struck a Ukrainian defense plant that makes missiles, including anti-ship missiles. So Russia says missiles didn't take down its ship, then it hit a plant that makes anti-ship missiles. So does this lend credibility to Ukraine's version of what happened to the Moskva?
FOGGO: Well, it's quite a coincidence, isn't it? And I would think that - I've also seen that the retaliatory strikes overnight have been brutal on the cities around the coastline, Sea of Azov and all the other areas that the Russians are occupying. So, yes, it would tend to indicate that the Ukrainian story of a two-strike anti-ship cruise missile on Moskva is indeed accurate.
FADEL: That's retired Admiral James Foggo, former commander of the U.S. Naval Forces in Europe and Africa. Thank you very much.
FOGGO: You're welcome, Leila. Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-15/the-pentagon-cant-confirm-yet-how-the-russian-ship-moskva-was-destroyed | 2022-05-12T14:47:07Z |
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
General election presidential debates could be over or at least general election presidential debates that are organized in the way that we have known in recent decades. Yesterday, the Republican National Committee voted to withdraw from the nonprofit Commission on Presidential Debates, which has run debates since the '80s. NPR senior political editor and correspondent Domenico Montanaro has watched many of those debates and is with us now. Good morning.
DOMENICO MONTANARO, BYLINE: Hey, good morning, Steve.
INSKEEP: What happened here?
MONTANARO: Well, the RNC decided Thursday to sever ties with this debate commission. They'll now be requiring all presidential candidates to say in writing that they'll only take part in debates OK'd by the RNC. RNC chair Ronna McDaniel charges that the commission has been unfair on choices of moderators, timing of debates and that the commission won't agree to reforms that Republicans want. Here's what she said at the RNC's winter meeting earlier this year about it.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
RONNA MCDANIEL: The Republican Party deserves better. The American people deserve better because we know - we all know this - that if we have a free and fair forum, we win because our policies are the best for the American people.
MONTANARO: Now, I reached out to the debate commission for comment, but they're not commenting yet. In response in January to the RNC's threat to do this, the commission did say that it would be dealing directly with candidates and that their plans for 2024 would be, quote, "based on fairness, neutrality and a firm commitment to help the American public learn about the candidates and the issues."
INSKEEP: You know, when I heard this news yesterday, Domenico, my first question was whether this was driven by Donald Trump because he completely dominates the party. The RNC chair is someone who literally changed her name for Trump's convenience. So was this driven by Trump?
MONTANARO: It's because she's Mitt Romney's niece, and Romney is in the middle of it. Yeah, but...
INSKEEP: True.
MONTANARO: ...Republicans have had problems with the commission since at least 2012 when then-party nominee Mitt Romney was fact-checked in real time. But Trump has really been the catalyst for what's happening here. And, you know, in 2020, he attacked moderators in the commission which he accused of being stacked with Trump haters, continuously interrupted in those debates, violated the rules of decorum but accused the commission of shutting off microphones, veering off from topics that he says were supposed to be the focus. The commission's co-chair, Frank Fahrenkopf, said, at the time, that's not what was happening at all and defended the commission before the second general election debate in 2020 this way on MSNBC.
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FRANK FAHRENKOPF: We are nonpartisan. We're doing something that we think is in the best interest of the American people to get some order in this debate, that it'll hopefully enforce the rules so that they can hear the candidates without interruption and get to learn where they are on these issues that are so important going into this election.
MONTANARO: And Fahrenkopf has been involved with the commission since its inception, and he's ironically a Republican and a former chairman of the RNC himself. It just shows you how much this party has really changed over the years. And the reality here - in politics, if people are complaining about debates, they're usually the ones losing. And at that point in 2020, Trump was really struggling in the polls and needed a boost.
INSKEEP: OK. So he was complaining then. People are complaining now. Are presidential debates, as we know them, dead?
MONTANARO: Not necessarily. RNC chair McDaniel said that she wants debates, just not with this commission. Ultimately, it's going to be up to the candidates. There's no incentive, really, for the candidates to cross the RNC, though. And, you know, broadcast networks run party-sanctioned debates in primaries. So they can just move to that model in the general election. But it's still going to take candidates to agree on rules, moderators and which network will run it, so lots to be decided here.
INSKEEP: NPR's Domenico Montanaro, thanks.
MONTANARO: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-15/the-rnc-is-severing-ties-with-the-nonprofit-that-runs-presidential-debates | 2022-05-12T14:47:13Z |
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Next, we have news of the comeback of a virus. When the global effort to eradicate polio began more than three decades ago, about 350,000 children per year were paralyzed by polio. But thanks to a robust vaccination effort, that number dropped into the dozens by 2016. Now cases have started to go back up. Here's NPR's Ari Daniel.
ARI DANIEL, BYLINE: Eliminating polio is complicated. Scientists have tried outmaneuvering the virus, but they haven't fully succeeded.
Raul Andino is a virologist at UC San Francisco.
RAUL ANDINO: Viruses rapidly evolve. They are masters in changing to overcome any kind of challenge that they encounter.
DANIEL: Andino says these genetic gymnastics are a big part of why polio has remained so elusive to defeat. In the U.S., which is polio-free, children get injected with a series of shots containing inactivated polio virus. But many other parts of the world rely on an oral vaccine made with living weakened virus. It's a one-time dose that confers lifelong immunity - quick and cheap. But there's a problem.
ANDINO: Sometimes it actually reverts and then starts to cause disease.
DANIEL: The virus reverts. It can become virulent again, even leading to paralysis in some cases - to be clear, not in the person who was vaccinated.
ANDINO: No.
DANIEL: Getting the polio vaccine does not give you polio.
ANDINO: No.
DANIEL: So the vaccine is safe.
ANDINO: Yes.
DANIEL: But those who've been immunized with the oral vaccine can shed live virus in their stool. In places with poor sanitation, the virus can spread through sewage, where it can become virulent again. And if someone who isn't vaccinated comes in contact with contaminated wastewater, they could become sick with polio, vaccine-derived polio. Gaps in immunization create more opportunities for the unvaccinated to become infected.
ANDINO: These vaccination campaigns have been certainly affected by the pandemic. And also, the focus of everybody is looking into SARS-CoV-2 rather than polio.
DANIEL: So Andino and his collaborators developed a new oral polio vaccine, one that still contains a weakened version of the virus, but that they hobbled even further.
ANDINO: What we did is three independent modifications.
DANIEL: Which Andino says makes reactivation way less likely - this new vaccine, after performing well in clinical trials, was approved for emergency use by the World Health Organization, which says 265 million doses are now being rolled out in 14 countries, primarily in Africa.
SVEA CLOSSER: This is not the first time we've heard this new vaccine is going to solve everything.
DANIEL: Svea Closser is a medical anthropologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health who studies vaccination programs with a focus on polio.
CLOSSER: On the other hand, if you have an oral polio vaccine that truly doesn't cause vaccine-derived polio, it really could be wonderful. It's something that we'll probably need in order to secure eradication eventually. So I'm hopeful (laughter) - skeptical but hopeful.
DANIEL: Uganda is one of the countries that's embraced the new vaccine.
Sabrina Kitaka works as an infectious disease pediatrician at Makerere University in Kampala.
SABRINA KITAKA: You just need to have one child with a vaccine-derived polio infection, and before you know it, it's the rest of the continent.
DANIEL: Kitaka says there have been no vaccine-derived polio cases reported within Uganda. But the virus was detected in wastewater. And officials worry about refugees coming from conflict zones in neighboring countries where vaccination programs have lapsed. Kitaka says in just two weeks in January, Uganda vaccinated more than 8 million children with the new vaccine with no side effects reported.
KITAKA: For us as pediatricians, as researchers - we think that this is going to be part of the endgame to end polio in the whole world. I am optimistic, but I'm not yet comfortable that we are out of the woods.
DANIEL: Ari Daniel, NPR News.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARDEN'S "EDEN") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-15/the-world-health-organization-approves-a-new-polio-vaccine-for-emergency-use | 2022-05-12T14:47:19Z |
Twitter is trying to stifle Elon Musk.
On Friday, the social media company unrolled a defense against Musk's unwelcome takeover bid, introducing what is known as a poison pill to fend off Musk's $43 billion acquisition attempt.
The maneuver, formally called a shareholder rights plan, essentially allows current shareholders to acquire more stock in the company at a discount, presenting Musk with a unwelcome "pill," meaning his shares would become diluted and his purchase would become far more expensive and less attractive. It would require that Musk negotiate directly with Twitter's board on any attempts to buy the company.
The poison pill will take effect once a person or entity acquires 15% or more of Twitter's shares, according to an announcement from Twitter's board of directors, which noted the plan will be in place until next April.
Musk, the largest individual Twitter shareholder, holds about 9% of company stock, but he has made an offer to buy the company outright.
With the poison pill plan now in place, Twitter is preemptively defending itself against the possibility of Musk upping his stake in the company.
"The poison pill puts a temporary roadblock in front of Musk going forward," said corporate governance expert Edward Rock, who teaches at New York University's School of Law. "It gives the board a chance to evaluate the bid, whether it makes sense to sell the company, and if they are going to sell the company, whether it makes sense to sell the company to him."
Musk did not return NPR's request seeking comment. Speaking at a conference in Vancouver on Thursday, Musk said he has a "Plan B" if his takeover attempt was not successful, but he did not elaborate.
At the event, Musk portrayed his ambitions to own Twitter in grandiose terms, saying "civilizational risk" would be decreased if there was more public trust in Twitter.
The poison pill plan announced on Friday will likely complicate and delay any potential Musk acquisition, though it does not rule it out forever.
Twitter said the move is aimed at enabling investors to "realize the full value of their investment" by making it less likely that Musk would still be immediately interested in a hostile takeover.
Under the terms of the plan, Twitter can engage with parties interested in buying the company, or even accept an acquisition proposal, if a bid is in the "best interests" of the company and its shareholders.
Rock, of NYU Law, said Musk will show he is serious about buying Twitter if one of two things happens: He shows how exactly he plans on financing the takeover, since Musk did not reveal that in his Securities and Exchange Commission filing, or he launches a proxy contest to try to replace members of Twitter's board in response to the poison pill plan.
"Absent that, he's not going to acquire the company," Rock said. "And people can just write it off like some of his other Twitter storms."
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-15/twitter-adopts-poison-pill-to-block-elon-musk-takeover-bid | 2022-05-12T14:47:25Z |
ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
Tension continues to build in eastern Ukraine as Russia appears committed to a major new offensive. This comes as fighting continues in the city of Mariupol and as Russian artillery and missiles land in the city of Kharkiv. NPR's Brian Mann is in Odesa, a southern port city on the Black Sea, and he joins us now. Hi, Brian.
BRIAN MANN, BYLINE: Hi, Ari.
SHAPIRO: Let's start with the latest on the Russian warship that sank this week. It sounds like we're learning more about what happened.
MANN: Yeah. We've known the flagship of Vladimir Putin's fleet in the Black Sea was seriously damaged Wednesday and then sunk to being towed to port. Hundreds of sailors evacuated with Turkish officials saying they rescued some of the crew. It's still unclear whether sailors died or were injured in this incident. But today a senior U.S. defense official confirmed to NPR that the cruiser was hit by a pair of Ukrainian missiles fired from shore. So this is another big win for Ukraine's military. They took out an important Russian command ship and also notched a big symbolic victory. Everyone here in Ukraine, Ari, is talking about this, a big morale boost.
SHAPIRO: But it's not all good news for Ukraine. There are reports that the city of Mariupol could soon fall to Russian assault. What can you tell us about that?
MANN: Yeah. It's very hard to get good information from Mariupol. The city - completely surrounded. Ukrainian soldiers did post on social media earlier in the week that the situation there is dire - a lot of casualties, very few supplies. We spoke to a military official here in Odesa who said many of the last civilians are trying to escape, some walking more than 20 miles. And there are reports that fighting does continue but not clear how long those defenders can hold out. Turning to the city of Kharkiv, Russian shelling continues there. And we've heard reports of civilians killed in those strikes. In his latest address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of trying to destroy Kharkiv.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY: (Speaking Ukrainian).
MANN: Zelenskyy describes Kharkiv as a proud city, and he asks, what can be achieved by burning it? And we're hearing this question from a lot of people here. They're outraged by Russia's aggression and by what appears to be indiscriminate attacks on these civilian areas. There were also explosions reported yesterday around Kyiv. Russia says that strike targeted a missile factory.
SHAPIRO: And we mentioned that Russia is preparing another major push in the east. How nervous are Ukrainians about that?
MANN: You know, morale here is really high in my conversations with civilians and soldiers, more anger than fear. I spoke today with Juliana Bragina, who lives here in Odesa. Her parents actually live in Saint Louis in the U.S., so she could easily get out. But she decided to stay.
JULIANA BRAGINA: I just can hope for something, you know? And I hope that everything's going to be good for Ukraine, that Ukraine will fight and rise up after that and that our warriors - they will defend the country.
MANN: But, you know, Ari, Bragina did tell me that one thing she does fear are these reports of rape and sexual assaults by Russian soldiers against Ukrainian women.
BRAGINA: I have read this reports, and I just sat, you know, freezed (ph) for a few hours and cried sometimes. You know, I thought it couldn't get worse, the attitude Russians couldn't get worse. But I find out that it's possible.
MANN: So Bragina told me her family is keeping their bags packed so they can flee quickly if the Russian army does break through.
SHAPIRO: NPR's Brian Mann in Odesa. Thank you.
MANN: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-15/ukraine-says-russia-has-used-long-range-bombers-for-the-1st-time | 2022-05-12T14:47:32Z |
The decision to leave home is not an easy one. Olena Khalina was in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv when the war started. Russian planes dropped bombs right outside her home.
"The sound is something ..." Khalina trails off. "I even cannot find the word. Because it's like super low, and super noisy, and your house is just trembling."
In the Passover story, the Hebrew people leave Egypt with almost no notice. The unleavened matzo symbolizes the fact that bread didn't even have time to rise. Khalina found out about a bus out of town two days before it was leaving. But still, she says, it's impossible to prepare.
"Home is your friends. Home is your family. Home is your job," Khalina says. "But everything that you can take with you is just a backpack or a suitcase. And you should put all your home in it? So it's impossible. And you are leaving everything that is valuable for you."
Khalina is now in Prague, Czech Republic, adjusting to a new country, taking classes, and working. She's also checking in with friends who've fled elsewhere and some who've stayed behind in Ukraine. For Passover, she's traveling to Berlin, to spend the holiday with Ukrainian friends who have landed there.
Jewish refugees are celebrating a holiday about fleeing an abusive military leader while being refugees themselves
Across Europe and across the world, Ukrainian refugees will attend Passover Seders starting tonight. And they'll tell the story of wandering while they're refugees themselves.
There are large Seders planned by refugee groups like HIAS and Jewish groups like Hillel International, as well as countless individuals heeding the Passover call to let all who are hungry come and eat.
The symbolism is not lost on Julia Gris, rabbi of temple Shirat ha-Yam in the Ukrainian city of Odessa. She was in the city of Lviv when the war started and crossed over into Poland on foot, waiting 40 hours at the border in freezing temperatures. Gris is now staying with a congregation in Oldenburg, Germany.
Like Khalina, Gris feels uprooted. "When all your life in one small suitcase," she explains. "Where you have key from the home, but don't have a home anymore. I would not wish to anybody to feel this."
But Gris says Passover is still a time for celebration — whether in a synagogue, a private home or a refugee camp. She'll attend a Seder there in Germany. And she'll lead another Seder via Zoom with the Rabbi of Kyiv for Ukrainians refugees scattered across the world or who may still be sheltering back home. So that together they can stop, tell the ancient story of Passover and step out of time, even if just for a few minutes.
New symbolic foods join the traditional Seder plate items this year
"To eat matzo and bitter herbs, and drink four cups of wine," says Rabbi Gris. "And of course we will share our dreams to better times."
At many Seders, these traditional symbols will be joined by new ones, to draw clear parallels between pharaoh's army and Russian forces: olive branches for peace, beets and sunflowers for Ukraine itself.
Boris and Victoria Fikhtman were away from their native Odessa vacationing in the Carpathian Mountains when the war started in late February. They were unable to return home, so they traveled to Hungary and then to Romania before finally finding refuge in Chișinău, Moldova, through the organization World Jewish Relief. It took several weeks for them to reunite with their 3-year-old daughter, who'd been staying with her grandparents back in Odessa.
The Fikhtmans say their usual Passover celebration in Odessa took place in a five-star hotel, with hundreds of people from the local Jewish community. They're not sure exactly what this year will look like — for Passover, or the days to follow. But they're happy to have been welcomed and to be safe.
"Next year in Jerusalem" is the last line of the traditional Seder. Jerusalem is more than a physical place — it's an idea. The idea that all things will be restored.
From Germany to the Czech Republic to Moldova, these refugees are grateful to everyone who's welcomed them. But these countries are not home, nor are they the promised land. And when asked how they'll end this year's Seder, Olena Khalina, Rabbi Julia Gris and Boris and Victoria Fikhtman said the same thing: next year in Ukraine. In a free, peaceful Ukraine.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-15/ukrainian-jews-displaced-by-war-find-passover-especially-poignant-this-year | 2022-05-12T14:47:38Z |
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Twitter is a global platform. It has hundreds of millions of active users. So what does it mean now that the world's richest person wants to buy it while saying it's all about free speech? Kate Klonick joins me now to discuss. She's an assistant law professor at St. John's University in New York. And she focuses on private governance of online speech. Good morning.
KATE KLONICK: Good morning.
FADEL: So Professor Klonick, assuming Musk follows through with his effort to buy Twitter, what would it mean if one wealthy person could buy a platform with this kind of reach and essentially say it's mine and I make the rules?
KLONICK: Yeah. It's a fascinating question because, of course, there are platforms like that that are owned by - technically by one person already and their boards. And so there'd still be some structure in place for this to be checked. But I think that we're seeing - what this moment is really showing us for a lot of people is that these private platforms that govern our public speech rights are really susceptible to the power of capitalism and just being - the fault lines that we expect to exist are being exposed.
FADEL: So Elon Musk calls himself a, quote, "free speech absolutist." He also has said he'll unlock Twitter's potential and allow all legal speech. So what do free speech advocates make of what he's saying?
KLONICK: Yeah. The concept of unlocking Twitter and allowing all legal speech on the platform is really complicated.
FADEL: Yeah.
KLONICK: For something to be legal is actually a very difficult thing and - to assess. And it's difficult between jurisdictions. And so one of the problems with what Musk is describing is in the United States, for instance, to allow all legal speech technically allowed under the First Amendment onto the platform, you would have to allow all spam to stay up on the platform. You would have to allow all pornography to stay up on the platform, all forms of hate speech. That's all First Amendment-protected speech. And so all of that would stay up, at least within the U.S. It could make the platform functionally unusable.
FADEL: I mean, this is a big discussion we're having in society right now about what is censorship and what is free speech, what's dangerous for society. And the platform has blocked users temporarily or permanently over controversial or hateful speech, the most prominent example being Donald Trump. Twitter kicked him off for violating a rule about glorifying violence after the 2021 Capitol attack. Would a platform owned by Elon Musk open the door again for speech that is being taken down and seen as dangerous?
KLONICK: It could potentially do that if he is able to go through with this. But this is something that, for those of us who have studied this for a while and for people who have worked in this industry for the last 15 or 20 years that there has always been these issues that have been lurking. I just think that they've been mostly invisible to the public. And so moments like Donald Trump being deplatformed or taken off Facebook and Twitter and moments like this finally kind of expose to people that there are - like, who is empowered to speak as freely as they think they can or not speak, how fragile those rights are online.
FADEL: You know, again, the idea of banning people on Twitter...
KLONICK: Yep.
FADEL: ...It's seen as censorship. On the other hand, we've seen people complain that hateful, problematic speech needs to be removed because it can lead to really dangerous moments. Is there a better way for Twitter and other platforms to moderate content and still respect democracy and free speech?
KLONICK: I think that these platforms - I know that people don't typically want to hear this. But a lot of these platforms are doing the best they can to try to splice that decision, which is a decision that is one of the hardest decisions for courts to make. And it is one of the hardest decisions for these platforms to make. And so I think that this line between censorship and hate speech is much, much more difficult to assess at scale than people understand. And so this is also kind of one of these moments that exposes that. I think it's naive of Musk to kind of go in and think that he can just wave a wand and turn Twitter into the platform that he wants it to be because the curation of these platforms is incredibly, incredibly complicated.
FADEL: The former CEO of Reddit, Ellen Pao, recently wrote an opinion piece in The Washington Post criticizing how Musk might exercise his influence on the platform. And Musk tweeted about Jeff Bezos using his wealth to buy The Washington Post. Is this potential takeover of Twitter by Musk the same thing?
KLONICK: Yeah. That's a great comparison because it's just absolutely not. There's very strong kind of professionalized norms in journalism that split business and editorial. And Bezos' ownership of The Washington Post has almost nothing to do with the editorial side of the content. And the other part of this is that what Musk is trying to do with Twitter is to control users' speech and individual's speech. And that's not something that The Washington Post does.
FADEL: Assistant law professor Kate Klonick. Thank you for your time.
KLONICK: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-15/what-would-happen-to-free-speech-if-elon-musk-bought-twitter | 2022-05-12T14:47:44Z |
AILSA CHANG, HOST:
Just before dawn on Friday, bright green and red flashes exploded violently within the walls of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem. Videos circulating on social media show Israeli forces using tear gas and flash grenades at the holy site, which is on ground that's sacred to both Jews and Muslims. Israel says police were after Palestinians who were stockpiling stones and throwing them at Jews and police nearby. Palestinian medics say more than 150 Palestinians were injured. It was the worst violence at Al-Aqsa in a year, when it escalated into a war in Gaza.
To understand what happened, we're joined now by Steve Hendrix. He's the Washington Post bureau chief in Jerusalem, which is where he's joining us from now. Welcome.
STEVE HENDRIX: Thanks for having me.
CHANG: So can you just start by telling us what exactly happened today inside Al-Aqsa?
HENDRIX: It was sort of what Israeli officials and Palestinian officials have been dreading. The Friday prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque typically draws tens of thousands of worshippers from around Israel and the West Bank. And in this case, there were signs that some people were stockpiling stones, and the Israeli police knew this was a potential flashpoint. And when some fireworks began to go off and some rocks began to be thrown, they moved very aggressively to contain it. And then suddenly, there was quite a melee on the plaza.
And then the police actually moved into the mosque compound, which is a very, very provocative motion. But they thought it was necessary to protect the scene. And several people were injured, and more than 300 people were arrested.
CHANG: Yeah. And can you just put what happened this morning at Al-Aqsa into sort of bigger context for us? - because there has been rising tension between Palestinians and Israelis in recent weeks, right?
HENDRIX: Yeah. There have been attacks from Palestinians upon Israelis inside of Israel. And that has provoked a clampdown on Israel's side - a several-days-long campaign of raids into villages in the West Bank. And six Palestinians have been killed in just the last week, according to the Palestinian Authority. And it seems like it's sort of culminated this morning.
CHANG: Has the Israeli government said anything about the events this morning so far?
HENDRIX: Well, they have certainly condemned the violence. There's a real split in the Israeli governing coalition, which is spread from very right-wing parties, including the prime minister, Naftali Bennett, and all the way to left-wing and even one Arab Islamist party. So you hear different things from the government. Bennett has condemned the violence and actually said that Israelis should, you know, take up legally permitted arms and be ready to defend themselves and the country. And other members, including Defense Minister Benny Gantz, have said, we do have to respond, but we have to remember that not all the worshipers who come to Al-Aqsa Mosque are militants or terrorists. And we have to allow for freedom of worship...
CHANG: Yeah.
HENDRIX: ...In Jerusalem.
CHANG: And what about Muslim or Jewish faith leaders in the community? How have they responded to what happened this morning?
HENDRIX: Everyone condemns the violence, of course. But everyone also has their own particular context that they want to put it in. So when you talk to Jewish leaders, they feel very strongly that there needs to be, obviously, protection for Jewish citizens from what they call terrorist attacks. Muslim leaders condemn the violence but also say that there's no doubt that the provocations of the Israeli occupation are driving it.
It's a very old and cyclical story here. Every spring we kind of hear the same tale, and not much seems to change. But there are efforts going on to sort of control the most extreme activists on both sides and to keep the city open for worshipers from all three of the faiths who consider this a holy city.
CHANG: That is Steve Hendrix, the Washington Post bureau chief in Jerusalem. Thank you so much for sharing your time with us.
HENDRIX: My pleasure. Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-15/whats-happening-in-jerusalem | 2022-05-12T14:47:50Z |
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Today in Saint Louis, Mo., one woman will take on 30 opponents in a simultaneous chess exhibition.
DORSA DERAKHSHANI: I'm supposed to get white, which white starts first in chess. So I already know what I'm going to do for the most part.
MARTIN: Dorsa Derakhshani is the one to beat. She is a chess grandmaster, premed student and captain of the women's chess team at Saint Louis University. Today's exhibition is being hosted by the Pulitzer Arts Foundation in Saint Louis.
DERAKHSHANI: This is more of a fun environment. I've been at the both sides of it. When I was a kid, I attended a few simultaneous exhibitions by, like, other people - other grandmasters. And I remember it was fun, but it would always take so long. So we decided to kind of make it 30 people so it wouldn't have to take a whole evening.
MARTIN: Yeah, well, if you say so. Derakhshani was born in Tehran in 1998. Her father started teaching her the game when she was just 2 years old. As a teenager, she went on to dominate her opponents, representing her country as part of the Iranian National Women's Chess Team.
DERAKHSHANI: I was the second-highest girl in the world by the time I was 18. I had a lot of opportunities for different countries that offered me to go and play for them. So in 2016, I chose to accept staying in Spain for a year and see if I'm the right fit for them, they're the right fit for me. And while I was there, the whole stuff with the public Iranian ban happened.
MARTIN: The ban Derakhshani is referring to was directed at her. At a competition in Gibraltar in 2017, Derakhshani did not wear a headscarf or hijab. She'd stopped wearing a hijab since leaving Iran the year before. But this time, the Iranian Chess Federation reacted, and they barred her from ever playing chess in Iran.
DERAKHSHANI: It wasn't more of a, hey, you made a mistake. You want to apologize? Or like, hey, let's have a talk about it. It was more of a, all right, so we saw she's not wearing hijab. So, OK, let's ban her without even telling her or sending an email or anything. Because if I'm in the country, they have a certain dress code that if you don't do, you'll be jailed. So you kind of have to do it. But when you're out of the country, they're not supposed to have any control over you because you, I mean, you're not in the country.
MARTIN: Derakhshani hasn't been back to Iran since and she's not sure what would happen if she did go.
DERAKHSHANI: If I were in Iran when the news broke out, I would probably still be in jail. So I got lucky that I chose to not go back when I left because I don't know what's going to happen to me if I do go back. I don't know if there is like, hey, if she comes, we're going to ask her gently to answer questions or, hey, we're going to jail her and no one's going to ever hear from her again. So because - or it could all be fine. They could have just, you know, made a media hit at the moment, and they might not mind right now.
MARTIN: For now, she is using her training in chess to help her think through her next move.
DERAKHSHANI: You know, in chess, sometimes the best defense is offense. And that's true. And - but I feel like in life. That's not necessarily the case all the time.
MARTIN: That was Dorsa Derakhshani. Today she takes on 30 competitors in a simultaneous chess match. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-16/a-chess-grandmaster-takes-on-30-opponents-in-a-simultaneous-exhibition | 2022-05-12T14:47:56Z |
SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
Erik Grice and Troy Snaterse are both from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. They now play music as Altameda, based in Toronto. On their new album, "Born Losers," much of the music, like lots of all kinds of music, is about longing to get out of town and go someplace down the road.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BORN LOSERS")
ALTAMEDA: (Singing) Born losers at the turnpike gates, their dreams coming undone. Come on, baby, let me know your name, and let's leave this town in a trail of dust.
SIMON: Erik Grice and Troy Snaterse join us now from Toronto. Thanks so much for being with us.
ERIK GRICE: Thank you so much for having us.
TROY SNATERSE: Thanks for having us.
SIMON: Let's listen to some of what I found a very arresting song, "Nightmare Town."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "NIGHTMARE TOWN")
ALTAMEDA: (Singing) Baby, let's burn it down. I can't stand the sound of this nightmare town, this nightmare town. Meet me down by the pylons tonight, down by that river full of shopping carts.
SIMON: Down by that river full of shopping carts, where the beauty ends and all the madness starts. Troy Snaterse, where did this song come from in your imagination or experience?
SNATERSE: At the time that I wrote it, my girlfriend and I had been, you know, talking about - she showed me the movie "Badlands," the Terrence Malick movie.
SIMON: We should explain that "Badlands," of course, is based on the real-life story of Charles Starkweather, who went on a murder spree in the 1950s.
SNATERSE: Yeah, exactly. So, you know, obviously, like, there's - taking this sort of violent aspect out of it, I feel like just, like, I found the desperation in their situation to be compelling and maybe something that I could insert myself into from, like, a - writing from a character standpoint.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "NIGHTMARE TOWN")
ALTAMEDA: (Singing) This nightmare town.
SIMON: Do you think that you can put something of Edmonton into your music that a lot of other musical acts just don't have, Erik Grice?
GRICE: I mean, I think when you grow up here and you - as you write music from that standpoint of whether or not you're in the city or you're leaving the city or maybe you love the city or you hate the city, I think that that kind of relationship with it definitely imparts a lot of itself into the song. You know, like, the fact that you mentioned that one line about the river full of shopping carts - I mean, growing up just outside of Edmonton, that - you know, my summer job when I was in - university student was quite literally fishing shopping carts out of the river that ran through our town. Being somewhere for that long certainly has an effect on you. And I think that that's a relatable thing with everybody's hometown.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "DEAD MAN'S SUIT")
ALTAMEDA: (Singing) Bought a dead man's suit in Denver. Then I wore it on the stage. Got me thinking about impermanence, how everything dies with age.
SIMON: What does your music and performance and the gift you have - what does it mean to you to be able to do, particularly during what I understand have been some difficult times?
GRICE: Yeah. I mean, I've kind of always felt a lot more comfortable creating something on stage with a group of like-minded people. We're just kind of - really, I think with this record hitting a stride sonically and the content that Troy is putting into that, the lyrics and the songs themselves is - you know, is just growing and getting better and better. You know, like, the personal aspect of it is something I think Troy can probably speak to a little bit better, but that's sort of how it feels for me.
SIMON: Troy, Troy Snaterse, you - well, you had to live through a lot of personal loss recently, didn't you?
SNATERSE: Yeah. Yeah, it was - yeah, my dad suffered a pretty serious stroke. He was in a coma for a couple of weeks and, you know, miraculously came out of it. And then my stepbrother, who was 18 at the time, ended up passing away maybe a week later in a motor vehicle accident. It's sort of - that dichotomy between being obviously extremely relieved that my, you know, dad had pulled through and then having my 18-year-old stepbrother pass away - you know, it just sort of had me considering why maybe some people are given a second chance and some people aren't. And it also had me considering my own mortality and what I was sort of going after in life with music and everything else. And yeah, it was just very informative to a lot of this record.
SIMON: When I looked into the song "Just Me & You" - we're going to hear a little of it now.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "JUST ME & YOU")
ALTAMEDA: There's nothing I wouldn't do for you. After everything that we've been through, you know we got to...
SIMON: I thought that could be a song, Troy Snaterse, for either your father or your stepbrother or both.
SNATERSE: Absolutely. Yeah, it was actually for my brother, my blood-brother. It was just when we were kind of going through that entire experience, we realized that, you know, we were kind of going through it alone. And if my dad wouldn't have pulled through, then, you know, we would have just been sort of on our own. And so I wrote it as sort of a love song to him.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "JUST ME & YOU")
ALTAMEDA: (Singing) There's nothing I wouldn't do for you after everything that we've been through.
SIMON: Altameda's Erik Grice and Troy Snaterse, thanks so much for being with us. Good luck to both of you.
GRICE: Yeah, I really appreciate it. Thank you so much.
SNATERSE: Thank you so much for having us. It's been an honor.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "JUST ME & YOU")
ALTAMEDA: (Singing) It's just me and you. You know we got to try to make it through. And now I know why. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-16/alt-country-duo-altameda-releases-new-album-born-losers | 2022-05-12T14:48:02Z |
SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
American music legend finally speaking for himself.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HAPPY")
DANNY ELFMAN: (Singing) I'm so happy - happy. I'm so happy - happy.
SIMON: You decide. Danny Elfman has composed music for more than a hundred films, including "Men In Black," "The Nightmare Before Christmas," "Edward Scissorhands" and "Milk." And there's this very familiar TV show theme.
(SOUNDBITE OF DANNY ELFMAN'S "THE SIMPSONS THEME")
SIMON: Yup. Danny Elfman composed the theme for "The Simpsons." He's won a Grammy and been nominated for Oscars. And in his latest album, Danny Elfman reflects a little more on himself. It's called "Big Mess." And its 18 songs are raw and absurdist. Danny Elfman joins us now from Los Angeles.
Thanks so much for being with us.
ELFMAN: Oh, my pleasure. Thank you.
SIMON: You said when you started this project, you didn't know what Danny Elfman sounded like anymore. What did you mean by that?
ELFMAN: Well, I mean, it had been almost 30 years since I was on stage and recording and doing that kind of stuff. The question was - when I started "Big Mess," it's like, who am I? What is my voice, you know? And I didn't know. I wasn't expecting or setting out to do an album at all.
SIMON: What happened?
ELFMAN: I was preparing months of work into this - coming back on stage for the first time in ages for Coachella two years ago. And I was all ready to go. And then, of course, (laughter) it cancels.
SIMON: Oh, my.
ELFMAN: And that's just really, like, the Elfman luck. I have a home up north that I've had for 25 years. We said, well, if we're going into quarantine, we'll go up there. And after a while, I found myself reflecting about my life and trying to figure things out.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "EVERYBODY LOVES YOU")
ELFMAN: (Singing) Everybody loves you. Everybody needs you.
SIMON: Mr. Elfman, how do you write music?
ELFMAN: You know, I didn't have any training. And to write cold onto paper, you use solfege, which means you hear all the notes in your head, and you know what they are.
SIMON: Yeah.
ELFMAN: I'm of the other side, that I need to hear the pitches, and I just compose completely from top to bottom as I go.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "EVERYBODY LOVES YOU")
ELFMAN: (Singing) Everybody.
SIMON: Why do you think your album wound up being so closely evocative of events going on now?
ELFMAN: I felt in 2020, but it hasn't changed today, that we're still living in an addendum that George Orwell wrote to "1984." Truth is turned in reverse. Two plus two equals five.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "CHOOSE YOUR SIDE")
DONALD TRUMP: This is a great thing that's happening for our country. It's a great day for everybody. It's a great day for everybody.
ELFMAN: The stolen election, voting machines pre-programmed by Venezuelan - I mean, it's too insane to be real. And yet now we see in the disinformation that's coming out of Russia regarding Ukraine - it's the same thing. That is constantly on my mind, you know? It's like it's what George Orwell always spoke of. It's taking any fantasy that you come up with and present it as reality, and people will buy it as reality.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "CHOOSE YOUR SIDE")
ELFMAN: (Singing) Choose your side. Choose your side. Just choose your side.
SIMON: Do I get this story right? You were discouraged from studying music when you were...
ELFMAN: (Laughter) Yeah.
SIMON: ...A youngster in grade school.
ELFMAN: I tried to join the orchestra. I think it was trombone I wanted to play. I was told I had no propensity for music (laughter). It's a phrase that I love. And I didn't pursue music. My entire career in music I owed to the fact that I moved from one school to another between middle school and high school in Los Angeles - one neighborhood to another neighborhood. And so I tried picking up the violin.
SIMON: I mean, the violin, not the tambourine.
ELFMAN: Yeah. Understand, at that point, I started really getting into 1930s jazz, as well as contemporary jazz. And I was a huge fan of Django Reinhardt. And there was a violinist named Stephane Grappelli.
(SOUNDBITE OF STEPHANE GRAPPELLI'S "RAIN CHECK")
ELFMAN: I said, man, would I love to play like that. That's what started it off. It was kind of secretly wanting to learn an instrument and not even telling my friends because it was embarrassing for me.
SIMON: Another thing we want to ask you about - you are in the process of premiering a series of classical music concertos across the world.
(SOUNDBITE OF DANNY ELFMAN'S "ELEVEN ELEVEN")
SIMON: There's a concerto in Austria.
ELFMAN: Yeah - and a percussion concerto in London. My goal right now is one concert piece per year every year. I've been trying to stay on that course since around five years ago, when I did my violin concerto.
SIMON: What will you be doing at Coachella? - 'cause you're going to be finally able to play there this year.
ELFMAN: It was, like, half live onstage rock 'n' roll and half film music. Now it's going to be between stuff from my past, Oingo Boingo songs reinvented, film music and "Big Mess" all, again, mixed together in even a crazier mishmosh.
SIMON: I'm moved to ask you this question. What do you think you've learned over the past two years, either about yourself, your life, music, the power of music, us?
ELFMAN: I need to push myself out of my comfort zone. And if I fail, I fail, you know? What are they going to do, shoot me (laughter)? I did feel that way in England. I had - there was a moment backstage where I was going to walk out to start my suite for "Nightmare Before Christmas." And I had stage fright. I was kind of frozen at the door.
Helena Bonham Carter was behind me 'cause she was going to sing Sally. And she goes, (imitating Helena Bonham Carter) Danny, what's wrong? And I was going - and I don't know if I could walk in there or not. She said, (imitating Helena Bonham Carter) Danny, [expletive] it, right? And I said, oh, my God. Yes, of course. Blank it is the motto of my entire life. And I walked out there and had one of the best nights of my life. The thrill of not having a safety net - it just makes life more interesting.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "CRUEL COMPENSATION")
ELFMAN: (Singing) I'm resistant now to change. Feeling different can be very strange.
SIMON: Danny Elfman - his album "Big Mess" is out now, and he'll soon be at Coachella.
ELFMAN: (Laughter).
SIMON: And gosh knows where else he shows up in the world. Thank you so much for being with us.
ELFMAN: Oh, thank you. It was really fun.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "CRUEL COMPENSATION")
ELFMAN: (Singing) Compensation - living a lie gets so easy to take because time has no friends, no beginning, no end. Perpendicular anomalies – crowd my space and sap my energies. Take my weapon before I forget. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-16/composer-danny-elfman-is-delivering-an-album-a-coachella-performance-and-concertos | 2022-05-12T14:48:08Z |
SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
Twitter is trying to thwart a takeover attempt by Elon Musk, the richest person in the world. Elon Musk loves to tweet, and he says he has a lot of ideas that might unlock the platform's potential. But the changes he's calling for at Twitter might not be popular with some users and advertisers. NPR's tech correspondent Shannon Bond joins us. Shannon, thanks so much for being with us.
SHANNON BOND, BYLINE: Thanks for having me, Scott.
SIMON: So how is Twitter trying to prevent the richest man in the world from buying what is, after all, a public company?
BOND: Well, the company is preparing to fight back. On Friday, the day after Musk announced this $43 billion takeover offer, Twitter's board introduced what's known as a poison pill to fend off Musk. Basically, this would let current investors buy more shares at a discount if Musk or anyone else tries to increase their stake in Twitter to 15% or more. And so that would make it more expensive for Musk to buy the company. So, you know, the board is not rolling over here. This sets up a real fight over the future of the company. Now, Musk already owns 9% of Twitter, but he says he wants to buy the rest and take it private to, as he puts it, unlock its potential.
SIMON: Do we know what he'd like to do with it?
BOND: Well, you know, Twitter, of course, has its problems, right? It's lost money in the last few years. It's not growing as quickly as investors would like. But unlike your typical corporate raider, Musk has been very upfront that this is not about making money. At a conference on Thursday, he said what he cares about is free speech.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
ELON MUSK: Twitter has become kind of the de facto town square, so it's just really important that people have the - both the reality and the perception that they are able to speak freely within the bounds of the law.
BOND: And so that's what Musk means when he talks about potential. He thinks Twitter is overly restrictive about what people are allowed to say, and he wants to change that.
SIMON: And how would you change it if he succeeds in a takeover?
BOND: Well, Musk says he thinks Twitter should basically allow all legal speech. And, you know, in the U.S., that's just about anything. So, you know, if Twitter were to do this, it would mean allowing disinformation, hate speech, harassment, spam. These are all things that Twitter and other internet platforms have been cracking down on. And, you know, we know these platforms already have a lot of problems with toxic content, anyway. Karen Kornbluh studies online disinformation at the German Marshall Fund, and she says there's a reason major platforms have these rules, especially Twitter, given who uses it most.
KAREN KORNBLUH: Their asset is all the journalists and opinion-makers who come there. If they kill that asset by making it completely inhospitable and a cesspool, I think they're going to go in the wrong direction.
BOND: And, of course, Scott, you know, Twitter makes its money from ads. And advertisers also don't want to be around this kind of content.
SIMON: What other ideas does Elon Musk have for Twitter?
BOND: Well, you know, he knows the platform really well, right? He loves to tweet. He really gets how Twitter works. And so he's talked about banning bot accounts that tweet automatically, right? These have caused lots of headaches for Twitter over the years. Russian trolls use them to spread disinformation. There are also networks of bots that constantly tweet about cryptocurrency to try to hype up prices. Musk also says he wants to make Twitter's algorithm public so users could better understand why they're being shown particular tweets. That's something, actually, former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has also advocated for.
And maybe the most popular idea Musk has endorsed is giving people the ability to edit their tweets after they're posted. Now, that might not seem like a big deal, but it's something a lot of Twitter users have wanted for years. And Twitter says it's actually been working on an edit button since well before Musk started buying shares in the company. And it says it's going to start testing that out soon.
SIMON: NPR's Shannon Bond, thanks so much.
BOND: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-16/elon-musk-wants-to-change-twitter | 2022-05-12T14:48:14Z |
Updated April 17, 2022 at 8:34 AM ET
Fake news purporting to connect sexually explicit material to the daughter of the only female presidential candidate in the Philippines' upcoming national election has jolted the race. The intended target appears to be Leni Robredo, the current vice president, who is now running for president and is the chief rival of frontrunner Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.
The fabricated news posted on a porn site is no longer accessible. Only a headline alludes to a salacious video of Robredo's 34-year-old daughter, Aika.
Ronnie Holmes, president of the polling firm Pulse Asia, says that in an election campaign swimming in disinformation, the attempt to smear the Robredo family is "a new low."
"This is gutter politics at its lowest. And the most debased act any partisan can engage in," he says. "However, this is the social media ecology that has developed over the last almost six years."
In that time, the presidency of Rodrigo Duterte has provided a sort of petri dish in which contempt for women has proliferated, says the University of the Philippines' Rachel Khan. Noted for his foul mouth, Duterte often humiliated women with sexist remarks, creating a climate that critics say is shorn of decency and where anything goes.
Khan, a journalism professor, says the bid to taint Robredo's daughter with a false story weeks before voters render their verdict on her mother is shocking, but not surprising.
"We've have a very misogynist administration, a very misogynist president, who has encouraged this sort of demeaning-women behavior."
Khan works on a university project that tracks disinformation, and says Robredo has been disproportionately targeted, beginning from the time she became vice president in 2016. She beat out Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for the job, in a stunning come-from-behind-victory. He's accused her of cheating ever since, and for years fought the results.
As they prepare to face off again, this past week the 56-year-old vice president squarely blamed Marcos for disparaging her eldest daughter.
"I'm not surprised ... this is how the opposition operates," she said. "How they fight right now — this is what they'll be like in power. Full of lies. Full of dirt. They should highlight the good and the good they can do," Robredo said.
The Marcos campaign denies any involvement and accused Robredo of "black propaganda."
The use of disinformation in the Philippine presidential race is lopsided
Khan's fact-checking project reports that almost all the disinformation about Robredo is negative, while disinformation regarding the scion of the Marcos family overwhelmingly puts him in a positive light, embellishing his credentials, and often exaggerating his achievements, and those of his father, the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
The younger Marcos has used social media to rewrite the history of his once-disgraced family, portraying his parents, Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos, as philanthropists, and his father's administration, historically tied to human rights abuses and multibillion dollar graft, as visionary.
Marcos Jr.'s sister, Imee Marcos, is herself a prominent politician who has been an exuberant critic of Robredo, who is her brother's biggest threat in the race that includes 10 candidates.
The sister's latest invective is a video, displayed on her Facebook page. Borrowing from the genre of horror films, it portrays Leni Robredo as possessed by the devil. A puppet depicting the vice president is tied on a bed, while a cast of three women — Imee Marcos starring as one of them — performs an exorcism.
In this make-believe production, Imee screams at the flopping doll meant to be Leni, "Don't play the victim card," and channeling her brother, shouts "Cheater, cheater!" A second woman picks up the political theme, yelling — "Stop playing the gender card. Stop using the fact you're a woman to find allies."
The short film ends with voices of people in cities around the world, jeering — "Len-Len Loser!" while flashing their index finger and thumb in the form of an "L."
Such vitriol suggests the Marcos camp is getting nervous about Robredo repeating her performance of 2016, and scoring another upset victory.
Robredo's campaign, meanwhile, has tended to cultivate an image of the candidate as someone who is tough, but prefers spreading "love" as she calls it, rather than fake news.
Supporters of each candidate trade hashtags meant to support or degrade the other side.
But when it comes to influence on social media, the Marcos camp is in a league of its own: The family is said to have cottoned on to the power of social media a decade ago and has reaped the benefits of getting there before most other politicians.
Could Robredo repeat an upset?
Robredo's numbers have surged in the most recent polling and she attracts masses of supporters to her rallies. Pollster Ronnie Holmes says the stunt maligning her daughter was definitely a mistake and could sway some voters inclined to sympathize with her over the attack on her family.
But Holmes also notes Robredo has a long distance to cover to close what is estimated to be a 30-point gap.
The question he says, is whether there is enough time to catch Marcos between now and election day on May 9.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-16/fake-sexual-material-targets-the-only-woman-running-for-president-in-the-philippines | 2022-05-12T14:48:20Z |
SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
President George W. Bush once said he looked Vladimir Putin in the eye and found him to be very straightforward and trustworthy. President Barack Obama called for a reset of relations with Russia. Bill Browder, the American-British financier, also thought he could have a fruitful relationship with Vladimir Putin. But after his Russian lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, was beaten to death in a Russian jail in 2009, he has dedicated his life to seeking justice for Putin's crimes. He has a new book, "Freezing Order: A True Story Of Money Laundering, Murder And Surviving Vladimir Putin's Wrath." Bill Browder joins us. Mr. Browder, thanks so much for being with us.
BILL BROWDER: Good to be here.
SIMON: I have to ask, how are you still with us, given the history Vladimir Putin has of how he settled scores with adversaries?
BROWDER: Well, he's definitely wanted to kill me. He's threatened me with death, with kidnapping. There have been eight Interpol arrest warrants issued for me. I was even arrested in Madrid a couple of years ago. The reason that I'm still here is that in the midst of all this, Putin was always keeping one foot in the civilized world and one foot in the criminal world. He wanted to be going to the G-20 conference. He wanted to be hosting international sports events and so on. And even though he was actively plotting assassinations, including my own, the - I guess at some point he decided that killing me would probably hurt his chances of being in that civilized world. And so he didn't do anything outrageous during that period of time. Now he's got both feet in the criminal world by launching this unbelievable murderous invasion of Ukraine. And so my own personal risk has gone up exponentially.
SIMON: You see the Magnitsky Act - that's a bipartisan bill that passed in 2012, freezes the assets of Russian officials who figured into the death of Sergei Magnitsky - as central to almost everything we're seeing now. How so?
BROWDER: Well, so the Magnitsky Act - it, of course, doesn't just apply to Sergei Magnitsky's killers. It applies to all Russian human rights violators, and actually all human rights violators around the world, for that matter. It's now - it started in the United States, and it now exists in Canada, the U.K., the EU, Australia. In fact, 34 countries have it.
SIMON: Thanks in part to your continuing campaigning for it, but please.
BROWDER: Indeed. But the - Putin hates this - hated it because this potentially puts his own personal fortune at risk, which is an enormous fortune. I estimate it's well north $200 billion. And he tried to stop it in every way possible, even interfered - he interfered in the U.S. election in 2016, sent his own people to Trump Tower to try to repeal it - all sorts of crazy things. And now this is the template which is being used to go after his money and the oligarchs' money and all these people who have had their assets frozen and their yachts seized. This is - this all started with the murder of Sergei Magnitsky and the response to that murder, which - I mean, I could have never imagined that the death of my lawyer would have led to the policy which is one of the main policies to fight back against this terrible stuff that's going on right now.
SIMON: Forgive me if this sounds facile, but are you saying following - are you saying follow the blood and money?
BROWDER: Indeed. Blood money has led to all this stuff, basically. Putin - if you were to ask me why Putin is invading Ukraine, it's because he has stolen so much money that he's afraid of the Russian people rising up, and he needed a distraction. Remember wag the dog? - this - you know, start a war. And that's what - I don't believe this is about NATO or the EU and Ukraine joining up. This is about Putin being desperately afraid of his own people. And he started this war, and he - this is not the first time he's started a war. He starts wars when he thinks he's flagging in his approval of the Russian people.
SIMON: Are you concerned about popular opinion in Western democracies calling for their governments to scale back for support for Ukraine as energy prices rise, which increases the cost of just about everything?
BROWDER: Well, I think that that will probably happen. But at the same time - and I've seen this so many times before - Vladimir Putin will commit another atrocity, which will make it almost impossible for anyone to say that. He just continues to escalate, to do more terrible things. And in the moment that we're starting to feel like, God, it's getting expensive to do stuff; you know, maybe this is not so good. you know, we'll see 100,000 dead and some terrible, unbelievable thing we've never could imagine anyone doing. And that's kind of how Putin operates. And so he's not trying - he's playing this game for his own domestic audience. And his own domestic audience needs to see brutal strength. And at the moment, he's showing weakness. And so I think that whatever we're feeling right now and whatever some people may be upset about, inflation, we're all watching this stuff on TV every day, and it's too heartbreaking and painful to watch.
SIMON: Mr. Browder, I have to ask you almost an unfathomable question, but given the amount of time and perspective you've devoted to trying to figure out Vladimir Putin, do you worry about a nuclear attack?
BROWDER: I don't just worry about it. I think it's probable. Now, who he attacks and what he does with that is another question. But we have to understand that Vladimir Putin is a man who is a criminal. He knows no boundaries. He has no moral compass. He's effectively a person who will do anything for his own personal, financial and survival interests. And if he sees the use of a nuclear weapon - probably a tactical nuclear weapon - as something that will reframe this conflict for him, I think it's entirely likely and even probable that he uses one. And I'm not the only one who thinks this. The president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has said the same thing.
SIMON: And how does the West respond?
BROWDER: Well, I think that we have to basically create a total, absolute barrier against this guy. We have to completely isolate him economically, and we have to provide the Ukrainians with every possibility of countering whatever is happening to them. And we haven't done enough yet. There's still more oligarchs to be sanctioned. There's still oil being bought by - I mean, the Europeans are sending a billion dollars a day to Putin every day to kill Ukrainians by buying their oil and gas. We've got to stop that. And we have to give the Ukrainians every bit of support they need militarily, and up to and including a no-fly zone. Many people don't like me saying that, but that's the truth.
SIMON: The concern is that would provoke a Russian military response, right?
BROWDER: Well, we already have a Russian military response. I mean, we've been involved in Libya and in Bosnia with no-fly zones where Russia was nearby. This is - I mean, there's absolutely no justification for him invading Ukraine, and it's totally reasonable to do that. But that's a longer conversation. But I do believe that we have to show Putin strength, and this business of saying, you know, we don't want to have a military confrontation with you - we already have a military confrontation. We're already involved. We're already giving them huge amounts of weapons.
SIMON: Bill Browder - new book, "Freezing Order" - thanks so much for being with us.
BROWDER: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-16/freezing-order-is-the-true-story-of-money-laundering-murder-and-putins-wrath | 2022-05-12T14:48:26Z |
Fresh Air Weekend highlights some of the best interviews and reviews from past weeks, and new program elements specially paced for weekends. Our weekend show emphasizes interviews with writers, filmmakers, actors and musicians, and often includes excerpts from live in-studio concerts. This week:
How SNL alum Molly Shannon found profound healing after childhood tragedy: Shannon's new memoir, Hello, Molly! opens with the car crash that killed her mother and sister when Shannon was 4. She says, for a long time, she was motivated by a desire to make her mom proud.
Wet Leg hooks you with their prickly, raunchy way of looking at the world: Last year, a catchy song called "Chaise Longue" became a breakout hit for a duo of 20-something women from the Isle of Wight. Wet Leg's new self titled album is full of more clever entertainment.
Delia Ephron on surviving cancer and the defiance of falling in love in your 70s: In her new memoir Left on Tenth: A Second Chance at Life, Delia Ephron writes about losing her first husband, finding new love, and how surviving cancer has changed her outlook on life.
You can listen to the original interviews and review here:
SNL alum Molly Shannon opens up about the grief that fueled her career
'Wet Leg' hooks you with their prickly, raunchy way of looking at the world
Delia Ephron on surviving cancer and the defiance of falling in love in your 70s
Copyright 2022 Fresh Air. To see more, visit Fresh Air. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-16/fresh-air-weekend-molly-shannon-wet-leg-and-delia-ephron | 2022-05-12T14:48:33Z |
SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
George O'Connor spent the last 12 years writing and illustrating 12 graphic novels inspired by Greek mythology. His bestsellers make the Olympian gods and goddesses feel like modern-day superheroes, with his latest focusing on the patron of wine and theater, Dionysos. NPR's Elizabeth Blair reports.
ELIZABETH BLAIR, BYLINE: George O'Connor's illustrations are bursting with color, action, humor and lots of details - gruesome monsters, razor-sharp swords. His gods and goddesses are fierce, voluptuous, mischievous, even snarky.
GEORGE O'CONNOR: My whole method for treating all of these characters was looking at them as an abstraction of a family and then figuring what their actual personalities were. And there's an amazing consistency that you can notice when you read the corpus of Greek myth and you read all these stories. There's certain personality traits that come to the fore.
BLAIR: Take Zeus. O'Connor thinks a lot of the exalted depictions of the king of gods are just wrong.
O'CONNOR: He's not a dignified, old gray-beard. Like, you know, he's not Sir Laurence Olivier or Liam Neeson.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "CLASH OF THE TITANS")
LIAM NEESON: (As Zeus) Release the Kraken.
O'CONNOR: He'd be, like, you know, this 21-year-old surfer dude from California with, like, sick abs.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "CATCH A WAVE")
THE BEACH BOYS: (Singing) Catch a wave and you're sittin' on top of the world.
BLAIR: A surfer dude on top of the world who's kind of a playboy.
O'CONNOR: Every Zeus myth is chasing around after, you know, the people he's attracted to. This guy, also - as a god, he can look like anything he wants. He wouldn't ever be the old, dignified man. That's not Zeus.
ARI: (Reading) Hey, Hera.
AZANIA: (Reading) Oh, Zeus, you frightened me.
BLAIR: That's Azania and Ari, two fourth graders from Brent Elementary School in Washington, D.C., reading from George O'Connor's graphic novel on Zeus' wife, Hera.
ARI: (Reading) You look beautiful today, Hera - as beautiful as the day I first saw you. Come with me, Hera. Be my queen.
AZANIA: (Reading) Oh, please spare me. I've seen you Zeus. I've seen you with so many others. Why should I wish to just be another name on that list?
O'CONNOR: My favorite goddess is Hera, who often - in, like, kind of, like, a mini retelling, she gets cast very simply as a bad guy, casting her as the jealous shrew of a wife, not taking into account that Zeus is the worst husband imaginable. And my Hera is full of, like, quiet grace and dignity.
BLAIR: O'Connor says he's been interested in Greek mythology since he was a kid growing up on Long Island. He got hooked on drawing because it was something he did with his parents.
O'CONNOR: My parents - they still were in connection with it to whatever degree, whatever that thing is that makes people create that way, at least in drawing, that they would just draw. And I would sit there and draw with them. And, of course, they were way better than me. And it was, like, a real thing for me to measure myself up against.
BLAIR: While they drew human figures, young George drew monsters, like the one-eyed Cyclops.
O'CONNOR: For instance, my drawings of the Cyclopes - that's based on a drawing I did with my dad when I was about 6 years old.
BLAIR: O'Connor says "The Olympians" are the kind of comic books he wishes he had had when he was growing up. And he doesn't sanitize the stories. For Brent Elementary School fourth-grade teacher Caitlin Arbuckle, that's refreshing.
CAITLIN ARBUCKLE: A lot of times when you're reading Greek myths stories that are, like, geared towards kids, they're kind of filtered a little bit.
BLAIR: Dionysos, for example, is the god of wine, who was born female and then becomes male.
ARBUCKLE: He doesn't shy away from the gender aspects. He doesn't shy away from the fact that Dionysos enjoys a lot of wine - like, some more adult things. But these kids are - you know, by the time they're in fourth grade, a lot of them - they do have that maturity, and they know about the world (laughter).
EASTON: We would call him, like, a party animal.
BLAIR: When I asked fourth graders Easton (ph), Azania and Ari what they noticed about Dionysos, they don't mention his gender transition but rather how he was born from Zeus' thigh.
EASTON: Yeah.
ARI: Yeah.
AZANIA: Born out of Zeus' thigh (laughter).
ARI: Yeah.
AZANIA: Yeah.
ARI: He was born out - because Zeus was like, oh, no, it's a baby, and his mom just died. And it's not ready to be born. So he put it in his thigh, and...
EASTON: (Laughter).
AZANIA: Some reason.
ARI: ...Wham, bam, he's alive.
O'CONNOR: Myths are stories that, I think, we can all admit probably never really occurred. But they speak to, like, greater human truths.
BLAIR: O'Connor does not talk down to his young audience.
O'CONNOR: Greek mythology is filled with stuff that people would clutch their pearls at and be like, but the children. I try not to clean up any of that. The world is filled with things that maybe upset your particular worldview. But they exist, and they're things that children are going to encounter. So why not encounter them in story?
BLAIR: Next up for George O'Connor - Norse mythology. Elizabeth Blair, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-16/graphic-novelist-oconnor-turns-ancient-gods-and-goddesses-into-modern-superheroes | 2022-05-12T14:48:39Z |
SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
Now, for a larger look at how inflation may be affecting people across the country and the world, we're joined by NPR's Scott Horsley. Scott, thanks so much for being with us.
SCOTT HORSLEY, BYLINE: Good morning. Good to be with you.
SIMON: We just heard from people in Brownsville, some of the things they're doing without or forgoing and postponing. Does that sync with what you've seen elsewhere?
HORSLEY: You know, in some cases, yes. But overall, consumer spending has held up pretty well, at least so far. And that's important because, of course, consumer spending is such a big driver of the overall U.S. economy. Just a few days ago, the Commerce Department put out retail spending figures for the month of March. And it is interesting to see how people are coping. We know gasoline prices hit a record high that month. Gas prices jumped 18% from February, but spending at gas stations rose only half that much. So it does look as though people are putting fewer gallons of gas in the tank, maybe cutting back on their driving a bit. It's also possible that when they see the bill at the gas pump, they decide to skip the Slim Jim and soda pop inside the gas station.
SIMON: What about spending at the grocery store? Food is important to everybody.
HORSLEY: Of course. And we've seen a similar but less pronounced adjustment at the supermarket. Grocery prices rose 1.5% last month. Sales were up less than that. So it does seem people are compiling their grocery list a little more carefully, maybe trading down to cheaper brands or leaving some things out of the shopping cart altogether. The rise in grocery prices over the last year is the largest in four decades. And so that does have an impact on shoppers like Rebekah Lane. She's a mother of two in Thomaston, Maine.
REBEKAH LANE: I can walk out of the grocery store right now with two reusable bags, and it's $100. The money's not going as far.
HORSLEY: But even as Americans are cutting back their spending on gasoline and groceries, a lot of people are still spending pretty freely in other areas.
SIMON: Where, for example?
HORSLEY: You know, a lot of discretionary things. It is important to keep in mind that a lot of families built up significant savings during the pandemic. And last month there was a real jump in spending on sporting goods and electronics and clothing. People also ate out more. Now, online sales did fall in March by almost 6.5%, suggesting that maybe some people are tired of shopping from their living rooms while hunkered down. But as spring approached and the winter wave of pandemic infections retreated, it looks as though people were eager to get outside, maybe buy a new outfit or a new baseball glove. We're also seeing strong demand for airline tickets, even though airfares jumped nearly 11% between February and March.
SIMON: Of course, as I don't have to tell you, economists warn that high inflation poses a threat to the economy not only here, but around the world. What concerns do they have?
HORSLEY: Yeah. In the U.S., the Federal Reserve has started to raise interest rates in an effort to tamp down inflation. The Fed hopes to engineer a so-called soft landing, but that's not easy to do. And if the central bank hits the brakes too hard, that could hurt the economy. Lots of other countries are facing similar problems, and, of course, the war in Ukraine has made things even worse. The war is driving up prices for wheat and corn and cooking oil. Food economist David Ortega of Michigan State University says that's particularly challenging in places like North Africa and the Middle East, which are heavily dependent on the Ukrainian breadbasket, which is now under fire.
DAVID ORTEGA: While things feel pretty bad at home with regards to food prices, the situation is much more dire in other parts of the world.
HORSLEY: The leader of the International Monetary Fund says the war is just adding to the hardship around the world and dragging out the recovery from the pandemic that we've all been waiting for.
SIMON: NPR's Scott Horsley, thanks so much.
HORSLEY: You're welcome.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-16/how-americans-are-adjusting-to-record-inflation | 2022-05-12T14:48:45Z |
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Tonight, across the world, Jewish families and friends will gather for the second night of Passover. Many will hold a Seder, a ritual meal where the story of the liberation of the Hebrew slaves from bondage in Egypt is retold. For Jews around the world, it's a time to honor their faith and make the celebration their own by bringing their own cultural and food traditions to the table. And that's also true of African American Jews, for whom the Passover story resonates on multiple levels.
To hear more about this, we called Michael Twitty. He is a James Beard Award-winning author and food historian. And Rabbi Sandra Lawson, director of Racial Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Reconstructing Judaism. Michael Twitty and Rabbi Lawson, welcome. And thank you so much for joining us.
SANDRA LAWSON: Yeah, thanks for having us.
MARTIN: So - and I want to mention that we are having this conversation in advance of the holiday, because I don't want people to think that we're interfering with your celebrations in practice. Michael, you write so powerfully as a food historian about what food tells us about history and culture and our lives. And you've written about the intersection of foods in the Jewish and African diaspora. So would you just talk as briefly as you can, because obviously you've written books about this and done marvelous television shows about this, about why food is so important in understanding culture?
MICHAEL TWITTY: I think that when you're oppressed or marginalized, whether that's queer identity, Jewish identity, Black identity and so many others, I think food plays a very special role in caretaking - self-care, community care. It's a way that we express love for each other. But, you know, there's also this element of satire and humor and inside think and genius behind African American in particular, African Atlantic, African Diaspora and Jewish diaspora foodways. You know, I've often made the joke that we're the only people who, when we sit down to eat, we're already talking about the next meal we're going to eat or the meal we had before the meal we had.
(LAUGHTER)
TWITTY: And it's like only - and I grew up in a multicultural community outside of Washington. And, of course, you know, there were people from some of the most ancient food cultures - Greek, Italian, Chinese. They never had these conversations. But if you went to a Black or Jewish household, that was the conversation. And the other thing is that we love to eat our oppression. I mean, for God's sakes, Passover is about some really awful bread that we had 3,500-plus years ago, and we're still complaining about it. And, I mean, part of, you know, soul food is chitlins and this and - why we got to eat that? And part of Jewish food is, gefilte fish, why do we got to eat that? And it's always the same thing. It's like you just got to eat it. And so I asked my mother one time, do we have to eat our oppression? Do we have to eat our pain? And the answer was yes. So I - there's a seamless line of just, like, connection between the two cultures.
MARTIN: I have never heard it expressed that way before, but that makes complete sense. And so, Rabbi, I wanted to ask about - Passover is such a special holiday because I think that people, whether they're Jewish or not, understand it on an intuitive level. But I think that it particularly resonates with people who connect with the African American experience. So I wanted to ask you about that. How - is there a way in which Passover combines, like, more than one strain of your identity?
LAWSON: You know, we have all these stories of liberation. We have, like, Black liberation theology and, you know, other forms of liberation. And as far as I'm concerned, like, the exodus from Mizrahim, which is the Hebrew word for Egypt, and also, I think the Hebrew word is better because it also translates to the place of pain. So Mizrahim was the place that caused us pain. And it was also a place of constriction, you know, where we felt like we couldn't be ourselves. We weren't free. And so with that in mind, definitely the story of exodus from Mizrahim is a very powerful story that definitely resonates with both Black and Jewish communities.
When I sit at my Passover Seder with my friends, I can't help but draw the connection from - freeing Mizrahim, freeing the place, you know, that enslaved us and the American slavery experience, you know, bringing in Harriet Tubman, bringing in Frederick Douglass. And not just that, like, the Jim Crow period of my grandparents and my parents. And one of the things about Passover is that it is about family traditions. And it's celebrated in the home, and probably the most celebrated Jewish holiday because it's celebrated at home. And there's a lot of flexibility about how we remember that experience of enslavement.
MARTIN: Can I ask each of you how - what are your Seders like? Are they big? Are they intimate? How - what are they like?
TWITTY: So - go ahead. Go ahead, Rabbi, please.
LAWSON: No, I was just saying - I was wondering, like, I really want to know what Michael's Seder is like.
MARTIN: Yeah, me, too.
(LAUGHTER)
MARTIN: But - Michael, I bet there's a lot of pressure on you. But what's Passover like for you?
TWITTY: I'm an extrovert. I love big Seders. I love entertaining people. Of course, the past few years have not been able to do that as much. So it's been - we had a four-person Seder last year and it seemed like really grand. And now this year, I have 15 people one night and 17 people the next night.
MARTIN: Oh, boy. That sounds amazing.
TWITTY: Yeah. We're going to - we have the tambourines. We got everything. Like, it's like - it's, you know, it's hard. In both traditions, you cook for a crowd. And it's not easy to scale down. I mean, you could do it, but it's just, you know, you have to go into this knowing it's going to be intimate and very purposeful and very defined or it's going to - or it has to be orchestrated. I mean, a Seder isn't just, you know, a meal. It's like, hey, I got to - the kitchen. I got to do this. I got to do that.
LAWSON: Right.
TWITTY: Plan a menu. I have to also, if you're leading a Seder, you know, figure out, what parts are we going to - we going to do the whole thing for the sake of doing the whole thing? We going to skip certain parts? How is the meal going to look? How can I make sure everybody is happy? So - but, I mean, it's all those different elements. I'm sure you're going to ask the question, what are you serving?
MARTIN: And you know I am. OK. Thank you. Yes, sir.
TWITTY: So we're going to do a brisket thing with berbere, the traditional Ethiopian spice mixture. We're also - I'm also doing chicken that's like deby (ph) style from Senegal. I'm doing kachumbari, which is a Indian influenced Swahili salad. Of course there'll be collard greens. There'll be this African American Seder plate which you can look up online with the sweet potato for the karpas, the collard greens (inaudible), the hot chili for the horseradish, the chicken bone for, you know, migration. All those symbols will be there. And so we'll have all the basics, the, you know, a blend of Sephardic, Mizrahi, Ashkenazi, African, African Atlantic, African American. So I call my cooking style Afro Oshkharfardi (ph). So, you know, all that stuff is going to be on the plate. I got vegans. I got omnivores. I have, like, a whole menu that's, like, two-thirds vegan rabbis. So, you know, you want to come up from Burlington or Fredericksburg, Va., overnight, you know, I don't know how, you know, fly on the backs of angels, you all are welcome to come. And you'll have plenty of vegan and veggie food to eat.
MARTIN: That sounds amazing.
LAWSON: At the end of our Seder between next year in Jerusalem, I'm going to say next year at Michael Twitty's house.
(LAUGHTER)
MARTIN: I think that sounds like a good plan. Well, Michael Twitty and Rabbi Sandra Lawson, thank you both so much for talking with us today and sharing these traditions and just sort of beautiful celebrations with us. And, you know, next year, hopefully, people will be able to celebrate in whichever way they wish without fear of COVID, so...
TWITTY: (Non-English language spoken).
LAWSON: Yes.
MARTIN: Michael Twitty is a food historian and James Beard Award-winning author of "The Cooking Gene" and the forthcoming "Kosher Soul." Rabbi Sandra Lawson is the director of Racial Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Reconstructing Judaism. Thank you both so much.
LAWSON: Thank you, Michel.
TWITTY: (Non-English language spoken). Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-16/how-black-american-jews-incorporate-their-food-traditions-into-their-passover-seders | 2022-05-12T14:48:51Z |
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Some Ukrainians fleeing the Russian attack on their country have made it to the United States. Many have done so by traveling to Mexico's northern border and asking U.S. immigration agents to let them in on humanitarian grounds. On the Mexican side, in Tijuana, authorities turned a sports complex into a makeshift shelter. That's where the new arrivals can wait for their turn to ride a shuttle to San Diego to ask for admission into the U.S. NPR's Adrian Florido visited the shelter recently and spoke to some of the hundreds of Ukrainians waiting there.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Speaking Ukrainian).
IRYNA MEREZHKO: 1983, 1983.
ADRIAN FLORIDO, BYLINE: Your number is?
MEREZHKO: 2221.
FLORIDO: Iryna Merezhko has been at the shelter for two days. She flew from her home in Los Angeles to Warsaw, Poland, and then took a train into Ukraine, where she met her sister and her sister's 14-year-old son, Ivan. Her sister is staying to support Ukrainian troops, but she wanted her son to come to the U.S. until the war is over.
MEREZHKO: We told him it will be like a long summer vacation - break, break - in California.
FLORIDO: As they said goodbye, everyone, including Ivan, understood that to be more of a hope.
MEREZHKO: If be honest, it can be a last goodbye between us, yeah, you know. Yeah, it was really difficult, yeah.
FLORIDO: Merezhko decided to come through Mexico when she learned the easiest way to get Ivan into the U.S. was to show up at the border and request humanitarian admission for a year, newly available to Ukrainians on their final flight into Tijuana, almost every other passenger was Ukrainian. Olya Krasnykh is one of the volunteers running this shelter. She says the number of Ukrainians arriving at this border city has ballooned faster than anyone had expected.
OLYA KRASNYKH: Six days ago, it was 350.
FLORIDO: In one day.
KRASNYKH: In one day. And the last three days, we were right about 1,000.
FLORIDO: A thousand people arriving at Tijuana airport every day.
KRASNYKH: With Ukrainian passports, yeah, waiting to cross into the United States. Yep.
FLORIDO: Krasnykh is a real estate executive in Silicon Valley. But like many Ukrainian Americans, when she learned that Ukrainians were arriving in Tijuana, she dropped everything and came down to help. They found a growing tent city near the border, so they worked with Tijuana officials to set up this shelter and with immigration agents to take 50 people at a time to the border. But Ukrainians are still arriving much faster than agents can process them.
KRASNYKH: And our grassroot volunteer effort just cannot scale to keep up.
FLORIDO: She says this effort needs help from a large nonprofit. For now, it's taking two to three days for a newly arrived Ukrainian to be let into the U.S. That's a lot faster than people from Latin American countries who've been waiting months to get in. Still, some Ukrainians have been traveling to other border cities, hoping to get in faster.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
FLORIDO: At the shelter, the mood is a mix of Mexican hospitality mingled with trays of Ukrainian food, along with the anxiety of war-rattled families. Aleksey Ivkov drove from north of San Francisco to meet his 74-year-old mother, Tatiana. She spent weeks determined to ride the war out in a subway tunnel in the city of Kharkiv before her son was able to convince her to come to Tijuana. When he picked her up, he noticed the PTSD right away.
ALEKSEY IVKOV: Because we came out in the airport, it was some truck stopping, and it was just loud noise. And she was like, oh, my God, what's going on?
FLORIDO: Even so, she's already thinking of her return home to Ukraine.
TATIANA: (Non-English language spoken).
IVKOV: As soon as it's going to quiet down a little bit, she will try to go back, basically.
FLORIDO: For now, she's cheerful, she says, excited for the big family party, her grandkids waiting for her in California. Adrian Florido, NPR News, Tijuana, Mexico.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-16/hundreds-of-ukrainian-refugees-are-at-the-u-s-mexico-border-hoping-for-asylum | 2022-05-12T14:48:57Z |
SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
You've heard the stories in Liana Finck's new graphic novel, "Let There Be Light," but never quite in the way they're presented here in words and drawings. God is a woman. She created life and the world, and gets lonely. Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, begetting and idol worshipping, Abraham, Isaac, Rebecca, Esau, Noah and his ark all appear, reimagined by the artist and writer.
Liana Finck, whose cartoons regularly appear in The New Yorker, joins us now from Brooklyn. Thank you so much for being with us.
LIANA FINCK: Thank you so much for having me.
SIMON: You didn't come to what are known as the Scriptures exactly as a stranger for this project, did you?
FINCK: No. I was raised Jewish, and I went to Hebrew day school as a kid, and we were relatively observant. We went to synagogue. We did Friday night. I think I've been kind of drifting away from it, but also loving the stories, and it put me in a weird position, like where do I get the stories if I'm not observing? And this was my answer.
SIMON: I was very touched by your phrase, when you write about this in the afterword, that you spent - you spent a lot of time - I'll quote your words to you, "reconciling the timeless parts of Genesis with the horrific parts."
FINCK: I just kind of gloss over the horrific parts in general. I so much think of the Torah as just a story and, like, a beautiful window into the way people thought thousands of years ago and the way people were thousands of years ago. But in retelling the story as my story, it struck me that I couldn't tell certain things just straight. Like, I didn't agree with a lot of the things in there, and it was really my first time reconciling myself to the differences in the way we see things now from the way we did then.
SIMON: I have to ask - why is God a woman and not a genderless, nonbinary entity?
FINCK: It's a self-portrait. I think I don't write fiction because I don't really know how to invent characters. I just know how to put myself into a character. So even when I read the Torah, I can't really fathom an old man with a beard Creator. I can only fathom kind of a childish, sweet, very flawed person taking a lot of joy in making things and then feeling really angry at herself for not making something better.
SIMON: Well, I mean, to take us through your portrayal a bit, she creates the world and then discovers that she's lonely. I found that quite moving.
FINCK: I don't even remember if that's in the real Torah. It's so clear to me that that's how God felt, and that's why God created humans.
SIMON: And then there's the comic moment when Adam and Eve come into being, and Eve, she sees she is without clothes. And she feels mortified about something, doesn't she?
FINCK: Oh, yeah, she feels fat.
SIMON: (Laughter).
FINCK: Because apples do have calories. It's not a perfectly guilt-free food like a carrot. And this is my old, old way of thinking. I don't think this way anymore. I've retired it.
SIMON: I'm interested in - well, at one point, God looks down from her heavens, and she's just appalled by what she feels humans have made of the world and all the wickedness that's awash on the globe. She makes what you call a horrendous decision.
FINCK: Yeah. She's mostly horrified at what men have done. They're kind of - they're, like, curse word starters. They like to start things and bad things, and they like murder. They like to get high. They like to have fun in ways that hurt other people. And these people reflect her also. And they lie. Like, she realizes that this exists inside of her if her creations are doing this. And she's always kind of had a crush on men as opposed to women in my story, so that's the - that's complicated for her. She loves men and she hates men, and she realizes she has to destroy the world and start over because, of course, the next project that you've never - that you haven't made yet is always potentially perfect, whereas the thing you've made is not perfect.
SIMON: Well, I'd like you to read the section that we might call Noah and the ark.
FINCK: OK.
(Reading) Our heroine cried for 40 days and 40 nights. God's love of her creations had eroded imperceptibly over time. There had been the episode with the tree of knowledge and the terrible murder of Abel by Cain, but it wasn't until now that the misery poured out of her in all its brutal force. In other ways, though, she was profoundly happy. The way she felt about Noah, it was a new way to feel. As for Noah, who knows if he felt it, too. He must have felt something, though, all things considered. Finally, it - whatever it was - stopped. She wasn't crying anymore. She no longer wanted to destroy the world. Then she remembered her friends and blew the standing waters away.
SIMON: Notice the product placement for All Things Considered because on the eighth day, God created Susan Stamberg, and it was good in any event.
FINCK: Mm hmm. And then there is some Fresh Air.
SIMON: (Laughter) Yes, and then Fresh Air. It all followed up until Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me.
FINCK: Yeah.
SIMON: God's work was doing done. You suggest you're a God that's not all-powerful, but merely plenty powerful and capable of being vindictive and cruel.
FINCK: And if she is cruel, it's from love. She just loves this guy, and it's from expecting a lot. She expected a lot of her humans, and they didn't live up to her expectations, so she's kind of blowing everything up. In the pictures, you can see how clueless she is towards Noah and how he's really suffering here because he doesn't love her back. She's too big for him to love.
SIMON: If you're at a Seder dinner this weekend, will you - as they read from the Haggadah, will you be thinking, oh, I could draw that? I know how I can change that.
FINCK: Yeah. I bet I'll feel more connected to the Haggadah this year than I usually do. The Seder is so long that I'm usually just focused on my own discomfort than on the words.
SIMON: There are places in the world and people even here you would offend for having the temerity to draw a picture of God and to change the image and to change the words and to change the story.
FINCK: Part of me would like people to notice the book enough to be mad about it - I mean, not too much. Yeah, I would love to ruffle feathers a tiny bit especially because I genuinely like the story as I'm telling it. I'm not telling it to turn my back on my culture. I'm writing it as my way of reconnecting with my culture.
SIMON: Liana Finck's new graphic novel, "Let There Be Light." Thank you so much for being with us, and please give our best to your God.
FINCK: This was such a pleasure. Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-16/in-liana-fincks-world-or-maybe-just-in-her-new-book-god-is-a-woman | 2022-05-12T14:49:03Z |
SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
The National Endowment for Humanities has announced more than $33 million of grants to fund 245 projects. A few museums got large amounts for physical improvements and digitizing collections. Some colleges received money to create new classes. We were curious about the smaller grants, though, ones for individuals which came to $6,000 each, and asked some of the recipients just how much of a difference that money may make.
JESSICA BLAKE: I'm going to go to Baton Rouge and look at local state archives there.
SIMON: Jessica Blake says she's excited. She's an assistant professor at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tenn.
BLAKE: I am writing an article on enslaved beer brewers in a region called the Lower Mississippi Valley.
SIMON: Specifically on enslaved women living in areas controlled by Spain and France in the 18th century. Enslaved women from this era did not write their own accounts of their lives, but by combing through old property records kept by slave holders, Jessica Blake believes she can discover what the lives of some of these women were like.
BLAKE: One woman named Martone passed away in 1774. She's a woman who doesn't own multiple pairs of shoes, and yet she's here investing in multiple kettles, multiple barrels of rice and, you know, a hand cart, a jug. Through what she left, I put together a portrait of a woman who tried to eke out a living by selling beer.
SIMON: Jessica Blake says the NEH grant will help fund her travel and her research.
BLAKE: So it's an interesting way of trying to bring women of color into the economy in new ways. And that's the goal of the project, to give women of color credit for the ways they contributed to the colonial economy through the brewing of beer.
ELIZABETH ESCOBEDO: What this means for me is that I will be able to work full time on the project during the summer months.
SIMON: And that's Elizabeth Escobedo, associate professor at the University of Denver. The $6,000 she's getting will support her upcoming book on the history of Latina servicewomen during World War II. She says Puerto Rican women demanded to be able to join the military, and once they were allowed to, many of them did so in segregated units. She says this time period was crucial for many Latino families, including her own Mexican American family, and it's important to hear those stories.
ESCOBEDO: And we also add a more inclusive perspective to the historical scholarship on Mexican American and Puerto Rican veterans that has focused largely on the male experience.
SEROUJ APRAHAMIAN: My name is Serouj Aprahamian. My dance name is Midas, so people know me as Midas as well.
SIMON: And he's adapting his Ph.D. dissertation on breakdancing into a book. During his time at grassroots dancing events, Midas would speak with some of the early practitioners of the art form and notice how some of their stories were at odds with the accepted history of breakdancing.
APRAHAMIAN: For example, the notion that people were involved in gangs and, you know, they put down their weapons and started dancing and, you know, solving their problems through expression - I mean, that didn't really happen. You know, it's kind of a "West Side Story"-ification (ph) of, like, breaking and hip-hop history. But more than that, I mean, very few people were really involved in gangs.
SIMON: And like the other grant recipients, he says the NEH grant will be a huge help to his project.
APRAHAMIAN: This grant comes in at the perfect time and is also kind of a morale boost to finish the project and do my due diligence to do as best a job as possible on it.
SIMON: So, researchers impelled by passion, take note. Get those proposals ready. Maybe next year you'll be the one on beat.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-16/individual-grants-fuel-diverse-research-from-break-dancing-to-enslaved-beer-brewers | 2022-05-12T14:49:09Z |
SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
You probably know inflation is accelerating. Prices rose an average 8.5% in March compared to a year earlier, more than in February, January and so on. We'll get to high - how higher fuel, transportation and food costs are affecting the country as a whole. But first, let's begin with a close-up view in Brownsville, Texas. Texas Public Radio's Gaige Davila spoke to residents there about how they're managing.
GAIGE DAVILA, BYLINE: Here at the Port of Brownsville, it's fairly quiet, except for the shorebirds. Most shrimp boats are stuck in port.
CHARLES BURNELL: My next-door neighbor across here is tied up. I'm the only fool working (laughter).
DAVILA: Charles Burnell and his son Kyle run the Shrimp Outlet on Brownsville's coastal edge. Earlier this week, one of their boats returned with $100,000 worth of shrimp, a slightly above average catch. But Kyle explains, the money had been essentially spent by the time it got back to the dock.
KYLE BURNELL: Instead of spending $3,000 on groceries, they're spending 5 to $5,500 on groceries. And fuel, of course - the same thing as everywhere else. It's almost double to what it was before the boats went out.
DAVILA: Their lone operational boat was at sea 65 days as the price of diesel began to soar. They're now paying double for fuel than they were just a few months ago.
K BURNELL: It's just almost impossible to make a living on it right now as far as the, you know, owners go. The crew's making good money, but the ones maintaining the boat and keeping the boat going aren't making too much.
DAVILA: In Brownsville, it's more than just fuel costs hitting the 200,000 people who live here. At Nerve Coffee, barista Noe Barboza is feeling the pinch. When gas prices begin to rise, he started biking everywhere. Rideshare apps like Uber and Lyft just weren't a viable option.
NOE BARBOZA: When I would call for a Lyft to come to work, it would just be about $6. But recently it cost me about $15 to go from my house to here.
DAVILA: Barboza is attending his last semester of university in Brownsville. He lives at home with his mom and siblings. They used to go out to the movies and order takeout food, but not anymore.
BARBOZA: Back in the day, I used to be able to have, like, a larger budget and stretch it out a little bit further. But now rice and eggs, even a couple of vegetables, can come up to $70, and that's choosing, like, a more organic approach towards it as well.
DAVILA: Groceries are trucked in daily to Brownsville from across the Mexican border and to the north. At South Texas Oriental Market, manager Rachel Grenn says they get their shipments from Houston.
RACHEL GRENN: The product itself is higher back in Houston where we get those items. And because we have our own cargo, we bring the stuff here. And the price was increase almost every week.
DAVILA: Grenn says they're having to pay more for just about everything, including the store's most basic items.
GRENN: It's unbelievable, you know, even just for a soy sauce, you know? Usually it's very cheap. It's only $3 a bottle. Right now - $4.75.
DAVILA: H-E-B is the largest grocery chain in Texas. Thousands of people shop at the store on Boca Chica Road every day, including Alfredo Gongora.
ALFREDO GONGORA: Light bill's going up, but definitely the food. I see that especially - definitely in the food.
DAVILA: Gongora was leaving with a bag of chicharrones, or dried pork skins. They used to cost a dollar, but now it's twice that. He had a case of beer, too, which also was more expensive.
GONGORA: Beer has gone up. Why you're taxing beer, I don't understand. That's the most important thing in a man's world - belly, beer (laughter)
DAVILA: Gongora is a former shipbuilder at the port. He's been unemployed since the beginning of the pandemic. He starts a new job Monday in time to help with the rising utility and grocery costs.
For NPR News, I'm Gaige Davila in Brownsville, Texas. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-16/inflation-is-affecting-the-fishing-business-in-brownsville-texas | 2022-05-12T14:49:15Z |
SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
The Russian warship, Moskva, sunk in the Black Sea this week. The Pentagon says Ukrainian missiles hit the vessel. But Russia is still preparing a renewed assault on the eastern part of Ukraine. NPR's Eyder Peralta is in Dnipro in Ukraine's east. Eyder, thanks for being with us.
EYDER PERALTA, BYLINE: Hey there, Scott.
SIMON: And, I gather, an attack this morning in Kyiv - what do we know about what happened?
PERALTA: So the strike appears to have hit a military hardware factory. And the mayor of Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko, says that rescue workers are on the scene. The capital Kyiv has been relatively quiet since Russian troops pulled out of the northern suburbs. But the mayor is warning that this fight is not over. He's telling residents to take shelter when they hear air raid sirens and that they should not come back to the city because he believes that the Russians will at some point circle back. But look, Scott, in the past couple of days, fighting continues across the country - in Poltava, not far from here. A man was reported killed by a missile strike in Kharkiv, where I just came from. There's shelling every day. And the fighting is intensifying in the Donbas region in the east, and here in Dnipro, the air raid sirens haven't stopped all night and all day.
SIMON: Eyder, what appears to be the Russian strategy with fighting in so many places around the country?
PERALTA: At this point, there doesn't seem to be a lot of movement of the front lines. I just came back from Kharkiv, and there is shelling day and night, but the Ukrainian military isn't moving north and the Russians are sort of just sitting there, lobbing shells into the northern part of the city. I sat down with the deputy head of the Kharkiv Regional State, Roman Semenukha, and I asked him what he thought of that Russian strategy. Let's listen.
ROMAN SEMENUKHA: (Through interpreter) If they had a goal to take electricity out of the city, they would aim for only, like, electrician stations or something like that, to the critical infrastructure points. We have no logic in that. They don't do it.
PERALTA: So, you know, instead, he says shells are hitting everything - the roads, schools, homes, businesses. He says that the Russians are maintaining those positions to keep Ukrainian forces occupied in multiple fronts.
SIMON: And what do we know about the long column of Russian military equipment reportedly headed to the southeast of Ukraine?
PERALTA: I asked Semenukha about that, and he says that the Ukrainian military hit that column earlier this week. But he believes that they are headed to a city called Izium, and that's part of his territory. And he thinks that that is where the heaviest fighting will happen next. Let's listen.
SEMENUKHA: (Through interpreter) The battle for Izium - they say that it means not only like we are losing our ongoing battle to Kharkiv, but it's going to be pretty much the battle for the whole Donbas.
PERALTA: He says that city is super important for the Russians because if they can take it, they can encircle Kharkiv, the second largest city in Ukraine, or they can move to Dnipro, where I am, to expand their territorial control in the east. So in the coming days, that is likely the battle to watch.
SIMON: And what did you see in Kharkiv, from which you've just come out?
PERALTA: It's pretty bad. There's a ton of shelling. But most people have left. I went to an emergency room, and the medical director there said that at the beginning they were getting a lot of casualties, but that has slowed down significantly because so few people remain. And that's a blessing, she said. But also, when it comes time to rebuild, it's going to make that harder.
SIMON: NPR's Eyder Peralta in Dnipro, eastern Ukraine. Eyder, thanks so much. Stay safe.
PERALTA: Thank you, Scott. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-16/kyiv-is-hit-by-missiles-a-day-after-sinking-a-russian-war-ship | 2022-05-12T14:49:21Z |
SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
It's time for Movies You Missed.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "CASABLANCA")
HUMPHREY BOGART: (As Rick Blaine) Here's looking at you, kid.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "GONE WITH THE WIND")
CLARK GABLE: (As Rhett Butler) Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "ON THE WATERFRONT")
MARLON BRANDO: (As Terry Malloy) I could have been a contender.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "ALL ABOUT EVE")
BETTE DAVIS: (As Margo Channing) Fasten your seatbelts.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "JERRY MAGUIRE")
TOM CRUISE: (As Jerry Maguire) Show me the money.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "TAXI DRIVER")
ROBERT DE NIRO: (As Travis Bickle) You talking to me?
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "WHEN HARRY MET SALLY...")
ESTELLE REINER: (As Older Woman Customer) I'll have what she's having.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE COLOR PURPLE")
OPRAH WINFREY: (As Sofia) I ain't never thought I'd have to fight in my own house.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE")
BRANDO: (As Stanley Kowalski) Stella.
SIMON: That's a montage I've missed. Time for another installment of that series where we ask listeners, colleagues, family and friends to watch a classic movie they've somehow managed to miss. Today - a Disney classic, a common cultural reference, but not for Janelle Nelson in St. Paul, Minn.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "MARY POPPINS")
JULIE ANDREWS: (As Mary Poppins, singing) It's supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. Even though the sound of it is something quite atrocious, if you say it loud enough, you'll always sound precocious. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.
SIMON: (Singing) Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. Who doesn't know that? Well, maybe Janelle Nelson. She'd never seen "Mary Poppins," the 1964 film starring Dame Julie Andrews, the great Dick Van Dyke, of course, based on books by P.L. Travers and tells the story of a magical nanny who floats down from the sky to help a posh British family. But Janelle Nelson watched "Mary Poppins" for us this week and joins us from St. Paul. Thanks so much for being with us.
JANELLE NELSON: It's wonderful to be here. Thank you.
SIMON: How did you manage to avoid seeing "Mary Poppins" all these years?
NELSON: I was 3 when it came out - right? - so my parents probably didn't take me, never watched it on TV. Then when I went to college and I had "sophistication," quote-unquote, last thing I was going to do was spend 2 1/2 hours watching "Mary Poppins." You know, it's a little saccharine. It's for 3 and 5-year-olds and never hit my movie queue.
SIMON: Wow. You watched the movie this week?
NELSON: Yes.
SIMON: Do you now think it's supercalifragilisticexpialidocious?
NELSON: Yeah. You know, it's - I liked it.
SIMON: Well, what did you think of it? How do you see the film?
NELSON: Well, I really saw it as a call to holding on to simple pleasures, kind of a call back to your childhood. Some of the scenes were just really enchanting and moved me almost to a tear. And I loved the story of the parents and especially the dad really connecting with the children again.
SIMON: Julie Andrews's performance, I believe she won the Oscar for.
NELSON: Oh, deservedly so - magical performance, the emotion that she brought to the lullabies that she sang, especially "Feed The Birds."
SIMON: (Singing) Feed the birds.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "MARY POPPINS")
ANDREWS: (As Mary Poppins, singing) Feed the birds, tuppence a bag.
SCOTT SIMON AND JANELLE NELSON: (Singing) Tuppence a bag.
NELSON: (Singing) Tuppence.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "MARY POPPINS")
ANDREWS: (As Mary Poppins, singing) Tuppence, tuppence, tuppence.
NELSON: You know, and I've heard the music for years, but there was no context. So to see that beautiful animation, the picture of the beggar woman offering the birdseed for sale - it was just - you know, it just kind of moved me.
SIMON: Yeah. I have to ask you about the performance of Dick Van Dyke, which I love. But many British actors say in the most affectionate way that this is the worst British accent by an American in film history.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "MARY POPPINS")
DICK VAN DYKE: (As Bert) Don't move a muscle. Stay right where you are. I'd know that silhouette anywhere. Mary Poppins.
NELSON: Oh, my God. The accent was so off-putting.
SIMON: (Laughter).
NELSON: It took me a while to kind of get used to it. But he, too - I thought he was wonderful, you know, as Bert. And, you know, the other thing that I liked about the film was it really was about the bridge between the classes - you know, the very formal, very stuffy, money-oriented, and then the beggar woman, the chimney sweep. It's those individuals that got the children and the - especially the father...
SIMON: Yeah.
NELSON: ...In touch with small pleasures...
SIMON: Yeah.
NELSON: ...In life.
SIMON: Laughter has an important role in this film, doesn't it? You particularly like, I think, a scene where we learn about the elevating powers of it.
NELSON: Oh, absolutely. And Ed Wynn is a classic film actor. And I was, like, surprised to see him. Like, oh my gosh, he's in this film?
SIMON: Ed Wynn plays the chuckling, eccentric Uncle Albert, who laughs and floats around the ceiling.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "MARY POPPINS")
ED WYNN: (As Uncle Albert, singing) I love to laugh (laughing), loud and long and clear.
NELSON: It draws you in - you know, tea party on the ceiling - and it makes you laugh. It really is about the power of the more things you're around, the more you become like them. And it was the laughter, but the joke-telling - right? - and how many kids don't tell their dad a joke? That was a point that connected finally with the father and the son. And I really love that about it.
SIMON: Yeah. Look, I'm glad we could bring this wonderful film into your life. It's nice to be able to get a chance to do that with someone.
NELSON: Same. I am too. I found out that it's actually a favorite film of a couple of friends of mine, and they were almost like, I don't know if I can be friends with you if you don't like this movie. So I'm glad that it touched me.
SIMON: Yeah.
NELSON: It's really wonderful.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "MARY POPPINS")
DAVID TOMLINSON: (As Mr. Banks, singing) With tuppence for paper and strings, you can have your own set of wings. With your feet on the ground...
SIMON: Janelle Nelson, thanks so much for being with us on this edition of Movies You Missed. And I think you will understand when I say now go fly a kite.
NELSON: Thank you.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "MARY POPPINS")
TOMLINSON: (As Mr. Banks, singing) Oh, let's go fly a kite, up to the highest height.
SIMON: I love this song. If you have a movie you've missed and you'd like to watch it and tell us about it, go to n.pr/moviesyoumissed (ph).
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "MARY POPPINS")
TOMLINSON: (As Mr. Banks, singing) Up through the atmosphere, up where the air is clear. Oh, let's go fly a kite. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-16/movies-you-missed-1964s-mary-poppins | 2022-05-12T14:49:27Z |
SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
There are musicals about fairy tales, musicals about Founding Fathers and now a musical about one woman's journey through competitive college bhangra dancing. NPR's Hafsa Fathima has more.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ISHQ KO KAL MEIN KHOJIYE")
ARI AFSAR: (Singing) When I dance, I'm connected. When I dance, I'm here.
HAFSA FATHIMA, BYLINE: That's the sound of "Ishq Ko Kal Mein Khojiye," a song from the new musical "Bhangin' It." It had its first production this spring at the La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego. Bhangra is a Punjabi folk dance from India and Pakistan.
REHANA LEW MIRZA: As time gone on, it has become popularized in the U.S. through these intercollegiate competitions, where they honor the traditions of bhangra, and they put their own American flavor to it.
FATHIMA: That's Rehana Lew Mirza, who co-wrote the book for the musical. She's followed bhangra competitions around the country.
LEW MIRZA: I became obsessed with it shortly after graduating from college. And I would trade writing classes for tickets to bhangra competitions.
FATHIMA: She co-wrote the book with her husband, Mike Lew. Longtime playwrights, this was their first musical. And it explores similar themes they've brought to other plays.
MIKE LEW: Within our plays, there is a real bruising race politics. And, indeed, like, the way that our marriage was formed was from having a lot of conflict over what our responsibilities are as Asian American writers and as both individuals and kind of members of a community.
FATHIMA: Lew is third-generation Chinese American. Lew Mirza is the child of Pakistani and Filipino immigrants. The protagonist of their musical is a mixed-race college student named Mary, who joins her collegiate bhangra team in order to connect with her culture. But when Mary and her team disagree about how much their dancing should keep tradition or embrace new styles, conflict arises.
LEW: That conflict is a larger sort of meditation on being multigenerational Americans and sort of, how do we hold on to our culture and yet let it evolve?
FATHIMA: Lew and Lew Mirza turned to composer Sam Willmott to write the music and lyrics.
LEW MIRZA: We wooed him by (laughter) taking him to Basement Bhangra as well and to Big Apple Bhangra competition in Queens. We basically rented a Zipcar and zipped him away (laughter).
FATHIMA: Willmott loves Golden Age musicals that put dance at the heart of storytelling, but writing in the bhangra style was new to him.
SAM WILLMOTT: I think the first thing to do was just to listen, listen, listen, listen. You know, we went to bhangra competitions, but also just, like, broad strokes research.
FATHIMA: Over time, they added other styles of music - poetic recitations from India and Pakistan called ghazals, Bollywood numbers, and, of course, pop music. Willmott says it was important to give the music cultural depth and scope. So they brought in Indian classical musician Deep Singh to co-orchestrate.
DEEP SINGH: There's a moment where we go from, like, ghazal - but there's still a theater aspect to it. But then we go, like, suddenly into this classical world with tanpura and lira and classical tabla playing, and then we go back into theater again. It's the coolest thing ever to hear.
FATHIMA: The show runs at La Jolla Playhouse through this weekend and will head to Boston later this year.
Hafsa Fathima, NPR News.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-16/new-musical-bhangin-it-revolves-around-a-competitive-college-bhangra-dancer | 2022-05-12T14:49:34Z |
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
And finally today, you know we must have our poetry. April is National Poetry Month, and to celebrate, we invite you to submit your original poems via Twitter and TikTok using the #nprpoetry hashtag. Of course, we love to read them, but we also invite an accomplished poet to come and select a few entries that stood out to them. Today, we've called on Raquel Salas Rivera. He is the former poet laureate of Philadelphia. He writes and performs in English and Spanish. His latest collection is entitled "Before Island Is Volcano." And he is with us now to tell us more. Welcome. Thank you so much for joining us.
RAQUEL SALAS RIVERA: Thank you so much for having me.
MARTIN: So before we jump into listener submissions, I would love to learn more about you. You've been writing for some years now. You've published a few collections. Could you just tell us, when did you first start writing and do you remember why?
SALAS RIVERA: Yes. I was 12. I lived in Houston, Texas. And I read Langston Hughes and fell in love with poetry. But my mother was also a poet. And my grandfather was also a poet.
MARTIN: Well, that's a wonderful legacy to have and also a lot of pressure, I might think.
SALAS RIVERA: A little bit (laughter).
MARTIN: Your latest collection is called "Before Island Is Volcano." It's - first of all, I love the title.
SALAS RIVERA: Thank you.
SALAS RIVERA: It is bilingual. The first half is in Spanish, the second half in English. How did the decision come to you to share your work in this way?
SALAS RIVERA: Well, I actually wrote my first books in Spanish only and published them in Puerto Rico. And then I moved to the United States, in particular in Philadelphia. And in moving here, I - maybe like a year or two after living here realized that it would be interesting and to my benefit to have at least some translations for my work. And I, after a lot of consideration, decided to begin self-translating.
MARTIN: Did you find yourself struggling more over the Spanish or the - you, as I understand, you write first in Spanish and then you translate to English, correct?
SALAS RIVERA: Yes. Yes. I'd say it's harder in different ways, right? In Spanish, it's hard because writing poetry is hard, and the more you read, you think it gets easier, but it actually doesn't.
(LAUGHTER)
SALAS RIVERA: But yes, the translating into English is also very difficult because you have to think about not just meaning - right? - but also what sounds good in another language.
MARTIN: So let's get into some of the submissions. And you picked a few poems, so thank you for that. Let's start with one from Twitter. Do you want to read it?
SALAS RIVERA: Sure. I chose by William D. Davies Jr. (ph) "The Necklace." (Reading) Like costume jewelry left on the dead, daffodils clasp their sunny economy around the ruins of a farmhouse.
MARTIN: Tell me. What struck you?
SALAS RIVERA: I was very struck by the imagery and sort of the core metaphor. I really like poems that are able to, like, carry a metaphor all the way through - right? - The sort of - the economy, the rural economy then sort of being something in ruins, but also like this beautiful thing - right? - that then sort of frames it, you know. And just every - I feel like every part of the poem works towards the end.
MARTIN: And then there's one from TikTok. We can play that. Here it is.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Reading) They ate at my life like a piece of chocolate cake clutched in a tiny, chubby fist. I'll give myself over to the delicious chaos of my children.
MARTIN: Well, I can relate to that.
(LAUGHTER)
MARTIN: What stood out to you about this poem?
SALAS RIVERA: I think I really just sort of - I really like the idea, but I also felt something was interesting in the poet's sort of choice to - I don't know - talk about something very daily and very commonplace. I think a lot of my poetry goes for that, so I enjoyed it. And it also made me laugh.
MARTIN: Yeah, me too. There's one more here, I think, from Ash Evan (ph). Do you see it? Do you have that one? You want to read that one?
SALAS RIVERA: Yeah. (Reading) Stars in the tire tracks, paths we took barefoot when we were kids.
MARTIN: Tell me why you liked this one.
SALAS RIVERA: I really just - I liked the fact that it's not telling us what the image is, right? It's not saying, OK, these are stars reflected in the puddle made by a footprint. But it sort of leads us there. And I just really liked that idea (laughter).
MARTIN: Well, thanks for for reading these. And one of the things I've always appreciated about this, you know, this is something that we try to do every year to celebrate poetry. And what I like is that people tell us that many of the people who send poems aren't writers by training or trade. They - this is just something that they like to do. And I just appreciate that. And I also appreciate that people have different forms. Some people embrace, like, these very classical, you know, forms. And people just try different things. Did you have fun reading the different submissions?
SALAS RIVERA: Absolutely. And I also think that, you know, a poet, you know, doesn't have to be a professionalized thing. To be a poet can also be, you know, anyone can call themselves a poet. I'm very broad in my definition of what that is, so it was beautiful to read these poems.
MARTIN: Do you have any advice for people who want to write but maybe don't know where to start? Is there - I mean, gosh, you've been writing for so long, maybe you don't even remember what it's like not to. But what do you think?
SALAS RIVERA: I think that poetry is about desire. You know, you - if you love any aspect of poetry, read and write it. And don't be afraid to write it. You know, I think it shouldn't belong to one person. It's very much about - I don't know - what works for you. So my advice is read and just do it. Don't hold back.
MARTIN: That is Raquel Salas Rivera. His latest collection of poetry, "Before Island Is Volcano," is Bilingual, and it is out now. Raquel Salas Rivera, thank you so much for joining us.
SALAS RIVERA: Thank you so much for having me.
MARTIN: If you'd like to participate in our celebration of Poetry Month, you can post your original 15-second poem to TikTok with the hashtag #nprpoetry. Please remember to keep it radio friendly and 15 seconds or less. Of course, we are still appreciating your original Twitter poems. You can tweet those @npratc along with the #nprpoetry hashtag. The original Twitter rules apply. Poems must be 140 characters or less. And as you've heard, every weekend this month, an accomplished poet is joining us on the air to talk about some of the submissions that caught their eye. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-16/nprpoetry-a-former-poet-laureate-of-philadelphia-shares-his-latest-collection | 2022-05-12T14:49:40Z |
The news can be hard to get through each day.
Wars, crimes, and the suffering of innocents. The warming of the planet and rising of the seas. Wildfires, lockdowns, detainment camps, and millions displaced by war, drought, hunger, and dictatorships.
Sometimes, there is too much to take in.
This is a weekend that includes Passover, Easter Sunday, and the continuation of Ramadan. Holidays about rescue, renewal, and reflection. Stories about the parting of seas, for a people to escape slavery; a great soul rising; and fasting and long nights of prayer to remind ourselves of the preciousness of life.
Sarah Sager, a Cantor in Beachwood, Ohio, told us this confluence of holy days, "represents the right of every human being to be free. For three-thousand years we have been observing this holiday with the same vision. We will continue to do so until the dream is realized. Somehow, it shouldn't be so hard and rare."
Imam Makram Nu'man El-Amin in Minneapolis told us, "I choose not to see this as a coincidence, but a sign that all these faiths overlap. We bring multitudes around the globe together in acts of prayers this weekend for the common good of all peoples. This is especially important in a time of conflicts and social justice concerns."
And Sister Margaret Guider of the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry, sent us a poem that reads in part:
"The convergence of these sacred days
should serve as a collective reminder,
that the prophetic heritage
of our respective faith traditions, whether adhered to or not
in the ways of our ancestors, continues to permeate the air
which the human family breathes,
of freedom, love and peace,
the life-giving breath of the Holy One.
Yet, many of us, throughout the year,
breathe through our mouths,
while holding our noses.
In doing so, we defend ourselves from the suffocating air of
bondage, hatred and violence
that surrounds us.
However, in doing so,
we also close ourselves off
from any opportunity of
smelling the scents of
justice, hope and compassion
that also arouse conscience,
giving rise to courage, and resiliency.
Perhaps these holy days
will provide us with an opportunity to open ourselves to be moved
Christians, East and West,
Muslims, Shia and Sunni,
and Jews, Orthodox and Reformed,
to breathe in
the scents of the sacred - of freedom, love and peace,
that we are called to breathe out -
Not only on special days,
But every day."
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-16/opinion-three-faith-traditions-come-together-for-a-weekend-of-remembrance | 2022-05-12T14:49:46Z |
SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
More political turmoil in Pakistan. Last weekend, parliamentary maneuver forced Prime Minister Imran Khan out of office. The opposition had criticized him for economic mismanagement. And now Mr. Khan is rallying his supporters to protest his ouster.
NPR correspondent Diaa Hadid is in Islamabad. Diaa, thanks for being with us.
DIAA HADID, BYLINE: You're welcome, Scott. Hi.
SIMON: So a new prime minister, Shahbaz Sharif, was selected by Pakistan's parliament this week. Imran Khan and his reporters refuse to accept it. What kind of crisis are we seeing?
HADID: It's unclear if this is escalating into a full-blown political crisis or not. Tens of thousands of people attended his last rally. And if he can keep up those numbers, it will certainly deepen polarization here, and that could have consequences down the line. It's worth remembering Khan was ousted in a no confidence motion this week after trying to stave it off, including by dissolving parliament. And he claims it was an American plot aided by his rivals. Some supporters also accuse the army of aiding his downfall and robbing Khan of his position. Have a listen to this from a rally after he was ousted.
(SOUNDBITE OF CROWD CHANTING)
HADID: They're saying the watchman is a thief, and the watchman here is the army. If this kind of anti-army sloganeering continues, it will keep adding to tensions.
SIMON: Mr. Khan's supporters claim the army is arrayed against them. Could those accusations in Pakistan have consequences?
HADID: Yeah. So normally in Pakistan, one treads very carefully around talking about the army. But what we've seen over the past week is an unprecedented backlash. There's been direct criticism of the army chief. This is Pakistan's most powerful institution, and the country's been ruled by the military for around half of its 75 years. Khan's opponents even accuse the army of propelling him to power, as you've mentioned before. And analysts say his downfall began after the military stopped supporting him, hence that anger toward the army chief. Now, some of Khan supporters have been arrested. Amnesty International is demanding their release. But there's a bigger consequence here, though, beside the price that Khan and his supporters might pay. This crisis puts a spotlight on the army and its alleged role in politics, and that potentially may be good for Pakistan's democracy.
SIMON: How has the military responded?
HADID: Well, the army seems to have been caught on the back foot. It held a hastily arranged press conference this week to insist they hadn't helped to ouster Khan. And that press conference is a bit of that spotlight I'm talking about. The army is being forced to explain itself. But analysts here are taking everything right now with a grain of salt. As an editorial here said today, if the army wants to prove it's not meddling in politics, the proof of that will be in the upcoming elections, which are expected after August.
SIMON: What can you tell us about the new prime minister and how this conflict fits into other challenges he faces now?
HADID: Right. It's interesting that we don't say a lot about the new prime minister because he's very low drama. His name is Shahbaz Sharif. He belongs to a powerful political dynasty. He's also widely seen as a technocrat. He's already got to contend with the currency falling in value. There's a stalled IMF bailout. There's fuel subsidies the country can't afford. He's going to have to make unpopular decisions. And now, he's also going to have to grapple with this constant political upheaval that's surrounding him and which is potentially eroding any legitimacy he might hope for.
SIMON: NPR correspondent Diaa Hadid in Islamabad. Thanks so much.
HADID: Thank you, Scott. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-16/pakistans-former-prime-minister-imran-khan-is-fighting-his-ouster | 2022-05-12T14:49:52Z |
SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
And it's time for sports.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
SIMON: Baseball honors Jackie Robinson. Woman in the coach's box. And would you pull a pitcher throwing a perfect game? NPR's Tom Goldman joins us. Thanks for being with us, Tom.
TOM GOLDMAN, BYLINE: Hi, Scott. Good morning.
SIMON: Good morning. Every Major League player wore 42 yesterday to honor Jackie Robinson, who broke baseball's color barrier 75 years ago. But as we mark this anniversary, Major League Baseball still has a long way to go, doesn't it?
GOLDMAN: I read an article this week by the great sportswriter William Rhoden, and he recounted Jackie Robinson's last public appearance at the 1972 World Series. And Robinson...
SIMON: Pointing straight across at the - like, the dugouts and...
GOLDMAN: Yeah, exactly. You know it well. And he said, I'm extremely proud and pleased to be here this afternoon but must admit that I am going to be tremendously more pleased and prouder when I look at that third base coaching line one day and see a Black face managing in baseball. As you know, he died soon after that - never got to see the majors' first Black managers three years later - Frank Robinson, no relation. But now on the 75th anniversary, as you note, there are only two Black managers in the majors, no Black general managers. The percentage of players who are American-born Black players hovers around 7%, 8%. And a big problem continues at the front end. Baseball is still fighting to gain traction with large numbers of Black kids.
SIMON: I should note about 31%, a third of the players in the league are Hispanic or Latino, which has been real growth. And, of course, increasing numbers of players are from Japan and South Korea. Major League Baseball is still a lot more international than, let's say, the NFL.
GOLDMAN: Yeah. Absolutely.
SIMON: Historic moment in the coach's box - talking about the coach's box, as Jackie Robinson indicated - wasn't there?
GOLDMAN: It sure was - Alyssa Nakken, first female coach to work on field in a regular season game for the San Francisco Giants. Ironically, her moment, a moment of society moving forward, was made possible by a step backwards. The Giants' regular first base coach Antoan Richardson was ejected from the game after an incident in which a white coach on the opposing team said something that Richardson, who's Black, felt had racist undertones. The two men talked it out the next day in a - really a nice moment of reconciliation. But yeah, unfortunate that baseball had to kind of stumble through that historic first with Alyssa Nakken, who did get lots of nice congrats from players on the field and whose helmet was sent to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
SIMON: Yeah. And we have just enough time for you to answer yes or no or, uh, I don't know. Moment that - well, Clayton Kershaw throwing a perfect game against Minnesota. I mean, perfect - every batter out, no hits, no walks. Only 23 perfect games in Major League history. But after seven innings, 80 pitches, Dave Roberts, the great Dodgers manager, lifted him. Now, why pull a great 34-year-old pitcher who may never get this close to a perfect game ever again?
GOLDMAN: OK. So I guess this is...
SIMON: Is this what's wrong with baseball today?
GOLDMAN: Some say...
SIMON: Would you pull that picture? Oh, go ahead.
GOLDMAN: (Laughter) OK. I guess you've put me in the role of manager Dave Roberts. Yeah, that would have been a heck of a moment in April. But, Scott, I care more about October. It was a cold day in Minnesota. Kershaw had just six more outs to go. But why tempt fate? He's 34, as you said. He's been injured in recent years, and I want him fully healthy for when LA makes another run at a World Series title. Plus, Kershaw agreed with me, at least publicly. He said I would have loved to have stayed, but bigger things, man, bigger things. So there we go.
SIMON: I'm worried that any pitchers nowadays, because of algorithms, is going to be lifted before they can be as good or better than Bob Gibson or Cy Young. I get the last word. NPR's Tom Goldman...
(LAUGHTER)
SIMON: ...Mostly nice speaking with you. Thanks.
GOLDMAN: (Laughter) Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-16/saturday-sports-baseball-history-then-and-now-pitchers-perfect-game-cut-short | 2022-05-12T14:49:58Z |
SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
Millions of Christians around the world are nearing the end of Lent, a time that's supposed to be focused on reconciliation. Russia invaded Ukraine shortly before Lent, and Pope Francis wanted to use the season to encourage the sides to reconcile. That hasn't happened. NPR's Julian Hayda has more from Ukraine.
JULIAN HAYDA, BYLINE: Pilgrims from around the world have been flocking to Rome for over 2,000 years, especially to mark the most solemn day on the Catholic calendar - Good Friday. Since the 1960s, Roman popes have led a procession around the Colosseum to honor Jesus' torture and crucifixion.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Singing in Italian).
HAYDA: Pilgrims carry a cross, symbolizing the weight of human suffering. The Vatican often uses this ritual to promote a social message - for instance, in recent years, bringing awareness to human trafficking or the plight of refugees. But this year's Good Friday ritual drew protest from Ukrainians after the Vatican announced Monday that they planned to have Ukrainian and Russian families carry the cross together.
ANATOLY BABINSKY: (Speaking Ukrainian).
HAYDA: "The Vatican doesn't seem to see the difference between victims and perpetrators," says Anatoly Babinsky, a church historian. He fears that Russia could exploit such ambivalence.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
POPE FRANCIS: (Speaking Italian).
HAYDA: Pope Francis has offered to mediate between Russia and Ukraine and last week even kissed a flag from the Ukrainian town of Bucha. Hundreds of civilians have been found dead there after Russia's retreat. Top Vatican officials have spent weeks in Ukraine visiting some areas close to the Russian front. They donated two ambulances to damaged hospitals, even.
(SOUNDBITE OF YOUTUBE VIDEO)
VISVALDAS KULBOKAS: (Speaking Ukrainian).
HAYDA: "None of this is political," said the Vatican's ambassador to Ukraine on YouTube.
But John Allen, the editor-in-chief of Crux Now, a Catholic news site, disagrees. He wrote this week that the pope needs to protect the interests of growing Catholic minorities in places like India, the Central African Republic or China, countries that have either supported or failed to condemn Russia's war. It seems like the Good Friday protests did have some effect, though. Instead of families carrying the cross, two Rome-based nurses from Russian and Ukrainian backgrounds did so.
But Babinsky says neither of the women represent all Russians or Ukrainians. He cites a new poll from the Chicago Council on Global Affairs that shows more than 4 in 5 Russians support the actions of their country's military in Ukraine.
Julian Hayda, NPR News, Lviv.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-16/the-pope-tries-using-good-friday-to-bring-together-ukrainians-and-russians | 2022-05-12T14:50:04Z |
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Earlier this week, President Biden used the word genocide to describe atrocities committed by Russia in Ukraine. The president had also previously called Russian President Vladimir Putin a war criminal and said evidence should be gathered to put Putin on trial. Now, you might be asking, how or where does such a trial take place? There is a legal body specifically set up to prosecute cases of genocide, war crimes and other serious international crimes. It's the International Criminal Court, or ICC.
But here's the rub. The U.S. does not recognize the jurisdiction of this legal body. We wanted to learn more about why the U.S. does not and, despite that, if there is a role the U.S. could play in investigating Russian actions in Ukraine. For this, we called John Bellinger III. He was a legal adviser for the National Security Council and the State Department during the administration of George W Bush. And he is with us now. John Bellinger, thank you so much for joining us.
JOHN BELLINGER III: Nice to be with you, Michel.
MARTIN: So the International Criminal Court was established in 1998 by an international agreement called the Rome Statute. And although the U.S. helped negotiate that accord, it ultimately did not formally join the ICC. As briefly as you can, why not?
BELLINGER: Well, that's right, Michel. The U.S. has had a real roller coaster relationship with the ICC from the beginning with, unfortunately, more downs than ups. The real answer to your question is that the U.S. has been concerned from the very beginning that the prosecutor for the court would be given too much power unchecked, and he or she could conduct politically-motivated prosecutions of U.S. soldiers.
And the U.S. actually had long supported the concept of an international criminal court. Congress had actually voted resolutions back in the 1990s calling for the creation of an international criminal court based on the Nuremberg tribunals after World War II. But as you said, when the Clinton administration participated in the negotiations of the treaty, the Rome Statute that created this International Criminal Court, the U.S. was not comfortable with the outcome and ended up being one of only seven countries in the world that voted against the treaty.
MARTIN: I do want to point out that Russia also does not recognize the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, but the ICC has already opened investigations into possible war crimes committed by Russia in Ukraine. Can the U.S. help with these investigations, despite not being a member of the court itself?
BELLINGER: Well, it certainly can, and it should, in my view. There are some legal problems because when the court opened in 2002, Congress passed, on a bipartisan basis, a very draconian piece of legislation called the American Service Members Protection Act that strictly limits the U.S. ability to cooperate with the court, with some exceptions. So the Biden administration would have to work its way through these legal restrictions, which would, I think, ultimately allow some support to the court. The bigger problem, really, is how is it that the U.S., which has traditionally had some concerns about the court, now support the court's investigation of Russia? There's an answer to that, which is that the United States is not concerned about everything that the ICC does.
In fact, when I was legal adviser for the State Department in the second term of the Bush administration, we supported the court's investigation of the genocide in Sudan. So as long as the court is doing what it was created to do, which is to investigate international crimes that have not been investigated by the country that committed them, then we should be helping it. Of course, if they start investigating politically motivated cases of us or others, then we can oppose that. But...
MARTIN: But wait. Wait. Hold on. What's the distinction there? Is the distinction - for example, the U.S. condemned a previous ICC investigation into U.S. actions in Afghanistan. Is the defining issue here whether the government responsible for the actions in question has the capacity or the willingness or any history of investigating itself? Is that the dividing line there?
BELLINGER: So if the United States does end up supporting the ICC's investigation of Russia, which I hope and ultimately think that the Biden administration will, we will certainly open ourself up to some charges of hypocrisy because of these traditional concerns that the U.S. has had about the ICC's investigation of the United States. But there is a difference.
I think what we need to do is apply the terms of the treaty itself. The International Criminal Court exists only to assert jurisdiction when a country hasn't investigated its own nationals for the most serious of offenses, and Russia hasn't done that. In the case of Afghanistan, though, the United States had investigated most of those offenses. You can argue about whether the investigations were full enough, but there's a big difference between the investigations that were conducted by the United States at the same time that Russia is claiming that it has done absolutely nothing wrong in Ukraine.
MARTIN: Critics say that this is already hurting U.S. moral authority by not being a member. So do you feel comfortable telling me your opinion about this? I mean, do you think the U.S. should be a member?
BELLINGER: The U.S. should be a member. But sadly, that ship sailed back in 1998 when the negotiators, over U.S. objections during the Clinton administration, negotiated a treaty that did not address U.S. concerns. So yes, it's painful for me as an American, as a lawyer, as the former legal adviser for the State Department, representing a country that has long been at the forefront of international criminal justice. It is unfortunate that the United States is not a party to the International Criminal Court. We should be. But for the time being, I think U.S. policy will have to continue to be, through both Republican and Democratic administrations, is to support the court when it is doing what it was set up to do, which, in this case, the investigations of the Russian war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine is exactly what the court was set up to do.
MARTIN: That was John Bellinger III. He is a former legal adviser to the National Security Council and the State Department during the administration of George W Bush. Mr. Bellinger, thanks so much for talking with us and sharing this expertise.
BELLINGER: Thanks, Michel. Great to be with you.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-16/the-u-s-does-not-recognize-the-jurisdiction-of-the-international-criminal-court | 2022-05-12T14:50:10Z |
SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
Pictures can make the unimaginable unforgettable. Much of the world saw images from some of the photojournalists who first got into Bucha, Ukraine, earlier this month and captured images of people who had been executed at close range, their hands tied and left in shallow graves. David Hume Kennerly is a veteran war photographer, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and presidential photographer. He's put some of his reflections on his craft in an essay in The New York Times Sunday review section this weekend and joins us now. David, thanks for being with us.
DAVID HUME KENNERLY: Hello, Scott.
SIMON: I should preface by saying that some of what we describe may disturb some listeners. You wrote that the photographs out of Bucha changed everything. How so?
KENNERLY: Well, I don't think people really focused on what was going on in Ukraine. They saw extraordinary pictures on one hand, but - like Lynsey Addario's photograph of the family that got blown up as they tried to enter Kyiv. And she almost got killed in the process. There was another incredible image two days after the Russians came into Ukraine of a Russian soldier in the snow dead, taken by Tyler Hicks. But Bucha - in the pictures of people who had been executed, their hands tied behind their back - I think made everybody stop in their tracks, and I think those images really could change the course of that war.
SIMON: What do you make of the Russian representation that those photos and many others like them were faked?
KENNERLY: For one thing, so many of the photographers who were there in Ukraine are people I know. They're - some of the world's best are there. They tell the truth. This is what our profession is about in the West. So it's not enforced integrity. I think all of us who've been in this business want to tell the truth. We're not messing around with the circumstances. And the Russians are just flat-out lying about all this stuff. There was one by Carol Guzy, and it's a picture that's looking into a body bag. And the person who is enclosed has his eye open. And it's a photograph that just makes you wonder, you know, is that person dead? And what did the person see right before he died? And I've never seen anything like that. And over and over and over we're witnessing, through the eyes of these great photographers, what's really going on there. And it ain't fake.
SIMON: You mentioned in The Times piece two photos from the war in Vietnam - Eddie Adams' Saigon Execution, showing a man being executed close range, shot in the head by South Vietnamese officials - and then Nick Ut's - painful even to remember it - Napalm Girl, a young girl fleeing covered with napalm. They were powerful in shaping the opinion of the world and, for that matter, the opinion of the United States - people in the United States about what the U.S. was doing in Vietnam. What do you think pictures can do?
KENNERLY: Well, pictures fly over the head of Russian disinformation specialists and right-wing pundits in America. And they're a messenger directly from the field. And if you're in Russia, No. 1, you're not going to see those pictures. And if you do, you're going to think they're not real. But they make you think. You sit down and think. When you see people with their hands tied behind their back who've been executed, when you see little kids crying because they lost their parents, it's a visceral feeling, really. I don't think photographers are trying to change the world, but their pictures really do if you care about what's going on in the world.
SIMON: The great veteran war photographer David Hume Kennerly, thank you so much for being with us.
KENNERLY: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-16/veteran-war-photographer-david-hume-kennerly-reflects-on-the-impact-of-his-craft | 2022-05-12T14:50:12Z |
SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
President Biden has approved another $800 million of assistance to Ukraine, including the first shipments of artillery and more sharing of intelligence. NPR's Ron Elving joins us. Ron, thanks so much.
RON ELVING, BYLINE: Good to be with you, Scott.
SIMON: And this shipment brings total U.S. aid to Ukraine to $2.6 billion since the Russian invasion - lot of money, some impending economic sacrifice for Americans, beginning with gas prices. So far, is the president winning support?
ELVING: In Congress, yes, support for Ukraine is strong and largely bipartisan, although there are some holdouts on the Republican side. Aid for Ukraine was actually the engine that pulled the big overall spending bill through Congress last month. And this week, Republicans were pushing for more sharing of U.S. intelligence information with Ukraine. Still, this is not a moment of national unity such as we saw after the terror attacks of 9/11 or after the attack on Pearl Harbor 80 years ago, and it's not done much to empower President Biden on other fronts. So the biggest political impact of this war at this point is probably the booster shot it's given to inflation in this country as well as elsewhere around the world.
SIMON: And the president's been blaming Vladimir Putin for price increases, which we should note, as we have all this week, climbed again in March - 8.5% compared to a year earlier. Never popular, especially so in an election year, is it?
ELVING: Few numbers are as toxic in our politics as inflation. You could argue we have higher tolerance even for unemployment than for inflation, especially when the big driver is energy. People see that scary number on big signs at every gas station in the country all day long, every day. And energy is a cost factor for most of what we buy. So we've reached 8 1/2, and the real question now is how high it will go and for how long. Some observers think we may be at the peak for this round of inflation or near the peak. Then we see wholesale prices come out this week at 11%, so not much relief in sight there. Democrats are going to have to try to pin this on Putin, call it the Putin inflation, just as Republicans will call it the Biden inflation. And at the moment, the Democrats have to be glad the midterms don't come until November.
SIMON: And with that in mind, James Carville, Democratic strategist, was on MSNBC. He said Democratic voters don't realize just how much President Biden's done for workers, for low-income families and the general public with his Supreme Court pick.
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JAMES CARVILLE: If you're a Democrat - I don't care what you are, what gender you are, what race you are, what anything - if you don't see that and you're not outraged and it doesn't make you want to vote, I can't do anything for you. You're just a whiny, complaining person.
SIMON: Now, Mr. Carville has been preeminent among Democratic strategists who've warned the party against - he says they care more about language or pronouns and bathroom signs, what he calls faculty lounge politics, than rising prices or crime - issues that affect every voter. Are Democrats too divided to share a message about what their policies might have accomplished?
ELVING: You know, people know James Carville because 30 years ago, when he was getting Bill Clinton elected president, he was famous for saying what the election was all about. He said, quote, "It's the economy, stupid." And he's been consistent over the years in stressing lunch bucket issues, traditional middle-class concerns, trying to pry the party away from its more recent attachment to social equality, identity politics. And there's no question that in the long term, equity and climate are of profound importance. But Carville is still a political consultant at heart, and his focus is not on the long term. It's on the next election.
SIMON: Republican National Committee says the party's withdrawing from the presidential debate system, accuses it of being biased. Do you think it is?
ELVING: The presidential debate commission itself has been a bipartisan operation from the start. Its members included some highly partisan people, but from both sides. Now, some Republicans have been inclined to see bias in some of the moderators, the media people who referee these events. There was a CNN correspondent who was controversial back in 2012 for correcting something Mitt Romney said in the debate. But this move by the RNC was not about 2012. It's about 2024. And it may well have been a negotiating tactic in that regard, trying to get an edge before those negotiations even begin.
SIMON: NPR's Ron Elving, thanks so much for being with us.
ELVING: Thank you, Scott. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-16/week-in-politics-u-s-sends-more-money-to-ukraine-inflation-up-midterms-approach | 2022-05-12T14:50:18Z |
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Russia continued its artillery and missile attacks on cities in Ukraine today, targeting cities all across the country, from Kharkiv in the east to Lviv in the west, Kyiv in the north and Mykolaiv live in the south. This comes as Russia prepares for what's expected to be a major new offensive. NPR's Tim Mak was in Mykolaiv, a major city on the Black Sea, when explosions took place today. He's now back in Odessa, and he is with us now to tell us more. Tim Mak, thank you so much for joining us.
TIM MAK, BYLINE: Of course. Thank you.
MARTIN: So what did you see and hear today?
MAK: Well, we heard the wail of these air raid sirens and the loud, dull thumps of artillery in the distance. In Mykolaiv, we saw hundreds of tires stacked up every half-block or so along the road, presumably so they could be burned as roadblocks or signals if the Russian military was to enter the city. Now, everywhere you looked, men with guns were standing there. The Russian military has struck targets all across Ukraine over the past day. And where I was, in Mykolaiv in the South, the Russians claimed they hit a depot for rocket and artillery weapons. Mykolaiv is between 30 and 50 kilometers from a very dynamic frontline between Russian and Ukrainian troops.
MARTIN: Have civilian targets been hit in this city?
MAK: Well, yes. And in particular, we visited a children's hospital this morning that had been the site of a bombardment. The medical director of the hospital, Iryna Tkachenko, said that the constant influx of injured and sick children have taken a real toll on the staff.
IRYNA TKACHENKO: (Through interpreter) Well, what do you want me to tell you? About 50% of the doctors at the hospital are left, and the people who remain, they work 24/7 for 52 days now. And it's heavy on the people. So it's exhausting.
MAK: We saw broken windows in the places where these blasts occurred. The hospital administration described those areas as a place where active surgery was being performed when the explosion happened and another place where bodies were waiting for autopsies.
MARTIN: Now, you spent the day talking to people in Mykolaiv and getting a sense of their lives in the shadow of this war. Just what are some of the things that they told you?
MAK: Well, look, things are getting more and more difficult for civilians in the city. Running water stopped in Mykolaiv four days ago. This basic, life-sustaining need for water drives everyday life. Wherever you look, you see people carrying water jugs or in large lines in front of these big tanks brought into the city to help civilians get water. We spoke to Dennis Vatula. He's using his friend's property as a impromptu water distribution point.
MAK: (Through interpreter) At this spot, we have a well. And we just give out water to anybody who needs it because nobody has got water.
DENNIS VATULA: He said he doesn't recommend his friends return to the city at this time.
MARTIN: I understand, though, that a lot of people have chosen to stay there despite the Russians being so close and despite these daily struggles of just surviving that you were just telling us about. So what did people tell you about why they aren't leaving?
MAK: Not only are people not leaving, but there are residents who are returning to the city after this Ukrainian counter-offensive pushed Russian lines further away from the city limits. It's a combination of things of why folks aren't leaving. Some tell us they don't want to leave their homes, their possessions. My colleague Brian Mann met one young couple today, Grigory (ph) and Helena Vodopyanov (ph), whose home outside Mykolaiv was heavily damaged by Russian bombardment.
GRIGORY VODOPYANOV: (Non-English language spoken).
MAK: He told us, we have no place to go and no money. A lot of people living close to the war feel trapped. Grigory's young wife, Helena, was holding their baby, Timothy.
HELENA VODOPYANOV: (Non-English language spoken).
MAK: Helena said she's really worried for them, for their child, for the people around them. And as you can hear in that sound, these air raid sirens were sounding just as we were talking. And then soon after that, we began to hear some regular artillery fire.
MARTIN: That's NPR's Tim Mak reporting from Odessa, Ukraine. Tim, thanks to you and all of our colleagues there for your reporting.
MAK: Thanks for having me on. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-16/what-life-is-like-in-the-ukrainian-city-of-mykolaiv | 2022-05-12T14:50:24Z |
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
As you've probably heard, the tech titan Elon Musk has launched a hostile bid to take over Twitter, the social media platform favored by many politicians, celebrities and journalists. That's because he says he's a free speech absolutist. And he says the platform now has too many rules about what people can say. But our next guest says there's a group of people who are essentially censored on social media right now - women, especially women of color and public-facing women, because of the vicious, sexist and racist abuse they're subjected to online.
Nina Jankowicz is known for her research on online disinformation and its effect on democracy. Her latest book is called "How To Be A Woman Online." It describes in disturbing detail the vastly disproportionate attacks that women face compared to men when they try to have an online presence. And she's with us now to tell us more. Nina Jankowicz, welcome. Thank you so much for joining us.
NINA JANKOWICZ: Thanks for having me.
MARTIN: All right. Give it to me straight. How bad is it? Give us some parameters about how to think about this.
JANKOWICZ: Well, you know, it's hard to put a number on things because it's hard to detect this harassment a lot. The harassers online are quite creative in the ways that they harass women. But when my team at the Wilson Center sought to document some of the harassment during the 2020 presidential campaign, over a period of two months on six social media platforms, we found over 336,000 pieces of gendered or sexualized abuse and disinformation directed at just 10 U.S. candidates. And most of that was directed at then-vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris, 78% of it, in fact. So that's just a short period of time, just a few platforms. And when you compare what women receive, as some of my colleagues have done in other organizations, with what their male counterparts receive, it's just far and away much, much worse, especially if you're a woman of color or a woman of an intersectional identity.
MARTIN: And what kinds of things are we talking about? And this is where I'm going to offer a language advisory for people who are listening. I need to say that this - I'm guessing that what you are about to say might be disturbing. And, you know, I always hesitate to do that because, you know, we don't get language advisories when people are directing this garbage at us. But in the interest of people who don't live this or have this experience, what kinds of things are we talking about?
JANKOWICZ: Well, it's a whole spectrum of abuse. Some of it is a little bit more anodyne, you know, men referring to you as girly, dear, princess, sweetie, honey. I get the bimbo slur a lot, B-word, C-word often come up. Men will comment on my hair, my breast size, the symmetry of my face. There's a lot of assertions, especially among women who are public facing, voicing their opinions online, that these women must be transgender because otherwise they wouldn't be so assertive. They look for evidence of an Adam's apple or a 5 o'clock shadow. Sometimes we hear men sexualizing or diminishing women's roles in society, saying, oh, you know, she's just arguing with you online because she wants to sleep with you. Or I've had someone say to me, she's angry at you because no one would hit it and stick with it. I've had men say, you birth babies, we build bridges.
And then often I get from the far-right memes of empty egg cartons which are sent to women to say that our fertility is declining and we should get back to our homemaking activities. And then there's the more violent stuff. I've had people say, you'll be dealt with in the streets. You know, if a civil war comes, you're going to be first. Some people say things like I'd fixed her. And then, you know, I've gotten emails directly to my work account, including just after January 6, when it was quite tense here in Washington, saying things like you sound like a hysterical bleeping snowflake lesbo bleep.
MARTIN: This is a worldwide phenomenon. This is not just a U.S. phenomenon. I mean, there are just - you have example after example in your book where these tools are sort of activated across national lines. Just, you know, somebody gets into a disagreement, a legitimate disagreement over policy or over opinion, and then the trolls get activated, like, all over the world to attack and swarm this person. So there are people who think, well, this is just - air quotes here - "words," it's just mean words. You make the argument that this is not just words, that this has personal security implications, but this really does cause women to censor themselves and to avoid engagement in the public sphere. Why do you say that? You say this is, in fact, a form of censorship.
JANKOWICZ: Yeah. In my own life, it is a form of censorship. Right? Every time I am online thinking about, OK, am I going to tweet, am I going to pitch this article today, I think about, you know, do I have the emotional capacity right now to deal with what might come if that's going to be out there in the real world? I now carry a personal safety alarm around with me because I am worried about if one of these people who has threatened me online shows up in real life. Particularly women of color have had offline threats that originated from online threats.
And, you know, I've spoken to many women, many of whom are prominent in their field, who say, when I know I'm going to be getting a lot of attention, let's say, for a congressional testimony or if I'm going on TV, they lock down their accounts, which is closing themselves off to opportunity. And that's women who are, you know, at the peak of their careers. When I spoke to young women about this, women who are high school and college aged, who are very much digital natives, they said to me, you know, I don't want a lifestyle that public anymore. I'm going to lock down my account. I don't really voice my opinions online except to my friends. And that just breaks my heart. We need their voices.
MARTIN: So, you know, you can't help but notice that many of the free speech absolutists are often online trolls themselves, and/or they are wealthy white men who presumably have ample means to protect their personal safety. They have personal assistants. They have security guards. They have, you know, people who can provide, you know, a zone of personal safety for them. But to the argument that it is just words, what do you say?
JANKOWICZ: It's not just words. So if I were walking on the street and a crowd of hundreds of people were shouting the insults that we spoke about at me, police would intervene. Bystanders would intervene. It would not be acceptable. And yet it is happening to millions of women around the world and worse every day. And I think you make a really good point, Michel. You know, for people of means, for people who are in the majority, it's a little bit easier to deal with. The onus always falls on the target of the abuse. The platforms aren't doing very much right now.
And I shudder to think about if free speech absolutists were taking over more platforms, what that would look like for the marginalized communities all around the world, which are already shouldering so much of this abuse, disproportionate amounts of this abuse, and retraumatizing themselves as they try to protect themselves from it, you know, reporting, blocking, et cetera. We need the platforms to do more, and we frankly need law enforcement and our legislatures to do more as well. And in other countries that are looking at this, you know, the U.K. has an online safety bill that's being considered right now where they're trying to make illegal this currently, quote, "awful but lawful content" that exists online where people are being harassed.
MARTIN: Your book offers very practical advice to individuals about how to address these matters in their own if they have to or feel that they have to engage with these platforms. But from a broader policy standpoint, what should happen is - and part of the reason, you know, first of all, your book is quite timely. I mean, it was due to come out now, but it's interesting that it comes out at this moment where Elon Musk, as we said, has engaged in what he says is this campaign to take over Twitter because he wants it to be sort of an absolutist, free speech environment where there are no rules. From a policy standpoint, what do you think should should happen?
JANKOWICZ: Well, I think what we've actually been seeing Twitter do in the past couple of months to a year has been pretty progressive on the side of platforms. We've seen them introduce what they call human-centered reporting, which looks rather than at their terms of service hierarchy, it asks people what happened in their own words and to report it that way. I think that's in the right direction. What I would love to see is more incident reporting on platforms.
So rather than just reporting one-off pieces of content or accounts that are abusive, being able to report the whole picture to a content moderator because usually these campaigns are started by one high-follower individual or several of them, and they come in waves. And if you see, you know, one tweet and you're a content moderator and you have 20 to 40 seconds or even less time to evaluate that tweet or piece of content, it might not look that bad. But when you see hundreds or even thousands of tweets coming from people all around the world that are generally quite vitriolic or disgusting in some way, the combined effect of that on one human being, I think, would be taken much differently.
So that's something that I've advocated for in the past, but really any enforcement of consequences against abusers would make such a big difference because part of the reason this happens right now is that hardly anything ever happens to the people who are levying the abuse. Once in a while, they're asked to take that content down. Maybe in some extreme circumstances, their accounts are disabled, but they often just make another account. There are no consequences right now because there does not seem to be the political will within companies to crack down on content that drives engagement. And we know that that emotional, vitriolic content does drive engagement online.
MARTIN: That's Nina Jankowicz. Her book, "How To Be A Woman Online: Surviving Abuse And Harassment, And How To Fight Back" is out on Thursday, and it's available now for pre-order. Nina Jankowicz, thanks so much for sharing this expertise with us.
JANKOWICZ: It was my pleasure. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-16/women-face-disproportionate-attacks-online-one-expert-shares-some-of-the-details | 2022-05-12T14:50:30Z |
AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
Twenty-five years ago this week at the border of North Dakota and Minnesota, the Red River crested at more than 54 feet, causing massive damage.
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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Floodwaters burst through another dike in Grand Forks, N.D., today. The city is filling up with water, and officials have urged all 50,000 residents to leave.
RASCOE: The flooding was so bad that at the time it happened, it caused the largest displacement of people any American city had seen. When disaster hit, Ken Vein was the Grand Forks City engineer and Public Works director. He joins us now from Grand Forks, N.D., where he still lives and serves on the city council. Thanks so much for being with us.
KEN VEIN: Well, thank you for having me. I appreciate it.
RASCOE: Can you take us back to that time? What do you remember the most? I know that it was a horrific amount of flooding and damage.
VEIN: I think one of the major things that I remember, of course, is we knew we were going to have a major flood, and we had prepared for a major flood somewhere - maybe around 52 feet. But what I remember is watching the water keep coming up and up, and soon it passed that 52 mark, and all of a sudden, you're scrambling. We are so flat here that it's just not easy to all of a sudden raise the levee for miles and miles. And so we kept trying and trying, and we kept raising the levee, and then, of course, the night that the levees were overtopped, we had no high ground to tie back into. And I think that's that point where you've been working so hard, and you finally realize there's nothing more you can do and the water's coming.
RASCOE: So what was that like being in that moment when you realize there's nothing else you can do?
VEIN: At that point, immediately, you start trying to assess - OK, where's the water coming over? Can we do backup levee systems? So we went in - we had payloaders, we dug up school grounds - any place we could do to find dirt so that we could try to kind of hold it back. Eventually, again, that didn't accomplish what we were trying to do, and the waters just kept coming up. And once they came up, they just started coming across the whole community.
RASCOE: What is your assessment of, like, where the greater Grand Forks community is today? Like, have they bounced back after this?
VEIN: I think the city has made just a major, significant bounce back. I mean, we used to say, hey, after the flood, we created a new normal. And now we just have a normal. The system that we put in place is such that we're protected well beyond the historic flood we already had. I think the recovery and the protection system we've put in place has been phenomenal.
RASCOE: And I understand you've played a big role in making those changes. So what are the actual changes like in the system now compared to what it was back then?
VEIN: Back then, we had one - what would be called Corps Certified Dike - and then everything else we had was a system of temporary levees. Right after the flood, the damage was done. Most of those temporary levees and that corps dike were damaged and had to be fully replaced. We were able to get congressional authorization and appropriations within 18 months to start building and completing a permanent flood protection project, which really changed the landscape of our city. We moved back away from the river because we learned to understand the significance of what nature can bring, and all the buildings in those low areas that were susceptible, you know, were not allowed to be replaced. We changed zoning and just made for a better city.
RASCOE: Has the area had to do anything to make the area more resilient due to climate change? Or were the changes that were made after the Red River flood enough to kind of, you know, deal with, you know, changing climate?
VEIN: Experience has shown us to date that what we've done is enough. In fact, it's more than enough. We've had more major flooding that have basically been nonevents for the major part of the population. It's been highly successful.
RASCOE: And you still live in Grand Forks. Did you ever think about leaving after the flood?
VEIN: I can say without a doubt, no. I probably became more connected than ever before. It was really an honor to be in the position that I did - to be a part of that initial recovery. And now coming back as a city council member, I get to look at the city from a little bit different angle, and I think I love the city and plan to stay here.
RASCOE: That was Grand Forks City Council member Ken Vein. Thank you so much for being with us.
VEIN: Well, thank you. I appreciate being on. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-17/25-years-ago-the-red-river-crested-at-over-54-feet-devastating-grand-forks-n-d | 2022-05-12T14:50:32Z |
SARAH MCCAMMON, HOST:
There is currently nowhere in the state of Kentucky to get an abortion after a unique new law took effect last week. Reproductive rights groups say the legislation was designed to be extremely difficult for abortion providers to comply with. Democratic Governor Andy Beshear vetoed the law, but state lawmakers then voted to override that veto. The law took effect immediately under an emergency provision. Reproductive rights groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, are challenging it in federal court. Heather Gatnarek is a lawyer with the ACLU of Kentucky, and she joins us now. Welcome to the program.
HEATHER GATNAREK: Thank you, Sarah. Nice to be here.
MCCAMMON: So this new law, known as HB 3, it's not just a straightforward abortion ban, right? What exactly does it do?
GATNAREK: That's correct. Part of this law is a straightforward 15-week ban on abortion, similar to the law that is currently being challenged out of Mississippi and which the Supreme Court is currently considering. But in addition to that, House Bill 3 included over 60 pages of unnecessary regulatory changes and requirements that are simply impossible to comply with until the state of Kentucky takes certain steps to implement programs and forms and make those requirements available. So at the moment, there is simply no way to comply with these changes, and yet the bill took effect immediately. So providers had to stop providing until we get a court order allowing them to proceed without enforcement of this law.
MCCAMMON: Now, there are essentially two major categories of different types of abortions - medication abortion with pills - right? - and then surgical procedures of various types. And this law targets both, right? I mean, how does it work?
GATNAREK: Yeah, that's correct. So parts of the bill make it, at this point, impossible to provide medication abortion because the law requires that providers are, for instance, registered with the state, certified with the state as providers who can dispense medication abortions. That program doesn't exist yet, so there's no way for providers to be certified at the moment. Similarly, there are other forms required that would apply to all abortions, including the sort of regular reporting form that gets submitted to the state for each procedure.
The new form doesn't exist yet. The penalties range widely throughout many of these provisions. Again, the bill itself is 72 pages, so we're talking about a number of different requirements here. And the penalties range from criminal liability, you know, Class D felonies, which in Kentucky is punishable by one to five years, financial penalties of tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of dollars. And some of the provisions include mandatory loss of licensure.
MCCAMMON: So what are abortion providers in Kentucky doing at this point? How are they responding?
GATNAREK: Well, at the moment, they are not providing abortions in Kentucky. That is, there are only two providers in the state anyway. Both of them are located in Louisville, and both of them have stopped providing while the two simultaneous court challenges have been filed in the courts and we're awaiting injunctive relief. We hope to get that soon. My client, EMW, would like to continue seeing patients this week. They've got appointments scheduled that may need to be canceled if we don't have injunctive relief from the court. So we're hoping that we get an injunction in short order and EMW can continue providing this care.
MCCAMMON: You're referring to the EMW Women's Surgical Center, which is an abortion provider in Louisville and is your client, right?
GATNAREK: That's correct, yes.
MCCAMMON: What are you hearing from your client about the situation that their patients are facing right now?
GATNAREK: Well, this, of course, is incredibly distressing. EMW has been providing abortions to people in Kentucky for decades, and they provide the majority of abortions in the state. EMW always has people coming to them from around Kentucky and beyond our borders. People from other states come here as well. And to have to say no to those patients and force them to go even farther away for care is just incredibly upsetting to the doctors and the other staff at the clinic for whom this is their - you know, their life's calling. There's going to be a lot of people who just simply don't have the ability and the resources to leave the state to get abortions elsewhere. But that is, at this moment, the only choice and the only option that our providers can offer patients.
MCCAMMON: Now, supporters of this law, abortion rights opponents, say these rules are designed to protect women's health, these new regulations. How do you respond to that?
GATNAREK: Abortion, of course, is already just about the most heavily regulated procedure in Kentucky. And the types of changes being made here to the regulations and the requirements are simply unnecessary given how much oversight already exists over this type of care and how safe it really is. The types of changes we're talking about here are things like requiring additional information about patient's family situations and medical histories to be included in the reports that get filed with the state for each and every abortion. That does not increase a patient's health or safety. It is simply a regulatory requirement put in the way to try to make it harder to access abortion.
MCCAMMON: All eyes are on the Supreme Court with that major abortion case, that major abortion decision expected this summer. But already we've seen that Texas has managed to functionally ban many, if not most, abortions in that state because of the unique law there that has an unusual enforcement scheme. Now Kentucky lawmakers have managed to shut down abortion, even without the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade. What do you see as the significance of this trend that we're seeing, again, even before the Supreme Court has fully weighed in on this precedent?
GATNAREK: It's incredibly shameful what states like Kentucky and Texas have been doing to push abortion access so far out of reach of people within their states. I think that what anti-abortion legislators miss is that there are any number of reasons that people may need to access abortions. Those reasons are not going away.
MCCAMMON: I guess what I'm asking is, how much does it matter what the Supreme Court says this summer, given that we're seeing that states have found ways to essentially shut down most abortions with or without the Supreme Court weighing in?
GATNAREK: Right. And, you know, the sad reality of that is, I suppose, that it may embolden other states beyond the extreme actions of Kentucky and Texas at this point. It may embolden other states to outright prohibit abortion as well, which would really mean that we would just have swaths of the country where people can't access abortion care at all. That's a real tragedy, I think, for people in this country across the board. And we'll just have to wait to see exactly how it plays out.
MCCAMMON: Heather Gatnarek is an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union in Kentucky. Thanks so much for being with us.
GATNAREK: Thank you, Sarah. It was nice to speak with you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-17/aclu-lawyer-on-the-fight-against-kentuckys-new-anti-abortion-law | 2022-05-12T14:50:38Z |
AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
The presidential election in France will be decided during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. In the runoff - Marine Le Pen, who has a long history of anti-Muslim positions, and current President Emmanuel Macron. So when NPR's Eleanor Beardsley went to an iftar, she found politics at the dinner table.
ELEANOR BEARDSLEY, BYLINE: This community center in the Paris suburb of Noisy-le-Sec is filling up as sunset and the moment to break the daylong fast approaches, and tables laden with lamb, chicken dates and hummus await. Sylvie Blumenfeld has her plate ready even though she's Jewish, not Muslim. Blumenfeld is part of the interfaith group Langage de Femmes, or Women's Voices, that has prepared this iftar.
SYLVIE BLUMENFELD: We like to share our culture. We invited them to a synagogue. We had a Shabbat dinner together. I think really it's the ignorance that drives people crazy and let them vote for the wrong people.
BEARDSLEY: Blumenfeld calls it a catastrophe that far-right leader Marine Le Pen is so close in the polls to President Emmanuel Macron for the runoff April 24. Soumiya Gherram, who is Muslim, has been on the group's annual trip to Auschwitz. She says she was deeply shaken.
SOUMIYA GHERRAM: (Through interpreter) After being there, I can't let even the slightest anti-Semitic comment pass. If somebody says Jews are rich, I say no. Cliches like that are harmful. I've seen where they can lead.
BEARDSLEY: These Muslim, Jewish and Christian women say mothers are best placed to fight racism and prejudice and pass values onto children and communities. France has Europe's largest Muslim and Jewish communities. The two groups have much in common with roots in North Africa. Fifty-year-old Larry Cohen is president of the synagogue in Noisy-le-Sec.
LARRY COHEN: (Through interpreter) We grew up Jewish and Muslim together in secular French schools. We had the same friends, the same passions. But over the years, a ditch has been dug between the communities. It wasn't there 40 years ago.
BEARDSLEY: Cohen says a new generation of immigrants has imported the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. And there were the terrorist attacks carried out by radicalized French Muslims in 2015.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
ERIC ZEMMOUR: (Speaking French).
(BOOING)
BEARDSLEY: No one has exploited fears and divisions more than far-right candidate Eric Zemmour, who came in fourth in the first round. He's out of the race but poisoned the debate. He called Islam incompatible with French values. That's hogwash, says business consultant Fatima Dagdag, who says Muslims live well in France.
FATIMA DAGDAG: We have the chance of living all together. It's a real positive point. We are not like in Holland, ghetoise, in ghettos. France put its diversity in a high level. We see it at school, we see it in companies, and we fight for it, which is a good point.
BEARDSLEY: Though Dagdag admits life is harder for Muslim women who wear the hijab to cover their hair.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Shouting in French).
BEARDSLEY: After the meal and some spiritual nourishment, the women leap onto the dance floor.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Shouting in French).
BEARDSLEY: Samia Essabaa, director of Langage de Femmes, has taken off her heels to kick it up alongside her Jewish and Christian friends.
SAMIA ESSABAA: It was a great success. I'm very happy. I'm very delighted. And I wanted them to learn to discover what Islam is really (speaking French).
BEARDSLEY: Standing beside Essabaa, Jewish co-director Suzanne Nakache thanks her friend for opening the Muslim world to her with all of its generosity and warmth. Eleanor Beardsley, NPR News, Noisy-le-Sec, France. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-17/amongst-division-in-france-one-interfaith-group-comes-together-to-celebrate-ramadan | 2022-05-12T14:50:44Z |
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER #1: Now things finally going the way of the challenger, Bianca Belair. She has a champion reeling, finally.
UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER #2: Nice double underhook on the champ.
UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER #1: Face-first goes Becky Lynch.
AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
What a performance by WWE wrestler Bianca Belair a couple weeks ago. She whooped Becky Lynch, winning her first RAW women's championship. But not only is Belair a talented wrestler; she's one of the WWE fiercest Black wrestlers. And according to industry watchers, Black wrestlers are really having a moment. To help us understand more is wrestling columnist Alfred Konuwa, who joins us now from Los Angeles. Welcome.
ALFRED KONUWA: Thank you so much for having me. It's great to be here.
RASCOE: So first, talk to us a bit about how Black wrestlers have traditionally been depicted in the wrestling industry. Like, it has been extremely racist in the past. Am I wrong about that?
KONUWA: You're absolutely right. Historically, Black wrestlers have been treated as more bit players and usually security guards, usually strong, silent types, but also, especially when it comes to them speaking and having speaking roles traditionally, they play into stereotypes in terms of maybe what somebody who is not familiar with Black culture thinks a Black person talks like, acts like. And so it has lent itself to some pretty racially insensitive programming over the years when it comes to pro wrestling. And I can't honestly say that it's all the way out of the wrestling atmosphere because it is kind of an old boys' network. But it is getting better. Like you said, Black people are having a moment.
RASCOE: Now, I have to say, my brother growing up and, like, my uncles - they were really into wrestling. And I knew people were still into wrestling, but I hadn't really seen wrestling until recently. My son, my 8-year-old, has gotten really into wrestling. Like, he wants to watch it to go to sleep. So I am interested in - like, what is it like now?
KONUWA: Well, it is improving. And I was that 8-year-old boy once upon a time - 8-year-old Black boy watching wrestling. And I'm so jealous of your son because he's got so many great Black wrestlers to look up to now. For me, my hero growing up was a guy named Ahmed Johnson. That was my hero in terms of wrestling. And he kind of flamed out of the business and didn't amount to being a huge superstar. But it was the first time in my life I'd ever seen a Black person being pushed, as they say, to, like, the main event.
Now your son has so many great Black wrestlers to choose from and so many different promotions. I mean, it's Bianca Belair, like you mentioned, who just came off of what I feel is the greatest women's match in the history of WrestleMania against Becky Lynch. Bianca Belair is incredible. Last year at WrestleMania 37, I wrote an article for Forbes, and I called it the Blackest WrestleMania of all time because it was. It was the first time two Black men had competed for a title. It was the first time two Black women had main evented WrestleMania.
RASCOE: So wrestling, obviously - there's a lot that happens on stage or in the ring...
KONUWA: Yes.
RASCOE: ...But there's a lot that happens behind the scenes, like, you know, writing the storylines and the executives. Like, how are Black people doing in those areas?
KONUWA: Pro wrestling just had its first Black woman executive in Brandi Rhodes when it comes to AEW. But AEW has had its own problems with representation, diversity or Black excellence, as I like to call it, in terms of booking Black people in prominent positions.
RASCOE: And AEW is All Elite Wrestling?
KONUWA: Yes, All Elite Wrestling. They're a new company, very entertaining. I really love what they're doing. And what I love about the fact that AEW is this new wrestling company, is now there's really an established Black wrestling media. There's more Black wrestling fans, I feel like, than ever in terms of - just from my standpoint, watching wrestling. And so the Black narrative is actually a real thing. You know, AEW has been held accountable from day one in terms of - in its three years of existence, four years of existence, from day one, people have kind of come out, myself included, and kind of held them accountable in terms of promoting Black people at a respectable level.
RASCOE: Obviously, you are very passionate about wrestling. And as a Black man who, this is your passion, like, what has it meant to you to see the change in representation?
KONUWA: The reason that I'm focused on Black people is not about equality. It's really about wrestling being mainstream again because wrestling - I talked to Nick Khan. He's WWE's chief revenue officer. He's one of the big head honchos in WWE. And WWE's main goal, he told me, is to make their audience younger. I got news for you. That's not happening without Black culture because professional wrestling is really just a microcosm of America. And in America, we're seeing this where Black people are still fighting for their voting rights. Black people still feel like they're not getting enough seats at the table, executive positions. Wrestling is just a product of that in that you look at wrestling, and it's the same story.
RASCOE: That was wrestling columnist Alfred Konuwa. Thank you so much.
KONUWA: Thank you so much, Ayesha. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-17/black-wrestlers-are-having-their-moment | 2022-05-12T14:50:50Z |
AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
"Atlanta" is back for Season 3, and the series is still going there.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "ATLANTA")
DONALD GLOVER: (As Earnest "Earn" Marks) That's just going to make it harder for me and other Black kids who are actually talented. I don't know what to do.
BRIAN TYREE HENRY: (As Alfred "Paper Boi" Miles) Yeah, but you Black, though.
GLOVER: (As Earnest "Earn" Marks) That don't mean I got to help him, right? I mean, yeah, he's Black, but he's still scamming.
HENRY: (As Alfred "Paper Boi" Miles) Yeah, man, so what? White kids be scamming all the time. Hell you think TikTok is? Black kids need to scam more.
RASCOE: That's Donald Glover's Earnest and Brian Tyree Henry's Alfred "Paper Boi" Miles. Brian Tyree Henry joins us now from Atlanta, appropriately.
Thanks so much for joining us.
HENRY: Of course. Happy to be here.
RASCOE: So Season 3 of "Atlanta" is a little bit different because you guys are barely in Georgia. Like, your character, Paper Boi, is now a successful rapper, and this season finds him on tour in Amsterdam and the U.K. and Hungary. So why take this season on the road and away from Atlanta?
HENRY: Well, I think that is a kind of way of knowing that you have made it successfully - right? - once you become international. What's great about this season is that you get to see Alfred lean into that a little bit more. You get to see him really, really understand that he is now basically, like, a pop star. He has reached far and wide. You know, I had this joke of, like, man, you really know that you've made it when white people are running up to you, speaking different languages.
RASCOE: (Laughter) I mean, you mentioned, like, what it means to make it big. And was it always a given that there would be a Season 3 of "Atlanta" because all of y'all, the main actors on this show, done made it big, right? Like, y'all (laughter) - y'all have blown up.
HENRY: "Atlanta" did something so crazy where we have created this universe that really reflects us back to ourselves. And yeah, like, after Season 2 - well, even, like, the beginning of Season 1, our lives just, like, went all over the place. Like, every single one of us were like, all right, like...
RASCOE: You're doing Marvel movies, right?
HENRY: Yeah.
(LAUGHTER)
HENRY: Like, me and Alfred just have so much more in common than, like - we have - I hold him very close to my heart. Alfred has done this remarkable thing of protecting me and being able to stand up for me in places that Brian never felt like he could stand up for himself. And then I feel, like, special responsibility of protecting him and showing him things that he's never seen. And I know that this sounds crunchy granola.
RASCOE: (Laughter).
HENRY: I know this sounds like - you know what I mean? I know it sounds so actor-y (ph), but it's true, man, because, like...
RASCOE: It's the process. It's the craft (laughter).
HENRY: It really is. Like, you know, I really, really care about this man, man. I really, really care about Alfred, and the biggest thing that I wanted is for everyone to care about him, too. You know, especially being Black in America, we are always in survival mode. Like, there's always us trying to survive, and we rarely get a chance to experience what it's like to live. And so what I find this season is you get to see Alfred truly, like, living.
RASCOE: And he opens up a bit. Like, when you, as Paper Boi, have lost your phone and you've been interrogating this really annoying guy who you think has the phone...
HENRY: Right.
RASCOE: ...It's not going anywhere, the interrogation, and, like, Paper Boi - Alfred - opens up about why, you know, he really needed that phone. I think we've got a clip of that.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "ATLANTA")
HENRY: (As Alfred "Paper Boi" Miles) Tonight. I was out there on the dock before the show and I finally heard it. I finally heard him. My voice - I heard a man loud and clear. Like, he was singing this melody, man. He singing this melody, like he was a kid on a bus. And I started singing with him. And it was (laughter) - and I recorded that on the phone. If I don't get it back now, then I'm afraid I'm going to lose it forever.
RASCOE: What I love about your performance is there is that depth there. Paper Boi has made it, but there's a part of him that doesn't seem happy. So, like, what did you tap into for that to make that scene work?
HENRY: Wow. I remember that scene very, very vividly because it's how I felt about my life. I remember thinking, you know, so I'm an actor now. You know, like, so now I'm an actor, and people are telling me left and right that I should be happy, and I should be celebrating. And I remember a lot of that was when I was really, really deep in grief of my mother. And I was like, well, how can I in any way celebrate the success of what this is when I've lost so much? And I remember especially feeling like that in 2020. I remember I had just finished "Eternals." And, you know, I had done this Marvel movie, like, playing this role that I was incredibly proud of. And, you know, now we're sitting down dealing with this pandemic and dealing with loss and dealing with social injustice in the streets. And everyone is telling me that you're - you know, actually, you're doing great, like everything is great. And I was like, what are you talking about? Like, the world is on fire. The world is on fire. What if there is no comeback from this? What if there's - like, I just grapple with a lot of stuff.
RASCOE: Yeah. No.
HENRY: As I'm sure we all did. And I'm sure we all did.
RASCOE: Yeah. Yeah.
HENRY: And so we feel like other people know what's better for us than we do ourselves. But I have come to learn, as Brian, that instinctually, I was built to always listen to my heart. And I think that Alfred is finding the same thing with him. So when you see him sitting with this kid, not Earn, not Darius, not anyone else - he's sitting with this complete stranger because, sometimes, you find solace in giving your heart to complete strangers sometimes because, you know, there's no winning or losing. It's just somebody to listen. And I think, you know, and those moments when Alfred feels like he's being listened to are truly rewarding for me, Brian, to play because I always am trying to find someone to listen to my heart, I feel, sometimes because I'm always so busy. And I'm always doing this and I'm playing this character over here but I think that I'm always just waiting for a moment for somebody to truly hear me say, hey, acting isn't always what I wanted to do. This isn't - I didn't really know that this was what my life was going to be. I didn't know that these doors were going to open up like that. And yo, I'm scared.
RASCOE: What are you scared of?
HENRY: You know, I get scared that one, it will all go away at any given moment. I get scared that I might become stagnant. You know, I don't want to drown in it. I don't want to lose the fibers that make me me. I don't want to lose that 11-year-old kid that put, like, movie posters up in his locker. You know, I don't want to lose that kid that truly, truly went to the movie theaters, like, on a weekend and watched three movies at one time with a bucket of popcorn and was like, this is awesome.
RASCOE: Yeah.
HENRY: And so it's a work in progress. And I think that you're reading Alfred in that, as well. But when he really is anchored, when he's really anchored and being able to be vulnerable, I think that that's where he shines the brightest. So I, Brian, am also trying to let that reflect in me, as well.
RASCOE: I wanted to tell you this, and I didn't know what because I didn't want you to be offended - because I know you are an actor, and, you know, this is a craft. But when I first saw "Atlanta," I did not realize you were, like, a trained - I don't know why because I had never seen a character like this - I grew up in North Carolina - that felt so real.
HENRY: You in North Carolina, too? Where are you from?
RASCOE: Durham. I'm from Durham, N.C.
HENRY: I'm from Fayetteville.
RASCOE: Oh, you're from the Ville? Oh, my goodness.
HENRY: Yeah.
RASCOE: OK. I'm from Durham (laughter).
HENRY: This is crazy. I love this. See - family everywhere. It's great.
RASCOE: Yes. Yes. I'm from Durham.
HENRY: OK, Durham.
RASCOE: And so when I saw - Durham, yes. So when I saw Paper Boi, I was like - I thought they went out in Atlanta and found somebody and say, hey, can you act, like, from the block (laughter)?
HENRY: This is one of the - that right there is one of the most amazing compliments I could ever get in my career when especially, you know, because you're my folk. You know what I mean?
RASCOE: Yeah, no, I...
HENRY: Like, you're my folk. So, like, when people say that to me, I'm always incredibly honored because that's what I wanted. I really wanted to make sure that he was as authentic to what I knew my folk to be.
RASCOE: Yes.
HENRY: And I didn't want there - I didn't want to, like, ham him up. I didn't want him to - you know? And I also wanted to respect the city of Atlanta, you know, because Atlanta is where I discovered who the hell I was. Like, you know, I was here from 18 to 22 years old. And I was in these streets. Like, I'm just going to just say it. I was in these streets...
RASCOE: (Laughter).
HENRY: I was having the time of my life, you know? And, like, I loved it here. And it developed me. And I wanted to make sure, like, when I got this script and I saw that the show itself was called "Atlanta," I was like, well, that's the fifth character, the city in and of itself. And if Alfred is going to be - you know, it's a beautiful thing, but it also comes - like, there's sacrifices to fame. You know, fame is a scary thing. It is especially scary when you're navigating it as a person of color because, you know, you're being told, hey, actually, you're up on this level. And then you go somewhere, and they're like, we don't know you. I don't know you. I don't feel - like, you know, I still have...
RASCOE: Have you experienced that? Do you experience that a lot?
HENRY: Oh, absolutely.
RASCOE: (Laughter).
HENRY: Absolutely. Like, that's never going to change. Like, that's - like, let's be - let's be really, really real. That's never going to change. But I think the way that it has affected me is different. I can kind of, like, laugh at it now and also be very aware of where to spend my time and where to spend my money. You know what I mean? Like, at the end of the day, it's like it's - I'm better now for knowing the difference.
RASCOE: Brian Tyree Henry stars in "Atlanta." Its third season is airing now on FX. Brian Tyree Henry, thank you so much for joining me today. And whenever I see you, I'm going to expect to see acting with a capital A.
HENRY: (Laughter) I'll make sure. I'll make sure.
(LAUGHTER)
HENRY: I'll make sure - for sure. Thank you for everything. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-17/brian-tyree-henry-stars-in-atlanta-season-3 | 2022-05-12T14:50:52Z |
SARAH MCCAMMON, HOST:
With three major religious holidays - Ramadan, Passover and Easter - all converging in the same week, the leaders of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community were inspired to share their holiday celebrations with those of all beliefs in interfaith dinners at mosques across the country. The alignment of the Muslim, Jewish and Christian springtime holidays provided an opportunity for members of all three faiths to come together for a series of dinners and conversations focused on the theme of justice through compassion.
Harris Zafar is the national spokesperson for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, and pastor Kelvin Ward is an associate pastor with the Cathedral of Praise International Ministries in Southern California. Harris Zafar, Pastor Ward, welcome to ALL THINGS CONSIDERED.
HARRIS ZAFAR: Thank you so much for having me.
KELVIN WARD: Thank you for having me also.
MCCAMMON: So tell me about these interfaith dinners that are happening at this time that's holy for all three faiths. What prompted you to start hosting these interfaith meals?
ZAFAR: There was a realization that the three major religions in this country will be united at the same time. And so with all of the very strong relationships that we have with members of various communities and their organizations, we wanted to take this opportunity to have - to bring people of faith together. For quite some time, we had been discussing what we can do to address this strife, the bitterness, the persecution - and, of course, you know, epitomized by the recent Russia-Ukraine conflict, we thought this seems like the perfect opportunity for people of faith, in their spirit of spirituality and the season of spirituality, to come together and talk about compassion, but not compassion as an emotion, but more compassion that can result in action to help instill justice. And that's how we've centered around this theme of justice through compassion and invited people to join us as we celebrate this or discuss this idea through these interfaith dinners.
MCCAMMON: I want to talk about the food. Of course, each faith has different traditions surrounding their holidays and different rules around food, some of which are, seemingly at least, incompatible on the surface. What and also when do you eat to accommodate everybody's needs?
ZAFAR: Yeah. That's a - it's an interesting logistical challenge, especially given this time of year. Sunset is when Muslims do open their fast. And so sunset these days is a bit - it's a bit later. And so it's a bit later than a normal dinnertime would be. So we serve the refreshments to open the fast as well as the dinner - the meal afterwards - at sunset. I think, you know, there was a mixture - depending on which of the 34 cities you went to where we've held this event, there were some that served Indian or Pakistani food, you know, like curries and things like that. But there are other places where we served kosher food, some Mediterranean, you know, falafel-type food or just American food - pasta, wings and things to that effect - but making sure that we are at least incorporating things that are kosher, vegetarian, knowing that we can't necessarily accommodate all dietary restrictions, but at least trying to be as accommodating as possible.
MCCAMMON: Pastor Ward, why did you decide this was something you wanted to incorporate into your own observance of your Christian Holy Week?
WARD: It's a good question. I have a very good friend that I met probably about five years ago that attends the mosque where the Iftar was held by the Jamil Muhammad. And he invited me. And I've always been an engaging and very curious-minded person. So based upon that and my relationship with Brother Jamil, it was something that I wanted to see for the first time when I went several years ago and wanted to discover for myself. And I'm glad I did. And it's been a very long-lasting relationship that we've had and with the Muslim community. So that was my reasoning for going. And the food is awesome (laughter)
MCCAMMON: Will the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community continue hosting these dinners going forward? And what might that look like?
ZAFAR: Absolutely. We see no need to put an end to this. We've believed that people of faith should be, for lack of a better term, first responders when it comes to dealing with matters of conflict, of adversity, much like our police force, our fire department are first responders for physical disasters when it comes to dealing with a lot of the strife and bitterness we see. And so we definitely want to continue to take that responsibility upon us.
MCCAMMON: Pastor, what I want to ask you quickly - Harris Zafar earlier talked about the moment that this is all happening, of course, against the backdrop of a third year of global pandemic, continued war in Ukraine and so much else. How do you think about these global events? How does that shape this observance for you?
WARD: Well, inviting other faith and other spiritual meanings into the space, to these Iftars, when we think about it, it's uncomfortable at times to stretch your hand across the proverbial aisle, as it were, and invite someone into your personal space, especially someone who doesn't look like you or may not have the same religious or spiritual leaning as you do. But at the end of the day, if we're not exemplifying and executing love, we're not going to be able to bridge. And we're not going to be able to be uncomfortable in doing the work that we need to do, and that is seeing that we're actually intentionally focused on making sure that we do have justice through compassion.
MCCAMMON: That was Pastor Kelvin Ward, associate pastor at Cathedral of Praise International Ministries, speaking to us from his home in Riverside, Calif., and Harris Zafar, national spokesperson for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, who are hosting interfaith dinners at mosques across the country. Thank you both so much for being with us.
ZAFAR: Thank you for having us both.
WARD: Yes. Thank you very much. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-17/centered-on-compassion-and-justice-leaders-hold-interfaith-dinners-at-mosques | 2022-05-12T14:50:58Z |
SARAH MCCAMMON, HOST:
Viola Davis, Michelle Pfeiffer and Gillian Anderson play three of America's most distinctive presidential spouses in the limited series "The First Lady." NPR TV critic Eric Deggans says the program, which debuts on Showtime tonight, works best when dramatizing events previously hidden from public view.
ERIC DEGGANS, BYLINE: "The First Lady" soars highest when it's focused on its murderers' row of actresses in its lead roles. Consider this moment, when Pfeiffer's Betty Ford explains in a speech why her husband Gerald avoided telling senators about his meeting with a psychiatrist during confirmation hearings for the vice presidency.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE FIRST LADY")
MICHELLE PFEIFFER: (As Betty Ford) It was my psychiatrist Gerry met with twice - you heard discussed in his confirmation hearings this morning. He met with my psychiatrist to support me, and I love him for that.
DEGGANS: Or Anderson's poise as Eleanor Roosevelt giving a radio address.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE FIRST LADY")
GILLIAN ANDERSON: (As Eleanor Roosevelt) People say no woman could stand the physical strain a man endures - nonsense. A woman is like a teabag. You never know how strong it is until it's in hot water.
DEGGANS: And this conversation, when "The Handmaid's Tale" alum O-T Fagbenle, playing Barack Obama, tries to calm the anger of Davis's Michelle Obama over Donald Trump's election as president.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE FIRST LADY")
VIOLA DAVIS: (As Michelle Obama) A Black man can rise to the highest office in the land, built on the backs of slaves, and it tears them up so much that they elect something like that?
O-T FAGBENLE: (As Barack Obama) Yo, Mich (ph)...
DAVIS: (As Michelle Obama) I want to beat every single person who voted for him - all of them. I hope they get exactly what they deserve.
FAGBENLE: (As Barack Obama) This is not America.
DAVIS: (As Michelle Obama) It is.
DEGGANS: This is when "The First Lady" is most compelling, dramatizing scenes that likely happened but we rarely saw in public. In examining the unique roles of three different presidential spouses from three very different time periods, the series gives us a detailed look at one of the most powerful unelected positions in American government. Here, Anderson's Eleanor Roosevelt pushes back against an aide, played by Jackie Earle Haley, who criticizes her for speaking up in a news article.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE FIRST LADY")
JACKIE EARLE HALEY: (As Louis Howe) There is a way that things are done here.
ANDERSON: (As Eleanor Roosevelt) You know, a great political adviser once told me that I should lower the pitch of my voice so that men would not dismiss me as a frivolous woman. Now everyone is telling me to be quiet.
HALEY: (As Louis Howe) The president's advisers think his [expletive] wife should stay in the background.
DEGGANS: But such scenes also hint at "The First Lady's" biggest weakness, a tendency to hammer home points with a heavy hand. The series can feel both overlong and superficial, spending too much time on the character's early history while blazing past important later moments. And although the men playing the presidents try hard, Aaron Eckhart is seriously miscast as Gerald Ford. Kiefer Sutherland flounders as Franklin Delano Roosevelt. And Fagbenle seems to be doing an Obama impression imported straight from "Saturday Night Live," especially in this argument from the Obamas' early days in Chicago.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE FIRST LADY")
FAGBENLE: (As Barack Obama) Do you want me to resign and...
DAVIS: (As Michelle Obama) I get it.
FAGBENLE: (As Barack Obama) ...And take up some - what? - some [expletive] corporate lawyer job like you? Because I'm pretty sure you're miserable...
DAVIS: (As Michelle Obama) At least my job pays the bills - our bills. We actually get something out of it instead of banging my head against a wall telling myself that I'm making a difference when I'm really not.
DEGGANS: Sometimes in watching "The First Lady," I wish they'd made three separate and better-focused movies on each of these amazing women. Still, the series offers a lot of compelling, electric moments. You just have to wade through some distractions to get there. I'm Eric Deggans. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-17/first-lady-series-compels-when-dramatizing-the-unseen-moments | 2022-05-12T14:51:04Z |
SARAH MCCAMMON, HOST:
We've all been there - the dreaded call to a customer service line...
AUTOMATED VOICE: Please hold while your call is being transferred.
MCCAMMON: ...Frustrating automated menus, long wait times. And once you finally do get to speak to a real human, it can feel like you've already lost hope. But there are ways to get what you want. For NPR's Life Kit, Meghan Keane explains a game plan for customer service calls.
MEGHAN KEANE, BYLINE: Chances are if you're calling a customer service line, you're dealing with a problem. I know it's tempting to come in hot and just really lay into the customer service representative, but just remember...
CRAIG DOS SANTOS: Behind every rule, there's a person who has apply that rule, and that person often has some leeway. And they're only going to change things if you can reach them.
KEANE: That's Craig dos Santos. He's a consultant who specializes in negotiation, which makes him pretty incredible at dealing with customer service. He's done seemingly impossible tasks, like successfully returning three new iPads after the return period and negotiating a $16,000 medical bill to $0. But he didn't do any of this by yelling or demanding to speak to the manager.
DOS SANTOS: It's tempting to think of these as transactions, but there's a real human there. And if you treat them as a transactional being, then they will also treat you that way.
KEANE: A big tip from dos Santos - make the customer service representative your ally. You want to signal to the rep you're separating them from the problem.
DOS SANTOS: What I'll tell them is like, look; I know that you didn't have anything to do with this. I know you're trying to help me, but I want to tell you what happened.
KEANE: Let's say you ordered some sneakers. The company says they were delivered weeks ago, but you haven't seen them arrive yet - a total hypothetical here. Instead of saying, hey, jerk, you need to fix this; your company shouldn't be losing sneakers; this is unacceptable, take a deep breath.
DOS SANTOS: Just tell them look; I'm really frustrated. I just want to tell you what's been my experience so far and separate that out. I think that is one way to, like, bring a reality into the conversation without making it about them. It's like, I don't know what to do.
KEANE: Again, separating the person from the problem. So it's more like, I know the tracking information for these shoes say they've been delivered, but I've already checked with my neighbors if they picked it up by mistake, and no one has. And I'm just confused as to why they're still missing. It should go without saying, but here's your reminder to be kind. Use the representative's name and just be patient. Another easy way to get someone on your side during a customer service interaction - ask them for advice. What would you do in my situation?
DOS SANTOS: Or I'll just state the situation. Like, you know, I woke up today, and I was just not expecting to get a bill for $145. Like, I don't know what to do - silence. You know, let them contemplate that situation, and then see what they say. And oftentimes they'll be like, yeah, that would be crappy. If I woke up in the morning and had a $145 bill, I would not be happy, either.
KEANE: The key to getting good customer service is preemptively de-escalating the situation. Dos Santos does this with what he calls caretaking statements. It's essentially showing your appreciation.
DOS SANTOS: I appreciate you, like, being patient with me as we figure this thing out.
KEANE: Or say thank you so much for sticking with me on this, or I've dealt with a few people today on this issue, and you've been so quick to sort this out.
DOS SANTOS: You can always insert one of these little what I call caretaking statements to reduce the tension, but you're not releasing the request.
KEANE: All of this - making the customer service representative your ally, separating the person from the problem, showing your appreciation - helps set policies and rules aside so you can solve the problem with another human.
DOS SANTOS: Now you're talking about something that actually impacts people emotionally. And when you need to move somebody emotionally, then you can move what their decisions are.
KEANE: So much better than just asking for the manager. For NPR News, I'm Meghan Keane.
MCCAMMON: And for more NPR Life Kit, go to npr.org/lifekit. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-17/how-to-make-customer-service-interactions-work-in-your-favor | 2022-05-12T14:51:10Z |
Updated April 17, 2022 at 2:10 PM ET
Our memories, our dreams and our emotions — these are the parts of us that exemplify our humanity. But in Janelle Monáe's new collection of short stories, The Memory Librarian and Other Stories of Dirty Computer, those are the things that contaminate us — they make us "dirty."
The Afrofuturistic world of "Dirty Computer," first explored in Monáe's Grammy-nominated album from 2018, now fills the pages of a new book. Co-written with authors Alaya Dawn Johnson, Danny Lore, Eve L. Ewing, Yohanca Delgado and Sheree Renee Thomas, the five fictional narratives find Black and queer protagonists grappling with how to embrace their full selves in a world set out on erasing their individuality.
Janelle Monáe spoke to NPR's Weekend Edition about the nightmare that sparked the sci-fi world of "Dirty Computer," the oppressive revolution her characters live under, and creating art in a way that feels authentic.
The Memory Librarian hits bookstore shelves on April 19.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity
On the inspiration behind "Dirty Computer"
It came to me in a nightmare, actually — a nightmare that I was kidnapped. I went to the movies, I got popcorn, was [sitting down] and everybody was scattering out of the theater. I was like, "I just want to watch a movie." One of the ushers was trying to tell me to come through a back way so that they could protect me because they're kidnapping people. I did not listen to the usher, and I was kidnapped. All of my memories were wiped clean. I didn't know who I was. The only thing that I remembered [was] just showing up as somebody completely different.
And so, I put all of that energy into the album: Why would somebody want to erase who I am? Why would they want to erase all of these folks' memories? And I put that into, you know, representing a community full of people whose stories are being erased, whose identities are being erased.
On the "New Dawn Revolution" that has taken place in the short stories
New Dawn is evil. They are "divide and conquer" people — start with marginalized people first, make them hate themselves, erase their memories of who they are and create them into something we want them to be so we can control and we can have power.
On Seshet, the titular character in the short story, "The Memory Librarian"
This particular story explores the sort of precarious position of a Black queer woman trying to navigate her authority and her vulnerability within an institution of power. They tell her, "You can be powerful if you just do this." And so, it touches on how identity is exploited by politics. Seshet oversees all of Little Delta, and Little Delta is an area that is the intersection of the New Dawn order and this sort of rebellious sub-world. Seshet is sort of like this insider-outsider that represents that intersection and conflict.
I came up with this particular story by asking myself: What if you were the person who knew everybody's memories and you also knew everybody's secrets? What does that mean when you want to fall in love, when you know everybody's secrets? How do you fall in love? How are you truthful? Can you be truthful?
On being your authentic self as an artist
I think I'm becoming more and more authentic in the way that I express that truthfulness. I'm in this space where I'm just like [in] the most "I don't have anything to prove" space in my life that I've ever been in. I think having conversations with women, with artists who've come into the industry — there have been moments, specifically at the beginning of their careers, where we have felt like, "Okay, we got to prove that we can do this, we can do that, we can do this, etc."
Sometimes what you really want to do can take a backseat because you feel like, "I have to prove this first and then I'll get to that." And I'm at a space where I'm making the most fun music I've ever made, just for the people that I love and care about around me, for us to vibe out to. [I'm] just curating my life in a way where I can do that. You know, giving myself permission — and I think with this book, I hope that people feel the permission to show up as their authentic selves. When the world tells you that everything about you — your queerness, your Blackness, you being a woman, you wanting to be an artist on your own terms — when people try and stop that process from happening to you, you then saying, "I give myself this permission."
On whether the fictional Pynk Hotel — which exists outside the constructs of binaries, monogamy and capitalism — is a reflection of Monáe's ideal world
It is a world that I would like to see more of. When Danny Lore and I were working on [the short story] "Nevermind," we wanted to get an opportunity to talk about what it means to discuss sexuality plurality, gender plurality and nonconformity. What is personal identity versus national conformity? These are all themes within the story. What does it mean to search for acceptance and love? I think with "Nevermind," where the Pynk Hotel exists — and you saw it in my video, Pynk — [the characters] survive a battle at the Pynk Hotel. Not only a battle for the hotel's survival against New Dawn, but a battle over what its ideals of feminism mean as it stretches to embrace all identities.
On whether it's possible to love someone with whom you fundamentally disagree
I think we're having those conversations within our communities. We're having those conversations about a more radical approach to community, love and forgiveness. I don't have all of those. That's why I love books. I love sci-fi. I love fiction. I love being able to ask myself, "Hmm, which one of these characters am I? Would I make that decision? Wow, maybe I should make that decision." Maybe people in my community could benefit from me listening to some of these characters and implementing that into my own space.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-17/janelle-monaes-dirty-computer-comes-alive-in-a-new-collection-of-stories | 2022-05-12T14:51:16Z |
Last year's performance at the Los Angeles Public Library propelled The Linda Lindas' anthem, "Racist, Sexist Boy," into an international spotlight.
The video of the California-based punk band playing at the library's AAPI Heritage Month celebration in May racked up hundreds of thousands of views. But the group — made up of sisters Lucia and Mila de la Garza, their cousin Eloise Wong and their friend Bela Salazar — has staying power in the Riot Grrrl scene.
The band's recently released album, Growing Up, finds its members attempting to make sense of adolescence in a global pandemic, demanding to be heard and paying homage to a savage pet cat.
To commemorate what they've learned about their music and themselves while making the record, Bela Salazar and Lucia de la Garza spoke to NPR's Ayesha Rascoe on Weekend Edition Sunday.
The following interview has been condensed and edited. To listen to the audio version, click the link above.
Ayesha Rascoe, Weekend Edition: Lucia, why punk music? Was there ever a question in your mind about the type of band you would be?
Lucia de la Garza: I think with punk music, you can make mistakes. You can do really easy songs. Punk isn't necessarily a technical genre, but you can kind of make it whatever you want. I think that was really enticing because we were kids, you know, [laughs] we're still kids. But we were even younger kids! And the punk community is not a community to judge within technical skills — we can grow from that. It doesn't actually matter as long as you're doing something that you love, as long as you're doing it around people that you love and playing something that matters to you and saying stuff that needs to be heard. This is a quote from Eloise [Wong]: She says, "Punk is amplifying your own voice when no one else will."
Bela, it seems like what Lucia is saying is punk is more of a feeling than just technical stuff. Is that how you feel?
Bela Salazar: Yeah, for sure. I think it's an expression. It's a lifestyle too.
How do you express the punk lifestyle, Bela?
Salazar: I don't know. I don't care about school, you know? I'm in a punk band. [laughs]
I want to get back to the idea of this as a way to express yourself because on the album, it seems like that's what a lot of the songs are about — expressing that need to be heard. Does putting your thoughts and emotions into music help other people actually stop and listen to you?
Salazar: I don't know. I feel like people are feeling those emotions and whoever is going to listen to that is going to feel like they're not alone. We're in different phases of our lives. We might be younger, but we still go through the same things.
De la Garza: Yeah, the album is called Growing Up, but that doesn't mean it stops becoming relatable after growing up because there's no after growing up, you know?
No, we're all growing every day and trying to figure stuff out, right? And you guys have been doing this through the pandemic and living through [it] as a teenager. How much did that influence the album Lucia?
De la Garza: I think that there [were] so many feelings of helplessness during the pandemic because you see stuff happening every day, and it's hard to feel like anything you do matters. I think that the songs are a way for us to internally make sense of what was happening [and] make sense of our brain and how to get through it.
Do you feel like you guys grew a lot while you were making the album? What was something that you learned about yourself while you were making the album?
Salazar: I feel like the one thing I've really learned was how to make an album because I had no clue. We did the EP before, but this is a lot of songs and I didn't know how to write songs. I didn't know how to do any of it. I learned a lot about the music side of things that I didn't necessarily know before.
You wrote a great song about your cat, "Nino." Can you talk a little bit about Nino?
Salazar: Nino is this big, fluffy black cat. He has big yellow eyes. He's just a funny dude. So I was like, I'm going to write a song about this guy.
De la Garza: Well, also Monica, her other cat, got a song. But Nino did not, and then...
Salazar: Oh yeah. Nino was very jealous when he heard Monica's song. He was screaming at my phone when I played it out [loud]. I was like, I can't leave him out. But he's also a really funny dude.
Lucia, your dad is a music producer. He's helped you guys with your sound along the way. What's it like working with your dad on a professional level?
De la Garza: Yeah, I like it. I mean, a lot of people would not say that, but it's kind of cool to have that comfortable relationship with him because as younger female artists — I don't know if it should be this way — but we would definitely feel more awkward if the producer was someone that we didn't know. We would feel weird being new artists that didn't know how to tell someone what we want the record to sound like.
I want to talk about "Racist, Sexist Boy." It's the song that kicked things off, that went viral and now is the last track on the album. I've read that it started out as an angry song, but now it's an anthem of empowerment. How do you feel about how that transition has taken place?
Salazar: Honestly, I feel like I have never once experienced anything like that, and so obviously it was sad. But then it was so cool to see a bunch of people join together and be like, "We're not alone in this."
De la Garza: Yeah, a lot of people have felt like their stories don't matter, and that really sucks because they do. Everyone's story matters. You don't owe your story to anybody, but it matters and you should feel like you have the right to talk about it and speak up about it.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-17/on-full-length-debut-viral-punk-band-the-linda-lindas-keep-growing | 2022-05-12T14:51:23Z |
AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
Yesterday marked 15 years since the shooting at Virginia Tech. Columbine happened on this coming Wednesday's date in 1999. There are anniversaries of mass shootings up and down the calendar. Reporter Jeff Lunden has this on a program called #Enough, Plays to End Gun Violence. It uses short plays by teens to address the epidemic of gun violence.
JEFF LUNDEN, BYLINE: Director Michael Cotey was in rehearsal on February 14, 2018, when the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida occurred.
MICHAEL COTEY: This is the third time that I had been in rehearsal when one of these horrific mass shootings have happened - so Sandy Hook and Las Vegas specifically. And I was like, there's got to be some way we could respond as a theater community to what felt like this just increase and ceaseless violence.
LUNDEN: Inspired by student protests following Parkland, he created the #Enough plays. In 2020, seven plays by high school students were presented mostly on Zoom by major regional theaters like the Goodman in Chicago and Berkeley Rep, as well as community organizations and schools across the country.
AVERY HAMILL: It's difficult to make a community if you're just talking at them with stats and numbers.
LUNDEN: That's Avery Hammill, a high school student from outside Philadelphia. He's on the board of Students Demand Action, a group dedicated to ending gun violence. And his chapter sponsored a Zoom reading in 2020.
HAMILL: #Enough is hitting them in the hearts with these breathtaking pieces of student work.
LUNDEN: This year, eight 10-minute plays have been selected for live readings followed by discussion, says Michael Cotey.
COTEY: We've got nearly 60 communities across the country that are going to be participating in our nationwide reading on April 20, 2022, in, I think, 26 states this year. We've got a sort of a flagship reading at Lincoln Center in their atrium space.
LUNDEN: Lincoln Center's director of programming, Shanta Thake, says #Enough is a good way to start serious discussions about gun violence.
SHANTA THAKE: People are much more prone to participate in larger national dialogues if they've seen an art piece about it and at that moment.
LUNDEN: The young playwrights involved have written wildly different pieces from realistic to impressionistic, reflecting their own experiences, including personal losses from gun violence.
TAYLOR LAFAYETTE: Travis, also known as T.J., is my younger brother. He was 16 when he passed.
LUNDEN: Taylor Lafayette is a senior at Mississippi School of the Arts. T.J. was killed in a robbery over a year ago, and part of his sister's healing process has been to write the short play "Salted Lemonade."
LAFAYETTE: My play really just features about the pain that Black mothers go through when raising a child to be a grown man and just worrying about them because they know of all the things that happen in the world.
LUNDEN: She reads an excerpt.
LAFAYETTE: (Reading) I'm scared. I'm not scared of the man he's becoming, but I'm scared of the world he's going to be coming in.
LUNDEN: Another author, Anya Jimenez from Brooklyn, says she's been participating in active shooter drills since the age of 6.
ANYA JIMENEZ: There's this whole idea that our generation is supposed to save the world, and we're supposed to be the ones to fix everything that has been left for us, but we're also being shot dead in algebra class.
LUNDEN: She's written "It's Okay," a dreamscape between a mother and the disembodied voice of what the audience discovers is her dead child. Here's an excerpt.
JIMENEZ: (Reading) And you think about what a body is when it's in your hands, and it used to be her, but now it's it, and it's heavy, and it doesn't wake up, and it shouldn't have happened, but it did. And I'm still here, and she doesn't get to be. And it just keeps coming. How long until I wake up?
LUNDEN: McKennzie Boyd has written "Southside Summer," about her neighborhood in Chicago. She adapted it from a poem she wrote about gun violence.
MCKENNZIE BOYD: (Reading) The first gunshot - I can't forget that day. Bullets dropping like rain leaving clouds of smoke to cover us. So we started our game. The second gunshot - we ducked behind the cars, camouflaging, praying that the lives that they claimed wouldn't be ours.
LUNDEN: Even though she's only 16, Boyd seems older than her years.
BOYD: We don't want the next generation to have to grow up as fast as we did. That's all we - we want that childhood that, you know, wasn't there for us. So now in this authority and adulthood and maturity, we have the ability to do something about this, to acknowledge the problem and change things.
LUNDEN: She and several of the playwrights will be traveling to New York for the #Enough reading on Wednesday, hoping to be part of that generational change with their art. For NPR News, I'm Jeff Lunden in New York.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-17/on-the-date-of-columbine-8-plays-on-gun-violence-will-be-read-across-the-u-s | 2022-05-12T14:51:29Z |
AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
Guitar players are always searching for the perfect sound, kind of like radio.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
RASCOE: And when it comes to amplifiers, valve amps rank above all others. Those are the types Peter Frampton used to record the iconic album "Frampton Comes Alive" in 1975, and he still uses them. Valve amps are electric amplifiers that employ vacuum tubes. And bad news for guitar fiends - there's a problem with the valve amp supply chain. Randall Ball is a musician and the owner of Ball Amplification in Kerneysville, W.Va., and he joins us now to explain. Thanks so much for joining us.
RANDALL BALL: Happy to be here. Thanks for having me.
RASCOE: So the kink in the supply chain is with the tubes, right? Like, what's going on with that?
BALL: Well, the majority of tubes are made in Russia. And with everything that's going on over now with Russia and Ukraine, it's definitely caused a problem, you know, for tube amp builders and people who play through tube amplifiers.
RASCOE: So tell us about these little glass tubes, which older people know from radios and televisions. I know about them, too. I'm not that old.
BALL: (Laughter) Well, I do know that the vacuum tubes - they just impart a warmth, for lack of a better word, to a guitar. It's almost like an extension of the guitar. It's almost its own instrument. It adds its own character to the sound.
RASCOE: And so - and I know that you have a friend with you right now who can give us an example. Let's hear a little bit from Oskar Buie.
(SOUNDBITE OF GUITAR)
RASCOE: That sounds good to me (laughter). I can see why people are going all-out to get that sound. That's a nice sound.
BALL: Yeah. And, you know, it also helps to have a good guitar player like Oskar here.
RASCOE: (Laughter) So do these tubes last a long time?
BALL: It all depends. They can last a long time. It really depends on how often the tubes are being used. You know, like, for a working musician who's playing every weekend and all the time, tubes could last maybe a year or two years.
RASCOE: And so right now, if they break down, can you find them?
BALL: You can find some new. It is really difficult. So what I've done with my customers is just had them look for new old stock tubes, NOS. So basically they're tubes from the '50s and '60s that are brand new, just sitting in a box - you know, like just old inventory.
RASCOE: That never got sold.
BALL: Exactly. But you know what? Some people actually like the sound of new old stock tubes. They prefer the vintage ones, anyway, over the ones that are made today.
RASCOE: Yeah. So tell us more about the tone they produce. I know you said that they're warmer. Frampton has said, quote, "it's something I don't think you can actually put into words." So maybe it's unfair to ask you to give it a try. But you said it's a little bit warmer. Tell us a little bit more about, like, the sound that it produces.
BALL: You can emulate it with digital effects and things, but the sound of a tube amplifier - when you're really kind of driving it, it's really loud and you're really working the tubes really hard, they start to distort in a very pleasant way. You know, it's just part of the characteristic of the tube. And, in fact, a lot of old rock 'n' roll records from the '50s - that distortion was unintentional. In fact, they wanted the amplifiers to be clean, but it was just an accident. And then, you know, the rest was history.
RASCOE: All right. Well, that's Randall Ball of Ball Amplification in Kearneysville, W.Va. Thanks so much for joining us today.
BALL: Oh, thank you for having me.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-17/one-key-to-a-coveted-guitar-sound-is-a-small-glass-tube-but-theres-a-shortage | 2022-05-12T14:51:35Z |
AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
Russia's invasion of Ukraine is changing how Europe thinks about its defense, particularly in the east. In Poland, the government is boosting military spending. And as NPR's Joanna Kakissis reports, citizens are worried as well.
UNIDENTIFIED POLISH SOLDIER: (Non-English language spoken).
JOANNA KAKISSIS, BYLINE: On a rainy weekend near the border with Ukraine, recruits are training for Poland's Territorial Defence Force. Poland's defense ministry says enrollment in the armed forces has surged since neighboring Ukraine was invaded by Russia.
UNIDENTIFIED POLISH SOLDIER: (Non-English language spoken).
KAKISSIS: But Poland has its own history with Russian aggression, and it's been ramping up national defense for years. Michal Szczerba, a Polish lawmaker who specializes in NATO issues, says Poland has repeatedly warned the alliance about Russian President Vladimir Putin.
MICHAL SZCZERBA: Putin has become irrational leader, so it means that nobody can predict what he is going to plan. We have to be serious about the situation.
KAKISSIS: Putin has compared his war against Ukraine to a war on NATO. Marcin Przydacz, Poland's deputy foreign minister, says his country is doing everything possible to keep NATO united.
MARCIN PRZYDACZ: We as Poland, we've been always very loyal to NATO. Wherever and whenever NATO wanted us to help, we were first to help, as always.
KAKISSIS: Poland has increased military spending to 3% of GDP, one of the highest percentages among NATO member states.
PRZYDACZ: We do have quite significant number of troops, quite well-equipped. We've been active in purchasing also equipment from the U.S. We've signed a contract to buy F-35, hummers (ph), artillery, Abrams tanks.
KAKISSIS: And Poland is also a main gateway for Western weapons to Ukraine. Russia has threatened to target that supply. Along the Poland-Ukraine border, recruits at a training center learn to load and shoot weapons and prepare for chemical attacks. The recruits include a teacher, a beautician, a barista and a 22-year-old engineering student, Gabriela Kott.
GABRIELA KOTT: I think that every person capable of bearing arms should be trained with weapons. Right now, with the situation, with the war, with the Ukraine, we can be next.
KAKISSIS: She grew up hearing stories about how Poland suffered during World War II when the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany invaded the country.
PIOTR MAJEWSKI: This is a very, very strong memory in Poland still so many years after the Second World War.
KAKISSIS: Piotr Majewski is a historian at the University of Warsaw.
MAJEWSKI: And right now, we face again a war which makes our memories vivid and it brings fears.
KAKISSIS: After World War II ended, Poles blamed the West for abandoning Eastern Europe to the Soviet Union's sphere of influence.
MAJEWSKI: This is the turning point, I guess, right now. And, you know, if NATO's has enough power to protect Poland and other countries, this fear will disappear.
KAKISSIS: President Biden tried to address that fear in Poland last month when he offered this warning to Putin.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: Don't even think about moving on one single inch of NATO territory. We have a sacred obligation.
KAKISSIS: The U.S. has stationed more than 10,000 troops in Poland. But Przydacz, the deputy foreign minister, wants more troops and a permanent U.S. base in Poland.
PRZYDACZ: This is the place where Russia is and will be trying to test the unity of NATO and test our possible reaction.
KAKISSIS: The tension has prompted a 200% increase in membership at the Husar shooting club in Rzeszow, not far from the Ukrainian border.
(SOUNDBITE OF GUNFIRE)
KAKISSIS: Computer programmer Jedrezj Swietoniowski is learning to fire a Glock.
JEDREZJ SWIETONIOWSKI: In the past, I have no - any contact with guns, but right now, we know what's the enemy.
KAKISSIS: He sees the enemy in history and says Poland must prepare for the worst. Joanna Kakissis, NPR News, Rzeszow, Poland. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-17/poland-readies-its-defense-as-russia-moves-east | 2022-05-12T14:51:41Z |
AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
Happy Easter. The eggs may be rolling and the cinnamon rolls may be baking, but politics never lets up. Well, maybe that's just for us here in Washington and for me. NPR's Asma Khalid joins us now for a political check-in. She's a White House correspondent and also a host of the NPR Politics Podcast. Good morning, Asma.
ASMA KHALID, BYLINE: Good morning, Ayesha.
RASCOE: Let's start with oil and gas. The Biden administration is resuming the sale of oil and gas leases on public land. This seems like it might be a little bit complicated, though. Let's start with what it means.
KHALID: Sure. Well, look. You know, the major headline is that President Biden is opening up more public land to drilling. This is an announcement that was made on Friday afternoon by the Department of Interior. I will say there is some nuance here. You know, the department says that they're talking about roughly 144,000 acres, which sounds like a lot, but it's actually 80% less than the amount originally considered to be leased. Also, under the agency's new plan, drillers will have to now pay higher fees than ever before - 18.75% in royalty fees instead of just 12.5%. I should also note, you know, the president actually suspended new oil and gas leases shortly after he came into the White House, I believe, in January of 2021. And Biden has tried to prioritize climate initiatives and clean energy during his presidency to date. So this move, you know, I will say, is not occurring because the president suddenly had a change of heart and wants to suddenly pursue more fossil fuels. It's meant to comply with a federal court injunction that was brought by the oil and gas industry.
RASCOE: So the Biden administration didn't want additional drilling on public land. And the oil and gas companies went to courts. I wonder, though, like with gas prices so high, is this something that the administration is really upset about?
KHALID: You know, there is no doubt that the president is under pressure over prices at the pump. I will say, though, that there is very little any president can do about gas prices. But you see President Biden trying to move the numbers at the margin. I think that's why, you know, we've seen in recent weeks, for example, his decision to release a million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserves. And then this past week, we saw him announce plans to expand the sale of E15 gasoline over the summer - that's a gas made with a higher blend of ethanol. But look, Ayesha. I mean, more drilling on public land in the United States is not an immediate fix for high gas prices. And even if this land was leased tomorrow, it would still take some years for the oil to actually make it onto the market.
RASCOE: Yeah, but politically speaking, could this hurt the Biden coalition? Because some in green groups, I'm sure, are not happy about it.
KHALID: Yeah, you're right. I mean, environmental groups were certainly disappointed with this news. Climate is often a huge priority for young voters in particular. And I was struck by the statement I got from the Sunrise Movement. It's this youth-focused climate group. The statement said - and I'm quoting here - "This is why young people are doubting the political process altogether. If Biden wants to solve for voter turnout in 2022, he should actually deliver on the things he promised, not move farther away from them." I mean, strong words. And I will say young voters were key to Democratic wins in the 2018 midterms. They were key to Joe Biden's victory in 2020. And they really soured on him. You see this in poll after poll. And I've gone out and done interviews as well, and I hear this disappointment among young people - not just on climate but on issues like student loan forgiveness. And, you know, that, you know, Ayesha, I think is really interesting because just this past week, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki made some news. She said the idea of canceling some portion of student loan debt is still on the table. I'm sure you remember that during his campaign, the president had pledged to forgive $10,000 a person of student loan debt. But that hasn't happened. And analysts say, again, this issue comes back, like most policy issues right now in Washington, to inflation and concerns that forgiving debt could actually make inflation worse.
RASCOE: OK, on inflation - it was higher in the beginning of Ronald Reagan's first term, and unemployment was much higher. And Reagan went on to win reelection in a landslide. Maybe, you know, Biden is hoping to, you know - history will repeat itself.
KHALID: You are right about Ronald Reagan. But I will say that the political side effects of inflation are not just about the president right now, right? They're about his party. And the midterms are a referendum on the president. And at the moment, it seems like when you look at polls, voters are deeply concerned about inflation. In some cases, you know, they're more concerned about that than they are about the war in Ukraine, crime, just about anything else. And I will say, you know, 1981, 1982 - those midterms around that time - there was an actual recession leading up to it. And the '82 midterms were not great for Republicans. Democrats picked up, I think, about two dozen seats in the House. I will say, you know, I think it is also worth keeping in mind that the parties are more - I would say not more - they're actually less cooperative nowadays. And I think that if Biden loses control of Congress, it could be even more difficult for him to get any of his agenda passed during those final two years of his term.
RASCOE: That's NPR White House correspondent Asma Khalid. Asma, thank you so much.
KHALID: My pleasure. Good to talk to you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-17/politics-chat-biden-opens-more-land-for-oil-drilling | 2022-05-12T14:51:47Z |
AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
In Rome today, the pope calls this Sunday an Easter of war. Russia is launching artillery and missile strikes against cities and civilians in Ukraine's east and south. And talks of opening a humanitarian corridor in the city of Mariupol have broken down. NPR's Brian Mann joins us now from Odesa. And, Brian, what do we know about what's happening in Mariupol?
BRIAN MANN, BYLINE: Yeah, it's really hard to get good information right now. The city's completely cut off, but we know the situation is desperate. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in his latest public statement described the situation as inhuman. He says tens of thousands of people - many of them civilians - have already died, and as many as 100,000 people are still trapped by the Russian assault with no safe way out. We did speak to a Ukrainian military officer who told us some civilians are trying to make a 20-mile trek over land. But without that humanitarian corridor, it's very hard and very dangerous. In his latest address, Zelenskyy acknowledged that diplomatic and military efforts to help these people in Mariupol have failed.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY: (Non-English language spoken).
MANN: He says, "Since the siege of Mariupol began, we've tried every day to find a solution to save the people, but there is not a valid option."
RASCOE: And what's the Russian line on all of this?
MANN: Yeah, they're being very aggressive. The Russian military issued a statement to the Russian TASS news agency saying they've given the last Ukrainian soldiers a chance to surrender. They've been given a window of time starting early this Sunday morning to give up. The lives of all those who lay down their arms will be spared, the statement said. So far, no response from the Ukrainian side.
RASCOE: It sounds really horrific. Like, what is the significance in the wider war of this city falling?
MANN: Yeah, for one thing, it would be symbolic. Russia's struggled in the first 50 days of this invasion - losing one of their major ships in the Black Sea, the Moskva. They've seen top military leaders, generals killed in action. They've been forced to retreat, you know, taking heavy casualties without much to show for it. So capturing Mariupol would give Russia an important win, and it would also allow the Russian army to begin to pivot to attacks in the eastern Donbas region and here in the south where I am today.
RASCOE: There have been reports of Russia shelling Kharkiv and other cities. What can you tell us about that?
MANN: Yeah, Russian bombardments have been more intense over the last 24 hours - Russia claiming that they're targeting military installations. But I have to say our reporters on the ground have seen evidence that these strikes are also frequently hitting civilian areas. I was in a zoo yesterday where the groundskeepers had collected wreckage from what appeared to be Russian projectiles.
RASCOE: Wow. We've been hearing for more than a week that Russia is preparing another major offensive. You've been talking to Ukrainian military leaders and civilians who are near the front lines. What are you hearing?
MANN: Yeah, I spoke with a military officer in the city of Nikolayev yesterday, which is about 20 miles from the front, and we could hear the rumble of Russian artillery in the distance while we were talking. Nilolayev was hit with a missile strike while we were there. He told us that Ukraine has used the last month to strengthen its defenses. He wouldn't give details for security reasons but did predict that any Russian advance would cost the Russian army heavily. I did also speak with civilians, though, who've stayed behind in Nikolayev - many of them elderly or disabled. They say they don't want to leave their homes, and many also say they don't have anywhere to go. Here's Vladimir Dmitrievich (ph).
VLADIMIR DMITRIEVICH: (Non-English language spoken).
MANN: He says, "I'm 85 years old. What am I going to do? If I were younger, I'd go abroad. But I'm stuck."
And a lot of people here are in this situation. They're living very close to this intense fighting. But I have to say, surprising, the morale is very high. I asked his wife, Marisa (ph), if she's scared, and here's what she said.
MARISA: (Non-English language spoken).
MANN: She didn't talk about her own safety. Instead, she said she's worried about the soldiers. People here believe Ukraine can still win this fight.
RASCOE: OK, that's NPR's Brian Mann in Odesa. Brian, thank you, and please stay safe.
MANN: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-17/russia-hammers-mariupol-telling-ukraine-to-surrender-to-avoid-more-death | 2022-05-12T14:51:53Z |
On-air challenge: I'm going to name two things. You name something they have in common. Hint: Every answer is a five-letter plural.
Ex. The hair / Actor in a play --> PARTS
1. Circus / Telephone
2. Blog / Fence
3. Photographer / Vaccination center
4. Tennis match / Cinderella
5. Atoms in a molecule / 007 movie
6. Judge / Beer distributor
7. Ship / Blackjack dealer
8. Safe / Wig store
9. Clock / Bridge game
10. Gas station / Women's shoe store
Last week's challenge: Last week's challenge came from listener Ari Ofsevit, of Boston. Think of a 5-letter word with an "L" that is pronounced. Add a letter at the start to get a 6-letter word in which the "L" is silent. Then add a new letter in the fifth position to get a 7-letter word in which the "L" is pronounced again. What words are these?
Challenge answer: OLDER -> SOLDER -> SOLDIER
Winner: Meredith Wald of Chicago, Ill.
This week's challenge: This week's challenge comes from listener Joseph Young, who conducts the blog "Puzzleria!" Name a vehicle in two words — 4 letters in the first, 5 letters in the last. Move the second letter of the last word into the second position of the first word. The result phonetically will name a popular figure from legend. Who is it?
If you know the answer to next week's challenge, submit it here by Thursday, April 21st, at 3 p.m. ET. Listeners who submit correct answers win a chance to play the on-air puzzle. Important: Include a phone number where we can reach you.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-17/sunday-puzzle-things-in-common | 2022-05-12T14:51:59Z |
SARAH MCCAMMON, HOST:
As the country awaits a decision from the Supreme Court on abortion, the court has been at the heart of another conversation. This one about ethics. And that's because the U.S. Supreme Court is the only judicial body in the country not governed by a code of ethics. Congressional Democrats are pushing to change that with two new bills and hope to hold a hearing on the issue when they return from recess. Lawmakers from both parties have supported proposals to impose a code of ethics on the high court in previous years, but this new push is in response to demands that sitting Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas recuse himself from cases involving the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Recently released text messages show that Thomas's wife, conservative activist Virginia Thomas, urged a senior Trump White House official to take steps to overturn the 2020 election.
We wanted to understand how lawmakers may try to advance this legislation, so we called someone who's been reporting on it. Madison Alder is a judiciary reporter for Bloomberg Law, and she joins us now. Madison Alder, welcome.
MADISON ALDER: Thanks so much for having me.
MCCAMMON: First, many of our listeners may be surprised to learn that the Supreme Court is not subject to a code of ethics. How does the court currently operate? Do justices have any official rules that they're accountable to?
ALDER: The justices aren't bound by the same code of conduct that lower court judges are bound by. But they aren't really allowed to act unethically. There is a statute that requires any justice or judge or magistrate to decline to hear cases where their impartiality might be questioned. But other than that, the justices don't have those same code of conduct rules that lower court judges have. The court does say that they reference those code of conduct rules, but they are not bound by them in the same manner.
MCCAMMON: Yeah. You mentioned that ethical expectation. Is there any mechanism for enforcing it currently when it comes to the Supreme Court?
ALDER: So the mechanism for enforcement for justices would be impeachment. But that's such a high bar that it is really difficult to be met, just like it is for other forms of impeachment. So right now, there's really not a rubric for justices in the way that there is a rubric for other lower court judges at the district court and appeals court level.
MCCAMMON: As we mentioned, lawmakers from both parties have in the past expressed support for a code of ethics or a code of conduct for the Supreme Court, but none of these proposals have actually become law. What's the history of this issue, and how controversial has it been in the past?
ALDER: So there have been pushes to require the Supreme Court to have a code of ethics, just like the other lower courts do in the past. There's even been bipartisan legislation. Representative Darrell Issa of California, a Republican, had this as part of a bill in 2018 that actually advanced out of the House Judiciary Committee. But that proposal didn't end up becoming law. And the proposals that we've seen, at least in recent years, have been sponsored and introduced by Democrats. So right now, there are a couple of bills that would require the Supreme Court to have a code of ethics, but they are all sponsored by Democrats. And in the closely divided Senate, Democrats would need at least some Republican support, 10 Republicans, to get that legislation across the finish line.
MCCAMMON: Is there any bipartisan agreement on any of these kinds of ideas?
ALDER: There seems to be interest from at least one Republican lawmaker in the Senate. I spoke to Senator Lindsey Graham, and he told me that he is talking to Whitehouse - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse - about his legislation that was recently introduced that includes ethics, but it's a broader kind of judiciary reform bill. He said he was interested in Supreme Court ethics, but he's not a sponsor of the bill yet. And certainly Democrats would need more than one Republican.
Republicans so far have been fairly supportive of Justice Thomas as this news about his wife has come forward. Senator Mitch McConnell was recently speaking about this and was very supportive of Justice Thomas and kind of extended that support to the other justices on the court, saying, you know, I trust that they can make their own ethical decisions. And that doesn't really sound like there would be a lot of support for ethics legislation when they are so supportive of Thomas and kind of backing him throughout this scandal.
MCCAMMON: Democrats, of course, are arguing that Justice Thomas should recuse himself from cases involving January 6 because he can't be impartial, they say, due to the fact that his wife sent text messages to a former White House official seeking to overturn the 2020 election. You've reported that tying these bills, these ideas, to Justice Thomas is a risky move for Democrats. Why do you say that?
ALDER: Well, it's a risky move for Democrats because there has been Republican Party leadership - Mitch McConnell - that has been very supportive of Thomas. And if this becomes the anti-Thomas bill, that might be, especially in an election year, a - kind of a hard sell for Democrats to get more Republicans on board with.
MCCAMMON: There's been a lot of reporting in recent years about concerns by Chief Justice John Roberts about the reputation of the court. Is there a chance that the Supreme Court might impose its own rules on itself without Congress having to act?
ALDER: When there's been pushes by Congress to create changes for the judiciary, the judiciary has sometimes acted. So that could happen here. If there is a large enough push by members of Congress, the judiciary might take interest in this issue. An issue that we saw that happen with was sexual harassment claims in the judiciary. The judiciary did take it upon themselves to act and to create changes. But those changes are often not seen as enough. They're not as far as lawmakers or activists would have gone if they had imposed those changes themselves. And that was certainly true of the response to harassment allegations in the judiciary. So if the judiciary does take that route and decides to create a code of ethics for the justices, there is a chance that that could be very different than what lawmakers would have done.
MCCAMMON: That was Madison Alder. She's a judiciary reporter for Bloomberg Law. Madison Alder, thank you so much for your time.
ALDER: Thank you.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-17/the-effort-to-implement-a-supreme-court-code-of-ethics | 2022-05-12T14:52:05Z |
Updated April 24, 2022 at 8:16 AM ET
This story includes the topic of suicide.
If you or someone you know may be considering suicide, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 (en español: 1-888-628-9454; deaf and hard of hearing: 1-800-799-4889) or the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741.
It's hard to overstate the disruptive impact the pandemic has had on people.
Its effect on mental health is a big one, and for teenagers, that hit particularly hard.
Kathleen Ethier knows this well. She leads the Division of Adolescent and School Health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which this month published a survey that points to some very grim findings. From January to June 2021, CDC researchers collected data on the behaviors and experiences of 7,705 public and private high school students across the U.S.
Almost half of teens reported consistently feeling sad or hopeless — almost every day for two weeks or more in a row, to the point that they stopped doing their usual activities — in the 12 months before taking the survey.
One particular finding was sobering: 47% of lesbian, gay and bisexual teens said they had "seriously considered committing suicide."
Ethier, who has worked at the CDC for more than 20 years, tells NPR's Ayesha Rascoe that the numbers show how the pandemic accelerated an already worrying decline in teen mental health.
But, even as the numbers warn of a crisis, the survey also provided hope for possible improvement. It found that teens who feel connected to others at school report better levels of mental health.
Ethier spoke to NPR about mental health among teens and some of the survey's findings.
This interview has been edited and condensed. To hear the broadcast version of this story, use the audio player at the top of this page.
On the big-picture results from the survey:
We've known for a while that mental health among young people was going in the wrong direction. Prior to the pandemic, we were seeing increases in persistent feelings of sadness and hopelessness. What we really saw in the survey was the extent to which the pandemic has been incredibly disruptive for young people and their families. And then, although all students were impacted by the pandemic, not all students were impacted equally. I think that this directs us [to which] groups are most vulnerable. But also, toward some hope for things that we can do to try to address this crisis.
On the groups who are most vulnerable to poor mental health outcomes:
Asian students, Black students and multiracial students were most likely to say that they had experienced racism in school at some point in their life. They were more likely to have poor mental health outcomes than their peers who had not experienced racism. We also found that young people who experienced racism were less likely to say that they felt connected to others at school.
[For] LGBTQ youth, we had been seeing that difference for many years, and I think [the decline in mental health over the years] comes down to the experience of stigma and trauma and bullying.
The finding that I think we have to dig further into is something we've been seeing for many years: It's that our adolescent females are experiencing poor mental health. I think we know that they may experience more negative feedback through social media so they may be more impacted by it. We know that they experience sexual violence. There's a number of factors that are contributing to that, but I don't think we understand it quite as thoroughly as we should.
On how feeling connected at school plays a critical role:
The research shows that young people who feel connected to others at their school, who have others at their school who care about them, who are interested in their well-being, who are interested in their success. Young people who feel that way — anywhere in 7th to 12th grades — 20 years later have better outcomes in terms of their mental health, in terms of substance use, in terms of experience and perpetration of violence, and in terms of sexual health. It has a really broad-ranging impact.
On how to foster that connectedness:
There are really specific things that schools can do to increase connectedness. Some of them are intuitive, like getting rid of bullying and making sure that make sure that young people feel safe and feel supported. But then there are some things that you might not think about, like classroom management. I think a well-managed classroom does not mean it's an overly controlled classroom. Teaching teachers how to find that line where students feel valued, they feel heard and they feel like they are participating while also having structure and making sure bad behavior is not tolerated, I think that's the line to be walked here.
[Another] set of things that really help with school connectedness are activities, policies and practices that support LGBTQ youth. That includes things like having clubs that support them, having anti-harassment policies, identifying safe spaces. We see improvements in mental health and decreases in suicidal thoughts and behaviors [with these interventions] not only in the students who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or questioning, but also in their heterosexual peers.
So, something about protecting the most vulnerable youth means that the school is better for everyone.
On current efforts by some state legislatures to curtail expressions of gender and identity in schools:
Although I'm not able to comment on any particular state law or policy, I will say that when you make schools more toxic for any student, you make schools more toxic for all students. Any time we are not making efforts to improve the safety and supportiveness of school environments for very vulnerable youth, we are putting all of our students at risk.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-17/the-kids-are-not-all-right-the-cdc-finds-mental-health-among-teens-has-declined | 2022-05-12T14:52:12Z |
SARAH MCCAMMON, HOST:
Today marks Day 53 of the war in Ukraine, and Ukrainian forces are desperately trying to hold on to the port city of Mariupol. Taking Mariupol would be a big win for the Russians, who are looking for a victory after many losses. This is all happening as the conflict moves to a new phase, as Russia gears up for its next offensive in the east. Here with more is NPR correspondent Franco Ordoñez, who's in Kyiv. Hi, Franco.
FRANCO ORDOÑEZ, BYLINE: Hi, Sarah.
MCCAMMON: Describe, if you would, the current situation in Mariupol.
ORDOÑEZ: You know, it's really bad. Russians have long had Ukrainian forces outgunned, and they appear to be on the verge of taking over the city. They even gave the Ukrainians a deadline to surrender or risk, as one Russian officer put it, be destroyed. You know, if the Russians do take Mariupol, as you know, it would be seen as a major victory, and that's because they've had some big failures, including getting pushback from Kyiv and losing their flagship in the Black Sea. It would also allow Russian forces to relocate more troops in preparation for its next offensive in the eastern Donbas region. Now, Mariupol has already been such a bloody battle. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in his address last night, he said conditions were inhumane. But, you know, despite all that suffering, the Ukrainians really continue to fight, and they're defying that Russian deadline.
MCCAMMON: And, Franco, you've been looking into war crimes. What can you tell us about how far those investigations have gone?
ORDOÑEZ: You know, the reality is these investigations are just beginning. Prosecutors and advisers are starting to have their interviews. They're working with outside lawyers, foreign lawyers. They're setting up mobile investigative units. You know, the United States is actually helping provide some of the funding for those outside experts.
I spoke with Oleksandra Matviychuk, who heads the Center for Civil Liberties, which is helping with these investigations, doing some of the leading efforts. She said this is an exhaustive effort but one that needs to be carried out to its conclusion.
OLEKSANDRA MATVIYCHUK: First, we need to restore justice. Justice is always delay in time. But if we will not stop this circle of impunity, we will never recover after this war.
ORDOÑEZ: I was there today with one of the groups in a village called Peremoha, which the Russians occupied for weeks. And there were blown-up Russian tanks all along the road, Russian meal packs discarded around a school, which they had also ransacked. Investigators have been there, speaking with residents and victims about charges that Russian forces were holding people hostage and using seniors as human shields. And people are just really scared. They're particularly afraid that the Russians will come back.
MCCAMMON: And there were some new airstrikes around the Kyiv area today. What can you tell us about those?
ORDOÑEZ: Yeah. They launched a strike today on a town called Brovary, which actually was about 10 to 12 miles from where I was reporting. It's just another reminder that no part of Ukraine is completely safe. And Russia has warned that it will increase attacks on the capital city. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko is pleading with residents not to ignore warning sirens, and he's also telling people who fled for safety earlier not to return to the city.
MCCAMMON: NPR's Franco Ordoñez reporting from Kyiv. Franco, stay safe.
ORDOÑEZ: Thanks, Sarah. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-17/ukraine-latest-ukraine-forces-fight-to-hold-onto-mariupol | 2022-05-12T14:52:18Z |
Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright August Wilson, who died in 2005, is one of the prides of Pittsburgh - yet until this week, there has been no site in his hometown where fans could go to experience the breadth of his legacy as a chronicler of the Black American experience through his monumental, 10-play Century Cycle.
Now there's "August Wilson: The Writer's Landscape," a permanent immersive and interactive exhibition at – where else? – Pittsburgh's August Wilson African American Cultural Center. The center, which opened in 2009, is located just a half-mile from the brick rowhouse that was Wilson's own first home, in the historically Black neighborhood called the Hill District.
Wilson only lived in Pittsburgh until 1978, before moving to St. Paul, Minn., and then Seattle, but the city he grew up in continued to inform his work for the rest of his life.
"It was important to have a site where people could walk and immerse in August Wilson's work, learn about his influences, learn about how he worked and why he did the things that he did, why he wrote about specific topics in a specific way," said Center executive director Janis Burley Wilson, who oversaw the four-year project from start to finish. .
"Writer's Landscape" consists of 13 separate walk-through installations. Ten are devoted to the works in the Century Cycle, each of which is set in a different decade of the 20th century. The plays explore the damage wrought by racism as well as the resilience and triumphs of Black Americans. Most spotlight working-class characters like trash collectors ("Fences"), recent migrants from the agricultural South ("The Piano Lesson"), blues musicians ("Ma Rainey's Black Bottom," "Seven Guitars"), mill workers ("Gem of the Ocean"), and unlicensed cab drivers ("Jitney").
All 10 plays made it to Broadway; "Fences" and "The Piano Lesson" won Pulitzers. And all but one of the plays are set in the Hill District of Pittsburgh, where Wilson partly grew up and then came of age as a young man. The installations feature Wilson's personal effects along with costumes props and furniture from productions of the plays, including a 1956 Rock Ola jukebox from the 1990 Broadway staging of "Two Trains Running." There are also short videos about each play, with historical context and dialogue performed by the actors like Phylicia Rashad and Ruben Santiago-Hudson. Another installation honors Wilson's autobiographical monologue, "How I Learned What I Learned."
Two other sections in the exhibit summon his writing life. One recreates Eddie's Restaurant, a now-vanished haunt of Wilson's in the 1960s and '70s; Wilson, famously, did a lot of writing in diners. The other immerses visitors in his home office, complete with big writing wooden desk, books, and favorite blues records on vinyl – all donated by his wife, Constanza Romero-Wilson, from the couple's residence in Seattle, where Wilson lived the final 15 years of his life.
Romero-Wilson, who heads the August Wilson Legacy LLC, served as the exhibit's chief curator. She said the office was her favorite part of the show. "I can almost feel him when I am in the room," she said.
Wilson was born Frederick August Kittel. His father was a German immigrant whom Wilson never really knew; he and his five siblings were raised by their mother, Daisy Wilson, who was Black.
He dropped out of high school at age 15, after a teacher accused him of plagiarizing a paper he'd written on Napoleon. While that concluded his formal schooling, he began spending his days at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh's main branch, in Oakland, reading everything he could.
"He was an autodidact," said Romero-Wilson, herself an artist and costume designer. "He read incessantly. And he always tried to perfect everything, he was his own best critic. So that persistence to me and the triumph of his life, is what I want people to see when they come to this exhibit."
In 1965, at age 20, Wilson adopted his mother's maiden name and declared himself a poet. The newly minted "August Wilson" had moved back to a Hill District devastated by city redevelopment projects. But as "Writer's Landscape" makes clear, he still found inspiration in the people he met while hanging out (and taking notes) in coffee shops, cigar stores and jitney-cab stations.
"He grew up observing the people here. Hearing the way they speak, their tonality, their musicality," said Romero-Wilson. "He picked up the philosophy about right and wrong, about justice, about race, all here, with the people of Pittsburgh. So the spirit of Pittsburghers lives in all of August's plays."
The exhibit also evokes other formative influences through touch-free interactive video and audio displays. In archival interview clips, for instance, Wilson discusses the importance of such keystones of his worldview as the Black Power movement and blues music. Wilson's importance to Black theater artists is massive, said Ruben Santiago-Hudson, a stage and screen actor who has performed in and directed numerous productions of Wilson plays on Broadway and Off Broadway. He also scripted the 2020 screen adaptation of "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom." "Instead of Black life being in the periphery, he put Black people's lives in ... the center of what is Americana," he said.
"He was huge in his ideas and his thoughts, in creating a space for us," he adds. "So we didn't need permission to be a part of America. With August Wilson, we are America."
More Wilson is on its way. This fall, LaTanya Richardson Jackson is expected to direct a Broadway revival of "The Piano Lesson," starring John David Washington, Danielle Brooks and Samuel L. Jackson. And actor Denzel Washington is committed to bring every installment of the Century Cycle to the big screen.
"It's beyond my imagination how important August has become in our consciousness, in our American consciousness," said Romero-Wilson.
"August Wilson: The Writer's Landscape," is a permanent exhibit at the August Wilson African American Cultural Center in Pittsburgh. Tickets are free.
Copyright 2022 90.5 WESA | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-17/walk-into-august-wilsons-life-and-plays-in-immersive-new-exhibit | 2022-05-12T14:52:24Z |
KYIV, UKRAINE — Along with the election of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a new generation of young leaders entered Ukraine's politics following the mass protests that toppled a pro-Russian president in 2014.
These young politicians have few memories of life under Soviet rule — and they say the war has accelerated their efforts to push for a more Europe-focused future.
"As a country, we are actually very prepared for this kind of war in terms of psychologically," said Alyona Shkrum, after ducking under a barbed wire-covered checkpoint in the government quarter. "Because we know very well why we are doing it and why we are protecting our country."
Walking past sand bags and anti-tank barricades, the 34-year-old member of parliament explains this moment is a continuation of what young people like her have been fighting for since the Maidan revolution eight years ago that ousted Ukraine's pro-Russia leader, Viktor Yanukovych.
Like Zelenskyy, Shkrum was elected without much political experience. But she had international experience.
She went to grad school in France and worked in international law in Paris and London. She speaks French and English with ease.
Yarema Dukh, a veteran political adviser of past Ukrainian administrations, called Shkrum "one of the representatives of the new Ukrainian politics."
He says new leaders like Shkrum can not only interact with Western heads of state in their own languages, but understand their culture, their idiosyncrasies.
"They've seen the world and they understand what we need to fix here in Ukraine," Dukh said.
Yevheniia Kravchuk, 36, a member of Zelenskyy's party, says the hunger for new ideas in Ukraine was so great that it led her party, in 2019, to block anyone from joining who had been in the parliament before.
"New people, new thinking," she said. "It was like a big elevator for people to become politicians, to become leaders."
And she says the war has focused Ukrainians, young and old, on this vision for a more democratic Ukraine that is being championed by young leaders.
A recent poll shows that since the start of the war a record 91% of Ukrainians now want their country to join the European Union.
"It's not that we're happy that the war sort of fastened our way to European Union, but it actually made everything black and white," Kravchuk said.
Charles Kupchan, who worked on European issues in the Obama White House, said Putin miscalculated. He thought Ukraine was a country of "wannabe Russians," Kupchan said.
"It couldn't be further from the truth," said Kupchan, who is now at the Council on Foreign Relations. "And it is this younger generation that has really pulled Ukraine in a Westward direction and made it so impossible for Ukraine to go back to mother Russia."
Back in Kyiv, Alyona Shkrum stops in front of a restaurant that was one of the very few that remained open during the early days of the war.
She says the scene inside was straight out of the movie Casablanca.
"You will see a table of soldiers who needed to eat somewhere," she said, "a table of local defenders of Kyiv, like territorial defense units, everybody armed, everybody with weapons, a table of members of parliament who are here."
Almost two months later, half of the restaurant is filled with soldiers, their machine guns and sniper rifles resting on their legs or tucked in corners.
It was here, over bowls of traditional chicken soup and eggs that these young leaders would strategize — and divvy up roles to play.
"And so we created this kind of woman battalion for members of parliament who are women, who speak foreign languages, who have the connections, who has this international audience," Shkrum said.
She and three other battalion members met with European ministers. They met with French President Emmanuel Macron. They met with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who soon after sitting down with the members made a surprise visit to Kyiv.
"We would have a list of what we need to be done in terms of weapon supply, in terms of medical supply, in terms of humanitarian aid," she said.
Yevheniia Kravchuk went with another group to the United States to meet with leading members of Congress and top officials at the State Department and the Pentagon last month.
Met @UnderSecStateP today. Have the mutual message that the victory of Ukraine is essential to defend democracy and values we share https://t.co/M86W8FP5iH
— Yevheniia Kravchuk (@kravchukev) March 30, 2022
Shkrum says everyone has a role to play.
"This is a fight for our lives. Like I, as a member of parliament, is on the red list either to be killed or to be captured," she said. "So obviously it's a fight for existence, but it's also a fight to choose our own future. It's that simple."
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-17/war-crystalizes-young-ukrainian-leaders-calls-for-a-future-aligned-with-europe | 2022-05-12T14:52:30Z |
SARAH MCCAMMON, HOST:
Before Russia invaded Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin said that, quote, "Ukraine actually never had stable traditions of real statehood." But for decades, groups of working-class activists, intellectuals and clergy did their part to revive Ukrainian culture that had been repressed by Soviet and Russian imperial governments. NPR's Julian Hayda met with three musicians who are bringing traditional Ukrainian music to the war effort.
JULIAN HAYDA, BYLINE: I meet Tanya Loboda in her cramped studio.
TANYA LOBODA: (Non-English language spoken).
HAYDA: It's perched high above a Soviet-era skyscraper in Kyiv. A dozen baroque instruments hang on the walls. Steam fills the air from a tea kettle that's constantly boiling to keep her tea hot and vocal cords loose. The drone of a hurdy gurdy fills the narrow studio played by one of Tanya's students. This was her world before the war, teaching people a form of indigenous music that had all but vanished from Ukraine.
LOBODA: (Non-English language spoken).
HAYDA: Her specialty is the bandura, a harp-like Ukrainian instrument small enough to fit on her lap. She gracefully plucks at the strings.
(SOUNDBITE OF BANDURA)
HAYDA: She says she lost her musical inspiration during the early days of the war. Instead, she bounced around the city from one army recruitment center to the next, begging to be handed a rifle to defend her city. Eventually, she was trained as an army medic and spent three weeks at a checkpoint near the front line. As a music teacher, Tanya found herself well-suited to teach a rotating crew of soldiers how to use tourniquets and how to do basic trauma care.
LOBODA: (Non-English language spoken).
HAYDA: I'm disciplined. I'm demanding, she tells me.
LOBODA: (Non-English language spoken).
HAYDA: But when she had to return to her studio to take care of some business, she was inspired to create once again.
LOBODA: (Singing in non-English language).
HAYDA: That's not a falcon closing the sky with its wings, she sings. It's the horde from Moscow, laying siege to Kyiv. The ballad is her own composition, and it's in a style that was created around the 1600s by blind bards called Kobzars as they traveled across Ukraine's countryside.
JULIAN KYTASTY: So they were obviously not popular with most colonial governments.
HAYDA: That's Julian Kytasty, a New York-based Kobzar and expert in the music's history.
KYTASTY: Because of their disability, not tied to the land and able to move around. And they sang a very specific repertoire about, you know, how it's important to know the difference between truth and the lie.
HAYDA: By the 1930s, hundreds of these musicians disappeared, and many were murdered under Stalin's regime.
KYTASTY: They were singing this alternate version of history - right? - which didn't fit either the Russian imperial or the Soviet paradigm.
HAYDA: Only a few Kobzars survived the Soviet era, and a few books made it to an independent Ukraine 60 years later. By the 1990s, folklorists invested in reviving a distinct Ukrainian culture. They pored over books to determine how the old instruments looked and would meticulously carve new ones to play.
JURIJ FEDYNSKY: (Singing in non-English language).
HAYDA: Jurij Fedynsky teaches people how to make them in his home studio. He's from a Ukrainian family in North Carolina and moved to Ukraine 23 years ago to be part of that Kobzar revival. When the war began, he sent his wife and kids abroad while his Kobzar guild committed to staying in Kyiv, performing in bomb shelters and checkpoints.
I meet him in a minivan on a rainy Kyiv day. His colleagues are already rehearsing.
UNIDENTIFIED SINGERS: (Singing in non-English language).
HAYDA: We're headed to Borodyanka, one of the towns northwest of Kyiv that had been under Russian occupation. On our way, we drive past the husks of Russian tanks, cars that have been crushed, signs taped to them reading, corpses inside. Entire houses are reduced to rubble.
FEDYNSKY: (Non-English language spoken).
HAYDA: This entire region turned into hell, Fedynsky says. In Borodyanka, emergency workers look for bodies in the rubble of the destroyed apartment buildings. Locals who have emerged for a month in their bomb shelters mill around. The Kobzar guild gravitates towards a statue in the middle of the square. It's a bust of the 19th century poet Taras Shevchenko, a progenitor of modern Ukrainian identity. His bronze temples gape from shrapnel. The great Kobzar still stands, says one of the musicians. Fedynsky pulls out his lute.
FEDYNSKY: (Singing in non-English language).
HAYDA: The rest of the guild begins to sing along. A violinist then improvises a countermelody.
FEDYNSKY: (Singing in non-English language).
HAYDA: Slowly, a small crowd gathers.
OLEKSANDR CHERNENKO: (Non-English language spoken).
HAYDA: It's good they came here, says Oleksandr Chernenko, one of the volunteers. Tears well up as he surveys the neighborhood.
CHERNENKO: (Non-English language spoken).
HAYDA: It's a bit depressing, says Chernenko, but the music is fitting.
UNIDENTIFIED SINGERS: (Singing in non-English language).
HAYDA: The Kobzars here see it as almost a religious experience to perform at these ruins, dipping into a thousand years of local orthodox Christian tradition. Fedynsky pauses to talk to a woman in the audience. Olha Lysenko has lived around the corner since 1944.
OLHA LYSENKO: (Non-English language spoken).
FEDYNSKY: OK. OK. OK.
HAYDA: The music helps her cope with survivor's guilt and also a cold shoulder from her estranged daughter. She lives in Russian-occupied Crimea with her ethnic Russian husband.
LYSENKO: (Non-English language spoken).
HAYDA: No, no, life doesn't end here, she says. The next day, I call Taras Kompanichenko, a giant in the Kobzar revival movement.
TARAS KOMPANICHENKO: (Non-English language spoken).
HAYDA: He's really tough to get a hold of since he's on active duty near Kyiv. Kompanichenko rushed to sign up for the territorial defense just as the Russian military was bearing down on his hometown. His first priority was to learn how to shoot, but he knew he'd be taking at least one of his instruments to the front, a 100-year-old bandura that had belonged to one of the Kobzars.
KOMPANICHENKO: (Non-English language spoken).
HAYDA: He says he hands the instrument to new recruits so that they feel the battle against Russia.
KOMPANICHENKO: (Singing in non-English language).
HAYDA: Now Kompanichenko has more instruments with him at the front, and he works in the same military unit as religious chaplains.
KOMPANICHENKO: (Non-English language spoken).
HAYDA: His fight, like the music of Kobzars past, is one for life over death and truth over evil. Julian Hayda, NPR News, Kyiv.
KOMPANICHENKO: (Singing in non-English language). Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-17/war-isnt-dampening-artists-determination-to-revive-indigenous-ukrainian-music | 2022-05-12T14:52:32Z |
AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
Like many Southern states, Texas has been ravaged by extreme weather in the last couple of years - from tornadoes to tens of thousands of acres burned in wildfires. Local media there has called it once-in-a-lifetime weather. Environmental journalist Amal Ahmed joins us now from Dallas to tell us why this is happening. Welcome.
AMAL AHMED: Thanks so much for having me.
RASCOE: So, first of all, tell us what we're actually seeing in terms of weather in Texas.
AHMED: Yeah, so this past spring has been full of tornadoes and wildfires. There were a couple of tornadoes that hit recently in central Texas and then the end of March, also - the March and April has been very hot and dry, so we've seen record wildfires this season - mostly in west Texas and the Panhandle.
RASCOE: And so how is that different from in the past?
AHMED: Tornadoes - you think of that as a much later in spring kind of thing. So it's certainly earlier in the season. And I believe with the wildfires, you know, at least the drought conditions are almost as bad as the drought of record in 2011, which was the last time that we saw probably as intense of a wildfire season.
RASCOE: I would think that climate change is a factor in this. Can you talk about, like, what is causing this change?
AHMED: Yeah, I think with wildfires, that's a lot easier to kind of track. You know, hot, dry conditions - that's definitely something that climate change is increasing, particularly pushing those temperatures and conditions into, you know, earlier spring or late winter. Tornadoes are harder to sort of pin down to climate science. Scientists say it's because the records for tornadoes and, like, how often they happen are pretty hard to prove going back as long. And also the conditions being, like, warmer air colliding with cooler air and the humidity and all of that - like, these things are becoming more common in earlier spring and late winter.
RASCOE: So it sounds like the changes are happening. So it is having an impact. How is it affecting the people who are really most vulnerable to these types of changes?
AHMED: So I guess the idea, you know, behind natural disasters that I've heard a lot from folks who study these is the idea that the events themselves are not disasters, right? So a wildfire in and of itself is not a disaster. A tornado in and of itself is not really a disaster. And it's kind of when we have any of these extreme weather events hit a city or collide with a town, destroying farmland - like, that is really kind of the natural disaster part. That is when you have people struggling to recover from that - rebuilding their homes, recovering all the losses financially, dealing with government agencies - right? - going through this kind of alphabet soup of programs and agencies and all of that.
RASCOE: You've talked a lot about how energy efficiency could make a difference or, like, weatherization of houses and how a lot of that is not happening in Texas or is not mandated to happen in Texas. Like, how does that impact someone's home to not have it be weatherized to withstand really hot weather or really cold weather?
AHMED: Yeah, I mean, we saw this certainly with Winter Storm Uri last year, right? Homes that are sort of built to older standards are not really going to keep a set temperature for a very long time. You're going to be pumping in more heating or cooling, depending on the season, to stay comfortable. So for low-income families or households, that means a much higher energy bill than you'd be paying, you know, if you had upgraded windows, if your insulation was retrofitted and all of that - right? - or even if you had more efficient appliances. Housing, in a lot of senses, is just such an important tool in terms of climate resiliency and in disaster recovery, as well.
RASCOE: How can people prepare to survive this kind of weather? Like, what can they do on their own?
AHMED: Have a go bag ready. Like, if you're in an area where evacuations might be something that you're facing, right - whether it's wildfires or a flood or something like that, you know - with tornadoes, it's harder to predict - but supplies for a couple of days if the power goes out - important documents, you know, licenses, IDs, things like food and water, flashlights, things like generators and whatnot - these are really great to have if you can afford it - right? - in case the power goes out or something like that.
RASCOE: That was environmental journalist Amal Ahmed. Thank you so much for speaking with us.
AHMED: Thank you for having me on. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-17/why-is-texas-facing-so-many-extreme-weather-events | 2022-05-12T14:52:38Z |
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
OK. This is a real situation. You've got the common name for a widely recognized forest pest, and that common name contains a racial slur. So how do you rename it? Jane Lindholm of Vermont Public Radio has the story of a moth who's getting a makeover. And we should warn, we are going to identify that slur in this story.
JANE LINDHOLM, BYLINE: Last summer where I live in western Vermont, some of our normally lush green forests turned into post-apocalyptic landscapes as millions of marauding caterpillars chewed their way through the foliage, stripping trees bare and raining poop down on unsuspecting hikers. Jessica Ware is president of the Entomological Society of America.
JESSICA WARE: They basically, like the Very Hungry Caterpillar, are just chewing their way through deciduous forests. But it's actually, like, a very huge economic devastation that we're talking about for Lymantria dispar.
LINDHOLM: And we've been talking about Lymantria dispar a lot in places this moth is doing damage, except people have been using its common name, Gypsy Moth. And Ware says that's a problem.
WARE: There's no need, really, in 2022 to have racial slurs in insect names.
LINDHOLM: So last year, the Entomological Society ramped up an initiative to address this and other insects in need of rebranding. The core group for this moth included 57 people of diverse backgrounds and lots of public suggestions and input. And not to keep you waiting, this moth now has an official new name - Spongy Moth. The egg masses of this species are kind of spongy-looking as they overwinter on trees. And that name fits well with what the moth is called in other languages and countries.
MAGDA MATACHE: I love the new name, Spongy Moth.
LINDHOLM: Magda Matache is a Romani scholar and director of The Roma Program at Harvard University. She was part of the core group working to change the old name.
MATACHE: It equated our people to insects. And, second, Gypsy is considered a racial slur by many Romani people. It carries a very painful history, and it is offensive.
LINDHOLM: Of course, changing the name of one insect is just a small step in combating anti-Romani racism.
MATACHE: But yet it is an extraordinary step that can push others to demand name change of businesses, events, websites, fashion collections, cakes, drinks, food that include the G-word.
LINDHOLM: And not just the G-word. Americans are still coming to terms with name changes for all kinds of things, from national parks to academic and community buildings to birds. It can take a while for these new names to catch on and for people to stop saying, you know, the thing that used to be called, whatever. But for this moth, the current multiyear outbreak we're in is actually a good thing. It gives people a lot of opportunity to practice the new name - Spongy Moth. For NPR News, I'm Jane Lindholm in Vermont. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-18/a-common-moth-pest-had-a-slur-in-its-name-now-its-getting-a-makeover | 2022-05-12T14:52:44Z |
DANIEL ESTRIN, HOST:
Twitter has put what's known as a poison pill provision into place in order to block Elon Musk's potential takeover of the company. As a reminder, last week Musk offered to buy Twitter for $43 billion, saying he would promote more free speech on the platform. So who is Elon Musk? He's the richest person on the planet, the man behind Tesla, SpaceX and quite a bit of controversy. He's more than a celebrity. He's arguably the author and avatar of a new political economy. That is how Harvard historian Jill Lepore explains his significance in her podcast series, "The Evening Rocket." And she joins me now to talk about the billionaire CEO. Welcome.
JILL LEPORE: Hi. Thanks so much for having me.
ESTRIN: So your podcast isn't only focused on Elon Musk, the man. You also look at what he represents, and you call it Muskism. So what is Muskism?
LEPORE: (Laughter) I think of it as sort of an extreme, extravagant form of capitalism - really, extraterrestrial capitalism. X is Musk's favorite letter of the alphabet, as it is of many science fiction fans. So X capitalism seems somehow also to fit.
ESTRIN: How do you define extreme capitalism?
LEPORE: I think it's a kind of unchecked capitalism that insists that the government really has no role in the regulation of economic activity at the practical level. I think at the cultural level, it really is engaged with selling the public on the idea of futurism as a way to impose economic conditions that come from the very deep past.
I think of Muskism and its vision for, you know, colonizing Mars as dating from the age of imperialism, when British imperialists were colonizing countries around the world and science fiction writers like H.G. Wells were indicting British imperialism by telling stories about space colonies and how wrong that would be to take other people's land and enslave the people there. And for Musk, somehow you can resurrect those stories in order to justify colonization. So Muskism always has within it - this extreme capitalism always has within it almost a kind of ironic twist. Like, you think this is bad. We're going to go back to when things were worse.
ESTRIN: Well, he is a big science fiction fan - you talk about that on your podcast - an early fascination with sci fi like "The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy." So how does his love of sci fi translate into his vision of the future of technology?
LEPORE: As a historian, one of the things I find so fascinating about Musk and Muskism is how much of the sort of fantasy of invention, especially disruptive innovation - remember that buzzword from the '90s - boasts itself as part of a culture of futurism, right? Everything's forward-looking and an abandonment of the past - in fact, a disavowal of the past - right? - because you really have to sort of always be starting from scratch.
But so much of what the culture of Silicon Valley produces has its origins in science fiction, as I think a lot of those people would themselves recognize. But what they wouldn't see is that the origins in science fiction is actually an origins in dystopian science fiction. So what a lot of people like Musk and others celebrate as their great futurism is - for one thing, really has tremendously important origins in the past. And for another, what they celebrate as often utopian is - has origins in dystopianism.
ESTRIN: I mean, he's even been called a real-life Tony Stark, you know, from the Marvel Universe. I mean, does he see himself that way, as a kind of almost - like a real-life science fiction character? Does that impact the way he interacts with public life?
LEPORE: I think there was a period in his life when he was really into being Iron Man and being Tony Stark, and the press loved that. And he was on the cover of every magazine as, you know, the Elon Musk, the real-life Tony Stark. He appeared in one of the "Iron Man" movies with Robert Downey Jr. So he has a kind of celebrity iconic status. I mean, he's the guy who was on "SNL," right? And it's part of the boyishness that Musketeers really love about him. He can be very funny. He can be very witty online. He's an extremely smart guy. And there's a playfulness around that. One of the things that's distinctive about Musk, in the sense that he's the best at this, is depicting your product as saving humanity. So even the Twitter bid, in Musk's language, is somehow about saving civilization.
ESTRIN: Well, let's get to the Twitter bid in a second. But I just want to speak seriously for a second because he has this large group of passionate fans - the Musketeers, as you call them. I mean, in my own family, just this weekend, a relative of mine - we were speaking about models of leadership and what leaders we admire. And my cousin mentioned Elon Musk. And, you know, I have another cousin in Ukraine who, out of the blue, said to me, I thank Elon Musk for helping provide Starlink, you know, internet access in Ukraine during the war. So what is it about him that you think fascinates people so much and makes them buy into that vision of almost saving humanity?
LEPORE: Well, I think Musk presents himself that way. He presents himself as a messiah. I think that Musk especially appeals - at least to people who are really kind of geeking out in engineering - as someone who is daring and courageous, maybe a little reckless. And, you know, you can say, that's not rocket science, about a lot of things. But Elon Musk is doing rocket science, you know?
ESTRIN: Yeah.
LEPORE: His company is doing rocket science. The great good that Tesla is doing in terms of driving the revolution to move from fossil fuel-powered cars to electric vehicles you - know, this is a tangible, huge thing. So I think the Musketeers are quite forgiving of all the many ideas, broken promises, extraordinary hype, self-love, self-obsession. I think it's given a big pass by other people who have that desire to be on Twitter all the time. I mean, I think since Trump's removal from Twitter, Musk, who had been on Twitter for a long time with large numbers of followers, kind of really became that kind of love-hate Twitter account.
ESTRIN: So let's talk about Elon Musk on Twitter and wanting to own Twitter. He wants Twitter to be more like a public town square. He often tweets about his political views, but it's very hard to pinpoint where exactly he is politically. He's called COVID-19 lockdowns fascist, but he has also resigned from former President Trump's business councils after the Trump administration pulled out of the Paris climate accord. So what do you think? Based on what you've learned about him, what do you think he'd want to do with Twitter if he bought it?
LEPORE: So I think Musk's politics are elusive for a reason. To try to deduce what Musk is looking for and attempting to buy Twitter, you'd be well-advised to look for evidence of other public-spirited activity. I mean, what he would say and has said he needs to take over Twitter in order to save civilization, which is what all the science fiction heroes want to do.
But where is the evidence that Musk has ever really been interested in democratic discourse? He routinely trolls people online. He's had an often adversarial relationship to the free press. He doesn't think that someone as wealthy as he is should have to pay taxes. He goes after people who go after him. As you say, during the pandemic, you know, he tweeted, free America now, and described the lockdown and various shutdowns as fascist. There's just really not a whole lot of evidence that his big priority is healthy, democratic society.
ESTRIN: Perfect time to delve into Elon Musk in a podcast. Jill Lepore, thank you so much.
LEPORE: Thank you.
ESTRIN: Jill Lepore, a Harvard historian and host of the podcast "Elon Musk: The Evening Rocket."
(SOUNDBITE OF TOE'S "I DANCE ALONE (LIGHT ON LIGHT MIX)") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-18/a-look-at-elon-musk-and-what-he-represents | 2022-05-12T14:52:51Z |
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
The livestreaming platform Twitch is where you can find a Polish Ukrainian influencer who's raising money for refugees fleeing the Russian assault on Ukraine. He goes by Bobi. And he grew his fan base on a popular Russian war simulation game called Escape From Tarkov. When the bombing started in eastern Ukraine, his online community helped him to escape a real war. Here's Micah Loewinger from WNYC's On The Media.
MICAH LOEWINGER, BYLINE: Bobi is an expert at Escape From Tarkov. He started playing several years ago to get his mind off the war in Donbas, just 70 miles from his home, where Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed separatists have been fighting since 2014.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
BOBI: No, PMC (ph). Guys, be careful - PMC.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: You're dead?
BOBI: I'm dead. PMC.
LOEWINGER: It's a first-person shooter set in a fictional Russian war zone, kind of like Call Of Duty but way more hardcore. Bobi became obsessed with Escape From Tarkov for a couple reasons. First, he loved the brutal challenge. You have to be tactical and deliberate. If you let your guard down for a moment, you're dead.
BOBI: It clicked with me because buildings are looking like - I'm used to seeing this Eastern Europe in real life. And the story was matching place I was living.
LOEWINGER: For instance, in the game, you can play as one of two private military groups just like the early days of the war in Donbas, which was fought by militias formed by Ukrainian oligarchs. Over five years, he racked up 18,000 hours. That's two years of game time inside Tarkov.
BOBI: I was like a zombie using Tarkov as the only drug to keep me out from having any contact with reality.
LOEWINGER: When I think of an escape, I think of going to some fantasy land that's so unlike real life that it gets your mind off of it. But this sounds like you were just escaping into a gamified version of the world directly around you.
BOBI: In real life, majority of things are usually taken away from your hands if you like it or not. In Tarkov, majority of your outcome depends on you.
LOEWINGER: He began streaming on Twitch as a full-time job in early 2020, averaging about 40 regular viewers, a tiny but devoted following.
KEEFY: You fall in love with Bob.
LOEWINGER: This is Keith Bodinnar (ph), a 41-year-old operations manager living in the U.K. He goes by Keefy (ph) online. Keefy and a Canadian woman named Charlotte Wallans (ph), who goes by Lottie (ph), became his biggest fans.
KEEFY: Everybody says the same, he's infectious.
LOTTIE: Bobi takes everybody in who's kind and genuine, and he makes them a part of his family.
LOEWINGER: On February 24, just before 6 a.m. Ukraine time, bombs started to fall all around Bobi as he was live on Twitch playing Tarkov.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
BOBI: I love you, guys. Thank you for whatever you've done.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Wish you good luck, brother.
BOBI: Thanks, brother.
LOEWINGER: Bobi bid a tearful goodbye to his online community and began a treacherous four-day, 900-mile journey with his family, as they navigated their way towards Ukraine's western border.
BOBI: The first night was terrifying because we were in the middle of nowhere. And missiles started falling around us. We didn't know what to do.
LOEWINGER: Bobi checks Discord, an app popular among gamers, and sees that Keefy, Lottie and some of his viewers were checking in on him.
LOTTIE: We spent some time explaining, you're not alone. You're never going to be alone. We will be with you every step of the way. And we will watch over you guys over the internet while you're sleeping.
BOBI: I actually felt alive. I don't feel I'll die lonely because I'm surrounded with people who I've spent so many years and so many hours speaking together.
LOEWINGER: They woke up to shelling around 4:30 a.m. From Tarkov, he'd learned to estimate the distance between himself and his enemies by listening for their gunfire. In the midst of that morning's chaos, he realized that the time between explosions seemed to be getting shorter.
BOBI: I told my family, we're leaving. And everyone was shouting, where are you going? They're bombing. I said, the shelling is around one-half kilometer away from us and is coming towards us, so we will go opposite direction.
LOEWINGER: Friends advised Bobi to stop using GPS apps. Instead, Lottie and Keefy fed instructions to him over the phone.
BOBI: Because I had their information - turn here, left, turn here, right - they were able to guide me through the countryside, which I never been before.
LOEWINGER: While he was focused on the immediate dangers of his journey, Boby had no clue that that emotional clip of him saying goodbye during his last livestream had gone viral.
BOBI: I was told that this was actually become so viral it was in the Singapore television, in Spain, in England in TV.
LOEWINGER: Hundreds of new fans were pouring into his Discord server and showering him with emotional and financial support.
BOBI: They were calling me a hero. And I was always saying, no, guys, I'm not. I'm just a runner who's running away from his life, and I'm doing nothing special.
LOEWINGER: As they approached western Ukraine, Bobi's online community warned that the borders were super clogged up.
LOTTIE: The vast majority of the Ukrainian refugees are fleeing through Poland. It is a 5 to 7-day wait right now in a car.
LOEWINGER: Lottie and Keefy found a small town where the family might be able to safely wait out the logjam. And when they arrived, they learned that a bread shortage was starting to take a toll on the town's elderly population.
BOBI: And this was the instance when I said, I'm done running. I said, we have money. Let's use this momentum, what we have. Let's stay here and help those who are really forgotten in this whole conflict because if I run to Poland, I would - news from Ukraine, I would hear your mom or grandma, who is blind, suffering, going through it on her own without us, I would feel like a coward. I will not be able to watch myself in the mirror.
LOEWINGER: Bobi says he and his family will stay in this village to do humanitarian work with a nonprofit that Lottie set up called gamers4ukraine.com - that's four like the number four. He sent me pictures of packed grocery carts he says are for families passing through. And he told me he's already driven countless people to bus stops and train stations. They've also begun renovating a building which will serve as a free hostel for refugees.
BOBI: For last few days, we are actually actively helping families to run to safety. It changed my life forever because the mental and moral reward for help with no interest cannot be replaced by any other action or activity in life.
LOEWINGER: When this is all over, if it's all over, do you think you would go back to playing Tarkov 20 hours a day?
BOBI: (Laughter) Yes, of course. I miss it. I wish to be there.
LOEWINGER: At night, his family often stays in a bunker while Bobi volunteers, sitting in a watchtower to make sure Russian troops aren't coming down the main road into the town. If you go to his stream, twitch.tv/bobuubi, you can see him sitting in the dark in that tower, his face lit by a flashlight, chatting with his viewers - just chatting, he has no way of gaming right now.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
BOBI: Hello, Fifi (ph). Hello. How are you doing, Fifi?
FIFI: Hello. Hello.
BOBI: How are you doing, brother?
FIFI: I'm fine. Thank you. What about you?
BOBI: I'm just cold. I'm fine, just cold (laughter).
LOEWINGER: For NPR News, I'm Micah Loewinger.
(SOUNDBITE OF KRONOS QUARTET'S "PEACE PIECE") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-18/a-ukrainian-twitch-influencers-community-rallied-around-him-when-russia-invaded | 2022-05-12T14:52:57Z |
ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
Three companies founded by conspiracy theorist and right-wing broadcaster Alex Jones filed for bankruptcy yesterday. Jones faces yet another defamation lawsuit set for next week in Texas. This is one of many civil suits filed by the families of victims of the Sandy Hook school shootings in 2012. NPR's John Burnett joins us from Austin, Texas, where Infowars is based. Hey, John.
JOHN BURNETT, BYLINE: Hi, Ari.
SHAPIRO: Explain why Alex Jones has all these lawsuits against him.
BURNETT: Right. Jones has been advancing conspiracy plots for years now from the false claim that the attacks on 9/11 were an inside job to the recent lie that the 2020 presidential election was stolen. But his falsehoods about the tragedy in Newtown, Conn., really got personal. Remember; a deranged gunman massacred 20 children and six staffers at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Jones claimed that it didn't really happen, that the kids were still alive, and the grieving parents were actually actors and that it was all just one big government plot to take your guns.
And so what happened is some of the show's followers swallowed this lie, and they started menacing some of the victims' families. Since then, 10 family members have sued Jones for defamation and emotional distress in Connecticut and here in Texas. And so far, judges have found Jones liable for default - by default for no-shows and not turning over evidence.
SHAPIRO: And how has he reacted to all these lawsuits?
BURNETT: Well, the Chapter 11 filings claim that his companies have spent over $10 million to defend himself. As for Alex Jones, he's recanted and said the killings did actually happen. Here he is on his radio show earlier this month.
(SOUNDBITE OF RADIO SHOW, "INFOWARS")
ALEX JONES: I could've done a better job on Sandy Hook. Some of the anomalies that we reported on were not accurate, and I admitted it years before I was sued. But the issue is this is all about them being holier than thou, and they're the ones that love you, and Alex Jones is the devil.
BURNETT: The court filings say the company has up to $50,000 in assets and as much as $10 million in liabilities.
SHAPIRO: Bankruptcy filing can be a strategy or a tactic. Is Alex Jones really bankrupt?
BURNETT: Exactly. I spoke with one of the plaintiffs' attorneys, Mark Bankston, in Houston today. He says the bankruptcy filing is just another of Jones' stunts. It's a delaying tactic. And he says these bankrupt companies are basically shell entities, and Jones has his money stashed elsewhere, and he's far from broke.
SHAPIRO: What do we know about the source of his income?
BURNETT: Well, he's been selling merchandise from his online store for years. Here's an example from that same radio show.
(SOUNDBITE OF RADIO SHOW, "INFOWARS")
JONES: We have more than 60,000 T-shirts all being sold right now at cost at infowarsstore.com. It's our mega blowout sale.
BURNETT: The New York Times journalist Elizabeth Williamson has a new book out called "Sandy Hook: An American Tragedy And The Battle For Truth." She's been tracking Alex Jones for years. And she quotes court documents in which he revealed that Infowars brought in $50 million a year in its heyday. Williamson says that he makes his big money on things like survivalist gear, dietary supplements and components for ghost guns.
ELIZABETH WILLIAMSON: His business model is ingenious in that his products cater to the paranoia and the worries of his listeners.
BURNETT: She says his products stoke a distrust of the federal government.
SHAPIRO: That's a staggering figure - $50 million a Year. Well, Alex Jones has been called out by extremism watchdogs for his hate speech. What's the status of Infowars today?
BURNETT: So he's been banned from Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, all the big platforms. And today he broadcasts from his website, and the show is heard on a hundred radio stations. And an analyst who tracks extremism says Alex Jones is living proof of where we are in America - that one man can make handsome profits by dividing us and stoking anger.
SHAPIRO: NPR's John Burnett. Thanks a lot.
BURNETT: You bet, Ari.
(SOUNDBITE OF LITTLE PEOPLE'S "ELECTRICKERY") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-18/alex-jones-infowars-files-for-bankruptcy-after-sandy-hook-defamation-lawsuits | 2022-05-12T14:53:03Z |
ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
One of the pioneering businessmen behind rock 'n' roll has died. Art Rupe founded Specialty Records, the label that launched the careers of Little Richard and Sam Cooke and helped make R&B popular with white audiences. Rupe died Friday at age 104. NPR culture correspondent Anastasia Tsioulcas has this remembrance.
ANASTASIA TSIOULCAS, BYLINE: Art Rupe was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2011 for helping to shape the sound of rock 'n' roll and for signing artists like Little Richard.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "TUTTI FRUTTI")
LITTLE RICHARD: (Singing) Wop bop a loo bop a lop bom bom. Tutti Frutti, oh, rootie. Tutti Frutti, oh, rootie.
TSIOULCAS: Art Rupe was born into a working-class family in Pittsburgh in 1917. His father was a Jewish immigrant from Galicia in Eastern Europe. But he had stars in his eyes and set out for Los Angeles in 1939 to work in the movie business. When that didn't pan out, he switched over to the music business. That wasn't easy, either. He invested in a label called Atlas Records, but they couldn't make a hit, even with Nat King Cole on the roster.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "GOT A PENNY?")
NAT KING COLE: (Singing) Got a penny, Benny? I got to telephone to Jenny. And I just got, just got four cents to my name. Got a penny, Benny?
TSIOULCAS: Rupe soon decided to create his own record label, Jukebox, to expand the audience for so-called race records, which were recordings made by Black musicians for Black listeners. Rupe studied the best-selling race records assiduously to figure out what was popular and saw there was probably money to be made in bringing these artists to a white public.
Rupe wound up leaving Jukebox after a fallout with his partners and soon founded another label, Specialty Records. The first No. 1 hit for Specialty came in 1950 with "Pink Champagne" by Joe Liggins & The Honeydrippers.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "PINK CHAMPAGNE")
JOE LIGGINS AND THE HONEYDRIPPERS: (Singing) Pink Champagne that stole my love from me. Pink Champagne stole my love from me.
TSIOULCAS: Rupe signed many jump blues, R&B and gospel artists, including the Soul Stirrers. And he knew that the Soul Stirrers' lead singer, a young man named Sam Cooke, had potential as a breakout pop artist. He and producer Bumps Blackwell recorded Cooke performing a secular pop song under the pseudonym Dale Cook in order to not alienate gospel fans.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LOVABLE")
SAM COOKE: (Singing) She's lovable, my, my girl. She's so lovable. Candy's sweet...
TSIOULCAS: Rupe disliked the results and let both Cooke and Blackwell leave Specialty with all their recordings from that session. One of the other songs they recorded became Sam Cooke's first big pop hit, "You Send Me."
By 1960, Rupe had grown frustrated with the machinations of the music business and particularly with the nearly endemic practice of payola, labels paying off DJs to play their songs and thereby create hits. The label went dormant by the end of that decade. And in 1990, he sold Specialty's catalog to Fantasy Records, which eventually became part of Concord Records.
Even past the Sam Cooke situation, Rupe didn't always hit the mark as an A&R man. While on tour in England in 1963, Little Richard phoned him to say he was on a bill with the band that Rupe just had to hear. Rupe wasn't interested. That group was the Beatles.
Anastasia Tsioulcas, NPR News, New York.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-18/art-rupe-influential-early-rock-recording-executive-has-died-at-104 | 2022-05-12T14:53:09Z |
Updated April 19, 2022 at 5:07 PM ET
When Russian leader Vladimir Putin ordered an invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, almost nothing went as planned. Ukrainian resistance was far tougher than expected. The ill-prepared Russian troops suffered heavy losses and ultimately had to retreat when it became clear they couldn't capture the capital, Kyiv.
The Russian performance was so poor, and so erratic, that even a long-time Russian specialist, former CIA officer Dan Hoffman, found himself baffled by this operation. And he was prepared for the unexpected.
"I had a lot of time in Russia, and I have never ceased to be surprised," said Hoffman, who served multiple tours in Moscow. "My imagination was never good enough, in spite of all the intelligence I read, in spite of the fact that I speak fluent Russian and I listen to the news and I talk to intelligence officers, lots of sources. In spite of all that, I am continuously amazed."
Consider Russia's decision to seize the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, scene of the world's worst nuclear disaster, at the beginning of the war.
"Would anybody have imagined that the Russian soldiers would have bedded down in Chernobyl's forest and radiated themselves? No. Well, yes. OK. I couldn't imagine that. But I get it. It's what they do."
The Russian forces left Chernobyl, regrouped, and are now launching a new offensive focused in eastern Ukraine, in the region known as the Donbas.
"Now we can state that the Russian forces have started the battle for the Donbas that they have been getting ready for a long time," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video message Monday night.
"Another phase of this operation is starting now," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Tuesday.
Russia is doing things differently this time
The Pentagon said Monday that Russia had moved 11 new battalion tactical groups into Ukraine in recent days. That brings the total to 76 such groups, all of them in either the east or the south of Ukraine. Each battalion can have up to 1,000 troops.
The Pentagon described the Russian buildup as a "shaping operation," intended to put substantial forces in place so Russian forces won't face the logistical problems that plagued the initial invasion.
The Russians have moved more tanks, artillery guns, helicopters and command-and-control elements into eastern Ukraine, the Pentagon said.
In the earlier fighting, Ukraine's smaller but more agile forces were able to repeatedly ambush the Russians in the forests and urban areas in northern Ukraine.
But the terrain in eastern Ukraine, which is mostly open plains and farmland — similar to the American Midwest — could favor Russians with their large armor formations.
Military analysts say it will be more difficult for the Ukrainians to sneak up and surprise the Russians in this landscape. But there's also heavy ongoing fighting in multiple cities in eastern Ukraine, and the Ukrainian forces have been holding their ground through weeks of combat.
The U.S. and other NATO members have been supplying the Ukrainians with large quantities of small weapons that can be used by individual soldiers or small units, such as Javelin and Stinger missiles.
Ukraine has been pleading for larger weapons, and the U.S. announced a new $800 million military assistance package last week that includes howitzers and other equipment more suited for the battles expected in the east.
But the Pentagon said it will first have to train the Ukrainians in how to use the howitzers, and it's not clear when those weapons will be moved into Ukraine.
Putin is not known for listening
In a speech last week, CIA Director William Burns said that over time, Putin has been less willing to listen to advisers, and this has led him to make many bad decisions.
"His circle of advisers has narrowed, and in that small circle, it has never been career-enhancing to question his judgment or his stubborn, almost mystical belief that his destiny is to restore Russia's sphere of influence," said Burns.
The initial offensive launched on Feb. 24 was hugely ambitious. Putin's aim was clearly to drive out President Zelenskyy and his government; seize the capital, Kyiv; and take control of much, if not all, of Ukraine.
But the Russian advance quickly stalled and Putin was forced to cut his losses and withdraw all of the Russian forces around Kyiv and other parts of the north. The capital is still being hit by long-range Russian airstrikes, but the city does not face any imminent ground threat from the Russians.
While Putin is now focused on the east and the south — and linking up the Russian forces in these two regions — it's not clear if he would stop there, or if he wants additional territory as well.
As a former intelligence officer, Putin has kept many of his intentions closely held. He has invested heavily in Russia's spy networks but has also shown displeasure with his intelligence community.
In a televised meeting just before the war began, Putin publicly humiliated the head of the foreign intelligence service, Sergei Naryshkin, when he stumbled during a discussion of Ukraine at a Kremlin meeting.
"Speak plainly," Putin admonished him at one point. When Naryshkin then said clearly that he agreed with Putin, the Russian leader then told him, "Good. Please sit down."
Another senior intelligence official, Sergei Beseda, who is responsible for Ukraine, is reportedly under either house arrest or has been jailed.
"It's consistent with the way that Vladimir Putin and his predecessors would treat their own inner circle," Hoffman said. "It's a dangerous game to be a Russian senior military officer or senior intelligence officer. One day, you're in the favor of the czar, and the next day, you're in jail."
Greg Myre is an NPR national security correspondent. Follow him @gregmyre1.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-18/as-russia-launches-a-new-offensive-what-did-it-learn-from-the-first-one | 2022-05-12T14:53:15Z |
ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
The British government recently announced a pilot plan to address its continuing refugee crisis. The U.K. interior ministry has signed a deal with Rwanda to send many migrants arriving in the U.K. to the East African nation where their asylum claims can be processed. Many may be asked to settle there. As Willem Marx reports, the proposal has already drawn widespread condemnation.
WILLEM MARX, BYLINE: The authorities in Britain insist this new partnership with Rwanda is designed to combat criminal gangs that exploit migrants. After 28,000 people crossed the English Channel from France in small boats last year and several drowned, efforts to halt those potentially deadly journeys have included cooperation with French police, payments to the French government and the threatened use of British naval ships to push migrant boats back from the shores of southern England. None have worked, and so now U.K. authorities will pay around $150 million to the Rwandan government to accept single male travelers that they say have arrived in the U.K. illegally. The U.K.'s Interior Minister Priti Patel traveled to Rwanda to sign the agreement with her Rwandan counterparts.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRITI PATEL: We, as two ministers, stand here today, absolutely committed to changing some of the norms around the broken global migration system because, for too long, other countries and, by the way, naysayers just sit on their hands and have been watching people die.
(APPLAUSE)
MARX: Hundreds of protesters demonstrated outside the Interior Ministry last week, and more than 150 NGOs and advocacy groups have slammed the idea at a time when tens of thousands of British residents are volunteering to host refugees from Ukraine.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
ZOE GARDNER: The government is completely out of step with the public here.
MARX: Zoe Gardner is the policy and advocacy manager at the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants. She told the BBC the policy was, quote, "despicable."
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
GARDNER: We simply cannot support sending vulnerable refugees who may be victims of torture, who may have survived atrocities and war, and packing them off halfway around the world to a poor country.
MARX: In a highly unusual intervention, the country's top two religious leaders also added their voices to the chorus of criticism. That included Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, who told an Easter congregation that the policy raises serious ethical questions.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
JUSTIN WELBY: The details for politics and politicians. The principle must stand the judgment of God, and it cannot because subcontracting out our responsibilities is the opposite of the nature of God.
MARX: Many of Britain's conservatives have for years sought to toughen immigration policies, pursuing what was called a hostile environment approach toward migrants and pushing for Brexit, a policy partly designed to better control Britain's borders. But last week, Prime Minister Boris Johnson was fined for breaking his own COVID regulations about social gatherings. Many say the Rwanda deal is designed to draw attention away from Johnson's own difficulties, including political opponents like Labour leader Keir Starmer.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
KEIR STARMER: The true aim of this is just to distract from the lawbreaking of the prime minister, and that's why I say it shows that he's got no answers. He's got no grip. He's got no shame. It's a desperate announcement.
MARX: Tomorrow, Johnson will face questions from members of parliament after a long Easter break. He may hope they'll focus more on the resettlement of refugees in Rwanda than on his own long-term future in Downing Street. For NPR News, I'm Willem Marx in London.
(SOUNDBITE OF WAX TAILOR'S "UNGODLY FRUIT") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-18/britain-has-partnered-with-rwanda-to-process-and-settle-thousands-of-migrants | 2022-05-12T14:53:21Z |
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Some military experts thought Russia would make greater gains when it invaded Ukraine more than seven weeks ago. NPR China affairs correspondent John Ruwitch says one group of observers in China is watching the battlefield shortcomings for lessons.
JOHN RUWITCH, BYLINE: The Chinese People's Liberation Army, or PLA, regularly drills with the Russian military, like in this exercise in China last summer, covered by state TV.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Artillery forces are practicing with their weaponry.
(SOUNDBITE OF EXPLOSIONS)
RUWITCH: Many of China's weapons today are Russian or based on Russian platforms, and there are strong institutional and cultural links. Despite a period of tension between Beijing and Moscow at the height of the Cold War, relations are now as good as they've ever been.
DAVID FINKELSTEIN: This is a military that they have put on a pedestal for many years.
RUWITCH: David Finkelstein is a retired U.S. Army officer and China specialist at the think tank CNA.
FINKELSTEIN: Not only did they learn from them in the 1940s, '50s and '60s; they were also a much feared enemy in the 1960s and '70s.
RUWITCH: The PLA has always looked up to and respected Russia's armed forces.
FINKELSTEIN: They do think that the Russian military is extremely strong, so they've got to be scratching their heads, saying, what is going on here?
RUWITCH: Analysts say the Russian military appears to have underestimated the enemy. Its logistics have been shambolic. Its troops were poorly prepared. And coordination has been lacking. Su Tzu-Yun with Taiwan's Institute for National Defense and Security Research thinks all this will give the PLA pause in one of its biggest missions and one that some say has parallels to Ukraine.
SU TZU-YUN: (Through interpreter) I think the PLA will have less confidence in its ability to invade Taiwan. After all, Russia is the No. 2 military power in the world, and they're experiencing this kind of military loss in a land war. If the PLA conducts an amphibious landing in Taiwan, the challenge will be even greater.
RUWITCH: Others say it's not so clear-cut. The PLA has modernized its force in recent decades, and in 2016, Chinese leader Xi Jinping launched sweeping organizational reforms that happened to take aim at some of the very problems Russia has faced, like joint operations coordinating air, land and sea forces. Oriana Skylar Mastro is an expert on China's military and security policy at Stanford University.
ORIANA SKYLAR MASTRO: What they're actually learning, we can't really assess that because we don't know how the PLA is going to perform, and they don't know.
RUWITCH: That's because China's last shooting war was in 1979, when it invaded Vietnam and was pushed back. So far, PLA-affiliated media have been quiet about how it's processing the Ukraine war, but there has been some writing offering hints.
MASTRO: They're not taking away from it - oh, the Russians have problems; we're going to have problems. They're taking away from it - wow, our reforms have really gotten us to the point where we would perform so much better than the Russians.
RUWITCH: Still, she says, the Ukraine war will help the PLA sharpen its edge. Lyle Goldstein agrees. He's a specialist on China's military at the think tank Defense Priorities. He says there's a lot to take stock of, from the performance of certain weapons to tactical decision-making and even how key battles unfolded. For instance, the PLA may want to take a close look at Russia's helicopter assault on the Kyiv airport at the start of the war, which reportedly didn't go so well.
LYLE GOLDSTEIN: That would be very similar to what China would try to do in Taiwan.
RUWITCH: He suspects they'll also take a keen interest in Ukraine's coastal defense on the Black Sea.
GOLDSTEIN: One reason why Russia did not undertake a amphibious assault against Odesa seems to have been that the Ukrainians cleverly put in the water several hundred sea mines. So I think the Chinese will be thinking very hard - how do you deal with that?
RUWITCH: In Taiwan, meanwhile, the military will also be thinking very hard and learning its own lessons from the Ukraine war.
John Ruwitch, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-18/china-looks-to-learn-from-russias-shortcomings-in-ukraine | 2022-05-12T14:53:27Z |
TERRY GROSS, HOST:
This is FRESH AIR. I'm Terry Gross. My guest is comic, actor and writer Jerrod Carmichael. Maybe you saw him hosting "Saturday Night Live" a couple of weeks ago. He was really funny. He has a new HBO comedy special called "Rothaniel." What does that mean, right? Well, we soon find out. The special is all about secrets. It starts like this.
(SOUNDBITE OF COMEDY SPECIAL, "ROTHANIEL")
JERROD CARMICHAEL: I want to talk about secrets - secrets. Ooh - should whisper it, right?
(LAUGHTER)
J CARMICHAEL: I carried a lot of secrets my whole life. I feel like I was birthed into them. One of my biggest - one of my last held secrets is my name. My name is not Jerrod.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: What?
(LAUGHTER)
J CARMICHAEL: Welcome to the show, everybody.
(LAUGHTER)
GROSS: He delivers on that promise to reveal personal secrets - about his real name, his family tree and his sexual orientation. It's a lot. Toward the end, when he's interacting with the audience, his show starts to look like a hybrid of a comedy show and a therapy session. Carmichael has done two other HBO comedy specials, "Love At The Store," directed by Spike Lee, and "8," directed by Bo Burnham.
Carmichael is also the creator and star of the sitcom "The Carmichael Show" that ran on NBC for three seasons. That show portrayed a fictional version of Carmichael's family. Many episodes were about them disagreeing with each other on complicated and uncomfortable issues, like, is it still OK to enjoy Bill Cosby's comedy? Is it OK to have a gun in the house? How do you eulogize a father who mistreated you? Is it OK to take the morning after pill if the condom breaks?
In Carmichael's HBO special "Home Videos," he returned home to Winston-Salem, N.C., and filmed conversations with his real family members about sensitive family topics. His new special "Rothaniel," also directed by Bo Burnham, was taped this year at the Blue Note Jazz Club in New York City.
Jerrod Carmichael, welcome back to FRESH AIR. It's such a pleasure to have you on the show. I love the new special. Congratulations. And you really were great on "Saturday Night Live," so congratulations on that, too.
J CARMICHAEL: Thank you very much. Thank you for having me.
GROSS: Oh, my pleasure. What changed in your life that you were willing and able to tell secrets now on stage?
J CARMICHAEL: (Laughter) I think I got tired. I think I grew tired of being someone I wasn't. I felt like I was, like, just hiding. They call it being in the closet, I guess, for a reason, because it does feel like you just have walls up. You're just like - I felt like I was, like, walking around with a mask with my face on it. I think it's the best way to describe it.
And it just - I started being more honest with my friends. I started to be more honest in my life. I don't know. It just kind of - all over the past couple of years, it all started happening. It all started coming out, you know? I came out. Family secret - the things I talk about in the show started coming out. I felt freer. I feel freer. I'm still in the process. But the show just captures a moment just - where I just wanted to feel free.
GROSS: Before we get to coming out, let's start with your name, which you tried to keep secret. Jerrod is your middle name. Your first name, as you reveal in the special, is the title of the special, which is "Rothaniel." Tell us about the origin of the name.
J CARMICHAEL: The name comes from my father. He made me after my two grandfathers, his father and my mother's father, Robert and Nathaniel - combined the two names at birth and never really used it. Like, we immediately started using Jerrod. It's mostly all I remember since I was a kid. No one ever called me Rothaniel. I was embarrassed, very ashamed. It was a secret. And, you know, as a child, I already felt different enough.
GROSS: Right.
J CARMICHAEL: And, like, I don't think that the name helped (laughter). And so, like, it was big. It took up too much space. And I didn't want it. I didn't want any parts of it.
GROSS: So what did you have to do to keep your name a secret?
J CARMICHAEL: Well, I hid it as much as I could. On legal documents, they have to write your first name. So I always hid those and turned papers upside down and never showed anyone my driver's license. And as soon as I got my bank cards, I, like - well, I had to, like, quickly get them to take the name off 'cause I would forget they have the name. And I would go through some process there.
Like, only - like, a few friends knew - like, a few close friends. And then every now and then, it would slip through to the yearbook, and I would have to get it erased. Or, like, some years I would bribe a friend that, like - please don't put Rothaniel. Just put Jerrod. And, yeah, it was a fight. It was a constant fight, constantly hiding it.
GROSS: You had to keep a lot of secrets as a kid. And one of them was about your family tree - your grandparents, your father and all the extramarital affairs they had and all the outside children that they had.
J CARMICHAEL: It's a lot. My - one of my grandfathers had dozens outside of his marriage. And the other had a few himself, including my father, who had a few children outside of his marriage to my mother, which I knew about. I found out about it at an early age. And, yeah, it's in my family history, you know, in a real way. And I think it's more common than, you know - in the South, I feel like a lot of families where I'm from share that secret or have families like that or at least know families or are in families like that in some way.
GROSS: What about your friends? Like, you were keeping the secret about your family tree. But did your friends - were your friends in the same situation?
J CARMICHAEL: Oh, I have friends in, like, broken families. It's a lot of broken families, you know, children with - who don't know their fathers or, you know, a group of children with one set of parents and step-siblings with - like, it just - it's a lot of that - none with my exact story, but, yeah, definitely a lot with, you know, just outside kids. Just even that expression, you know, is just kind of - it's insane, you know - like, outside - outside kids. There are a lot of outside kids.
GROSS: So how did - I mean, your mother didn't know about this, or at least she acted like she didn't know. And your father didn't know that you knew. How did you know that he was having these other relationships and had these other children?
J CARMICHAEL: It's a small town. I'm from Winston-Salem, N.C. And I had, like, instances where a friend had seen him with, you know, his aunt and told me about it. And you hear whispers. And I don't remember any exact moment where I found out - more so just piecing together little clues, things not adding up. It's funny. He actually taught me to be very inquisitive and to question everything. So I guess I used those powers against him. But things just didn't add up.
GROSS: Let me reintroduce you here. If you're just joining us, my guest is comic, writer and actor Jerrod Carmichael. His new HBO comedy special is called "Rothaniel." We'll be right back. This is FRESH AIR.
GROSS: This is FRESH AIR. Let's get back to my interview with comic, writer and actor Jerrod Carmichael. His new HBO comedy special is called "Rothaniel." It's all about secrets, about his real name, his family tree and his sexual orientation.
So these are powerful things to be carrying around as a child. You're hiding your name.
J CARMICHAEL: Yeah.
GROSS: When you figure out your sexual orientation, you're hiding that. You're hiding the truth about your father's relationship. You're hiding it from - that you know from your father. You're hiding his relationship from your mother. You're living with them. I mean, you see them every day, and you have this huge secret you're carrying around about their relationship. How did you bear all that?
J CARMICHAEL: It's something you figure out later as an adult, you know, reflecting on your childhood or going to therapy or talking to friends that you didn't (laughter). You know, like, I thought I did. I thought I beared it. I thought I beared it without consequence, I should say. And I didn't. I didn't go out unscathed. It's definitely things that affect my behavior to this day, fears, you know, my hypochondriacal nature, all things kind of - that stemmed from mistrust. But at the time, it's just - I don't know. I was just - I was scared. I think I lived in fear. It was a lot of consequence or stakes to everything.
GROSS: How could you even trust your father knowing how he deceived your mother? Did you wonder, like, what else don't I know about you? What else are you hiding?
J CARMICHAEL: Yes. Yes. It definitely causes me to have, like, fear of a duplicitous nature of all things. You know, everyone - I question everything still. And I'm sure that has, like, a huge effect on me. It should be said that my father is very fun. He's charismatic. He was good to be around. I was excited. He used to wrestle with us in the backyard. We would - I was obsessed with wrestling as a kid. He still watches wrestling. And, you know, he would pull up in the driveway - and all of my friends loved him, you know, as well. He would pretend to be the Rock and just get out and talk trash, and we would talk trash back and sometimes get out the camcorder and, like, film each other, you know, with water hoses tied around a clothesline, you know, to resemble the ropes and, like, mats laid out in the grass and just, like, slamming each other around. And my dad would be out there with us.
He would play video games with us. He would tell stories. And he was one of the few fathers in the neighborhood - again, a lot of broken families. And it was a role that he took on kind of silently, just, you know, being a father to many of my friends who would just be at our house. My mother would read the Bible to us, my father would make us laugh, which made it all the more devastating, I guess (laughter), you know, that there was this, like, other side of a person that I didn't see, something I didn't know about. Yeah, yeah, but I love him. I love him.
GROSS: Especially with your mother reading the Bible, you know? Like, your mother's reading the Bible to friends, and you're keeping this really big secret about the family. That must have been strange.
J CARMICHAEL: Well, again, also, like later in life, you start realizing really irony in a lot of the Bible verses that my mother would read and how they would reflect situations that she didn't know. Jeremiah 33:1-3 - call unto me and I'll answer thee and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knoweth not. My mother would read that - probably still reads it daily - and I always - I guess I found it funny then. It's ironic now.
GROSS: What does that passage mean to you?
J CARMICHAEL: Well, it's someone searching for answers, the unseen truth. And - but, like, I would hear verses like that, that Jeremiah verse, she would always do verses about protection. And I always felt like I was guarding her. And one time, I went home a few years back once I moved to LA, and I was visiting. I went to church with my parents, and the pastor started doing, like, this somewhat prosperity teaching. It's very popular, obviously, in most churches. We don't have to get into it. But anyway, he was talking about sowing a seed, as they call giving money. And he was saying that just whatever you give, you'll receive tenfold or, I'm not sure, whatever the amount is, by the end of the week. And he's saying this on Sunday. And I watch my mother go into her purse and put money into the envelope. And I'm like, you know, obviously me just, like, kind of mocking it in my head. I can't believe you're doing it. I think I mocked it out loud in church. I was like, I can't believe you're doing this. Like, you're sowing the seed. Like, we should know better than that.
And she gives the money. We go back home. Anyway, I'm staying home. I always stay home for, like, a few days whenever I go. And whenever I leave, I always give my parents cash. I, like, plant a certain amount of money in, like, their sock drawer and hide it and let them find it after I go. And - like, a decent amount of, like, pocket money, but - and not to be gross and say amounts, but I'm, like, putting $2,000 in my mom's sock drawer and having a flash to the $20 she put in church. And I'm like, damn it, they got me. Like...
(LAUGHTER)
J CARMICHAEL: Like, it got me again. Like, look at me. I'm like a pawn in this relationship between God and my mother, and, like, I'm doing it again, you know? But things like that, I just - I always kind of felt like the result of what she was asking God for. I was prayed over. I was prayed for. Deacons and pastors and women of the church would lay hands on my mother and pray. And she wanted a boy, and she'd just had a miscarriage and had me. Sorry to get into all of it (laughter), but I'm just saying how important that relationship with God is and how much it was instilled in me as a child.
GROSS: Oh, gosh, so complicated. You know, like, you are - like, your existence is God's gift to your mother. And that was instilled in you right from the start. And you were so involved in your church. And yet, you know, there was, quote, "sin" in your home. You know, I put that in quotes.
J CARMICHAEL: No, no, no. That's a direct quote (laughter).
GROSS: OK. OK.
J CARMICHAEL: That's not a false quote. I think that's how it would be described.
GROSS: That's so confusing to a child, isn't it?
J CARMICHAEL: Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. It definitely shaped my perspective. Again, like, it's - I remember the fear. I remember the anxiety. I remember kind of going through life maybe with a clenched fist a little bit. I remember - and I know some of this is just me rationalizing as an adult, but just the need to perform, the need to change the energy of a room. If a secret could potentially come out or things could go in a direction that I thought had great consequence, you know, maybe something that revealed my father or me, like, you know, it was too dangerous. So I - you know, I always probably tried to control conversation.
GROSS: You say that you made your father tell your mother about his outside relationships with other women and his children by other women. How did you make your father tell your mother? If you don't mind my asking, what did you say to your father? And how old were you when you said it?
J CARMICHAEL: I was in my 20s. I was in London shooting a movie. And, you know, I almost hate to admit but the - (laughter) like, the straw that broke the camel's back was - mostly because I'm embarrassed that it's not for a more righteous reason. But my father booked a hotel room. And he and my brother have the same name, and the email confirmation accidentally went to my brother, and I found out about it. And at this point, I was offering financial support to my family. And something about using my money to cheat on my mom felt a little egregious (laughter). Like, it felt like a little bit too much. And a lot of feelings and a lot of emotion that I suppressed came rushing back. And it just felt like too much. It just felt like enough. And so I called him. I got very drunk and called him. And I was walking around on the streets (laughter) in London. And, like, God, I remember it being so late, like after midnight.
And I started the conversation with, this will all go OK as long as you don't lie to me. And I'm glad I said that, taking lies off the table immediately, because it went OK. He listened and apologized and - yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it was a really strong conversation, really hard one to have. I was really scared.
GROSS: Was he shocked that you knew?
J CARMICHAEL: He said at the end of that call, I always knew you'd be the one (laughter). I think I say that in the special. But that's true.
GROSS: Yeah, you do.
J CARMICHAEL: Yeah, yeah. He said that. And I think that a lot had changed between us. Like, the power dynamic had shifted. You know, I was the breadwinner. But I had less fear of, like, the consequence of asking questions, I guess. I argued more (laughter). I think it made sense. I think it made sense to him.
GROSS: OK. Well, let's talk more about that in a moment, but we have to take another break here. If you're just joining us, my guest is Jerrod Carmichael - comic, writer, actor. He created "The Carmichael Show" on NBC and starred in it. He's had several HBO comedy specials. His new one is called "Rothaniel." We'll be right back after a short break. I'm Terry Gross, and this is FRESH AIR.
(SOUNDBITE OF BILL EVANS' "EASY LIVING")
GROSS: This is FRESH AIR. I'm Terry Gross. Let's get back to my interview with comic, writer and actor Jerrod Carmichael. His new HBO comedy special is called "Rothaniel." It's all about secrets - about his real name, his family tree and his sexual orientation. He also created and starred in the NBC comedy series "The Carmichael Show" about a family loosely based on his own, who constantly disagree on issues relating to politics, guns, abortion, everything. He's also had other HBO comedy specials. And again, his new one is called "Rothaniel."
So continuing with you telling your father that he had to tell your mother about his affairs, about his children outside of their marriage - and so you told him he needed to do that, and he did it. He told your mother. Did you worry that maybe your mother was better off not knowing, maybe the best thing for her life was to continue living without that knowledge, without that really painful knowledge?
J CARMICHAEL: Oh, of course. Of course. I mean, I thought it would be over...
GROSS: That she'd leave him.
J CARMICHAEL: ...And say - and it's over. Well, I don't even know what I thought the exact reaction would be, but something explosive. Yeah, I thought it would be devastating.
GROSS: Well, you asked your mother about finding out about this in your special "Home Videos." So I thought I'd play an excerpt of that in which you're asking your mother about, you know, learning about these secret relationships and staying with your father in spite of it.
(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "HOME VIDEOS")
J CARMICHAEL: You ever think about leaving?
CYNTHIA CARMICHAEL: I did at first. Oh, for sure. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Now I'm not - no, I'm good.
J CARMICHAEL: No moments of resentment? No moments of anger?
C CARMICHAEL: No. I chose not because I know resentment will build in. So that's why, like I said, it was a gradual thing. And I'm not going to sit here and say the hurt and anger didn't try to build because I'm human. But maybe I suppressed some of it. But then I got enough talking and asked enough questions that, I don't know, like I said, I'm pretty much content. And it's on him to prove to me that I can trust him again. So it's not on me.
J CARMICHAEL: Has he been proving it?
C CARMICHAEL: For the most part.
J CARMICHAEL: Do you question him now?
C CARMICHAEL: Yeah. Really, I don't really have to question because he's so on it now. He opens up and tell me - well, as far as I know - everything.
J CARMICHAEL: It's hard for me to let go and understand.
C CARMICHAEL: OK.
J CARMICHAEL: You know what I mean? Like, just go like, oh, I - because I know - I mean, you're my mother. I know you very well. And I know that you actually don't stay up at night thinking about it (laughter)...
C CARMICHAEL: No.
J CARMICHAEL: ...You know? What brings you that - what - how do you have the ability to do that?
C CARMICHAEL: One name - Jesus.
GROSS: Getting back to the church again. So do you think, in retrospect, that you did the right thing in getting out the truth?
J CARMICHAEL: Well, yeah, always, always. That was a lot to hear to play that. One, because I haven't been talking to my mother a lot. So just hearing her voice (laughter) first thing in the morning is a lot (laughter) for me right now.
GROSS: You said you haven't been talking to your mother a lot. Is that because of the special and because of airing family secrets in public?
J CARMICHAEL: It's around - no, it's around the - it's - before the - you know, it's a little bit of a rift. And a - I don't know why I'm saying a little bit. It's definitely a rift and a strain on the relationship, mostly because of lack of acknowledgement that things that I talk about in the special are still happening or still not happening, I should say. And that's hard for me, realizing that - it was making it harder to love myself. It's a hard thing to say, and that's why I'm pausing. I'm sorry for...
GROSS: No, it's all right.
J CARMICHAEL: But loving myself requires me to not feel like the core of my sexuality is just wrong, right? And if it's not validated, you know, or even acknowledged that I'm gay, it just triggers a little thing in my head that starts to feel that it's wrong. And being away from my parents, being away from that lack of acknowledgement, helps me feel better about myself. It's hard to say just because I am also cutting myself off from a lot of love, and I've been trying to reconcile with that. But, yeah, that's the sacrifice.
GROSS: You made a joke in an earlier comedy special about how a friend of yours came out, and you didn't know why because he was doing very well and he should have waited until he needed the applause and the support (laughter). So what were you thinking about when you came up with that for your comedy - for an earlier one?
J CARMICHAEL: I don't know what I was thinking. Like, I don't know if it's, like, me trying to separate myself from it by adding commentary to gay people the same way I would give commentary on women or - like, kind of trying to be an equal opportunity (laughter), you know - I don't know the word, but, you know...
GROSS: Critic?
J CARMICHAEL: ...To choose my topics. Yeah, yeah, critic, I guess. Yeah, yeah. And I don't know exactly what the logic was, but definitely, it was written as someone so far removed and out of touch with who he was. Like, I was looking at myself from 30,000 feet in the air. I wasn't writing that joke with any true connection to my life. You know, it's me trying to hide with commentary, I think.
You know what's funny? I actually remember saying a joke about gay people one time at an open mic. And a comic who was gay got angry with me, and he went up after. And I remember he did a set commenting on that, you know, and, like, just kind of trashing the joke that I said. And he came up to me after - it was just at an open mic. I was - this was years ago. And he came up to me, you know, and, like - you know, in the lobby and just said he didn't like it. And I remember actually apologizing to him, maybe a little bit to myself. But (laughter) I just remember thinking, I don't want to be that person. It was self-hate. You know, I think that was, like, a little peek through of, like, oh, wait, is that what I'm doing? Like, it was - so I don't remember the exact joke, but it was aggressive. I remember it being, like, some aggressive joke, impression. I forget. And the guy had on a great leather jacket, too.
GROSS: (Laughter).
J CARMICHAEL: It was a great leather jacket. And he was attractive, like, is something I couldn't have said then, you know? And I'm - like, I don't really remember his jokes. But I remember being like, oh, he's just kind of hot.
(LAUGHTER)
J CARMICHAEL: And, like, you know, yeah, I felt bad.
GROSS: Let me reintroduce you here. If you're just joining us, my guest is comic, writer and actor Jerrod Carmichael. His new HBO comedy special is called "Rothaniel." We'll be right back. This is FRESH AIR.
(SOUNDBITE OF CLARK TERRY'S "ROCKIN' IN RHTYTHM")
GROSS: This is FRESH AIR. Let's get back to my interview with comic, writer and actor Jerrod Carmichael. His new HBO comedy special is called "Rothaniel." It's all about secrets about his real name, his family tree and his sexual orientation.
You know, you've said that there was a - there's been periods in your life where you thought you'd rather die than come out. What were the consequences that you feared?
J CARMICHAEL: You know, being disowned, everything gay. (Laughter) Even, like, when we would use it as a term of, like, oh, that's gay or - one, it's just a dismissal of a person or a thing. It's just - it was a wall. It was like, oh, well, I don't want any parts of anything that's gay, you know? And I just felt like I would just be banished from the lives of my friends. They'd be embarrassed to be seen around me. These are the thoughts that I'm having, you know? They'll be embarrassed. They'll be - that everything's high school. And they'll just mock me. I've also been straight long enough to hear how straight people (laughter) talk about gay people sometimes.
GROSS: What was the model of masculinity you grew up with?
J CARMICHAEL: I mean, the word hyper comes to mind.
(LAUGHTER)
J CARMICHAEL: A lot of - I think there were - in a world without fathers, I think there was an overcompensation. So people find fathers elsewhere. You'll find a father. You'll find, like, you need it for balance. And unfortunately, a lot of my friends didn't know their dad and, you know, found it from other guys who didn't know their dad. And, you know, there was always the potential of violence. Friends have gotten killed over, like, ego, over protecting that masculinity. It's all such a grand performance.
GROSS: What did that do to your head, having friends who were killed?
J CARMICHAEL: It scared me. I mean, it definitely, like, jarred me. I definitely have, like, a little PTSD from it, things that can get - that can escalate quickly, situations that, like, grow really fast. And, you know, I remember being, like, at my party after my - not my party, but at a party after my high school graduation and just shots ringing out and us all running out of the club just scared, scared, and be grabbing friends and, like, trying to hide behind cars and, like, you know, just being in situations where you - where, like, the threat of violence, an explosion can happen. Like, another - the other shoe can drop. Like, yeah, it is a little, like - you know, I'm like a rescue dog (laughter) a little bit.
GROSS: Did that add to your fear of consequences if you came out - if people knew, that they'd see you as being more vulnerable? And there are guns around. And the consequences could be, like, fatal.
J CARMICHAEL: Yeah. Yeah. Definitely. Definitely. It makes you watch what you say. And, yeah, there are just rules. There's so many rules. It's - masculinity can be very, very rigid. Don't smile in pictures, (laughter) you know? Like, it's a lot of people just on guard. It's a really masculine culture, you know? You're taught to get as much money as you can, you know, girls, protect your family, that type of rhetoric, which are important. But it's definitely like a by-any-means, Malcolm X kind of version of it that I was raised on. Like, I guess that's why the word hyper comes to mind. It was definitely, like, you know, Man, capital M.
GROSS: Race was an issue, too, when you were coming out, in the sense that, like, one of your boyfriends was white. And in one of your home videos - and "Home Videos" is another HBO special, an earlier one - you're talking, I think it's to your sister, to one of your sisters. And you say, how would you react if I brought home a white girlfriend? And she says, you know, that she wants you to embrace Black love. And you kind of question, like, you know, what does that mean? But anyways, so when you had a white boyfriend and you were keeping secret that it was a boyfriend and that the boyfriend was white, like, can you talk about that, the double secret, the, like, racial and sexual secret?
J CARMICHAEL: You know, the racial part, less of a secret and more of something that I need to explore in my own life about, you know, I find men of all races very attractive. But, like, what root of self-hate or fear causes me to not date as many Black men as white men, you know? Like - and that's something that I'm cautious to say. It's a mandate I want to change because it just sounds so false and corny and not organic and whatever. But I am exploring, like, what is that, right? And there was this movie called "Beach Rats" that I loved, and I was in the closet at the time, so I couldn't express how much I loved it. I love that movie. And it's about - I won't spoil too much of it. It's worth seeing. But it's a closeted young man who hooks up with guys from the internet, but he hooks up with older guys. And one of the older guys asks him, why are you into older men? And he says, because you don't know anyone that I know. And it's such a powerful line. And I feel like, you know, that - I mean, that fear is in me - or was in me. I'm trying to eradicate it. But that fear of, oh, it's just my friend. It's just a, like - you know, especially earlier on when I was, like, hooking up and it was more discreet and, like, trying to keep a secret, I was afraid of being with a Black guy because he may know my family or may know - it's illogical, but, like, it's just this fear of association, this fear of - yeah, it's just too close, and it became all too real. And, yeah, that's just - that's messed up. It's self-hate playing out.
GROSS: Let me reintroduce you here. If you're just joining us, my guest is Jerrod Carmichael. He has a new HBO comedy special, which is called "Rothaniel," which, by the way, is his real first name, which he kept hidden most of his life until now. So we'll be right back after a short break. This is FRESH AIR.
(SOUNDBITE OF GABRIEL MERVINE'S "PEOPLE")
GROSS: This is FRESH AIR. Let's get back to my interview with comic, writer and actor Jerrod Carmichael. His new HBO comedy special is called "Rothaniel," and it's all about secrets - secrets about his real name, his family tree and his sexual orientation. And he comes out about all of that in the new comedy special.
How old were you when you realized you were gay?
J CARMICHAEL: I don't know. I don't know because I don't - I've had experiences with other boys when I was a kid. And I've had, you know, little secret things here and there throughout my life. But when I was younger, when the internet and internet porn would come around, I would watch gay porn. And then immediately after I would watch straight porn, almost as if to cleanse it, almost as if to get rid of what I'd just done, to cover up the sin, to kind of hide it, right? Like - and it's a silly psychological game that I played with myself as a game of one - no pun intended. But...
(LAUGHTER)
J CARMICHAEL: But you see what I mean? Like, the example of that - like, that - what am I doing in that situation? I don't know. I'm hiding. I'm trying to make it better. I'm trying to fix it. I'm trying to make it right, you know, like, little psychological things like that to make it go away that I would try and do that to myself. And so when I was younger, I believed myself to be on a straight path. Eventually, I would have convinced myself to marry a woman in some world. I would have - yeah. Yeah, I definitely was suppressing it, running from it, hiding from it. So how long before I realized that what I was was gay? I don't know. It just kind of became undeniable. And I guess later in life, I was - you know, I'm someone, and I'll use air quotes, that probably leans a bit more masculine. So I could hide it. I couldn't have never come out. And, you know, some people suspect if you know my affinity for Dries Van Noten. But (laughter) like, you know, for most of the world, I was straight presenting, so I was able to hide. You know, even as a kid, you know, I didn't really play sports, but, you know, my jeans were just baggy enough to be trade (ph), you know, to be...
(LAUGHTER)
GROSS: You know, we talked about how deeply religious your mother is, and in her view of Christianity, like, homosexuality is a sin. Like, she is really having trouble accepting that. And that is part of the reason why you've had such trouble accepting it and being open about it over the years. But, you know, you say that you're still Christian but that it's taken a lot and that you've had to reconfigure God and what God is in order to accept yourself and kind of rebuild from there. What was church like when you were growing up?
J CARMICHAEL: Fun, actually. It was fun. I sang in the choir. I had a lot of fun. Even as a child, I would go to Bible study on Wednesday nights and just, you know, get in arguments about faith. And it was really fun. It was a - it's a great social event, you know, Sunday morning. You know, I had friends. There were a lot of kids at the church. I used to run the sound room for a little while - very, very involved in the church plays. And yeah, it was, like, my first performance space. My mom was an usher. And I've always been obsessed with microphones my whole life. And she used to - like, after church, she would hold me up to the mic when the church was clearing out, like, when they were, like, shutting everything down. She would, like, hold me up to the mic so I could speak in it 'cause I just loved the sound. Like, it's just such a miracle (laughter). And church was just, like, the first place that, like, gave me a microphone and an audience. And it's a great show. It's an excellent show.
GROSS: Did you ever do comedy in church?
J CARMICHAEL: I mean, I probably did comedy everywhere (laughter). I mean, but, yeah, definitely. I was pretty funny there. And it was always fun to make adults laugh. Like, I was one of those kids who really liked making adults laugh 'cause making other kids laugh was easy. You could do something big and, you know, slip on a banana peel. But, like, adults, you had to use intellect to make adults laugh. So I loved making, like - go and, like, laugh and argue and have honest conversations about God and - yeah, it was so fun. Sorry. I don't even know if I'm answering your question. I'm just, like, reflecting on, like - it was a really - it was a great space. I was - I - yeah, it was a lot of laughs.
GROSS: So, like, comedy was like your superpower. You know, you had to hide your actual identity, like a lot of superheroes have to do, but you had this superpower, which was comedy.
J CARMICHAEL: Yeah. It's like a competition that makes you feel good, you know, like, when it's in a group setting like that. You know, like, comedy's just like - 'cause Black people are so funny (laughter). Like, that also has to be said, that, like, the average Black person is a top ten comedian. Like, just like a church - like, it's just so many laughs. Like, the culture is funny. Like, the culture is - I think that's why Black people are so cool. Like, we're able to, like, laugh at things and even laugh at ourselves in certain way. Like, it's like - you know, like, everybody's kind of, like, telling jokes. And, like, it's a funny environment. So, you know, to be honest with you, to be a funny guy in those environments is an honor (laughter). It's probably, like, the biggest honor of my life - is, like, to be funny amongst kings and queens (laughter). Like, they are very funny.
GROSS: So, you know, I just want to end by saying that I hope you and your mother kind of get back together again 'cause you seem like you're so close in so many ways, and I hope that she's able to eventually appreciate the openness that you have now and the acceptance of yourself and the reality of your truth and meet you there.
J CARMICHAEL: Thank you for that. And I hope so, too. And I know it starts with myself. Like, you know - and it's not me trying to take responsibility for anyone else's feelings. But I do know that the world can't love me, my mother included, or anyone else until I have a firm foundation and I know who I am and I'm willing to accept who I am. And, you know, that's a process that I feel like I started late. But, you know, the more honest I am, the freer I am. And I hope that time helps.
GROSS: Jerrod Carmichael, thank you so much for talking with us. It's just really been great to speak with you again and hear you be so open, and I think it's been great for your comedy. I love the new special. And it sounds like it's been really good for your life as well. So congratulations on all of that.
J CARMICHAEL: Thank you very much. I really appreciate talking to you, appreciate your words. It's been fun.
GROSS: Jerrod Carmichael's new HBO special is called "Rothaniel."
Tomorrow on FRESH AIR, our guest will be country music star Tim McGraw. He wins Grammys, sells out concerts, and he's an actor. He and his wife, country star Faith Hill, star in the Paramount+ TV Western series "1883" as a married couple making their way in a covered wagon up the Oregon Trail. It's a prequel to the series "Yellowstone." I hope you'll join us.
FRESH AIR's executive producer is Danny Miller. Our senior producer today is Sam Briger. Our technical director and engineer is Audrey Bentham. Our interviews and reviews are produced and edited by Amy Salit, Phyllis Myers, Lauren Krenzel, Heidi Saman, Therese Madden, Ann Marie Baldonado, Thea Chaloner, Seth Kelley and Joel Wolfram. Our digital media producer is Molly Seavy-Nesper. Roberta Shorrock directs the show. I'm Terry Gross.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONNY ROLLINS' "WAGON WHEELS") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-18/comic-jerrod-carmichael-bares-his-secrets-in-rothaniel | 2022-05-12T14:53:33Z |
ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
Spring cleaning season is here. And as you check off the chores on your list, keep in mind these tips gathered by Life Kit's Kavitha Cardoza last year for a more effective cleaning routine, starting with your bedroom.
KAVITHA CARDOZA, BYLINE: Kevin Frazier, a master gunnery sergeant at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, is responsible for converting messy teenagers into expert cleaners. He understands - he lived the same way before he entered the Marine Corps.
KEVIN FRAZIER: Clothes in a pile in the corner of the room, bed's not made, food everywhere (laughter).
CARDOZA: The military, on the other hand, is very clean and organized. Frazier says when being organized is ingrained in Marines from the start, those skills spill into everything else, which can be critical in, say, a combat situation. Frazier calls it brilliance in the basics.
FRAZIER: Doing the basic stuff really, really well - when you can take care of all the little things, like cleaning your room, then when the big things happen, you're ready to accomplish that task.
CARDOZA: So maybe the stakes aren't as high for civilians, and a clean home isn't necessarily a matter of life or death. But having a tidy home is going to make existing in that space easier, healthier and more pleasurable. Taryn Williford is a lifestyle director at the website Apartment Therapy.
TARYN WILLIFORD: One of the most important rules is cleaning top to bottom. I used to strip the sheets before I would clean the bedroom, but the thing I would do after I stripped the sheets was start to clean the ceiling fan, and then all the dust would fall on my bare mattress.
CARDOZA: So leave those sheets on until you finish the fan and light fixtures. Then put the sheets in the laundry. Williford says rule No. 2 is clean clockwise.
WILLIFORD: When you clean clockwise or you follow the wall, it's really helping you make sure that you're not missing anything when you clean. Then the last thing is the floors.
CARDOZA: And that leads to rule No. 3 - do your dry cleaning before you do your wet cleaning.
WILLIFORD: If you start straight in with your wet cleaners and you haven't dusted that surface, you're going to end up getting all of that gunk, which is really not efficient.
CARDOZA: So say you cleaned everything. It's spotless, sparkling, like, smells great. Describe what that feeling is like to you.
WILLIFORD: A perfectly clean home really makes you feel like you can do anything. I really think a clean home is just the foundation for smart life habits that are going to impact your health, impact your mental health, impact your wellness, impact your hobbies, how excited you are to get up in the morning and explore the day.
CARDOZA: The nice thing about cleaning your house is you get to decide when you're done. But just as an experiment, after you're all finished, imagine for a moment that Master Gunnery Sergeant Kevin Frazier is coming to inspect your work. He's thorough.
FRAZIER: No dust, no debris, trash taken out. I'm going to run my hands along the backs of the TV to make sure there's no dust in any of the areas or crevices. The laundry room - make sure the lint traps are out. Same thing for the floors - cleaned, swept.
CARDOZA: So you would kind of lift up the beds or open cupboards?
FRAZIER: Yeah. Yeah.
CARDOZA: If a Marine fails inspection, he gets reinspected on his day off.
FRAZIER: Well, trust me - they catch on real quick. I'd say within a week of getting there, they know exactly what to do, and they do it. You can call it brainwashing, or you can call it training. I like to call it training (laughter).
(SOUNDBITE OF YOYO BOROBIA SONG, "TRISTE HISTORIA")
SHAPIRO: That was Life Kit's Kavitha Cardoza with some advice from last year on how to clean better. For more tips and tricks, check out the Life Kit podcast at npr.org/lifekit.
(SOUNDBITE OF YOYO BOROBIA SONG, "TRISTE HISTORIA") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-18/encore-from-nprs-life-kit-the-secret-to-a-clean-room-is-mastering-the-basics | 2022-05-12T14:53:40Z |
NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with Maria Garcia, host of "Anything For Selena." The podcast tells the story of Selena Quintanilla's life and Garcia's childhood spent on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-18/encore-the-podcast-anything-for-selena-tells-a-story-larger-than-the-artists-life | 2022-05-12T14:53:46Z |
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
For COVID-19, federal officials seem to have adopted a refrain.
(SOUNDBITE OF MONTAGE)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: We have the tools.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: We have the tools and protocols...
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: Do we have the tools we need...
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #4: We have the tools.
FADEL: Three years ago, before COVID-19 even began, officials in the Trump administration said the same thing about the HIV epidemic.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
ALEX AZAR: We have the tools. This is an historic opportunity.
FADEL: That is the former health and human services secretary Alex Azar speaking with NPR in 2019. But those who've worked on HIV for decades say to stop a pandemic, it's not enough to have the tools. NPR's Selena Simmons-Duffin reports.
SELENA SIMMONS-DUFFIN, BYLINE: Stephanie Brooks-Wiggins is 76 years old. She lives in Baltimore. She was diagnosed with HIV in 1986. Back then, there were no tools to help her.
STEPHANIE BROOKS-WIGGINS: There was no treatment. There were no drugs. You would go to the clinic, and the psychiatrist would talk to you to keep you from going off the deep end.
SIMMONS-DUFFIN: Over the decades, scientists developed many HIV treatments. And they got better and easier to take, she says. But HIV has not ended in the U.S. as these tools became available. A stubbornly high number, more than 30,000 people, are diagnosed with HIV every year. Only 25% of people who might be eligible actually take a preventive pill called PrEP. And even with accurate and at-home options for testing, over 150,000 people in the U.S. are HIV positive but don't know it.
ADAORA ADIMORA: Scientific discoveries are a necessary but not sufficient factor to completely eradicate disease.
SIMMONS-DUFFIN: That's Dr. Adaora Adimora, a physician and professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She first started treating people with HIV in the 1980s. She says the tools to combat HIV have come a long way. There are now topical gels and easy-to-take pills and even injections.
ADIMORA: I don't know that I ever greeted any of these new advances saying, this is the thing that's going to end HIV.
SIMMONS-DUFFIN: That's because she's seen the barriers to access and implementation, she says, barriers like the high cost of prescription drugs and the maddening patchwork health care system. The barriers to COVID's tools, like tests and vaccines and therapeutics, have been different.
But A. Toni Young says there are parallels and common mistakes. She lives in West Virginia and runs the Community Education Group, which does public health outreach.
A TONI YOUNG: We keep doing the same thing over and over and over again, saying, it's over there, why don't you go get it?
SIMMONS-DUFFIN: That attitude hasn't worked to fight HIV or COVID, Young says. It doesn't work for people who don't have access to health care, who don't trust the medical system or who don't think they're at risk. As she sees it, when it comes to the COVID-19 pandemic, the country has missed out on the chance to make the most of the vaccine by failing to understand and work with people in all their complexity.
YOUNG: It was an all-or-nothing approach. You're either with me on this vaccine, or you're not. You're either on my side, or you're my enemy when it comes to the vaccine. You're either a vaccine denier, or you're a vaccine getter. And there is a whole lot of room between those two.
SIMMONS-DUFFIN: The frame of us versus them is implicit in a lot of the rhetoric these days about getting back to normal. It's in terms like pandemic of the unvaccinated and telling people they've done the right thing by getting vaccinated and should therefore have special privileges, like not being punished with things like indoor masking and testing requirements.
That way of talking about public health, says Steven Thrasher, creates the conditions for pandemics to last longer. Thrasher is a professor of journalism at Northwestern and author of the forthcoming book "The Viral Underclass." With HIV in the mid-1990s, when treatments became much more effective...
STEVEN THRASHER: People who got access to the drugs began to pull away and take their political capital and go home because they didn't need to be in the fight anymore. And the virus continued to pool in what I call a viral underclass in the United States.
SIMMONS-DUFFIN: This was a sad and lethal mistake in the fight against HIV, he says. And now it's happening again. The lack of political will in Congress to pass more COVID-19 funding is a perfect example, he says. And those still at particular risk are those who are warehoused away, out of sight.
THRASHER: People who are in nursing homes as elderly people or who are in convalescent centers as disabled people, and, of course, people who are incarcerated - they're already out of public view, and people are not listening to them.
SIMMONS-DUFFIN: Those settings can act as epidemic engines, he explains. People visit their loved ones in these places. Staff come and go back into the community. And so the pandemic drags on, and lives are needlessly lost. He is disappointed that policymakers seem to be centering the people who have the most access to tools to protect themselves, not the least.
THRASHER: I really hoped that that would be different this time.
SIMMONS-DUFFIN: This is not to say no one is trying to get the available tools out to people who don't have as much power and access. A. Toni Young in West Virginia has one idea for how to do it.
YOUNG: We want to hit people in the face with the COVID vaccination because we're in the middle of the pandemic. But maybe I got to slow walk you to that COVID vaccination.
SIMMONS-DUFFIN: Here's how that might go.
YOUNG: If you got five kids and y'all are hungry, you need to figure out where you're getting your food from. You don't care about my vaccine. Let me help you. What do you need from me? If I can get you the food that you need, when we do the follow up - hey, did the food voucher work out for you? Great. Can we talk to you now about - again - about the COVID vaccine?
SIMMONS-DUFFIN: Her organization has a $3.5 million cooperative agreement with CDC to use this approach to vaccinate people against COVID-19 and influenza in West Virginia. Young hopes CDC will continue funding this for three years so they can expand. She also hopes to spread one of the lessons from HIV - that people and their relationship to health is complicated, and the public health response needs to be ready to meet them where they are.
Selena Simmons-Duffin, NPR News.
(SOUNDBITE OF THE ACORN'S "RETURN TO BLACKNESS (FOR GB)") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-18/hiv-experts-provide-lessons-for-mitigating-covid | 2022-05-12T14:53:52Z |
DANIEL ESTRIN, HOST:
The economic misery inflicted by COVID-19 comes in multiple forms. In many countries, the heaviest price is paid by the poor, and that includes Brazil. The number of homeless people in Brazil's megacity, Sao Paulo, has soared since the pandemic began. NPR's Philip Reeves met one man whose campaign to fight for their rights is winning him friends and enemies.
PHILIP REEVES, BYLINE: Life is tough on the frontline of the battle against homelessness in Brazil. No one knows that better than this man.
JULIO LANCELLOTTI: (Speaking Portuguese).
REEVES: Julio Lancellotti is a Catholic priest. He's 73.
LANCELLOTTI: (Speaking Portuguese).
REEVES: Lancellotti has worked among Sao Paulo's street people for 40 years. Yet if you suggest he actually helps them, you get a prickly reply.
LANCELLOTTI: (Speaking Portuguese).
REEVES: "I don't help anyone," he says. "I live with them. I share what I can with them."
For Lancellotti, this is about faith and about pushing back against intolerance and injustice.
LANCELLOTTI: (Speaking Portuguese).
REEVES: "Society has to find a better way of living together," he says.
(CROSSTALK)
REEVES: We're in the yard of Lancellotti's parish church. He's just walked in. He's wearing a long yellow apron and pushing a shopping cart containing bread rolls.
LANCELLOTTI: (Speaking Portuguese).
REEVES: He gives the rolls to the handful of people milling around, seeking food and clothing. They include Fernando De Jesus, a father of three small kids. Four months ago, Fernando left his family in the countryside and moved to the city.
FERNANDO DE JESUS: (Speaking Portuguese).
REEVES: "Sao Paulo is big and modern. There are opportunities for me here," he says. He's yet to find a job.
RAQUEL ROLNIK: Sao Paulo is one of the global cities of the world. It's a place that has an enormous economic power and dynamic and great, immense poverty as well.
REEVES: Raquel Rolnik is a professor of urban studies and an expert on Sao Paolo. These are hard times for the poor, she says. Soaring inflation and high unemployment are coupled with a real estate boom.
ROLNIK: The result is we are living today one of the worst housing crises that Sao Paolo has lived throughout the history of this city.
REEVES: Rolnik knows Lancellotti.
ROLNIK: He is a courageous man. He's doing incredible work. And he is one among very few that help to make the voices of the homeless heard in the city.
(CROSSTALK)
REEVES: A crowd of men, women and children stands in front of a community center, waiting to go in for lunch. This street is cluttered with makeshift shelters. Dogs wander amid the trash.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Speaking Portuguese through loudspeaker).
REEVES: Prayers are broadcast through a battered loudspeaker on the sidewalk. Then the meal begins. It's provided by a church organization that's teamed up with Lancellotti. The number of people eating here has tripled since the pandemic began.
Ronaldo Goncalves Lourenco became homeless after his baby son died and his marriage fell apart.
RONALDO GONCALVES LOURENCO: (Speaking Portuguese).
REEVES: "I don't have anything," says Lourenco, who's 27 - "no house, no tent, no salary."
GONCALVES LOURENCO: (Speaking Portuguese).
REEVES: "Thank God Lancellotti helps us a lot," he says.
Homelessness in Sao Paolo has risen by nearly a third in two years. At least 31,000 people live on the streets, according to a recent census. Tents are popping up all over town.
CARLOS BEZERRA JR: (Speaking Portuguese).
REEVES: Carlos Bezerra Jr. is the city hall official in charge of handling this crisis.
BEZERRA: (Speaking Portuguese).
REEVES: "We're treating it as an emergency," says Bezerra.
Lancellotti is a regular critic of city hall. Bezerra knows him well.
BEZERRA: (Speaking Portuguese).
REEVES: "Sometimes we agree. Sometimes we don't. But I have immense respect for him," says Bezerra.
Bezerra and his team are now scrambling to help the city's new wave of homeless with temporary housing, health services and more. For Lancellotti, no one's doing enough.
LANCELLOTTI: (Speaking Portuguese).
REEVES: "Government only ever offers the homeless crumbs," he says, "yet it denies that basic rights."
LANCELLOTTI: (Speaking Portuguese).
REEVES: He points out some towering luxury apartment blocks being built nearby.
LANCELLOTTI: (Speaking Portuguese).
REEVES: "Sao Paulo is controlled by the real estate market," he says. The poorest will always be pushed out in a giant metropolis driven by profit. That view is a red flag to some in Brazil.
(SOUNDBITE OF VIDEO)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Speaking Portuguese).
REEVES: That's a video posted by a far-right Catholic group. It accuses Lancellotti of being a communist. This group is not his only enemy. There are residents who hate that people live on their streets and believe he encourages them. Lancellotti says he gets death threats.
LANCELLOTTI: (Speaking Portuguese).
REEVES: "They're very common," he says.
Yet Lancellotti is also collecting plenty of fans. His Instagram following has recently surged to nearly 1 million.
(SOUNDBITE OF GUNSHOTS AND YELLING)
REEVES: He posted this footage.
(SOUNDBITE OF GUNSHOTS AND YELLING)
REEVES: It's of police clearing an area notorious for drugs. They're firing rubber bullets and tear gas at street people. Lancellotti pulls out his cellphone and shows pictures he's posted.
LANCELLOTTI: (Speaking Portuguese).
REEVES: They're of so-called hostile architecture, structures deliberately designed to drive away homeless people.
LANCELLOTTI: (Speaking Portuguese).
REEVES: He shows a photo of a Sao Paulo supermarket.
LANCELLOTTI: (Speaking Portuguese).
REEVES: And points to the metal spikes on the ground.
A bill is before Brazil's Congress that would ban this hostile architecture. It's named after Lancellotti. Hostile architecture is all too familiar for the multitude trying to survive on the streets of Sao Paolo. Carlos Alberto Ramos knows where the best sleeping spots are.
CARLOS ALBERTO RAMOS: (Speaking Portuguese).
REEVES: "Sooner or later, you go to one, and it's full of spikes or shards of glass," he says.
(CROSSTALK)
REEVES: Ramos is among a crowd of homeless hanging out under the palm trees in front of the city's grandiose Metropolitan Cathedral. He sums up his life on these streets in three words.
ALBERTO RAMOS: (Speaking Portuguese).
REEVES: "Neglect, unemployment and broken promises."
With Ramos is his wife, Larissa Arruda, and baby. They live in a shelter. Arruda still has big dreams.
LARISSA ARRUDA: (Speaking Portuguese).
REEVES: "I might become a teacher one day or a lawyer," she says.
Ramos says he just wants a job - any job. Until then, this family depends on people like Lancellotti.
ALBERTO RAMOS: (Speaking Portuguese).
REEVES: "We need more Padre Lancellottis," says Ramos - "many more."
Philip Reeves, NPR News, Sao Paolo.
(SOUNDBITE OF THIEVERY CORPORATION'S "SAMBA TRANQUILLE") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-18/how-a-brazilian-priest-got-his-city-to-pay-attention-to-its-unhoused-citizens-needs | 2022-05-12T14:53:58Z |
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
School systems across the country are grappling with teacher shortages. One of the most pressing problems in many places involves a lack of substitute teachers. In Illinois, school districts held one-day training sessions to try to recruit substitutes and move them into the classroom as soon as possible. From member station WNIJ in DeKalb, Peter Medlin reports.
PETER MEDLIN, BYLINE: Some schools are so desperate for substitutes they've tried recruiting parents. Others have asked local police officers and firefighters to come into the classroom. In New Mexico, they've even called in the National Guard. In Illinois, a short-term substitute license was created in direct response to the shortage. It allows potential teachers who only have an associate degree or 60 hours of college credit to become substitutes in public schools.
Mark Kleisner heads the group West 40, a service center for dozens of school districts near Chicago. He says this short-term option is a lifeline because the shortage in this state is worse than ever.
MARK KLEISNER: I'm hearing social workers covering English classes. You know, it's like, we're not serving our kids well, and we don't really have a choice. Our data point this year was over 2,000 educator openings were either unfilled or they were filled by someone not qualified.
MEDLIN: Sonya Spaulding is a professional learning specialist at West 40. She's trying to address the shortage by offering prospective substitutes an online crash course in teaching before they step into the classroom.
SONYA SPAULDING: We are here to provide you the state-approved short-term substitute training. I'm sort of the captain of today's ship, and I've got a wonderful crew that's going to help you get in the air and land to your prospective locations. We've got...
MEDLIN: This recent Zoom call is filling up with dozens of faces as Spaulding gets started. Some people watch on their phones while walking down hallways at work. Many have experience working with kids; others just need work. Depending on the school, the pay can range from $100 to over $200 a day. With the program, substitutes pay $50 to get their license, take the training, get a background check and can be in the classroom the very next day.
SPAULDING: It's a quick turnaround, but there's a high level of confidence that these are people who have a connection with the community, and they really want to step up and support the students in this time.
MEDLIN: Nicole Mister is one of the hundreds of new short-term substitutes they've already trained this year. Like most, she's interested in teaching because of her connection to education. She has kids in school and works at an education nonprofit. She says while her first day subbing was difficult, the one-day training actually did help her in the classroom.
NICOLE MISTER: It was nerve-wracking, but Dr. Spaulding was able to really give us some great pointers. She really just told us to, you know, go in with an open mind, and she gave us so many resources online, so it was really able to help.
MEDLIN: But some worry about lowering the barrier to get into the classroom. Desiree Carver-Thomas is a researcher and policy analyst at the Learning Policy Institute.
DESIREE CARVER-THOMAS: It's certainly a huge concern, especially when you hear stories of students who've had, you know, a rotating cast of substitute teachers all year in their math class. It begs the question of, you know, how much learning can really happen when the person in the classroom, you know, may not have subject matter competency?
MEDLIN: But she says in many states, substitutes aren't required to do any training at all, so anything is a positive. And when so many schools can't find any subs, it's better than canceling classes. But she and others say the long-term solution to the substitute teacher shortage isn't only about substitutes; it's about hiring enough credentialed teachers to fully staff classrooms.
For NPR News, I'm Peter Medlin. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-18/how-illinois-is-addressing-the-nationwide-substitute-teacher-shortage | 2022-05-12T14:54:04Z |
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
There was more unrest over the weekend in Jerusalem. Dozens were hurt Friday in and around the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound when Israeli police used tear gas and stun grenades against Palestinians throwing stones. In the middle of Ramadan, police stormed at the mosque, considered the third-holiest site in Islam. Medical officials said 150 Palestinians and three police officers were injured. Hundreds of Palestinians were arrested. On Sunday, Israeli police were back, saying they wanted to clear a path for Jews visiting the hilltop compound revered by Jews as the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism. Police blocked Muslims from parts of the site, and more arrests were made.
Palestinians accuse Israel of a dangerous escalation during a rare convergence of Passover, Ramadan and Easter, when even larger crowds of worshippers were visiting Jerusalem. Similar violence a year ago was one of the events that contributed to the eruption of an 11-day-long war in Gaza. We've reached out to the Mairav Zonszein. She is a senior analyst for the International Crisis Group, and she joins us from Tel Aviv. Good morning.
MAIRAV ZONSZEIN: Good morning.
FADEL: So if you could just break down what led to what we saw Friday and over the weekend.
ZONSZEIN: Yeah, well, the situation of the convergence of Ramadan and the other holidays - the Christian holiday of Easter and the Jewish holiday of Passover - sounded alarm bells for the Israeli government. And even the Biden administration had warned that tensions rise because many, many people flood into the old city on these days. And because of the precedent of last year, where Ramadan caused - it wasn't Ramadan itself, but it was the fact that the police - the Israeli police, were in full force and using many crowd dispersal means. So there was fear that the same thing would happen this year. And, in fact, it's been relatively calm compared to last year and compared to what could be the case.
FADEL: OK. So is this moment at all similar to what prompted the 11-day war last year? Could it escalate to that level?
ZONSZEIN: Yeah, it really is a very fragile and tense situation. And people need to remember that East Jerusalem is occupied and annexed. The people - the Palestinians who live in East Jerusalem don't have a police force. They're not citizens of the country. They are kind of at the will of the police force. So there's always tensions every day for Palestinians who live in that area. And it's also important to remember that Damascus Gate, the Old City and the Al-Aqsa Mosque where they pray during Ramadan is - are the main areas where East Jerusalem Palestinians can congregate and celebrate the holiday together.
So when you have a police force that comes in, even if it's just a minority of kids who are, you know, stirring up trouble, it can very easily escalate. And so we're seeing very similar pictures to last year, but there are differences in how the Israeli government is handling the situation. It has indicated and signaled in various ways that it's actually interested in keeping the peace. And, in some ways, it's doing its best to do so.
FADEL: A very different sentiment than what we saw last year.
ZONSZEIN: Yes, also because Israel has been in dialogue with Jordan. It has also lifted a curfew on the West Bank that normally is held for the entire Jewish holiday. So there are very specific actions that the Israeli government is taking to try to signal to the Palestinians that it's not interested in engaging in a certain amount of collective punishment for the few. At the same time, we've seen images of police brutality - using batons on worshippers entering the mosque - which for, you know, Palestinians, is a huge infringement of their rights.
FADEL: And it didn't just start this weekend, these tensions, right? I mean, there - over the past couple weeks, 14 people were killed in a wave of attacks in Israel. Israeli forces have stepped up raids in the Palestinian West Bank. So far, dozens of Palestinians reportedly injured. At least 25 have been killed by Israeli forces. I mean, if we could talk about the bigger picture here.
ZONSZEIN: Yeah, that's right. Well, in Israel and Palestine, there's kind of never a quiet moment, certainly not for Palestinians. But we've had a wave of terror attacks that we have not seen in Israel for many years - specifically shooting attacks in four different Israeli cities, something that Israelis have not seen in quite a while. So I think about 14 Israelis were killed. And, as well, the IDF has stepped up its raid in the West Bank. It's entered the city of Jenin in the northern West Bank several times and often killing people who are in - exchanged in gun battles.
So we've had a rise in tensions in the West Bank specifically. And also, there's been a few incidents of Israeli soldiers who are deployed in greater numbers now as a result, who have shot at unarmed - for example, an unarmed woman who's 47 years old. She didn't present any threat. She was shot and killed tragically. So all of these things have been happening on the backdrop of this current crisis.
FADEL: Mairav Zonszein, senior analyst with the International Crisis Group, thank you for being on the program.
ZONSZEIN: Thanks so much. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-18/jerusalem-sees-unrest-during-convergence-of-passover-ramadan-and-easter | 2022-05-12T14:54:10Z |
This story is part of the My Unsung Hero series from the Hidden Brain team about people whose kindness left a lasting impression on someone else.
In the early 1990s, John Moe moved to Seattle to follow his dream of becoming a writer or an actor. Instead, he found himself working full-time in customer service at a software company.
"It wasn't anything fun," Moe said.
And that's because, at the same time, Moe was dealing with undiagnosed depression that devastated his confidence.
"So I just had this inherent belief that other people got to do the cool things," he said. "And I had to go get a job that I hated and work there until I died."
His coworker, Jane, worked in HR and thought Moe had a lot more potential than he was giving himself credit for. She also knew about his other work in theatre and comedy.
"And she said, 'You don't belong here. You're meant to do something else. You should be making your living being creative,'" John recalls.
Jane told Moe of a vacancy at her husband's company that needed a creative person.
"And I said, 'Oh, OK. So you want to know if I can think of anybody creative?' And she's like, 'No, no. I mean you,'" Moe said.
Moe not only got the job, he went on to make a name for himself in the industry. Today, he is a published writer with a new book out called The Hilarious World of Depression.
He is also the host of Depresh Mode with John Moe, a mental health podcast that promises no shame or stigma.
He credits the pep talk Jane gave him, as well as the confidence she had in him when it was hard for him to see it for himself.
To this day, he makes sure to follow Jane's example by going out of his way to tell someone they are good at something, especially if they are not giving themselves credit for it.
"Because maybe they haven't been told that enough times," Moe said. "And that's going to give them the confidence to get to the next level ... and they can tell somebody else at some later point, you know, 'You have this in you. You can do this.'"
To share the story of your unsung hero with the Hidden Brain team, record a voice memo on your phone and send it to myunsunghero@hiddenbrain.org.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-18/johns-colleague-told-him-he-didnt-belong-it-was-just-what-he-needed-to-hear | 2022-05-12T14:54:16Z |
You can tell by the way Uncle Roger is sitting how badly someone goofed. The popular YouTuber usually sits in his chair with one leg propped up on the seat, elbow resting on his knee. It's the ideal talking trash position for so many Asian uncles. It's kind of comfortable, somewhat relaxed, but loaded like a spring. So that when something truly wild happens – like say, Jamie Oliver uses soba noodles to make ramen – Uncle Roger can drop his leg and act like it's an affront to human decency, and give one of his signature "hiyas" to signal how much it hurts to see someone so famous for cooking mess up ramen so badly.
Throughout the pandemic, Uncle Roger has built an audience in the millions across platforms – 2 million on Facebook, 4 million on TikTok, 5 million on YouTube. They come for his roasting of mostly Western chefs botching Asian cooking, and defending the sanctity of woks and MSG.
The person behind Uncle Roger is London-based Malaysian stand-up Nigel Ng. He's currently in the middle of a huge world tour (his first headlining tour ever as a comic), driven by the massive popularity of Uncle Roger. Which he's grateful for. But he wants folks walking away from the shows thinking about Nigel.
Ng's been grinding it out at open-mics, clubs, backs of bars, wherever, for over a decade. He's a former data scientist who quit his day job and committed to doing comedy full time in late 2019 – great comic timing. By 2020, the only outlet he had for his comedy was the podcast he co-hosted with his comedian friend Evelyn Mok, Rice to Meet You. One day they're riffing, and bouncing ideas off of each other, and coming up with characters. A couple were stinkers – the smutty late-night DJ was "too dirty for everyone," said Ng in an interview. Another miss was the right-wing Asian conspiracy theorist Nunchuck Jones. But the one with the most promise was the one least removed from reality.
"I started doing an Asian accent. And then with that accent I threw in some attitude to kind of mimic my older generation Asian uncles" said Ng. It's a familiar kind of Asian uncle. He's kind of a jerk, but a funny one. He talks a big game, but is loveable enough to call everyone niece and nephew. He's a bit of a cooking know-it-all, even though he's not out here in a kitchen day in and day out. The rest of the character developed from there. The name Roger is a nod to the type of Anglicized name that's a by-product of colonization in Malaysia (kind of like Nigel, come to think of it). And the look arose after Ng DM'ed all of his friends to text him pictures of their dads. So now, Uncle Roger always wears his signature orange polo (buttoned up to the top), with a huge phone case attached to his belt. When we met for this interview in the middle of four sold-out shows in New York City, I'd forgotten to ask if he wanted to bring his orange polo for the photo shoot. He brought it with him anyway.
Ng tried doing a few things with the Uncle Roger character, but what really popped off was reacting to a BBC video of presenter Hersha Patel making egg fried rice. A Rice to Meet You fan had sent it over, and Ng was going to do a react video to it anyway, but why not take this new bit on a test run? The BBC way of making egg fried rice, to put it gently, deviated from the norms of how an East Asian person might make egg fried rice. To Ng, it was hilariously bad and primo content for an Uncle Roger takedown. "Why you measure water with cup? Just use finger! Finger! You put rice, put water, until finger – first joint, the finger. That's how you measure the water. Not with British teacup. Hiyaaaaa." The clip went viral, and the video currently sits at over 29.5 million views on YouTube.
"Looking back on it, I realize I've combined three things that not many people have combined – the YouTube idiom 'the reaction video,' the character comedy and something relatable like food."
Ng took that formula and ran with it, and suddenly no food media personality was safe from Uncle Roger – from established Food Network alumni like Jamie Oliver (a favorite target of his), Rachel Ray, and Nigella Lawson, to newer stars on the scene like Matty Matheson and Joshua Weissman.
"MSG is the king of flavor."
Past the accent and the easy dirty jokes, there's almost a public service to these Uncle Roger videos when it comes to correcting the record on things Western chefs constantly get wrong about Asian cooking. Take MSG, for example. Uncle Roger has big love for it (at a recent show, Ng, as Uncle Roger, brought a bag of MSG on stage with him), but it's absent from a lot of Western cooking. "That's been one of the big culture war points of contention," says Jenny Lau, who runs Celestial Peach, a platform dedicated to telling the story of Chinese food. "It feels like there still needs to be a lot of education around the fact that MSG is not bad for you, and that it's actually in everything, including a lot of Western foods," she said.
The facts about MSG are that the FDA labels MSG as "generally recognized as safe." It occurs naturally in foods like tomatoes and cheeses. There are a number of articles about how Western attitudes about MSG is just anti-Asian propaganda. But facts are boring. Lau says Uncle Roger has a way of communicating these things in a funny way, where he doesn't come off as a pompous "boba liberal," as Lau puts it.
And then there's technique. "You watch some of these chefs," said chef Brian Tsao. "And honestly, they could have done a much better job if they just did a little bit more research."
Tsao is behind the upcoming Mission Sandwich Social in Brooklyn, NY. He's also got his own YouTube cooking react channel. And he finds it disrespectful when someone is "bringing to their audience of how many hundreds of thousands or millions of people that – this is egg fried rice. And it's clearly not well executed. And now a bunch of people are going to go on with their day thinking, 'oh this is how it's done,' and further ruining the cuisine," he said. He sees Uncle Roger as a way of pushing back against what someone could call "cultural appropriation." But not Uncle Roger.
"The day Uncle Roger comes out and says the words 'cultural appropriation,' just smack me in the face and tell me to stop doing comedy," says Ng. "That's how I know I failed."
So, about that accent.
Celebrated chef, cookbook author, and fellow food YouTuber J. Kenji López-Alt wrote about Uncle Roger in the video description of his own egg fried rice video, "I don't like that his schtick seems to give a free pass to people to imitate stereotypical Asian speech patterns and pronunciation (especially as it's almost always non-Asians doing the imitating). It's ugly, it's yellowface, it's not funny, and it promotes anti-Asian racism at a time when Asians are already being heavily discriminated against."
Lopez-Alt declined to speak with me for this story, but it's a common critique of Ng. Both Lau and Tsao said they felt similar trepidation when it came to the character, but ultimately came around to it. "I think this is the curse of being asked to be fully representative of an entire community," said Lau, who is Chinese. "I think people expect him, because he's so famous, to somehow speak for and represent the entirety of the Asian community. Which is completely unrealistic."
Tsao, who is Asian, stopped watching Uncle Roger videos for a while. "Because, I was like – should I be supporting this? Is this pushing forward a stereotype that I don't really want out there for the rest of the world to judge us based on?" But as he looked past the accent, he came to accept the character as an ally in the fight against Western chefs giving Asian cooking a bad reputation. "Uncle Roger calls out the bulls*** in the exact accent that's meant to demean us," he said. "So in many ways, I feel like it's empowering."
For Ng, the debate crystallized the difference between being Asian-American (or East Asian in the U.K.), and being Asian. The Uncle Roger accent is the only way his parents in Malaysia can understand his jokes. It's the only thing he's made that they've laughed at.
"The way his English is broken, that's how I spoke English growing up," said Ng. "When a friend puts on that accent, it means they are being friendly. They're trying to be funny." And he's had Malaysians come up to him saying the accent reminds them of home. And it reminds him of home, too. "Because that's how we talk to each other when we let our guards down."
"The worst thing about getting punched is when the police show up at your house, they don't take their f***ing shoes off."
Of course, folks in the Asian diaspora have had their guards up more than usual recently, for good reason.
Ng is aware of this. During his set, as Nigel, he makes a joke about how he was attacked just as Uncle Roger was getting famous. "I got punched, man, in London. This is real," he starts, a little more down-tempo than the rest of his set. It was on his street, he was almost home. "This guy was on a bicycle. He saw me, he jumped off his bike and just walked towards me really aggressively." A pause. A deep breath. "And at first I thought...he wanted a photo."
He came out of it relatively unscathed, following up the joke about the attack with one about dealing with the police right after, because they didn't take off their shoes in his house. All a setup to the line – "I got punched, but this is a hate crime."
It's a welcome deepening from the rest of his material, which touches on his recent divorce, dating and of course, cooking. It's also different from the small box of material Uncle Roger has to draw from. But Ng still puts on the orange polo to be Uncle Roger to start the show, even before the opening act. Because he knows that's what people want to see. He's not a stand-up purist – one of those road dogs dedicated to duking it out with the audience in front of a brick wall for the rest of his career. "I like pleasing the masses, you know. And my fans, I know what they want. I give them what they want," he said. But he does want to contain Uncle Roger a bit. Make sure the crowd leaves thinking about Nigel. "I want people to leave knowing I'm not just a funny character."
I asked him if he's thought about retiring Uncle Roger, at least live. "It would be nice. It means I would work less. I don't have to carry extra orange polos around. Although I do want to get a T-shirt gun," to shoot orange polos into the crowd, he said. Because he's here to sell tickets. And, as he reminded me, Uncle Roger and Nephew Nigel share the same bank account.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-18/keep-screwing-up-egg-fried-rice-it-makes-uncle-roger-happy | 2022-05-12T14:54:22Z |
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Ukrainians are waiting to see what Russia does next.
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
They're waiting for a new Russian offensive against the eastern part of the country. That's expected as Russia tries to refocus after multiple failures. But as Ukrainians wait, multiple cities face Russian attacks. On the Black Sea coast, the defenders of a port city face an ultimatum, and in the far west, missiles fell on a Ukrainian city.
INSKEEP: NPR's Eyder Peralta is in yet another Ukrainian city under threat and is going to catch us up. Eyder, welcome.
EYDER PERALTA, BYLINE: Hey, Steve.
INSKEEP: Leila mentioned missiles striking a western city, Lviv, which I know you've passed through. What happened there?
PERALTA: Yeah, look; that's - it's not far from the border with Poland. And throughout this conflict, it has been a safe haven. It had received very few air strikes, and the city felt, in a lot of ways, totally normal. Restaurants were open. People were strolling through the parks and squares. It's home to a lot of Ukrainians who have fled from more dangerous parts of the country. But today, local authorities say several Russian missiles struck the city. They say that civilians were killed and that one of the missiles hit a tire repair shop, but most were aimed at infrastructure. These are the first fatalities that have been recorded in the city of Lviv. And we spoke to one resident who said that Lviv had felt safe, but these strikes change everything.
INSKEEP: Then there's this ultimatum against Mariupol, which has not felt safe at all throughout the war. Defenders have held out for weeks. But what is the Russian threat?
PERALTA: Look; it feels like over the past few days the war is intensifying. And Mariupol, you know, it's a city that's almost entirely destroyed. The Russians say that they have gotten the upper hand. Ukrainians say that their forces there have not given up, despite the Russian ultimatum. And we should note that Mariupol is entirely under siege. It has been from the beginning of this war. So it has been mostly cut off from the outside world. We don't have a clear idea of what's happening there. Farther to the north, the fighting in Kharkiv has intensified. Witnesses there tell us that the center of the city has been bombarded. When we were there, the front lines were pretty stable, but now the Ukrainian military says its troops are on the offensive. So fighting is intensifying everywhere. I think the big question is whether all of this new fighting is the beginning of the Russian offensive that Ukraine and its Western allies have been warning about for weeks.
INSKEEP: You've been putting your finger on different parts of the Ukrainian map as we're talking here. Let's do one more. The city where you are, center of the country, Dnipro - what are you seeing there?
PERALTA: It's quiet. Actually, the air raid just went off right now. But it's quiet. Yesterday, the Orthodox Church celebrated Palm Sunday, which is the beginning of Holy Week, and the air raid siren went off then, and that still didn't stop people from waiting outside the church to get their palms blessed. I spoke to a couple there, Savidge Alexei (ph) and Zincheko Valentina (ph), outside the church. Let's listen.
Does this mean something different this year, this Easter season?
SAVIDGE ALEXEI: (Through interpreter) Pretty much, you can't feel it at all.
ZINCHEKO VALENTINA: (Through interpreter) I'm a strong believer, and obviously, when I go to church, I put some candles for our military and for our guys, to protect them. And I don't know how reasonable it is to do it. Maybe it's a bit strange thing (laughter). But I also do one candle always for death of Putin.
PERALTA: A candle for the death of Putin. So yeah, look; you can see spring flowers here, and people are planning gatherings for Orthodox Easter next week, but there's always this sense of unease, of fear that death and destruction of this war could catch up with you at any moment.
INSKEEP: NPR's Eyder Peralta in Dnipro, Ukraine. Thanks so much.
PERALTA: Thank you, Steve.
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INSKEEP: A holy weekend in Jerusalem was also a weekend of violence.
FADEL: Israeli forces used stun grenades and tear gas around the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and entered the mosque. The hilltop compound is among the holy sites in Jerusalem. Palestinians threw rocks. And all of this and more happened during a convergence of holy days.
INSKEEP: We're joined now by NPR's Peter Kenyon, who's in Jerusalem. Hi, Peter.
PETER KENYON, BYLINE: Hi, Steve.
INSKEEP: Can you try to walk us through the last several days?
KENYON: Well, sure. For the first time in something like three decades, the Jewish and Christian holidays of Passover and Easter are taking place during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, so more people than usual are converging on this sensitive area. So early on Friday morning, Palestinians gathered at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, seen as the third holiest site in Islam after Mecca and Medina, and some collected rocks. Israeli authorities, which provided protection for Jewish groups visiting the site - which they call the Temple Mount and count as their most sacred holy site - they said the Palestinians were throwing rocks at people. Police responded by storming the mosque compound. Tear gas and stun grenades were used. Palestinians threw rocks back. Medics said some 150 Palestinians were injured Friday. Hundreds of people were arrested. Worst violence in the area in some time.
And then on Sunday, more clashes, as Israel said Palestinians were again attacking visiting Jewish groups. Palestinians threw fireworks. Police moved in, 18 more arrests, some 17 people wounded, although the clashes seemed to be less violent than on Friday. And the Associated Press is now reporting 14 people killed in Israel by Palestinian attackers and 25 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in recent weeks.
INSKEEP: Most of what you described, of course, happened in a very tiny area inside the old city of Jerusalem. When we widen the lens out a little bit and look at the violence of the past month or so, how does that fit together?
KENYON: Well, there has been a series of Palestinian attacks inside Israel, including three shootings and a mass stabbing. Israeli forces are continuing to carry out military operations, arrests and raids in the West Bank, where they've deployed extra troops. And just under a year ago, there was an 11-day war between Israeli forces and Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip. That was preceded by a big police operation at the Al-Aqsa compound, along with Palestinian protests against Israeli plans to evict people from a part of Jerusalem. Hamas wound up firing thousands of rockets into Israel, killing around a dozen. Israel conducted more days of heavy airstrikes in Gaza, killed more than 200. So tensions have been elevated for some time now. And this Holy Week, it seems that it's just getting even sharper.
INSKEEP: You're giving us a reminder that there have been occasions in the past where violence in this one narrow area has widened out to a wider war. So who's trying, if anyone, to make sure that doesn't happen again?
KENYON: Well, there have been calls for restraint, including from Washington. There's also been condemnation of the violence from people like Recep Tayyip Erdogan, president of Turkey, who condemned Israel's, quote, "intervention on worshippers." He wrote on Twitter that he spoke with his Palestinian counterpart, Mahmoud Abbas. Erdogan told him that Turkey would stand against provocations and threats. Erdogan, of course, has been trying to mend fences with Israel, too, and he's likely to stay on that path, despite his complaints about these recent clashes.
INSKEEP: NPR's Peter Kenyon is in Jerusalem. Peter, thanks so much.
KENYON: Thanks, Steve.
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INSKEEP: Today, Philadelphia becomes the first major city in the country to reinstate an indoor mask mandate.
FADEL: And many have criticized the move as premature since case rates are lower than in other nearby cities and lower than the CDC benchmark for its masking recommendations.
INSKEEP: So what's going on? We've called up health reporter Nina Feldman of WHYY in Philadelphia. Hi there.
NINA FELDMAN, BYLINE: Hi, Steve.
INSKEEP: And I guess you're somewhere by yourself so you don't need to be wearing a mask this morning, right?
FELDMAN: That's right (laughter).
INSKEEP: Just checking on that. OK, so why is it that Philadelphia would be doing this now?
FELDMAN: Philadelphia's decision to reinstate the mask mandate was triggered by a system that the city set up, like the CDC's, to monitor COVID risk, but its own system. So once a combination of case rates and case counts and hospitalizations cross a certain threshold, the mask mandate automatically goes into effect. Hospitalizations here are still very low, but case counts and the rate of increase are both rising, as they are elsewhere. And city officials said, you know, cases might look low, but they're likely a dramatic undercount since so many people are using rapid tests at home now. And they said, you know, they want to get out ahead of a wave before things get even worse. So here's health commissioner Cheryl Bettigole.
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CHERYL BETTIGOLE: We don't know if the BA.2 variant will have the kind of impact on hospitalizations and deaths that we saw with the original omicron variant this winter. I suspect that this wave will be smaller than the one we saw in January. But if we wait to find out and to put our masks back on, we'll have lost our chance to stop the wave.
FELDMAN: And Bettigole said, you know, it makes sense to put precautions in place sooner here than other places because Philadelphia has a greater proportion of low-income residents than elsewhere, and that's who's more likely to have health conditions that can lead to severe illness.
INSKEEP: OK, so we have an explanation here for why Philadelphia is doing this when the CDC numbers would not seem to support it. It's because they do their own count, and they're making their own judgment, and they're looking at the situation. That's what the health officials say. What about residents? What do they think?
FELDMAN: You know, it's really been a mix. You have some people saying they wish the mandate had never gone away, and they question, you know, why there was even a week delay between when the announcement came and when the policies being implemented today. In that week was Passover and Easter - so lots of chances to gather. And then you have others like the Pennsylvania Restaurant & Lodging Association who says this is going to be a disastrous blow to business. There's already been a lawsuit filed against the city for this. You know, it is worth noting that under the new rule, restaurants can choose to require proof of vaccination instead of masks. So there are options here.
INSKEEP: Interesting. So that's what some residents think. What about public health experts?
FELDMAN: You know, most of the public health types I talked to were in favor of the move. They acknowledge that there's no perfect time to put restrictions back in place but said better too soon than too late. I spoke with Jennifer Kolker, who's a health management professor here at Drexel University, and she said it's all about balancing an inconvenience you're asking people to make against a benefit to the public.
JENNIFER KOLKER: Public health's job is to protect the public's health through the least restrictive ways possible. That's our charge, right? That's why we don't lock people up with tuberculosis anymore, right? We used to just lock people up. Then you'd have no spread. Can't just do that, so we come up with other ways.
FELDMAN: And, you know, with masks, it can be a little tricky to show that the inconvenience paid off since you're measuring something that didn't happen. That said, the city said if case rates go down again, they'll drop the mask mandate. So I think everyone's sort of watching to see what will happen and if it will look dramatically different here than other places.
INSKEEP: Nina Feldman of WHYY. Thanks so much.
FELDMAN: Thank you, Steve. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-18/morning-news-brief | 2022-05-12T14:54:28Z |
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Good morning. I'm Steve Inskeep. NASA made a giant leap forward without going anywhere. The space agency tried teleportation. - you know, like in "Star Trek," where the characters go from the Enterprise to some creepy planet? NASA put a flight surgeon on the International Space Station. OK, Josef Schmid didn't actually go there; he was sent as a hologram, talked to the crew, looked around and even created the appearance of shaking hands. He called it a new way of human exploration. It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-18/nasa-sent-a-doctor-to-international-space-station-as-a-hologram | 2022-05-12T14:54:35Z |
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Good morning. I'm Leila Fadel. The Smithsonian is prepping a new bilingual museum exhibit in Washington with more than 200 pop culture artifacts like guitars from Prince and Paul Simon and clothes - Muhammad Ali's boxing robe, Selena's leather jacket, Ali Wong's dress from her "Baby Cobra" stand-up and Mister Rogers' sneakers. Dorothy's popular ruby slippers will still be there, and they're adding a yellow brick road. The doors to Oz open in December. It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-18/new-smithsonian-exhibit-will-look-at-americas-pop-culture-history | 2022-05-12T14:54:41Z |
DANIEL ESTRIN, HOST:
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Russian forces have launched their anticipated attack on eastern Ukraine. There's been a gradual escalation in attacks there over the past several days. Today started, though, with a surprise attack in the west, with at least five rockets fired on Lviv. It's the city that had been refuge for tens of thousands of civilians trying to flee to safety. NPR's Franco Ordoñez is in Ukraine. Hi, Franco.
FRANCO ORDOÑEZ, BYLINE: Hey, Daniel.
ESTRIN: So, Franco, this is a big development. Lviv looks secure on a map. It's about the furthest you can get from the Russian border. A senior U.S. defense official told reporters today that these were Russian cruise missiles from long-range bombers. But from where you are, how significant are these attacks in Lviv?
ORDOÑEZ: You know, I'd say very. You know, this has been one of the calmest areas of the country throughout the conflict. I mean, the mayor of Lviv, though, Andriy Sadovyi, said the attacks show that really there are no, quote, "safe" areas in Ukraine.
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ANDRIY SADOVYI: (Through interpreter) What we see in Ukraine today is genocide, which is purposefully carried out by an aggressor who kills civilians. Seven civilians had plans for life. Today their life is over.
ORDOÑEZ: You know, he went on to say that more than 200,000 Ukrainians have fled to Lviv for safety, and actually more than a hundred embassies have also moved to the city.
ESTRIN: Right. What's the sense in the city now?
ORDOÑEZ: Well, people are scared. I mean, there are already a lot of internally displaced people there. But, you know, it's been kind of a area that has been considered safe. The closest attacks were about three weeks ago when Russian rockets hit the outskirts of Lviv. But this morning, the city was covered in black smoke for several hours. And people are arriving every day. My colleague Yevgen Afanasiev (ph) spoke with a young mother, Yulia, who arrived in Lviv today with her daughter Ania, who is 5. They fled the Dnipro region, trying to get away from this kind of violence.
YULIA: (Speaking Ukrainian).
ANIA: (Speaking Ukrainian).
YULIA: (Speaking Ukrainian).
ORDOÑEZ: Yulia's saying that they had to leave behind her husband, Ania's father. And that second little voice there is Ania, of course, who jumped in to add that they also had to leave their cat. You know, Yulia is still a bit shaken up. She saw what was left of that attack from the train.
YULIA: (Speaking Ukrainian).
ORDOÑEZ: She's saying there as they passed by the train, she realized that if the train had been on time and hadn't been delayed, the missile could have hit her and her daughter.
ESTRIN: Wow. NPR's Franco Ordoñez. Thanks, Franco.
ORDOÑEZ: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-18/overnight-missile-strikes-have-killed-at-least-7-in-lviv-ukraine | 2022-05-12T14:54:47Z |
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
People in Ukraine are waiting for Russia's next move. They're expecting a Russian offensive in the eastern part of the country as the invaders refocus after multiple failures. What's known for the moment is that Russia is striking in multiple parts of Ukraine. Russian forces issued an ultimatum to defenders of Mariupol along the Black Sea coast, and missiles struck Lviv in Ukraine's far west. NPR's Eyder Peralta begins his report with Lviv.
EYDER PERALTA, BYLINE: It's not far from the border with Poland, and throughout this conflict, it has been a safe haven. It had received very few air strikes, and the city felt, in a lot of ways, totally normal. Restaurants were open. People were strolling through the parks and squares. It's home to a lot of Ukrainians who have fled from more dangerous parts of the country. But today, local authorities say several Russian missiles struck the city. They say that civilians were killed and that one of the missiles hit a tire repair shop, but most were aimed at infrastructure. These are the first fatalities that have been recorded in the city of Lviv. And we spoke to one resident who said that Lviv had felt safe, but these strikes change everything.
INSKEEP: Then there's this ultimatum against Mariupol, which has not felt safe at all throughout the war. Defenders have held out for weeks, but what is the Russian threat?
PERALTA: Look, it feels like over the past few days, the war is intensifying. And Mariupol, you know, is - it's a city that's almost entirely destroyed. The Russians say that they have gotten the upper hand. Ukrainians say that their forces there have not given up, despite the Russian ultimatum. And we should note that Mariupol is entirely under siege. It has been from the beginning of this war. So it has been mostly cut off from the outside world. We don't have a clear idea of what's happening there.
Farther to the north, the fighting in Kharkiv has intensified. Witnesses there tell us that the center of the city has been bombarded. When we were there, the front lines were pretty stable. But now the Ukrainian military says its troops are on the offensive. So fighting is intensifying everywhere. I think the big question is whether all of this new fighting is the beginning of the Russian offensive that Ukraine and its Western allies have been warning about for weeks.
INSKEEP: You've been putting your finger on different parts of the Ukrainian map as we're talking here. Let's do one more - the city where you are, center of the country, Dnipro. What are you seeing there?
PERALTA: It's quiet. Actually, the air raid just went off right now, but it's quiet. Yesterday, the Orthodox Church celebrated Palm Sunday, which is the beginning of Holy Week, and the air raid siren went off then. And that still didn't stop people from waiting outside the church to get their palms blessed. I spoke to a couple there, Savidge Alexei (ph) and Zincheko Valentina (ph), outside the church. Let's listen.
Does this mean something different this year, this Easter season?
SAVIDGE ALEXEI: (Through interpreter) Pretty much. You can't feel it at all.
ZINCHEKO VALENTINA: (Through interpreter) I'm a strong believer. And obviously, when I go to church, I put some candles for our military and for our guys to protect them. And I don't know how reasonable it is to do it - maybe it's a bit strange thing - but I also do one candle always for death of Putin.
PERALTA: A candle for the death of Putin. So, yeah, look, you can see spring flowers here, and people are planning gatherings for Orthodox Easter next week. But there's always this sense of unease, of fear that death and destruction of this war could catch up with you at any moment.
INSKEEP: NPR's Eyder Peralta in Dnipro, Ukraine. Thanks so much.
PERALTA: Thank you, Steve. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-18/residents-give-updates-from-lviv-after-multiple-missile-strikes-were-reported | 2022-05-12T14:54:53Z |
To her followers around the country, former Republican vice presidential candidate and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is a beloved culture warrior.
"Right-winging, bitter-clinging, proud clingers of our guns, our God, our religion and our Constitution," is how Palin described the culture she is fighting for in 2016, while on stage with Donald Trump to endorse his run for president.
Other than the "bitter" part, that description would seem to fit Alaskan retiree and Vietnam veteran Ron Johnson, right down to the American flag t-shirt he wears under a camouflage-printed fleece jacket.
Johnson lives about 25 miles from Palin's hometown of Wasilla, the heartland of Alaska conservatism. He's got a Trump sign by his driveway, and he's certainly a proud gun owner.
"Once you get into it, no telling how many guns you'll have. Just right here, there's one above me," he told a visitor at the front door of his log home. "And two set in here, and one on my waist."
Johnson voted for Palin for governor. But now that she's running for Alaska's sole U.S. House seat? Even this right-wing, gun-toting Republican doesn't want her to win.
"I think she's out of touch with Alaskans right now," he said. "She's moved into a different circle. She was a vice presidential candidate. Yeah, I don't think that the people here — we don't take her very seriously."
That Palin doesn't have the conservative vote locked up on her own ruby-red home turf suggests Alaska's most famous Republican has some challenges to overcome if she's going to be the state's next member of Congress.
Johnson doesn't blame Palin for cashing in on her celebrity with a series of TV appearances after a bruising presidential campaign.
"She's made a lot of money and, you know, good for her. I'm glad that she's successful," Johnson said.
Other local conservatives say some of her televised gigs damaged her stature, like in 2020 when she wore a pink and blue bear suit on the show The Masked Singer and rapped "Baby Got Back."
"That (national) attention ... to me it's just made her more of an embarrassment to Alaskans than someone to respect and support," said Karina Wentworth, a stay-at-home mom and marketing manager who lives in Wasilla.
Wentworth's politics, like Johnson's, are clear from the driveway: A small banner proclaims her household is "Pro-life, Pro-God, Pro-gun, Pro-Trump." Even though Trump has endorsed Palin's candidacy, even though her kids go to middle school with Sarah Palin's son, Wentworth is just not that into Palin.
"Her focus has become more centered on herself and less on Alaska," Wentworth said. "So yeah, I would like to see a candidate that is more Alaska-focused."
Wentworth contrasts her own dim view of Palin with that of her in-laws in Georgia, who she says watch Palin on Fox News as "sparkly-eyed fans."
Alaska's U.S. House seat is open for the first time in 49 years, after the death in March of Congesssman Don Young. Palin is one of 48 candidates seeking to serve the remainder of his term. Many of them, including Palin, are also running for the next full term, which starts in January.
Wentworth is backing a different conservative Republican: Nick Begich III. Begich has done months of outreach in the Wasilla area and has locked up endorsements from dozens of local political leaders. Johnson, a regional representative to the state Republican party, also supports Begich in the race.
Shoppers at the Carrs supermarket in Wasilla offered a broader range of views about Palin, from adoration to indifference.
"I don't think many people up here have a very high standing of her," said Jennefer DelaVega, a libertarian.
"I think it's great that she's running," said Dan Lousberg. "I'd like to see her win. I think it'd be great for our state."
Another shopper called Palin "a quitter." That shopper is not unique.
In a survey about three years after Palin resigned from the governor's office, Anchorage pollster Ivan Moore said, more than half of Alaskans had a negative view of her.
"We asked them why, and 'quit,' 'quitter' — all the way down, every other comment was 'quit' or 'quitter,'" Moore said.
Moore asked Alaskans again in October whether they have a positive or negative view of Palin.
"Her positive-negative came back at 31 positive, 56 negative. So that's the immediate problem," said Moore, who previously did work for other candidates in the race.
The Palin campaign declined several interview requests, but Palin told reporters at Don Young's funeral that she's traveled in the Lower 48, but never moved away from Wasilla.
"Still in the same house. Same group of friends. Same groups of political supporters. And yeah, this is home," she said.
Her popularity may have dimmed, but Palin is still a household name. Just about everyone expects she will survive the 48-way primary, especially because Alaska has a new voting system in which she only has to be one of the top four vote-getters to advance to the general.
What happens after that is harder to say.
Copyright 2022 Alaska Public Media | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-18/sarah-palin-is-attempting-a-comeback-in-alaska-but-her-star-has-dimmed-at-home | 2022-05-12T14:54:59Z |
ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
In small island nations, people know how climate change feels. They know how it smells. Climate activist Brianna Fruean is from Samoa.
BRIANNA FRUEAN: When the flood drains back into the ocean, it leaves piles and piles of mud.
SHAPIRO: When I met Fruean at the U.N. Climate Summit in Glasgow last year, she told me about the stench when floodwaters recede.
FRUEAN: I scooped mud out of my house, and sometimes there's so much mud, you can't get it all in time. And then it starts to smell. And that's an experience - a lived experience I have being from a frontline community.
SHAPIRO: On another Pacific island nation, Palau, people from all over the world recently gathered to secure commitments on preserving the ocean's health and fighting climate change. John Kerry is the U.S. Special Envoy for Climate. He helped start the first Our Oceans Conference in 2014, when he was U.S. Secretary of State, and he has just returned from Palau.
Welcome to ALL THINGS CONSIDERED.
JOHN KERRY: Thank you very much - delighted to be with you.
SHAPIRO: This was the first time the conference took place in a small island nation. Palau spans hundreds of islands in the Pacific. What does the climate path that the world is on right now mean for Palau's future?
KERRY: Well, Palau will be less affected than atoll states - nation-states that are basically built on a reef ledge, if you will, that's above water - because it has mountains. It has elevation. So - but its connections, its infrastructure will be enormously affected because it'll lose their causeways at certain times. And ultimately - definitively, the connections between there - the islands will become more complicated. And low-lying houses in the harbor and so forth will all be affected.
SHAPIRO: And when you look at the commitments coming out of this conference, what immediate impact would those promises have on these small island nations?
KERRY: Well, very dramatic on those that will be able to have serious adaptation or even some building of resilience. And those are things that were on the table in the discussion. I mean, we wanted to have a conference for the first time ever in a small island state - a developing state - because they are the frontlines of this crisis. And for many, there are literally nations - today defined nation-state - that will disappear unless we move more rapidly to hold the Earth's temperature increase to the 1.5 degrees limit Celsius that was arrived at in Glasgow.
Right now, the latest IPCC report - that's the scientific report that comes from the U.N. scientific panel - has made it clear we're not getting the job done as a world, as a group of nations united. And 20 countries, the United States included - 20 countries - the largest economies in the world are responsible for 80% of all the emissions in the world. So if those countries don't move, there's no prayer of avoiding the worst consequences of the crisis, which is what we've been giving a warning about. So really, what we're trying to do is...
SHAPIRO: And these small island nations say that those large countries that are disproportionately responsible for climate change owe the smaller, less responsible countries, specifically money. You mentioned adaptation and resilience. And coming out of the Glasgow Climate Summit, these developing countries did not get as much as they wanted. Do the commitments from the Our Oceans Conference that you've just returned from - do those promises provide the sorts of resilience measures that were lacking coming out of Glasgow?
KERRY: Some of them do. Some of them are commitments to do enforcement on fishing in the economic zones of the high seas where people are strip mining the ocean with these massive nets and there's no control whatsoever. Some of the commitments go to, you know, resilience and efforts to understand better what the damages will be. Some of them go towards early warning systems so that people will better understand what's coming at them and how to build and adapt in ways that could avoid some of that damage - early warning systems, for instance. So there's a lot on the table. There were 15 plus billion dollars' worth of commitments made at this conference with over 70 nations taking part in this small island state in the Pacific and about 400 individual commitments by NGOs, by countries, by corporations to do all kinds of...
SHAPIRO: Let me ask you about how dependable those commitments are because when the U.N. released its latest climate report earlier this month, the secretary general, Antonio Guterres, basically said countries and businesses are not keeping the promises they've already made.
KERRY: Some aren't - absolutely true. Some are not. And one of the things that was discussed in Palau was how to have a better accountability structure, more transparency. One of the things that's changing - has changed already - is that there are new satellite systems that are currently circumventing the planet that are instantaneously reporting on methane leaks, on CO2 levels. So companies previously have been able to make - or an individual supply chain or so forth - even a country has made a plan. And they've known there won't be a lot of accountability. Now there's a new accountability. You can - the old saying, you can't - you know, you can run, but you can't hide. Well, now you can't hide.
SHAPIRO: Right.
KERRY: And so I think there's going to be a new level of accountability.
SHAPIRO: That is former Secretary of State John Kerry. He is now the U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate. Thank you for joining us again.
KERRY: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-18/special-envoy-john-kerry-on-helping-small-island-nations-dealing-with-climate-change | 2022-05-12T14:55:05Z |
DANIEL ESTRIN, HOST:
Nationwide, the number of people in prison has been shrinking for years. Many states are sending away fewer people and, in some cases, releasing them sooner. Tennessee could soon take a big step in the opposite direction. Samantha Max of member station WPLN says lawmakers there are considering a bill that would keep thousands of people behind bars for much longer.
SAMANTHA MAX, BYLINE: For months, Tennessee lawmakers have been debating a bill that would overhaul the state's sentencing formula. At a hearing in February, a father whose son was recently killed urged lawmakers to pass it.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
ANDY RAINER: Good afternoon. My name is Andy Rainer. I am from...
MAX: Rainer's son was sleeping in his bed in Memphis when a group broke into his apartment, robbed his roommates and shot him. Rainer said one of the people charged in his son's killing was on probation after multiple past arrests.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
RAINER: And in my opinion, he should have been in prison. If this law had been in effect, I would not be here today.
MAX: The bill is called truth in sentencing. It would require people convicted of many violent crimes and some cases of drug dealing to serve 100% of their sentence with no chance of early release.
This is not a new concept.
(APPLAUSE)
MAX: Let's go back to 1994.
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BILL CLINTON: The American people have been waiting a long time for this day.
MAX: President Bill Clinton stood before a crowd about to sign the federal Crime Bill. It promised funding for states that passed truth in sentencing laws. He hoped that locking people up for longer would stem a surge in violent crime.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
CLINTON: Let us roll up our sleeves to roll back this awful tide of violence and reduce crime in our country. We have the tools now. Let us get about the business of using them.
(APPLAUSE)
MAX: Before long, more than half the country adopted similar measures. Fast forward to now, and many states have rolled back those policies because they cause prison populations to swell largely with Black and brown folks. And research suggests they didn't do much to make communities safer. But in Tennessee, truth in sentencing still has widespread support from Republican lawmakers.
(SOUNDBITE OF MONTAGE)
JERRY SEXTON: I believe in truths in sentence. I will be voting for this bill.
BRUCE GRIFFEY: It's needed in Tennessee.
BUD HULSEY: It's vital to hold violent offenders accountable for their actions while also protecting victims in the public, which is a principle we as Republicans say we believe.
MAX: Those were state representatives Jerry Sexton, Bruce Griffey and Bud Hulsey. But even some conservatives worry this proposal could cause more problems than it solves, including Tony Parker, who ran Tennessee's prison system for five years before retiring last fall.
TONY PARKER: The job and the true mission of corrections is to take that person from day one and focus on reentry.
MAX: Parker's main concern is that without early release, people will lose the motivation to participate in programs like college classes, anger management programs and addiction treatment. That means less rehabilitation and, he fears, more violence both while they're behind bars and once they get out.
PARKER: Ninety-five percent will be returning to a community.
MAX: Parker wants them to be better neighbors when that happens.
PARKER: The best way to do that for a correctional employee is to use the tools that you have. When you manipulate that formula and take away the tools, it's not good for public safety, absolutely not.
MAX: It's not good for taxpayers either, Parker and others say. More staff would have to be hired. New prisons would need to be built. Lawmakers estimated it would cost about $27 million a year to house all those extra people. But the Department of Correction thinks the price tag would be even higher - much higher. Democratic Senator Lamar London (ph) of Memphis isn't sure it's worth it.
LONDON LAMAR: An additional 27 million to incarcerate more people.
MAX: Lamar says she's concerned about violence. She cosponsored a bill to treat it as a public health crisis. But she doesn't think truth in sentencing is the best way.
LAMAR: I just have a lot of heartburn about the fact that we are furthering increase in this prison population. And there are so many different other ways and avenues we can take to prevent violent crime.
MAX: The governor hasn't said if he would sign the bill into law. He ran on a platform of criminal justice reform. But in an election year in a red state, what criminal justice reform actually means depends on who you're talking to.
For NPR News, I'm Samantha Max.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-18/tennessee-debates-bill-that-would-keep-thousands-of-people-imprisoned-for-much-longer | 2022-05-12T14:55:11Z |
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
We have an alternative view this morning of a drive by Texas to slow down border crossings. Governor Greg Abbott acted earlier this month.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
GREG ABBOTT: With the Biden administration ending Title 42 expulsions in May, Texas will be taking its own unprecedented actions this month.
INSKEEP: Title 42 - President Biden is lifting COVID limitations that reduced the number of people entering the United States from Mexico. Governor Abbott did not approve, so he took a variety of steps. He called for state authorities to conduct enhanced safety inspections of commercial trucks from Mexico. That has led to massive delays for commercial trucks. And a member of his own party is not pleased. Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller called the new inspection policy catastrophic. Here's his understanding of the state policies.
SID MILLER: One is to haul the illegal aliens to Washington, D.C., and dump them out there. He's had three trips. I think he's totaled of about 75 - you know, about 25 to 30 in each busload. They have to volunteer to go. In other words, anybody that was planning on going to Washington, D.C., we give them a free ride up there now. The other one is the one I had more problems with. And he decided to stop every commercial truck that's coming into Texas from Mexico and give them a safety inspection. This caused a lot of economic hardship, a backlog clogged up all of our ports, completely shut them down for a while, for the most part. It set us back. And we've had disruptions. We've got rotting produce and fruit on trucks that can't, you know, get across in a timely manner. We've got American trucks in Mexico that can't get out. So I've already seen the price of avocados double. And lemons and limes have doubled in this - just this one week, period.
INSKEEP: Was there any evidence beforehand that people were using produce trucks to sneak into the United States?
MILLER: My people and the USDA people, we inspect every truck. We go through all the contents. CBP, Customs and Border Patrol, the manufactured goods, the non-produce trucks, they send all them through X-rays. They have drug-sniffing dogs. They have people that check the trucks for hollow compartments. We've been through all those. We just checked them. And the governor's people have no authority to open the trucks. All they can do is check for faulty turn signals, brake lights, you know, brake linings, tire tread, that kind of stuff - just safety issues.
INSKEEP: I don't quite understand what you're telling me, Commissioner. I think you're telling me that the trucks are already inspected. But they're delayed now at the border so that the state can inspect them again in a superficial way. Is that right?
MILLER: You got it. But they don't inspect the trucks. They just do a safety inspection. They don't inspect the contents.
INSKEEP: You told me about trucks stuck at the border. What is the scene, then, at some of the ports of entry from Mexico into Texas?
MILLER: Well, Laredo is our biggest inland port. One day's time, normal day, we'll have from 15,000 to 20,000 trailer trucks back and forth through that port. They're averaging about 500 a day through Laredo. So we've got 20,000 trucks or more backed up, waiting to get through. Some of these truckers, you know, there's no restroom. They're running out of diesel. The only other option they have for the produce is to drive to Nogales, Ariz., which is 1,250 miles. It's open. You can go through there. And you have to drive another 1,250 back to Dallas, Houston or San Antonio to the distribution warehouses. So that's a 2,500-mile detour.
INSKEEP: Isn't this something that is going to affect food prices way beyond Texas?
MILLER: Yes, it already has. You're already seeing things like bananas, avocados, lemons and limes, you know, winter vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, you know, leafy greens - those prices are all - they were already rising. But the biggest deal is we have a crisis on the border. But we also have a shipping and a delivery crisis. And this is compounding that. So you can't fix one crisis by creating another one. The governor is kind of backtracking now. He's cut a deal with three of the four governors. We have - let's see - four of the 29 bridges open now. He did a memorandum of understanding that the governors of those three Mexican states won't let any unsafe trucks come through. And that's it.
INSKEEP: Did the governor call you before he announced this policy?
MILLER: Well, you know, he says I'm uninformed, and I guess I am because I haven't heard from him. He hasn't told me. He hasn't explained anything. I sent him a letter laying out what I just laid out to you, that we're going to see higher food prices if it goes on long enough. We'll have, for the third time in his administration, empty grocery store shelves in the produce aisle.
INSKEEP: Could he argue that this is just hardball politics, he wanted to have some leverage to hold over the Mexican state governors and now he's getting something for it?
MILLER: You know, I think there's some truth into that. I certainly wouldn't have taken that approach. I'd have used a kinder, gentler approach and see if I couldn't have negotiated a deal, you know? This is our best trading partner. And we don't need to be making them mad and creating friction and hard feelings. We need to, you know, work with our brothers and sisters to the south and see if we can't work in an equitable, agreeable, non-threatening way to solve this problem.
INSKEEP: This, in a way, is a prelude. You talked about the importance of your partners to the south. There's going to be increasing tension, it would seem, with your partners to the south because Title 42 is going to be lifted. COVID restrictions are being lifted for people to enter the United States. There's a giant backlog of people waiting to enter the United States. And we're expecting to see a great number of people in late May. And I can imagine now and you can imagine also the headlines, the political statements that will be made, the concerns that will be raised. What's the best way to get through that?
MILLER: Well, these two moves by our governor do nothing to stop the flow of illegal immigration or illegal drugs, I mean, absolutely zero. It's a very easy fix, actually. If you want to fix the immigration problem and head off the Title 42 surge, you just reinstate the Trump-era policies. I'm not talking about just building the wall, but stopping the surge before it gets to American soil. Stop it on the southern border of Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras. We had agreement worked out down there where those surges weren't coming through. And that slowed the influx of illegal immigration into Texas, you know, immensely.
INSKEEP: Isn't it an election year in Texas?
MILLER: It is. I'm up for reelection. And, you know, I want the governor to be reelected. I'm not, you know, looking to Beto O'Rourke to be my governor. I hope the governor is successful, you know? I would like to - you know, hopefully, he'll take some advice. I think this has really hurt him in south Texas.
INSKEEP: Commissioner Miller, thanks so much, really appreciate you taking the time.
MILLER: Any time. Thank you, sir.
(SOUNDBITE OF TRISTEZA'S "AEREOAVIONES") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-18/texas-gov-greg-abbotts-truck-inspection-policy-draws-ire | 2022-05-12T14:55:17Z |
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
The Boston Marathon is underway with about 30,000 people participating. For the first time in three years, the race is happening on the traditional Patriot's Day. From GBH in Boston, Esteban Bustillos has more.
ESTEBAN BUSTILLOS, BYLINE: There are a few days that mean more to Boston than Patriot's Day, the third Monday of each April, when Massachusetts commemorates the battles of Lexington and Concord. It's also the day when hundreds of thousands of spectators and runners descend upon the city and its outskirts for the annual Boston Marathon - at least it was before COVID canceled the in-person race in 2020 and pushed its running to October last year. But now, for the first time in three years, the marathon is back in its rightful Patriot's Day time slot. And for runners in this year's race, it's a much-needed return to normalcy. Madeline Silva (ph) lives in New York City. She ran the marathon in the fall, but this will be her first Patriot's Day race.
MADELINE SILVA: I mean, training for two marathons within six months was definitely a task. But I kind of felt like I couldn't pass it up. Of all the marathons I've done - this is my fourth - definitely, Boston's been my favorite experience so far.
BUSTILLOS: Thomas Habimana, who made the trip from Indiana, is a veteran of the race. This will be his fifth time running the Boston Marathon. But this run will have some special meaning.
THOMAS HABIMANA: I feel this one is going to be a bit different. It's, you know, restarting new after - I hope it's post-COVID. It's just fantastic. So it's so good that we're able to get our lives back.
BUSTILLOS: Unfortunately, Boston isn't out of the COVID woods just yet. Cases are on the rise again. But at the marathon finish line the day before the race, there was still a cautious sense of hope the marathon brought. Father Michael Sliney is a priest based out of Washington, D.C., who is running his first Boston marathon. Sliney, understandably, was coming off a pretty busy Holy Week as he made final preparations for the race. And while he's offering blessings to any runners who may feel like they'll need a little help from above to cross the finish line, he sees the marathon itself as its own kind of blessing after a hard couple of years.
MICHAEL SLINEY: So I think it's a way for us to kind of almost burst out of the tunnel and see the light with everybody else, and it's kind of symbolic of that, the culmination of a long road that hopefully is going to open up to a brighter sunshine.
BUSTILLOS: And as the marathon and the country try to get back to normal, hopefully that forecast of clear skies stays true.
For NPR News, I'm Esteban Bustillos in Boston.
(SOUNDBITE OF SABZI'S "PURBASHA") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-18/the-boston-marathon-is-back-to-its-patriots-day-date-after-3-years-of-covid-issues | 2022-05-12T14:55:24Z |
Updated April 19, 2022 at 3:28 PM ET
The IRS is woefully understaffed and will miss about $600 billion in uncollected taxes this year as it grapples with technology built before humans landed on the moon, according to Deputy Treasury Department Secretary Wally Adeyemo.
The understaffing has also led to frustrations for some Americans who called the IRS for tax help this past year, with only 11% getting another human to answer the phone.
Adeyemo acknowledged those frustrations in an interview with All Things Considered and said the bureau needed more support from Congress to enforce existing tax law and make the filing experience better for everyone.
"It's important to remember that the IRS is trying to serve every American," Adeyemo said. "And last year, the IRS received 230 million phone calls and only had 15,000 people to answer those calls, which meant that each person had to answer 16,000 calls. And while the American people feel that every day, what Congress has actually done is starve the IRS of the resources it needs to enforce taxes against the wealthiest Americans, who are the least likely to pay their taxes."
Adeyemo also spoke about how taxes don't affect all Americans the same, why wealthier people can often avoid taxes, and how additional funding from Congress would help the bureau's operation.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Interview Highlights
On the tax gap between most Americans and the wealthy
It is coming from the wealthy. And it's coming from people who earn incomes from stocks and other hard-to-value assets. If you're a teacher, if you're a fireman, if you're a police officer, you get a W-2, so the IRS knows how much money you earn. But if you're a billionaire or a millionaire, you're far more likely to be able to avoid taxes. And that's what all the data shows us. And that's why the president has called for increasing the resources for the IRS so they can enforce taxes against those who are least likely to be paying their taxes today.
On why the wealthy are able to avoid taxes
They have armies of lawyers who can help them avoid taxes, and because Congress has underfunded the IRS. Today, the IRS has as many employees as they had in 1970, and the technological system that they're using to drive tax processing was built in the 1960s before we went to the moon. So wealthy individuals have all of the capacity to be able to try and avoid their taxes, and the IRS has few resources to be able to go after them.
On what it will take to tackle these complex tax-avoidance schemes people are employing
The most important thing that we need to do is to improve the technology of the IRS and also increase the number of people at the IRS who are able to go after these complex tax-avoidance schemes. But the benefit isn't only going to be in increasing revenues. We have a tax gap that's about $600 billion. It's also going to improve services so that next year when you're filing your taxes, if the president's proposal goes through, services will be improved. There will be more people that pick up the phone, more people to answer people's questions, more people to deal with the backlog and inventory that the IRS has going forward so that people's services are improved while we're also better able to enforce taxes against those who are least likely to pay.
On what the additional funding requested from Congress would be used for
It's both money to go after those who are cheating taxes – and what we found is those are the wealthiest Americans – but it's also money to make it easier for those of us who are just trying to file our taxes and get our refunds to do that as well because we know that ultimately, the beauty of our system is that it's a voluntary one, where most Americans are doing their duty and trying to pay their taxes. And the president wants to make that easy as well going forward.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-18/the-irs-misses-billions-in-uncollected-tax-each-year-heres-why | 2022-05-12T14:55:30Z |
ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
The Biden administration is accepting a hundred thousand Ukrainian refugees fleeing Russia's invasion of their country. Thousands of these refugees are coming in through the U.S.-Mexico border, where immigration agents now fast-track their entry into the country. While many families get in quickly, not all do, and some are being separated from their children, as NPR's Adrian Florido reports.
ADRIAN FLORIDO, BYLINE: In Tijuana, Mexico earlier this month, I met Iryna Merezhko who had just traveled to Ukraine to pick up her nephew, Ivan, and bring him to stay with her in Los Angeles until the war in Ukraine is over. His plan in the U.S., Ivan told me, was to study.
IVAN YERASHOV: I will study American English. And the culture - American - I will study.
IRYNA MEREZHKO: Culture.
YERASHOV: Culture.
FLORIDO: Ivan is a floppy-haired 14-year-old. He said he'd left his heart in Ukraine.
YERASHOV: My heart - where is my friends and my family. I miss him - them.
FLORIDO: His father couldn't leave Ukraine because he is of fighting age. His mother stayed, too, to support Ukrainian troops - a patriot her sister called her.
MEREZHKO: It's the reason why she isn't here - yeah. I am proud of her, to be honest.
FLORIDO: The day after I met them in Tijuana, Merezhko took her nephew to the U.S. border crossing, along with the stack of notarized documents that her sister gave her. At the border, Ivan asked immigration agents to let him enter the country on humanitarian grounds. The agents said they'd first have to detain him for a day or two while the documents were verified. His aunt hugged Ivan and said she'd be there when he got out. Ten days later, Ivan is still in detention. His aunt, Iryna, has been desperate to find out where he is and to hear from him. She's back in Los Angeles with only a number for a government hotline.
MEREZHKO: They couldn't tell us where he is right now. They said, just wait - just wait for calls from officer.
FLORIDO: Ivan's detention is not unusual. Border agents are required by law to detain children who arrive at the border alone or with someone other than a parent and turn them over to the Department of Health and Human Services. HHS houses them in detention centers for minors until the person trying to bring them into the U.S. has been vetted. Lately, that process has been taking about a month on average. Iryna Merezhko is furious that border agents told her it would be only a day or two and that after 10 days, her family still hadn't heard from Ivan. She knows he's worried about his parents still in a war zone.
MEREZHKO: And he doesn't know even - are they alive?
FLORIDO: Government officials declined to speak about Ivan's case. A spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services said only that children in their custody get good care while officials work to vet their sponsors and release them from custody.
CASEY REVKIN: I think people don't understand that families are still being separated at the border.
FLORIDO: Casey Revkin is a co-director of Each Step Home, a nonprofit that helps families separated from children at the border find and reunite with them. They started this work several years ago when family separation at the border started dominating the news.
REVKIN: They know that zero tolerance was a policy of the Trump administration that ended, but they don't know that kids are being separated from their grandmothers, their aunts, their uncles and their siblings and taken into detention and that it takes weeks or months to reunite them.
FLORIDO: While Ukrainian refugees at the border are being fast-tracked into the country, the rules for children who arrive without their parents are the same for all children, regardless of where they're from, Revkin says. The detention is often made worse because it can take a long time for sponsors to get in touch with their child. Molly Surazhsky learned of this the hard way. In late March, she traveled to the border with Liza, a 17-year-old family friend from Ukraine. The girl has been detained ever since. Surazhsky understands the need to vet sponsors but said she's been urging other Ukrainians considering sending their children to the U.S. with relatives or friends to be prepared for a long separation.
MOLLY SURAZHSKY: You know, for people who are just, you know, survivors of war, like, it's just creating further trauma for children and for families.
FLORIDO: Surazhsky finally got a bit of good news today - after weeks of frantic phone calls, Liza is getting out of detention tomorrow. Adrian Florido, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-18/ukrainian-children-are-being-separated-from-extended-family-at-the-u-s-mexico-border | 2022-05-12T14:55:36Z |
DANIEL ESTRIN, HOST:
Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, says the new Russian offensive has begun. Cities in the east and south are believed to be the main targets. One that has been under attack is Mykolaiv. NPR's Brian Mann and Tim Mak traveled there recently and found large numbers of civilians still living close to the front lines.
TIM MAK, BYLINE: A few months ago, Mykolaiv was a busy port city on the Black Sea with nearly half a million people. But as we passed through checkpoints on the edge of the city, the place feels hollowed out. A lot of people have fled.
BRIAN MANN, BYLINE: We're driving through the center of Mykolaiv now, and we're passing a large convoy of troop-carrying trucks packed with Ukrainian soldiers.
MAK: We check in with a military officer who gives his name as Dmitra. He tells us the main Russian front lines are close.
DMITRA: About 50 kilometers or short.
MANN: The Russians are roughly 30 miles away, Dmitra says - maybe closer. There's no active fighting in the city. But he says missiles land here on a daily basis.
DMITRA: Day after day, rocket missile, cruise missile.
MAK: Through the day, as we talk to people in Mykolaiv, the air raid sirens sound again and again.
MANN: I can hear in the distance now just a steady rumble of explosions. I don't know whether it's missile strikes, whether it's artillery.
MAK: Despite the danger, Mykolaiv isn't abandoned. It's impossible to say just how many civilians are still here, but it's a lot - tens of thousands, at least.
MANN: On a street downtown, we find Yulia Rozhkova at a little kiosk that's still open selling coffee.
YULIA ROZHKOVA: (Speaking Ukrainian).
MAK: Rozhkova tells us she has a disability and mental health issues, too, that make it impossible for her to leave her home.
MANN: We hear this kind of thing a lot from people who've stayed behind, despite warnings that a new Russian offensive is coming.
MAK: Some people don't want to leave their homes. Others are elderly or tell us they're too poor to travel or have no place to go.
MANN: We go to a children's hospital that officials here say was hit recently by Russian cluster bombs that shattered windows and injured staff.
IRYNA TKACHENKO: (Speaking Ukrainian).
MAK: The medical director here, Dr. Iryna Tkachenko, tells us half of the kids have been evacuated, but the rest are still here. "We're still operating at full capacity," she says. "There are wounded kids, injured, so we keep operating."
MANN: Dr. Tkachenko looks exhausted. We ask what it's like for her trying to keep it together under these conditions, with the war so close.
TKACHENKO: (Speaking Ukrainian).
MAK: She kind of sighs, and she says, "what do you want me to tell you? Half our doctors left, and the people who remain are working 24/7 without a break. It's heavy on us. It's exhausting, but we keep on going."
(CROSSTALK)
MANN: The city's main water supply has also failed, and we find volunteers distributing fresh drinking water to people like Vladislav Dmitrivitch. He's 85 and tells us he and his wife feel trapped.
VLADISLAV DMITRIVITCH: (Speaking Ukrainian).
MAK: "Because of the war," he says, "half a million people in this town are left without water."
MANN: As we talk to people, those air raid sirens don't let up. We get an alert that another Russian projectile has struck and exploded a couple miles away.
VLADIMIR TOPCHY: Welcome Ukraine. Welcome Mykolaiv Zoo.
MAK: That's Vladimir Topchy, head of the city zoo here. He shows us where Russian projectiles have landed on the zoo grounds, making small craters among the elephant pens and the tiger cages.
MANN: His groundskeepers are collecting piles of scrap metal from the bombs and missiles.
TOPCHY: (Speaking Ukrainian).
MAK: "The Russians are just idiots," he says. "They don't know what they're doing."
MANN: Topchy takes us up a staircase to a platform where we find ourselves eye to eye with one of his giraffes.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Speaking Ukrainian).
TOPCHY: (Speaking Ukrainian).
MAK: He tells us they have to keep the temperature just right to keep the giraffe healthy. Seventeen degrees Celsius is perfect. Sixteen degrees is too cold. But he's not sure the power will stay on. It already failed once for a full day.
TOPCHY: (Speaking Ukrainian).
MANN: Topchy says right now, the animals aren't safe here, and neither are the humans.
MAK: Ukrainian officials say in places like Bucha and Mariupol, thousands of civilians have already been killed by the Russians. If the next phase of the Russian invasion reaches into cities like this one where so many people are still living, the toll is certain to rise.
For NPR News, I'm Tim Mak.
MANN: And I'm Brian Mann in Mykolaiv, southern Ukraine.
(SOUNDBITE OF JULIAN LAGE'S "CRYING") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-18/ukrainian-civilians-living-close-to-the-frontlines-say-they-feel-trapped | 2022-05-12T14:55:42Z |
DANIEL ESTRIN, HOST:
The National Urban League's semiannual State of Black America Report gauges how Blacks in this country are doing socially and economically compared to whites. The civil rights organization released its 2022 report last week with what it calls an equality index. And the index concludes that Black Americans are only doing about 74% as well as white Americans. This year, the report focuses on changes to voting laws enacted by dozens of states and calls it a plot to destroy democracy. I'm joined now by Marc Morial. He's president and CEO of the National Urban League. Thank you for being with us.
MARC MORIAL: Hey. Thanks for having me.
ESTRIN: So you've been putting out these equality studies for almost two decades. What are the factors you look at to determine equality between Black and white Americans?
MORIAL: There are about 300 social and economic indicators - everything from the joblessness rate to the homeownership rate to life expectancies to high school graduation rates to college graduation rates to median family income to family net worth. We look at all of these 300 factors, and they're compiled into an index where the condition of white Americans is indexed at one, and the condition of Black Americans is indexed at a percentage of one or greater than one if African Americans outperform whites in a particular area.
This index, which we think is the best, the most reliable and the most accurate indicator of disparities as to social and economic conditions between Blacks and whites, has moved very little in the last 15 or so years. And while these numbers show conditions pre-pandemic, the truth is there was some movement in narrowing median family income. There was some movement when it came to narrowing health disparities. But they were offset by losses in areas such as social justice. So this year, in addition to the index, we put a fine, fine, fine, fine lens on voting and democracy in this country. And we knit together all of the actions that have taken place since the election of Barack Obama when it comes to voting. The Supreme Court's...
ESTRIN: Right. You actually say that there's a, quote, "all-out assault" on voting rights, which can impact Black and brown voters. So specifically, what is going on?
MORIAL: So what is going on is that there is a movement by some bad actors, by some far-right actors, to undermine American democracy. There've been no less than 500 bills that have been proposed in state legislatures since 2009 to make it more difficult for Americans to vote. There's been an assault through the courts on the Voting Rights Act, and the Supreme Court has been an enabler, striking down a key provision of the Voting Rights Act in 2013 and weakening provisions in several other decisions. All of this when taken together, and when you add to it Vladimir Putin's interference in the 2016 election, which was targeted at dissuading and discouraging African Americans to vote through a propaganda campaign, and you add January 6 and the fact that hundreds of new bills have been introduced and many passed since January 6 - this is a campaign to make it more difficult for Americans to vote. It's targeted at Black Americans and brown Americans, but it impacts others.
ESTRIN: Now, let me...
MORIAL: It impacts our seniors, our disabled and many young voters as well.
ESTRIN: Let me ask you about the Republican politicians who are behind the changes in the voting laws. They say they're responding to their constituents who say they want to prevent voter fraud, and they insist that they're not targeting any one group of voters. So what do you say to those who think that these changes actually strengthen democracy?
MORIAL: Show me a scintilla of evidence that there's voter fraud. Show me some minutia of support for the notion that there's fraud. This is what we call a cover story, another version in a big lie to seek to suggest that there's some - there's no legitimacy to any of this. And those arguments just fail. Republicans historically supported voting rights. Something has happened in the last 10 years. We've got to make the protection of democracy once again a bipartisan exercise to protect the right of all Americans to vote.
ESTRIN: Marc Morial, president and CEO of the National Urban League, thank you.
MORIAL: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-18/urban-league-ceo-on-how-2022-state-of-black-america-report-findings-impact-midterms | 2022-05-12T14:55:48Z |
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