1A

More than one million people have died of overdoses in the U.S. since 1999. That rate has increased in the age of COVID-19.

Two months ago, New York City opened the United States' first overdose prevention centers. They're sites where people can safely use drugs under the supervision of people trained to spot and reverse overdoses.

These centers are part of a broader strategy of harm reduction, a set of strategies designed to minimize the negative effects of drug use.

What is the philosophy of harm reduction? And what does it mean to create a safe drug consumption site?

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A new report from the nonprofit Zinn Education Project found that 45 states have insufficient or non-existent lesson coverage of Reconstruction in schools.

Historians warn that eclipsing the aftermath of the Civil War will lead students to be uninformed about the seeds of racial inequity today.

We hear from experts about the legacy of Reconstruction. Plus, we share highlights from our tour of a special exhibit on Reconstruction at the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture.

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The world's eyes will once again fall on China at the end of the week when the country hosts the 2022 Winter Olympics.

But China itself will be keeping at least some of its attention a continent away – in Africa.

In 2020 alone, China invested $4.2 billion into the continent – that's double what the United States spent.

Some say it's providing much-needed infrastructure help. Others think it's just colonialism by another name.

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Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer announced his retirement last week. The departure of the oldest justice on the bench allows President Joe Biden to make good on his promise to nominate a Black woman to the court. It's a promise he has since reiterated.

The Breyer's replacement will not change the ideological makeup of the court, which leans conservative. But it will mean a younger justice on the court and would give President Biden a much-needed win.

We talk about what to expect for the road ahead with a confirmation battle and midterms on the horizon.

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For this episode of 1A's Sunday Podcast, we bring you two conversations with two authors.

First, we speak with Hanya Yanagihara about her new novel, "To Paradise." It's topped almost every list of the most anticipated books of 2022.

We talk to Hanya about her new novel and her work as a magazine editor.

Later, we speak with British author Bernardine Evaristo. In 2019, she won the Booker Prize for her novel "Girl, Woman, Other." She's the first Black woman to do so in the award's 53-year history.

But before that, she had a long career writing plays, poetry, and short stories centered around the African diaspora.Her new memoir, "Manifesto,"is a story of perseverance.

We talk with Evaristo about finding her voice and never letting it go.

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Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer announced plans to retire. Now, President Joe Biden has the chance to make his first SCOTUS nomination, indicating he will select a Black woman as his pick to send to the Senate for confirmation.

The trial of the three officers involved in the murder of George Floyd begins this week. Prosecutors must prove that Tou Thao, Thomas Lane and J. Alexander Kueng had a responsibility to intervene as Derek Chauvin killed Floyd.

Meanwhile, the world continues to watch the border between Russia and Ukraine. Countries in Western Europe are sending military aid and repositioning their defenses. President Joe Biden warned Russia that an invasion would change the nature of world diplomacy.

The military has assumed control in Burkina Faso in the latest coup in the country's history. Now, 20 million people on the edge of the Sahara are waiting to see if the military will keep its promise to return the country to constitutional order within a "reasonable time."

We cover all this and more during the News Roundup.

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This year, scientists at the University of Alabama performed the transplant of genetically-modified pig kidneys into a brain-dead human being. And this month, surgeons at the University of Maryland Medical Center transplanted a heart from a genetically-modified pig into a living human patient.

The need for organs in the U.S. is dire – more than 100,000 patients are on the national transplant list, and 17 of them die each day waiting for organs.

How can the use of xenotransplantation address this need?

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Most of us also know how good we are at navigating. If you rate yourself on a scale of one to ten, a scientific test will likely give you about the same score.

Scientist and science writer Christopher Kemp rates himself a one out of ten. He sometimes gets lost in his own neighborhood. His lack of navigation skills align with a condition known as developmental topographical disorientation, or DTD, which is passed down genetically. His wife, in comparison, is excellent at finding her way, and can easily orient herself in new places. That stark contrast inspired an investigation into the neuroscience of navigation.

Why do some humans navigate better than others? What happens when we rely on GPS devices instead of our internal sense of direction? What's going on inside our brains when we try to find our way?

Kemp helps us navigate these questions and more.

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With vaccines in play and a better understanding of air ventilation, theaters were supposed to open their doors again. And they did... sort of.

Ticket sales in 2021 outpaced 2020. But were still nearly 70 percent behind the haul from 2019.

A lot of that is the pandemic, but moviegoers have been gravitating away from theaters for years now.

In a world where reboots and franchises dominate the box office (and even they aren't doing pre-pandemic numbers), how can other films compete? And what does that mean for the future of American cinema?

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The potential for a Russian invasion in Ukraine continues to grow. According to the U.K.'s Foreign Office, Russian officials are already discussing potential pro-Russian leadership to replace Ukrainian leaders.

How close is Russian military action against Ukraine? And how will the U.S. and the rest of Europe respond?

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