1A

Companies like MasterCard and Tesla are embracing cryptocurrency. But what does cryptocurrency's popularity mean for the U.S. dollar's global influence?

Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station and subscribe to this podcast. Have questions? Find us on Twitter @1A.

"Many, many, many people have student loan debt, but might not have finished their degrees and therefore aren't reaping the benefits of a degree," says The Atlantic's Annie Lowrey.

Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station and subscribe to this podcast. Have questions? Find us on Twitter @1A.

Texas continues to deal with the aftermath of a winter storm that left millions without power and disrupted water service to the state. The Biden administration projects any American who wants the COVID-19 vaccine will be able to get one by the end of July. Meanwhile, protests in Myanmar continue, as well as the World Health Organization's vaccination efforts. We got to those stories and more on the News Roundup.

Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station and subscribe to this podcast. Have questions? Find us on Twitter @1A.

"The weather is playing a huge role in this situation. Our infrastructure isn't built to handle this much demand for heating under these conditions," says Joshua Rhodes, energy researcher at the University of Texas at Austin.

Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station and subscribe to this podcast. Have questions? Find us on Twitter @1A.

"I decided to focus on mothers because of this further erasure that happens to mothers. Motherhood is so overlooked," says Anna Malaika Tubbs, author of "The Three Mothers: How the Mothers of Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and James Baldwin Shaped A Nation."

Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station and subscribe to this podcast. Have questions? Find us on Twitter @1A.

"[FOIAs] are vital to my work...we've written dozens of stories in the past months alone, based on emails between public officials or reports from universities," says Andrea Gallo about the hundreds of public records requests she's filed during her years as a journalist.

Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station and subscribe to this podcast. Have questions? Find us on Twitter @1A.

We talked with Delroy Lindo about his journey to becoming an actor, and about the character he portrays in his latest film, Da 5 Bloods.

Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station and subscribe to this podcast. Have questions? Find us on Twitter @1A.

We're bringing you an episode of a podcast we love: "Through The Cracks," from WAMU and PRX. When 8-year-old Relisha Rudd disappeared from a homeless shelter in Washington, D.C. in 2014, nobody noticed. By the time police appeared at the homeless shelter where Relisha lived with her family, 18 days had passed since she'd been seen at school or in the shelter. On this episode: What happened in March 2014.

Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station and subscribe to this podcast. Have questions? Find us on Twitter @1A.

House impeachment managers have been making their case in the second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump in the Senate. Can the former president's defense team now pull themselves back from a faltering start? Also, new guidance on masks.

President Biden makes his first call to his Chinese President Xi Jinping. Saudi Arabia releases a leading activist who campaigned for a woman's right to drive. And Tanzania declares victory over COVID-19, as its president casts doubt on the need for vaccines.

We got to those stories and more on the News Roundup.

Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station and subscribe to this podcast. Have questions? Find us on Twitter @1A.

"There's a way in which when we're telling stories about marginalized groups, theres an expectation to lean into the traumas of that particular community, but I've found that I'm not interested in reading or writing those stories," says author Bryan Washington.

Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station and subscribe to this podcast. Have questions? Find us on Twitter @1A.