Our Monday pandemic hour explores the lessons scientists and doctors are learning about infectious disease during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Gun sales surged in 2020. The online retailer Tactical Gear said the 60 percent increase was driven, in part, by fears that the Biden administration would tighten restrictions on firearms sales. Those same fears have proven to be an effective recruiting tool for far-right groups, including those that advocated for the Jan. 6 insurrection.

Friday, MPR News reporter Brandt Williams hosted a conversation about how the Second Amendment intersects with calls for revolution.

Guests:

To listen to the full conversation you can use the audio player above.

Subscribe to the MPR News with Kerri Miller podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or RSS

Filmmaker Deirdre Fishel’s newest project follows the lives of women officers in the Minneapolis Police Department. Fishel joins MPR News reporter and guest host Brandt Williams for a conversation about the project.

Next week, after almost seven months and 300 million miles of space travel, NASA’s Perseverance rover will reach Mars. Once there, if all goes as planned, it will plummet through the Martian atmosphere, deploy a parachute and a jetpack to slow its descent, and finally touch down on an ancient lake bed. And the whole thing will be filmed by six cameras, which could lead to the first video footage ever of a spacecraft landing on another planet.

It’s a final “seven minutes of terror” for NASA scientists working on the mission. They can do little but wait and watch while Perseverance attempts to nail the landing. But if it works, it launches a new era of Mars exploration. The hope is to use the car-sized rover to search for mineral deposits on the surface of the Red Planet that could contain signs of ancient microbial life.

On Wednesday, MPR News host Kerri Miller talked all things Mars with two scientists studying the planet. What do they hope to learn? And does this mission move us one step closer to sending humans there?

Guests:

Editor’s note (Feb. 10, 2021): A previous version of this story listed Kirsten Siebach as one of the guests. She was unable to join us for the discussion.

To listen to the full conversation you can use the audio player above.

Subscribe to the MPR News with Kerri Miller podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or RSS

President Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial begins today, just over a year after he was acquitted of two charges — obstructing Congress and abuse of power — in his first impeachment trial. 

The new trial asks senators to consider whether President Trump is responsible for inciting the violent insurrection on Jan. 6  where his supporters stormed the Capitol to stop Congress from affirming then President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in the Electoral College. 

MPR News host Kerri Miller, a political science professor and two legal experts answered listener questions about how this trial will be different from the first.

Guests:

Andra Gillespie is an associate professor of political science at Emory University.

Randall Eliason is a former federal prosecutor and professorial lecturer in law at George Washington University.

Ciara Torres-Spelliscy is a professor at Stetson University’s College of Law and a fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice.

Subscribe to the MPR News with Kerri Miller podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or RSS

On Monday, host Kerri Miller will talk with two health professionals about what we know about the emerging COVID variants so far and best practices for slowing the spread. 

After Black women activists took over the social media platforms of white celebrities last summer, similar “share the mic” campaigns sprung up around the country.  

In January, Cheniqua Johnson of Worthington took over the LinkedIn account of Gloria Perez, President and CEO of the Women’s Foundation, to ask followers to “invest in, open doors for, and afford grace to Black women.”  Rochester Mayor Kim Norton turned over her Twitter feed to activist Raie Gessesse who called for “a pipeline of courageous, bold, and energized young women political leaders.” Two more local share the mic days are scheduled for February 26 and March 26. 

MPR News host Kerri Miller talked with Cheniqua Johnson and Kim Norton about what it means to amplify marginalized voices. 

To kick off Black History Month, we talk to Michelle Duster, the great-granddaughter of journalist and Black activist Ida B. Wells, about her new intimate biography of her great-grandmother’s legacy.

Long before the pandemic hit Minnesota, the state had one of the worst achievement gaps in the country. Would adding a guarantee to “a quality public education” in the state constitution make a difference? On Thursday, host Kerri Miller discusses the proposed amendment and what other states are trying to close the achievement gap.

Public health officials are exhausted.

According to ongoing investigations by The Associated Press and Kaiser Health News, state and local health departments have been underfunded for decades. Despite that, public health officials have been on the front lines in a pandemic for almost a year. They’ve worked tirelessly, advised policy makers through every scientific development — and for their effort, they’ve been subjected to name-calling, threats and abuse.

Why don’t Americans trust the officials who study pandemics for a living? Is it our divided era? Or is something else going on in our collective psyche? Wednesday, MPR News host Kerri Miller spoke with two people who study how the public perceives public health. 

Guests:

To listen to the full conversation you can use the audio player above.

Subscribe to the MPR News with Kerri Miller podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or RSS