Consider This from NPR

The delta variant now makes up an estimated 83% of coronavirus cases in the U.S., a sharp increase over recent weeks. Cases are rising more rapidly in places with low rates of vaccination. Arkansas is one of those places. The state's Republican governor, Asa Hutchinson, tells NPR what he's doing to try to convince more people to get a shot.

Amid those localized surges and reports of breakthrough infections, NPR's Allison Aubrey explains how to think about your own risk.

Find more NPR coverage of breakthrough infections here.

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Tens of millions of American families are beginning to receive direct cash payments as part of the expanded child tax credit, which was part of the COVID relief bill passed back in March.

Those payments top out at $3,600 a year per child — an amount experts say could lift tens of millions of children out of poverty. But the expanded credit is only scheduled to last one year. The question now is: will Democrats succeed in making it permanent?

Here's a breakdown of what you need to know from NPR's Andrea Hsu.

This episode contains excerpts from NPR's daily economics podcast The Indicator. Listen and subscribe via Apple, Spotify, Google, or Pocket Casts.

Additional reporting this episode from NPR's Cory Turner and Mara Liasson.

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Medical education must always keep up with the times. But the pandemic forcing medical students to learn virtually revealed new fault lines and opportunities to rethink the way medical professionals should learn. The medical field is grappling with which of those changes should become permanent and which ones could jeopardize the quality of healthcare.

To get a better understanding of how technology has enabled new ways of approaching medical education, NPR's Jonaki Mehta visits Kaiser Permanente's Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine, a school that was uniquely positioned to adapt to the conditions imposed by the pandemic since it opened during quarantine.

Elisabeth Rosenthal, editor-in-chief of Kaiser Health News and a non-practicing physician, shares her concerns about the medical field leaning more heavily on telemedicine as a result of the pandemic.

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From police officer misconduct to deadly shootings, internal affairs investigations are how law enforcement agencies investigate their own and promise to hold themselves accountable. In California, those investigations were secret — that is, until a new police transparency law unsealed thousands of files.

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Jodie Turner-Smith in Anne Boleyn. Mindy Kaling in Scooby Doo. Dev Patel in The Green Knight, and last year's David Copperfield.

It seems like Hollywood gatekeepers are opening up more traditionally white parts to other performers. But as NPR film critic Bob Mondello explains, cross-cultural casting isn't new — and it's always raised eyebrows.

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The protests that erupted in Cuba over the weekend are the biggest the country has seen in decades. Cubans are suffering through a summer of shortages, from food and electricity to medicine. All of which have been made worse by the pandemic. Officials in the authoritarian government are tying to stamp out the unrest quickly.

These demonstrations present a political opportunity for President Biden. NPR's Franco Ordonez reports on how the White House's response could change future Florida votes.

NPR international correspondent Carrie Kahn looks into internet blackouts enacted by the Cuban government in an attempt to stop organizing happening on social media platforms.

And Miami-Herald editorial writer Luisa Yanez explains why a younger generation of Cubans may not buckle under pressure.

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In a speech this week, President Biden said Democrats must 'vigorously challenge' what he described as the '21st Century Jim Crow assault' on voting rights, attacking Republican-led state efforts to pass new voting restrictions.

Democrats, Vice President Kamala Harris told NPR, must respond on multiple levels: "It will be litigation, legislation, it will be activating the people."

Harris spoke to NPR political correspondent Asma Khalid. Hear more on the NPR Politics Podcast via Apple, Google, or Spotify.

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The U.S. military will be fully out of the country by August 31. The Taliban already control more than half of it. A U.S. intelligence assessment reportedly says the Afghan government could collapse in as little as six months.

Some members of the Afghan military feel "abandoned and alone," Commanding General of the Afghan Army Sami Sadat tells NPR's Mary Louise Kelly.

Additional reporting this episode from NPR's Diaa Hadid.

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The Biden administration is emphasizing vaccine outreach by 'trusted messengers' — community volunteers, faith leaders, and primary care providers — who are best-positioned to convince people to get vaccinated.

NPR's Maria Godoy reports on that kind of outreach in Maryland, one of just a handful of states where at least half of the Latino population is vaccinated.

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'Cancelling' is a term that originated in young and progressive circles, where it was used to mean 'boycott,' University of Pennsylvania linguist Nicole Holliday tells NPR. Now the term 'cancel' has been co-opted and weaponized by some conservative media and politicians.

Something similar happened in the 1990s with the term 'politically correct.' John K. Wilson wrote about that time in a book called The Myth Of Political Correctness.

And — just like 'politically correct' — 'cancelling' and 'cancel culture' have been co-opted and weaponized to attack the left today. Social media has made that easier, says Jon Ronson, author of So You've Been Publicly Shamed.

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