Reopening America

Educators have been experimenting with new grading systems since before the pandemic, but when everything switched to remote learning and students were having a tough time keeping up, many teachers did away with the traditional A-F grades. Some experiments include relaxing penalties for late or incomplete work and retaking exams once an understanding of the material had been established. Valerie Strauss, education reporter at The Washington Post, joins us for the hunt for a fairer grading system.

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With cases of Covid dropping and mask mandates going away, it does seem that we are moving to the next phase of the pandemic, but how many people have actually been infected with coronavirus? A new analysis of blood tests that reveal antibodies from infection estimates that 140 million people have come down with it, that’s 43% of the country that has had a natural infection. Dan Keating, health reporter at The Washington Post, joins us for this and how a majority of children have also been infected.

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We are seeing doctors around the world reporting that patients are coming in with the sudden onset of Tourette’s-like tics. Particularly they are seeing more teenage girls which do not fit the typical profile of someone with Tourette’s and more interesting, many of them seem to share the same outbursts, leading some to believe that social media could be behind it. Theories have gone around suggesting it could be mass psychogenic illness or another condition called functional neurological disorder. Helen Lewis, staff writer at The Atlantic, joins us for what could be behind these new-style tics.

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As Covid infections are dropping, Americans are going back to bars, movies and sporting events but one place they aren't going back to is the office. Employers are doing everything they can to get their workers back, but many have found a work-life balance that they don't want to let go of. It's not even about Covid as 61% of remote workers are doing so by choice. Callum Borchers, On The Clock columnist at the WSJ, joins us for why workers just don't want to go back.

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In this unrelenting U.S. housing market, renting a home could be harder than buying a home. With a high demand and continuing low supply we have seen rental prices for single-family homes rise 7.8% last year. With people being priced out of owning a home, many resort to renting, only to find the same problems… a rental listing pops up, and an immediate flood of applications for that property. Allison McNeely, personal finance reporter at Bloomberg News, joins us for more.

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Like many industries, the pandemic has taken the plant-based food industry on a rollercoaster ride. Early on, regular meat prices rose by about 40% which led to sales of plant-based meat as an alternative rise by 65%. However, by the end of last year sales were down leading many to think that maybe the novelty had worn off and the industry had peaked. The reality is that there is still a lot more to come, whether it be in the form of more fast food launches or other products beyond meat alternatives such as chicken, seafood, and bacon. Kenny Torella, reporter at Vox, joins us for the pandemic highs and lows of the plant-based food industry.

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The center for many of the discussions surrounding covid policy, race and gender is your local school board. School districts are having to navigate constantly changing health guidelines and other hot button issues while they face threats of violence often from anonymous harassers. One school board member in Virginia named Brenda Sheridan was the target of many letters and voicemails in which she and her children received threats of death. School board members are asking for increased security during meetings and police are having a difficult time tracking down the anonymous threats. Gabriella Borter, U.S. national correspondent at Reuters, joins us for more.

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After leaving their jobs in the Great Resignation what are the jobs that people actually want? According to Google search data, some of the top “How to become” searches last year were real estate agent, flight attendant, therapist and notary. While the search data doesn’t indicate if people actually picked up those jobs, it does track with other pandemic trends. Rani Molla, senior data reporter at Recode, joins us for more on the jobs Americans want.

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Public health experts are worried about the next crisis that could overwhelm the healthcare system… a wave of cancers that we didn’t catch. The rates of cancer screenings dropped over the pandemic and have not recovered. Many put off regular screenings and may have missed a diagnosis that could save their lives. Dylan Scott, senior correspondent at Vox, joins us for this problem which we might not see the extent of for years.

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Inflation has crept up to 7.5%, the highest it has been in 40 years. Prices of food, energy and used cars are all up, and in practical terms, the average U.S. household is spending an additional $276 a month. The middle class also continues to be hit harder than other groups. Gwynn Guilford, economics reporter at the WSJ joins us for how much inflation is costing you.

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