Short Wave

The omicron outbreak has slowed dramatically in the U.S. But cases are rising in Britain due to an omicron subvariant. There are signs the U.S. could also see a bump in cases in the coming weeks.

Stay safe out there, fabulous listeners! Feel free to drop us a line at [email protected].

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On her first day of Supreme Court confirmation hearings, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson told senators that she "stands on the shoulders" of those who came before her and that she decides cases "from a neutral posture." While she has broad support from Democratic senators, Republicans are likely to press her on her record as a public defender when questioning begins Tuesday.

This episode: Congressional correspondent Susan Davis, justice correspondent Carrie Johnson, and legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg.

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Texas Governor Greg Abbott has directed the state's Department of Family and Protective Services to investigate certain gender-affirming care as possible child abuse, leaving parents of transgender youth feeling caught between two choices: support their children or face a possible investigation. Annaliese and Rachel are mothers living in Texas and both have transgender children. They speak to NPR about the emotional and mental toll this order has had on their families. And while the order is currently blocked by a judge, Chase Strangio, Deputy Director for Transgender Justice with the American Civil Liberties Union, explains the status of other anti-LGBTQ bills in other states.

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On top of aid to Ukraine and a trillion-dollar budget, Congress reauthorized the Violence Against Women Act and passed legislation which makes lynching a federal hate crime.

They also voted to make Daylight Saving Time permanent, but only because some senators who were opposed reportedly didn't know the vote was happening.

And Black Americans are mobilizing in support of Ketanji Brown Jackson's Supreme Court nomination. If confirmed, she would be the first Black woman on the high court. Hearings begin next week.

This episode: White House correspondent Asma Khalid, congressional correspondent Susan Davis, acting congressional correspondent Deirdre Walsh, politics and racial justice correspondent Juana Summers.

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Arts therapies appear to ease a host of brain disorders from Parkinson's to PTSD. But these treatments that rely on music, poetry or visual arts haven't been backed by rigorous scientific testing. Now, artists and brain scientists have launched a program to change that. NPR's brain correspondent Jon Hamilton tells us about an initiative called the NeuroArts Blueprint.

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For more than a year, immigration activists have been frustrated that the White House has used the pandemic as a reason to turn away hundreds of thousands of migrants before they can make a request for asylum in the United States.

Now, pressure created by the three million Ukrainian refugees could create enough political pressure to force Biden to revisit the policy.

This episode: White House correspondent Asma Khalid, White House correspondent Franco Ordoñez, and correspondent Joel Rose.

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On December 31, 2021, The Joe Rogan Experience podcast on Spotify posted an episode with an interview with physician Dr. Robert Malone full of misinformation about the Covid-19 vaccine. This sparked outrage, a letter from a group of medical professionals, scientists and educators to Spotify and a series of creators pulling their content from the platform. Science Vs., a podcast produced by Gimlet Media which is owned by Spotify, decided to take a stand too.

Listen to the episodes of Science Vs discussed here:
- Misinformation: What Should Our Tech Overlords Do: bit.ly/3u2aaUY
- Joe Rogan: The Malone Interview: bit.ly/3tduljk

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy delivered a video address before Congress Wednesday, in which he asked for additional support to protect the country's citizens against Russian military brutality.

Following the speech, Biden pledged to send an additional $800 million to Ukraine to boost security measures. This is in addition to $200 million in military aid to Ukraine Biden approved on Saturday.

One ask that Zelenskyy is not likely to see answered: a U.S.-led no fly zone, which the Biden administration opposes as it seeks to avoid a direct military conflict with Russia.

This episode: White House correspondent Asma Khalid, acting congressional correspondent Deirdre Walsh, and senior political editor and correspondent Ron Elving.

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Understanding how life survives in extreme Earth environments could point to ways life can survive on other worlds. Astrobiologist Morgan Cable talks to host Emily Kwong about how her missions here on Earth have guided two upcoming NASA missions in search for alien life, not in a far off galaxy, but here in our solar system. The Titan Dragonfly and the Europa Clipper missions will each explore an ocean world in our solar system, where scientists believe we could find life--life that may be unlike anything we've seen before. Today on Short Wave, life as we know it - and life as we don't know it.

Learn more about the search for life in our solar system in the new planetarium show Living Worlds, now at the California Academy of Sciences:

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Even before the pandemic, three in five Americans reported feeling like they are left out, poorly understood and lacking companionship.

Communities with low social connectedness have higher rates of crime, lower educational achievement, and poorer physical health than more connected communities. As Robert Putnam's Bowling Alone documented more than 20 years ago, a frayed social fabric also makes governing much harder.

NPR's Danielle Kurtzleben talks to the author about how much worse things have gotten in the two decades since his book came out and what makes things him optimistic about the future.

Putnam's latest work is The Upswing: How America Came Together a Century Ago and How We Can Do It Again.

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