The Daily Dive

This is a compilation of some of the most compelling stories of the week.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is a compilation of some of the most compelling stories of the week.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Demand for coronavirus testing continues to go up and the supplies continue dwindle, as we hear stories of long wait times and even longer waits for results. But that doesn’t seem to be a problem for sports teams that are testing players every day and getting results in 24 hours. Louise Radnofsky, sports reporter at the WSJ, joins us for how sports teams are handling testing.

Next, over 32 million Americans are receiving unemployment benefits and the Labor Department says the nation has 5.4 million job openings. That being said, Ivanka Trump and the White House rolled out the “Find Something New” campaign, a jobs initiative urging people to pursue jobs training and career paths that don’t require a college degree. Toluse Olorunnipa, reporter at the Washington Post, joins us for how the program was slammed as tone-deaf during the pandemic.

Finally, COVID parties are not a thing. You might have seen stories about people throwing parties to intentionally infect others with the coronavirus, but if you dig deeper into the stories, they quickly fall apart. To be clear, people can and are getting sick by partying in close quarters, but they are not throwing COVID-specific parties. Gilad Edelman, senior writer at Wired, joins us for more.

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Federal executions are back and for the first time in 17 years, a death row inmate was put to death in Indiana. Daniel Lee Lewis was a member of a white supremacist group and was found guilty of murdering a family of three, including an 8-year-old girl in 1996. Tim Evans, investigative reporter at the Indianapolis Star, was there to witness the execution and give us the details of how it all played out.

Next, we’ve seen a number of states experience a surge in coronavirus cases and become new hotspots. Largely avoiding a big outbreak early in the pandemic, Arizona now has the highest per-capita rate of COVID-19 cases in America over the past week. Local officials and public health experts are pointing a finger at the leadership for being complacent and not preparing for a future wave when they had time. Dan Frosch, reporter for the WSJ, joins us for how Arizona wasn’t ready for its coronavirus surge.

Finally, it’s over for former Attorney General and Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions. Sessions was one of the first to endorse President Trump, add legitimacy to his campaign, and rise to Attorney General. Later, Sessions was fired and now, he has lost a runoff for his old Senate job. Amber Phillips, reporter at the Washington Post, joins us for the rise and fall of Jeff Sessions.

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The reopening of schools in the fall continues to be a contentious discussion with some committed to on-campus instruction and others only online. Los Angeles, San Diego, and Atlanta, three of the nation’s largest school districts, said this week that they will begin the new school year online and bring students back later in the year. Illustrating the divide in California, the Orange County Board of Education voted to support the return to school without social distancing or masks. Laura Meckler, national education reporter at the Washington Post, joins us for more.

Next, as President Trump continues the push to reopen schools, the CDC wants to take a more cautious approach. A CDC document on its guidelines was leaked and it recommends that schools be prepared to shut down for several days if a person carrying the virus was in a school building, they should have multiple means of social distancing and limits on out-of-classroom activities. As with many things these days however, there seems to be a disconnect between policy and science. John Timmer, senior editor at Ars Technica, joins us for the CDC’s approach to reopening schools.

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The reopening of America has not been going so well just yet. While some gains have been made, a resurgence of cases and delays in unemployment benefits have continued to push people to the edge. There are issues with fraud and user confusion, long waits to process jobless applications, and outdated computer systems used by unemployment offices. Eli Rosenberg, work and labor reporter at the Washington Post, joins us for more.

Next, California is largely closing again amid a rise in coronavirus cases. Gov. Gavin Newsom has ordered once again, the closure of indoor dining and limits on gyms, churches, hair salons and other businesses. And as cases go up, testing continues to be a problem to get under control. From the very beginning of the pandemic, the state fell behind and has been struggling to keep up. There was problems with current infrastructure, supply shortages, and it led to difficulties in contact tracing too. Emily Baumgaertner, reporter at The LA Times, joins us for California’s failure at mass testing.

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Today is all about testing. Short of a vaccine, testing is the first line of defense in helping limit the spread of COVID-19. But what will it look like when everyone returns to work? Some employers are finding out that testing employees is more trouble than it's worth. Issues with cost, access, and employee privacy are some of the reasons why testing isn't part of back-to-work plans. Instead, employers are in favor of lower cost options like masks, hand sanitizer, temperature checks, and symptom screening. Emma Court, heath reporter at Bloomberg News, joins us for workplace safety during the pandemic.

Next, antibody tests were also hailed as one of the main ways to get people back to work. Test positive for antibodies and it means you've had the coronavirus and aren't in danger of catching it or infecting someone else. But these tests have had problems with accuracy. The reporter we speak to next had to take five antibody tests before she could trust the results. And the big question, does testing for antibodies give you a free pass? We still don't know how much immunity is bestowed on a person or for how long it lasts. Stephanie Baker, senior writer at Bloomberg News, joins us for what to know about these tests.

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This is a compilation of some of the most compelling stories of the week.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is a compilation of some of the most compelling stories of the week.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Supreme Court has issued a spilt ruling on President Trump’s tax cases. The court ruled that Manhattan prosecutor Cy Vance has the legal right to subpoena records from Trump’s financial institutions, but rejected the House’s effort to get similar records. Josh Gerstein, senior legal affairs correspondent at Politico, joins us for why you still won’t be seeing Trump’s taxes anytime soon.

Next, President Trump is pushing hard for schools to fully reopen in the fall. He has slammed the CDC guidelines on reopening and also threatened to cut funding from schools that don’t open. While children are only half as likely as adults to get infected with COVID-19, there is still a lot of concern over how to reopen. Laura Meckler, national education reporter at the Washington Post, joins us for the fight to reopen schools.

Finally, some marriages are starting to buckle under quarantine and strict lockdowns. In some households, months of monotony and spending too much time together is exposing bad behavior and exacerbating underlying problems most likely there before the pandemic began. Marisa Kashino, senior editor at Washingtonian, joins us for more.

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