Saturday, April 5

VIDEO REELS

Sanders exit opened door for Obama to endorse Biden – and offer up his rhetorical skills
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POLITICS, VIDEO REELS

Sanders exit opened door for Obama to endorse Biden – and offer up his rhetorical skills

The three endorsements Joe Biden needed most came within the space of 48 hours. First, Bernie Sanders backed his former Democratic rival for president on April 13, effectively ending the Democratic primary. The emergence of a consensus candidate appeared to liberate former president Barack Obama, who a day later reentered American politics proper, after dedicating three years to staying largely below the political radar. In a 12-minute YouTube video, Obama declared he was “proud to endorse Joe Biden” adding, “I believe Joe has the qualities we need in a president.” Sen. Elizabeth Warren followed suit on April 15, pledging her own support to Biden. The emergence of a consensus candidate – reportedly after Obama held a series of conversations with Sanders – allowed the former president to...
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Screens are keeping us connected now – but they’re still disruptive to in-person communication
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COVID-19, TECHNOLOGY, VIDEO REELS

Screens are keeping us connected now – but they’re still disruptive to in-person communication

Digital technology has been a lifeline during the COVID-19 health crisis. Yet, its impact on human relationships remains complex. It allows for work and connection in many domains, but does so in ways that are often intrusive, exhausting and potentially corrosive to face-to-face relationships. The debate about technology’s effect on overall mental health rages on. Some researchers claim smartphones have destroyed a generation, while others argue screen time doesn’t predict mental health at all. After years of research on the topic, I have come to the conclusion that screen time can disrupt a fundamental aspect of our human experience – paying attention to one another’s eyes. Smartphones, even more than older technologies like television, have been aggressively designed to control and ca...
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Coronavirus lockdowns are pushing mass transit systems to the brink – and low-income riders will pay the price
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COVID-19, VIDEO REELS

Coronavirus lockdowns are pushing mass transit systems to the brink – and low-income riders will pay the price

Low-income Americans have borne the brunt of the coronavirus pandemic. They may also get left behind in the recovery. CC BY-ND Steep declines in ridership during the crisis have pushed public transit systems across the U.S. into deep financial distress. Though Congress included allocations for transit in the CARES Act, cities said it won’t be nearly enough. Even major systems in large metro areas like New York City and Washington, D.C., have serious concerns about long-term survival without more sustained support. Failure of transit systems would be a disaster for the large proportion of low income households that depend on buses and trains to get to work and elsewhere – not only in urban areas, but in rural ones too. I’m currently in the middle of a two-year study of transport inequalit...
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COVID-19 is hitting black and poor communities the hardest, underscoring fault lines in access and care for those on margins
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COVID-19, VIDEO REELS

COVID-19 is hitting black and poor communities the hardest, underscoring fault lines in access and care for those on margins

As the COVID-19 epidemic continues to ravage the American public, an unsurprising story emerges: Poor communities are hot spots for COVID transmission. The death rate from COVID-19 appears to be staggeringly high among African Americans compared to whites. The Washington Post reports, for example, that while 14% of the Michigan population is black, 40% of COVID-19 deaths are among blacks. This is a familiar pattern to a social and infectious disease epidemiologist like myself. It is evidence of centuries of segregation and discrimination that have disproportionately placed people of color in communities without access to health care, with degraded and crowded living conditions and a lack of basic opportunities for health and wellness. In the context of the current pandemic, blacks are mo...
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A world without sports
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COVID-19, SPORTS, VIDEO REELS

A world without sports

Baseball’s opening day came and went. The Olympics have been postponed. Football in the fall? Don’t count on it. With COVID-19 infections and deaths rising each day, the cancellation of live sporting events might seem like an afterthought. But in the coming weeks and months, their absence will undoubtedly be felt. This isn’t the first time sports have been put on hold. During previous crises and conflicts, sports have been stopped. But in the past, the reprieve was brief; sports went on to act as a way to bring Americans together, persevere and, ultimately, heal. This time’s different. An American ‘religion’ Sports are so important to so many of us that some have likened them to a modern religion, replete with rituals, saints and shrines. “Sports are more than games, meets and matches,...
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Bob Dylan brings links between JFK assassination and coronavirus into stark relief
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Journalism, VIDEO REELS

Bob Dylan brings links between JFK assassination and coronavirus into stark relief

Over the past few weeks, the coronavirus has turned the country’s cultural spigot off, with sports suspended, museums closed and movies postponed. But the virus hasn’t stopped Bob Dylan, who, on the evening of March 26, released “Murder Most Foul,” a 17-minute long song about the Kennedy assassination. Many have pondered the timing. So have I. I’m a Kennedy scholar writing a book about how television handled coverage of the Kennedy assassination over a traumatic four-day “black weekend,” as it was called. I’ve also explored how Americans responded to the sudden upending of national life with the murder of a popular and uniquely telegenic president. NBC News anchor David Brinkley, as he signed off that first night, called Kennedy’s death “just too much, too ugly and too fast.” The corona...
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5 Buddhist teachings that can help you deal with coronavirus anxiety
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Religion, VIDEO REELS

5 Buddhist teachings that can help you deal with coronavirus anxiety

Buddhist meditation centers and temples in coronavirus-hit countries around the world have been closed to the public in order to comply with social distancing measures. But Buddhist teachers are offering their teachings from a distance in order to remind their communities about key elements of the practice. In Asia, Buddhist monks have been chanting sutras to provide spiritual relief. In Sri Lanka, Buddhist monastic chanting was broadcast over television and radio. In India, monks chanted at the seat of the Buddha’s enlightenment, the Mahabodhi Temple in the eastern state of Bihar. Monks praying at the Mahabodhi Temple in India. Buddhist leaders argue that their teachings can help confront the uncertainty, fear and anxiety that has accompanied the spread of COVID-19. This is not the fir...
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National Guard joins the coronavirus response – 3 questions answered
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COVID-19, HEALTH & WELLNESS, Journalism, VIDEO REELS

National Guard joins the coronavirus response – 3 questions answered

As a military organization divided into 50 distinct parts that can be commanded by either the president or state governors, the National Guard is perhaps the least understood branch of the U.S. armed forces. Despite its complexity – or perhaps because of it – the National Guard is taking the lead role in the military’s response to the coronavirus outbreak crisis. As many as 10,000 National Guard members have already been activated to help communities around the country, with many more expecting a call-up soon. People may know, from TV ads or other brief appearances in the media, that National Guard members are part-time citizen-soldiers, but not much else. As a longtime National Guard attorney and military law professor, I can explain a bit more about how the National Guard works. Ads l...
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10 ways to spot online misinformation
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VIDEO REELS

10 ways to spot online misinformation

Propagandists are already working to sow disinformation and social discord in the run-up to the November elections. Many of their efforts have focused on social media, where people’s limited attention spans push them to share items before even reading them – in part because people react emotionally, not logically, to information they come across. That’s especially true when the topic confirms what a person already believes. It’s tempting to blame bots and trolls for these problems. But really it’s our own fault for sharing so widely. Research has confirmed that lies spread faster than truth – mainly because lies are not bound to the same rules as truth. As a psychological scientist who studies propaganda, here is what I tell my friends, students and colleagues about what to watch out fo...
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Video: Why social distancing is one of the best tools we have to fight the coronavirus
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COVID-19, HEALTH & WELLNESS, VIDEO REELS

Video: Why social distancing is one of the best tools we have to fight the coronavirus

Social distancing is a tool public health officials recommend to slow the spread of a disease that is being passed from person to person. Social distancing is a tool public health officials recommend to slow the spread of a disease that is being passed from person to person. The Conversation US, CC BY This video is based on an article written by Thomas Perls, professor of Medicine at Boston University. Simply put, it means that people stay far enough away from each other so that the coronavirus – or any pathogen – cannot spread from one person to another. It helps us reduce the rate of new infections, so that new cases are spread over time and the medical care system does not get overwhelmed. Watch the video to find out more about what social distancing is, and why it’s one of the best ...
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