Arts Jan 20 In ‘Don’t Look Up,’ director Adam McKay makes allegorical plea to follow climate science Climate change and comedy might not seem like a natural pairing, but a new film combines the two to create a parable about how our society is responding to the climate crisis. William Brangham recently spoke to Adam McKay, director…
Health Jan 14 Health systems buckle under latest surge of COVID hospitalizations President Biden on Friday announced free tests to help combat the rapidly spreading omicron variant. But the surge is battering hospitals and stretching some to capacity, with COVID hospitalizations jumping 179 percent in the past two weeks. William Brangham reports,…
Nation Jan 13 U.S. Supreme Court blocks Biden’s vaccine mandate for large companies The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that the Biden administration must stop enforcing a rule that employees at big companies take the COVID vaccine, but permitted vaccine requirements for most health care workers. William Brangham reports.
Health Jan 12 Hospitals near a breaking point with latest influx of COVID patients The Biden administration is pressing to ship more COVID test kits to schools amid growing criticism of shortages as infections pile up nationwide. But for hospitals dealing with the surge the worst is far from over. In the city of…
Health Jan 10 How the latest CDC guidance on COVID-19 is creating unnecessary confusion The latest guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on isolation and testing for COVID-19 has received intense pushback. Many health experts are now criticizing what the CDC has said and how its officials have said it. This…
Health Jan 05 Unvaccinated children among those driving COVID surge in Louisiana hospitals The omicron variant now accounts for 95 percent of COVID cases in the United States. Public health officials say its effects are milder than the delta variant, but omicron’s high transmissibility is still sending large numbers of people into the…
Nation Jan 03 Texans explain what animated their loved ones, neighbors to storm the Capitol This week marks one year since the insurrection at the United States Capitol on Jan. 6. William Brangham reports from one part of the country that produced an outsized number of people charged in the capitol riots, and heard from…
Nation Dec 24 Why a judge rejected a settlement with the Sackler family for their role in opioid crisis Experts link a record number of overdoses this year from black market opioids back to the original marketing and distribution of legal opioids made by Purdue Pharma, the company owned by the Sackler family that made OxyContin. Last week, a…
Health Dec 16 As the holiday season nears, concerns of a resurgent virus are growing From Broadway to Britain, COVID-19 is spreading new fears, forcing new shutdowns and prompting people to wonder when it will all end. And experts warn omicron is likely to become the dominant strain in the U.S. William Brangham reports on…
World Dec 15 Melting of the Thwaites Glacier could rewrite the global coastline A warming atmosphere is creating concern in the Arctic Circle and on the continent of Antarctica. The Arctic Report Card shows high temperatures, shrinking sea ice and extreme melting events are transforming the region. At the opposite pole, in Antarctica,…