The Georgia Victims; How To Quell Burnout; A Father And Son’s COVID Gamble

Plus, the racist implications of putting rap lyrics on trial.

by Dylan Scott Megan Varner/Getty Images A single mother of two, an Army veteran and a massage therapist were among the eight people killed in a spate of shootings at Atlanta-area businesses on Tuesday. Six of the victims were women of Asian descent. The victims' names are: Delaina Ashley Yaun, Paul Andre Michels, Xiaojie Tan, Daoyou Feng, Soon Chung Park, Hyun Jung Grant, Suncha Kim and Yong Ae Yue. They loved dancing and taking family trips to the lake, watched soap operas and collected rare coins and had dreams of traveling. We are piecing together the stories of their lives. An effort is underway to preserve the plywood protest murals memorializing George Floyd in Minneapolis. The boards were erected to protect buildings during the summer of unrest, but quickly became a blank canvas for Minnesotans to express their grief and anger. "Fifty years from now … they can literally come back to these boards and learn the entire history, just from what's painted here," Leesa Kelly, who’s leading the project, said. Climate change is hitting oceans hard: Sea levels are rising, fish are migrating away from their normal habitats and the water itself is acidifying. In the past 50 years, oceans have absorbed more than 90% of the excess heat in the atmosphere from human-caused warming. Scientists say the Biden administration is taking office at a critical time. One expert says the ocean doesn't have to be a victim. Feeling burnt out? Big same. The pandemic is exacerbating it. A recent survey found nearly 90% of respondents across more than 40 countries felt their work lives getting worse during the pandemic. But burnout is more than just a feeling of exhaustion, experts say. It has three common components. Here are tips to help regain control — and how managers can address the root causes. Newsletter continues after sponsor message Deeper Dives Viraj Nayar for NPR A father and son in India made a huge pandemic gamble — and it paid off big time. Early in the pandemic, Cyrus and Adar Poonawalla, the founder and CEO of the world’s largest vaccine maker, decided to begin producing and stockpiling four different COVID-19 vaccines, long before trials had shown whether they worked or not. It was a risky bet. If the shots weren’t effective, hundreds of millions of dollars would be lost. But Adar says it was an easy decision — one he and his father made in five minutes. Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at how the company is manufacturing nearly 100 million doses a month and exporting them globally. The extremists who attacked the U.S. Capitol were radicalized by what they saw online. Experts say that’s nothing new: Ten years ago, ISIS used a similar strategy to lure Americans to Syria. The trajectory of one of those people, Abdullahi Yusuf, has striking parallels to that of Bruno Cua, an 18-year-old Georgian consumed by far-right conspiracies who prosecutors say breached the Senate chamber on Jan. 6. Watch This NPR Since the ’90s, police and prosecutors have used rap artists’ lyrics to build and try hundreds of criminal cases against them. The practice is only happening in hip-hop — and persists despite research proving that judges and juries can be prejudiced against the music. NPR’s Louder Than A Riot lays out the racist and dangerous implications behind putting hip-hop on trial. Podcasts Of The Week Well Go USA Steven Yeun has got the range. The actor got his break playing Glenn Rhee in The Walking Dead and went on to work with directors Bong Joon-ho and Boots Riley. His role in Minari has earned him a lead actor Oscar nomination. NPR’s Aisha Harris reflects on Yeun’s delightful and varied career. (Pop Culture Happy Hour) NPR’s Karen Grigsby Bates chatted with Lonnie Bunch, head of the Smithsonian, about where his interest in museums began; how the pandemic has affected the art world; and his reflections on the National Museum of African American History and Culture, D.C.’s most sought-after destination, which he created. (Code Switch) The pandemic has made for a really screwy tax year. The good news? The deadline for you to file has been postponed to May 17. But lots of questions remain: Is unemployment taxed? What about stimulus checks? We broke down the filing process along with common COVID-19-related tax questions. (Life Kit) NPR's Ailsa Chang spoke to sociology professor Nancy Wang Yuen about the history of hypersexualization and fetishization of Asian women in the U.S. — and how intertwined racism and misogyny are. (All Things Considered) Listen to your local NPR station. Visit NPR.org to hear live radio from Vermont Public Radio (edit station). Enjoying this newsletter? 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