Powering the civil rights movement, one plate of soul food at a time

The permafrost is thawing, and with it the plants, animal carcasses and microbes – many fantastically preserved – that have been frozen within it for centuries. Some won't have survived the cold, but those that have could have a huge impact on our species and planet.

Jed Conklin for NPR Border arrests are at a 46-year low, so Trump immigration authorities have a new target: Those with clean records, far inside the country Manuel was up at 5:30 a.m., about to head off to one of the three jobs he worked to support his wife and kids, when the agents showed up. He’d crossed the border illegally in 1998, but hadn’t committed a crime since. The arrest, one of 13,744 like it in the U.S. last year, wreaked havoc on Manuel’s family: His oldest son left college to be the family’s breadwinner, but as a DACA recipient he’s at risk too. The increased arrests also have affected some unexpected communities. Gregory Holt/The New England Journal of Medicine Would you perform CPR on this man? That's the quandary doctors at a Florida emergency room were presented with when he was brought in unconscious, his condition worsening. Should a tattoo, complete with signature, be treated as a patient's legally binding wishes? An ethicist helped them decide to let him go, which later was supported by a document he'd signed. But the question sparked a debate that's still buzzing in the medical community. Kirk Siegler/NPR In this small Montana town, a real estate spat turned into a yearlong torrent of neo-Nazi death threats "You should go jump in an oven," one Facebook post to the rabbi read. "We're going to come cremate you," read another. Yet another threatened her teenage son. The messages, sent to people across the Whitefish, Mont., seemed to emanate from users of a neo-Nazi website after a disagreement in town involving Richard Spencer’s mother and a Jewish Realtor. Targets found they had no legal recourse, but a lawsuit’s been filed against the site. Vahram Muradyan for NPR In the increasingly unfrozen north, dangerous creatures are stirring back to life For the first time in centuries, which covers a quarter of the Northern Hemisphere to depths as great as 1,000 feet — is softening, like a stick of butter left out on the counter. Embedded within it are flash-frozen plants, carcasses of extinct mammals, and microbes — including smallpox and other worrisome bugs. The noninfectious bacteria pose a threat, too: They could convert all that dead matter into more CO2 than humans have released since the Industrial Revolution. Yuri Gripas/AFP/Getty Images As the president and conservative outlets lash out at the FBI, agents wonder if they’ll still be able to do their jobs In the past, the bureau’s latched onto its investigative or operational failures — Ruby Ridge, Waco, Sept. 11. But as former head Robert Mueller and his team pursue evidence of Russian involvement in the 2016 election, Republicans are decrying the law enforcement agency as a "criminal cabal" and a den of partisan operatives. It could hurt a lot of cases, an alumnus says: agents "rely on people talking to them and believing in the credibility of the FBI." You received this message because you're subscribed to our Best of NPR emails. |  Unsubscribe  |  Privacy Policy | NPR 1111 N. CAPITOL ST. NE WASHINGTON DC 20002