Sunday, December 8, 2019

Virginity Tests Become A Global Issue; Men Are Leaving The Workforce; How Democrats Will Impeach Trump

Plus, a new way to calculate your dog's age (yes, we have been doing it wrong)

Stories And Podcasts You May Have Missed

Activists demonstrated against virginity tests in New Delhi in 2009..
Raveendran/AFP/Getty Images
Increased globalization has resulted in virginity testing in countries that had no previous history of the practice. The test is administered for a variety of reasons: to determine whether a woman can go to school, get married or get a job — or whether she is a victim of rape.
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House Democrats will announce the articles of impeachment against the president next week with a vote potentially before Christmas. But what exactly will the articles of impeachment be? NPR's Politics team takes a look at the arguments for and against each article.

Men between the ages of 25 and 54 are leaving the U.S. workforce despite a job boom, and researchers don’t know why. The decline in male workers is concentrated almost entirely among those with high school diplomas or less or even a bit of college.

How safe is your Uber ride? The car service received 5,981 allegations of serious sexual assault in the U.S. over two years, according to a new report. The claims range from unwanted touching and kissing to rape.

Driven by a love of the outdoors, stroke survivor Geoff Babb created a wheelchair made with mountain bike components. Its purpose is to help people with serious disabilities access trail systems

A Syrian farmer says his arm was blown off and his two friends were killed by U.S. helicopter fire during an assault on an ISIS leader. His account is supported by analysis of photos of shrapnel and of a damaged van.

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Spotlight On Education

Students with disabilities aren't getting promised loan help.
Denise had no idea her student loans could be erased. In 2007, a truck rear-ended her car. The accident ravaged her legs and back, and the pain made it impossible for her to work.
Zoë van Dijk for NPR
For over half a century, student loan borrowers with a significant, permanent disability have been protected by federal law. If they can no longer work enough to support themselves, they can ask the U.S. Department of Education to erase their debts. But an NPR investigation has found that hundreds of thousands of potentially eligible borrowers — more than enough to fill a city the size of Pittsburgh — have yet to receive the relief they're entitled to.
 
Restraint and seclusion in schools - teachers' perspectives. 
"It's a rare day where you don't get hurt." "I just never felt fully comfortable." Those are just a few of the things educators told NPR about their use of restraint and seclusion in classrooms.

This Week's Listens

The rise of "ghost kitchens."
DoorDash's delivery restaurant in Redwood City, near San Francisco, is among an increasing number of "ghost kitchens" and menus that exist solely in smartphone apps.
Shannon Bond/NPR
If you've been in a restaurant, it's a familiar scene. But what's missing here are waiters and customers. Every dish is placed in a to-go box or bag. (Listening time, 4:52)
► LISTEN

A new study jolts assumptions made about living long in America.
U.S. life expectancy is declining — especially in the Midwest — and is not keeping pace with other wealthy countries. (Listening time, 4:55)
► LISTEN

Music Notes

Soundtrack for our climate emergency. 
Greta Thunberg's unlikely ascendance as a source of inspiring samples highlights something that's missing: a song that helps us sort through our globally mounting anxiety about climate change and our role in our own potential doom.
Shana Novak/Getty Images
Songs addressing climate change aren't new. But the new music that does so seems animated less by a sunny streak of mainstream activism and more by a certain feeling we all seem to be sharing.

Animal House

Does your dog really love you? 
Does your dog really love you?
Photos by R A Kearton/Getty Images
Canine expert and author Clive Wynne draws on studies from his lab and around the world to explain what biology, neuroscience and genetics reveal about dogs and love. Also, there is a new way to calculate your dog's age  (yes, we have been doing it wrong). 

If you give an orangutan a kazoo...
A growing body of evidence shows that humans may not be the only great apes who have voice control — experts explain on this episode of Short Wave. (Listening time, 11:59)
► LISTEN

Deadly scorpions infest Brazil
There has been an explosion of deadly scorpions in Brazilian urban centers. They have plenty of food and no natural predator. (Listening time, 3:32)
► LISTEN

--By Suzette Lohmeyer

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