Trump hangs up on NPR; the plight of returned items; your Wordle fix

View this email online January 16, 2022 This week, we looked at COVID-19 test guidance, the word game that’s winning over social media and what happens to all those post-holiday returns. Plus, NPR's Scott Simon has a few recommendations.  Scott’s Weekly Weigh-in Jason Tidwell/Mattel   Our daughters are too old for Barbie dolls. But I’m not. Shortly before the weekend in which we recall Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and other heroes in the struggle for equal rights, Mattel announced that an Ida B. Wells Barbie will join their Inspiring Women series, alongside Helen Keller, Susan B. Anthony, Rosa Parks, Sally Ride and others.  Ida B. Wells, who was born into slavery, published the Memphis Free Speech and Headlight newspaper and bravely reported on lynching at great personal risk. I asked Professor Paula Giddings of Smith College, author of Ida: A Sword Among Lions: Ida B. Wells and the Campaign Against Lynching, how she felt to see an Ida B. Wells Barbie.  “I’m of two minds,” she told me. “I like that you see her holding the newspaper she put out to report on lynching. At the same time, I worry about Ida becoming Barbie-fied, just another doll. I hope when children see her, they will find out what she did in dangerous times, and ask, ‘How can we do any less?’”  I also had the honor to interview Corey Hawkins, one of the stars of Joel Coen’s striking new production of The Tragedy of Macbeth. The accomplished Shakespearean is lyrical about how those plays can still speak to all of us. Ever wonder what’s inside the Gates of Hell? George Kourounis, the great photographer, liked his 17 seconds there. By the way, 12 people have walked on the moon. Only George has been to the Gates of Hell — and back.   Finally, I had the sad duty to remember a friend in this week’s essay: Terry Teachout, the great critic and playwright who also wrote so movingly about his own personal loss and the power of art to lift us. Scott Simon Scott Simon is one of NPR's most renowned news anchors. He is the host of Weekend Edition Saturday and one of the hosts of the morning news podcast Up First. Be sure to listen to him every Saturday on your local NPR station, and follow him on Twitter. Newsletter continues after sponsor message by Rachel Treisman Stories You Might Have Missed Sean Rayford/Getty Images    NPR’s Steve Inskeep spoke with former President Donald Trump this week, in a phone interview six years in the making. Trump repeatedly tried to assert misinformation about his election loss and hung up abruptly after just about nine minutes.  Have you heard about Wordle yet? The free, online word game – which is the same for everyone and playable only once a day – is dominating Twitter feeds and family text chains worldwide. NPR spoke to creator Josh Wardle (get it?) about the game’s origins and skyrocketing popularity. As the U.S. grapples with surging COVID-19 cases, overcrowded hospitals and mixed public health messaging, many of us just want to know how we can get our hands on tests. Households will be able to order four free at-home test kits online starting Wednesday. Plus, as of this weekend, private health insurers must cover up to eight at-home tests per month. NPR updated its handy guide on when to test, what kind to use and what the results mean.  Who gets to use the most powerful telescope in space? NASA recently deployed the highly-anticipated, long-delayed James Webb Telescope, which many astronomers are (understandably) itching to use. They go through a selection process that was carefully designed to reduce the effect of unconscious biases.  With the season of holiday purchases and presents behind us, it’s time to talk about returns. Americans as a whole end up returning a lot of the stuff we buy – an estimated half a trillion dollars’ worth last year, as NPR’s Alina Selyukh reports. And we’re buying more than ever before. So where are all of these ill-fitting clothes, upgraded appliances and unwanted toys going?  ➡️ Depending on value, they can be returned to shelves, resold to merchants or relegated to landfills. As one expert told Selyukh, most consumers don’t realize “the life of a return is a very, very sad path." ➡️ Some wind up at places like the Treasure Hunt Bin Megastore in Raleigh, N.C., where resellers battle for items they can flip for profit. Planet Money followed two of these entrepreneurs into the trenches.   ➡️ Some people order pallets of returns, with little to no idea of what’s actually inside – on purpose and in the name of entertainment. They record and post YouTube videos of themselves going through the goods, to the delight and fascination of viewers like pop culture correspondent Linda Holmes.    Before You Go Ana Galvañ for NPR    It’s been a tough few weeks, months, years … If you’re looking to start this one off on a bright new note, look no further than NPR’s Life Kit. The team is bringing us 22 tips for 2022, with daily, actionable advice for everything from quieting your inner critic to cutting back on plastic to giving a stranger your number.   Amy Schneider is breaking records and captivating audiences as the highest-winning female Jeopardy! contestant and first openly trans contestant to qualify for the show’s Tournament of Champions. She spoke to NPR about the positive impact of her visibility.  For one Latinx graphic novelist, superheroes can be real – or even family. Henry Barajas’ first book was about his great grandfather, who helped the Pascua Yaqui Tribe gain federal recognition in the 1970s. He’s back with a new fantasy book that incorporates Aztec history, which he says he pitched as "What if Mordor had a southside?"    Ronnie Spector, lead singer of the 1960s girl group The Ronettes, died this week at age 78. If you’re listening back to their greatest hits in her memory, be sure to check out this deep dive into how “Be My Baby” became a pop-culture sound of sex in 1987, two decades after its release.  On a fluffier note … We learned that Israeli researchers taught goldfish to drive, and house cats in Canada have been holding their owners’ Vitamix blender hostage for a month. We also mourned the passing of heroic, bomb-sniffing rat Magawa, and heard about the ecological debate over Pablo Escobar’s “cocaine hippos.”  Listen to your local NPR station. Visit NPR.org to hear live radio from WUFT 89.1 (edit station). Enjoying this newsletter? Forward to a friend! They can sign up here. Looking for more great content? 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