There are many divisive topics to navigate at holiday dinners: politics, religion, and on the tastier side, cranberry sauce. But there’s more to this humble berry than whether it’s better homemade or in a can. Special Correspondent Joie Chen shares some cranberry facts you can bring to the Thanksgiving table.
Every year, tens of thousands of women and girls disappear in the U.S. Each disappearance is a tragedy, but for missing Black people, their cases remain unsolved four times longer than those of white people. Experts say that’s due to a lack of media attention, slower police responses, and communities that fail to push for answers. Soledad O’Brien serves as an executive producer of Black and Missing, a 4 part HBO documentary series focused on those unsolved cases. Ahead of its November 23 debut, she speaks with Derrica and Natalie Wilson. They started the Black and Missing Foundation in 2008 to find answers for grieving families.
For more information, visit the Black and Missing Foundation.
American students are struggling to get to school. About 25 million students rely on school buses, but more than 80 percent of school districts say they’re desperate for bus drivers. The nationwide shortage has hit rural areas especially hard, where many families might not have another option. Correspondent Laura Chavez travels to Carroll, Iowa where the school district has had to think outside the box when it comes to getting kids to class.
About two million women in the U.S. are no longer part of the workforce. Since February 2020, they’ve either lost their jobs due to the pandemic, or found it made more sense for them to continue staying at home. Janet Currie is the Henry Putnam Professor of Economics and Public Affairs at Princeton University, and co-directs the Program on Families and Children at the National Academy of Medicine. Soledad talks to her about what this mass exodus could mean for the future of the U.S. economy.
COVID cases may be on the decline, but our nation’s hospitals are still taking a hit. Before the pandemic, emergency room departments were already overwhelmed. Then when COVID patients flooded the ER, other patients had to stay at home. Now, they’re sicker than ever as the health care industry deals with a massive worker shortage. Soledad talks to Dr. Lisa Morena-Walton, president of the American Academy of Emergency Medicine, about the lack of relief.
A program in Fayetteville, North Carolina is hoping to prepare today’s children to build a more sustainable tomorrow. Students at the Academy of Green Technology are learning not just about the climate crisis, but also concrete ways to make a difference in the environment. It’s led by Denise Renfro, a 2021 recipient of the EPA’s Presidential Innovation Award for environmental educators.