Morning Edition

Elementary school teacher Katy Wright in Montana decided to ask her students how they feel about having to wear masks in school.

NPR's Steve Inskeep talks to Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada about her meeting with President Biden along with other moderate Democrats to reach a deal on the Build Back Better plan.

Congress is back and trying to tackle a number of pressing issues before the end of the month, including negotiations over President Biden's infrastructure and social spending packages.

The late drug lord Pablo Escobar smuggled four hippos into his private zoo. In the 27 years since his death, the hippos have multiplied to at least 80.

Diana Kinard and Dawn Frazier started a climbing group with other Black women called Shades of Favor. In August they became the first Black American women to ascend the almost 20,000 foot peak.

Four years after the Walker Arts Center in Minneapolis was rocked by protests over a sculpture that inflamed the indigenous community, a new structure by artist Angela Two Stars helps to make amends.

NPR's Steve Inskeep talks to Jack Nicas of The New York Times about a panel in Brazil expected to recommend that the country's president be charged with homicide for his handling of the pandemic.

The Netflix employee resource group supporting trans and nonbinary people is demanding better representation, both on-screen and in management.

Israeli settlers are pressing ahead with a new outpost on occupied West Bank land — closing it off to Palestinians and posing a test for Israeli leaders who will have to rule on it.

Federal investigators have implicated much of Detroit's city hall in a corruption probe involving council members and their staffs. Bribery and campaign finance violations are central to the claims.

Pianist Lara Downes' latest mini-album traces the story of the Great Migration of Black Americans from the south in the early to mid-20th century, with music by Florence Price and Harry T. Burleigh.

Democrats aim to wrap up their to-do list. A Florida school district will pay $25 million to the families of Parkland shooting victims. School board elections are the new political battlefields.