Month: May 2020

Earlier this year, 38 Planned Parenthood affiliates around the United States received over $80 million in loans from the federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Now, the Small Business Administration (SBA) is pressuring those affiliates to return the loans, arguing that they were not eligible for them in the first place.

The loans, distributed as part of a program designed to help small employers keep paying their staff during the economic crisis brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, were crucial for the clinics that received them, Planned Parenthood representatives say.

In normal times, the clinics provide reproductive health services from …

A new poll from the Associated Press/NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows that only about half of Americans are ready to resume many of the activities they regularly did prior to the coronavirus pandemic, like watching a movie or attending a sporting event, if given the option.

The survey results underscore the reality that reviving the US economy is not just a matter of opening businesses and venues, but of the public’s perception about the safety of venturing out to crowded spaces and interacting with high-touch surfaces.

The survey, taken from May 14 to 18 (with a …

The Department of Justice has weighed in on stay-at-home orders in Illinois and California — and has warned officials in both states that the federal government believes they may be exceeding their legal authority with their current means of containing the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Justice Department’s signals — a statement of interest backing a lawsuit against Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s lockdown order, and letters to both Los Angeles officials and California’s governor — are part of an initiative announced last month by Attorney General William Barr meant to monitor and take legal action against any state …

As we’ve learned, it takes just one person infected with Covid-19 to unleash chaos.

In Washington state, a person with the virus attended a choir practice, and more than half of the other singers subsequently got sick. In South Korea, a 29-year-old man went out to nightclubs; he was Covid-19 positive, and he has since been linked to at least 54 new cases. In China, nine people sitting in the path of an air conditioning vent in a restaurant all got sick, most likely from one person, as the duct blew viral particles across their faces.

Small things could …

“This is my deathbed confession.”

So says Norma McCorvey at the beginning of AKA Jane Roe, a new documentary about her life as the plaintiff in the landmark 1973 Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade. When McCorvey, identified in court papers as Jane Roe, became pregnant in 1969, abortion was illegal in her state. She sued for the right to end her pregnancy, and though the case took years — enough time for her to give birth and place the child for adoption — she eventually won, establishing the right to an abortion for all Americans.

After Roe …

During a Friday interview on The Breakfast Club radio show, former Vice President Joe Biden made a controversial comment in an attempt to highlight his strength with black voters. “Well, I tell you what, if you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t black,” Biden said as he signed off from a conversation with show host, Charlamagne tha God.

“It don’t have nothing to do with Trump, it has to do with the fact — I want something for my community,” Charlamagne responded.

Biden’s comment followed a wide-ranging interview, during …

At a press conference Friday afternoon, President Trump announced that he would order churches reopened despite the coronavirus pandemic — something he almost certainly does not have the power to do.

State governors, Trump claimed, need to allow churches to reopen “right now, for this weekend.” He added that “if they don’t do it, I will override the governors.”

Trump also reportedly ordered the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to release guidance for houses of worship seeking to reopen.

There have been several outbreaks of coronavirus that were traced back to church gatherings. In April, at least …

Today, Explained has always been a musical show. Every episode features scoring and rich sound design. And of course there were the parody songs. But while those were fun, I’m more proud of the original music we’ve featured on the show. Maybe because I wrote a lot of it.

Over the past couple of years, listeners have asked, “When are you guys going to drop an album?” We finally have an answer: today.

Today, Explained: Greatest Hits is now streaming everywhere. Find our album of original songs on Spotify, , Tidal, and . We’ve even embedded a stream …

And so we come to the end of The Secret History — but not to the end of our discussion! Next week, we’ll be meeting on Zoom for our May live event.

“But Constance,” you say, “what could possibly top April’s event with N.K. Jemisin? Surely you haven’t landed Donna Tartt herself?”

No I have not, gentle reader; Donna Tartt does not do events. But we have found someone we think will be perfect to talk the book with.

On Thursday, May 28 at 5 pm, I’ll be hanging out on Zoom with the queen of the internet …

The Senate is leaving for a one-week Memorial Day recess without advancing any new coronavirus stimulus measures.

While the House approved a $3 trillion round of stimulus last week, Senate Republicans dismissed the legislation and have yet to offer any alternative of their own. The recess, which was previously scheduled, comes as top Republicans like Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy question the urgency of additional funding and raise concerns about the national debt.

“I don’t see the need right now,” McCarthy told CNN on Tuesday. McConnell was more circumspect, but similarly hesitant. …