Consider This from NPR Folgen

This all started with a guest essay by Tom Hanks for The New York Times called "You Should Learn the Truth About the Tulsa Race Massacre," in which Hanks made the case for a more widespread teaching of American history involving Black Americans, especially of events like the Tulsa Race Massacre. He wrote: "History was mostly written by white people about white people like me, while the history of Black people — including the horrors of Tulsa — was too often left out. Until relatively recently, the entertainment industry, which helps shape what is history and what is forgotten, did the same. That includes projects of mine."NPR TV and film critic Eric Deggans appreciated those words, but wrote in a column of his own that Hanks could do more from his powerful perch in Hollywood. Eric speaks to host Audie Cornish about the reaction to his column, and how Hollywood reckons with its own power. (And no, he is not trying to cancel Tom Hanks.) In participating regions, you'll also hear a local news segment that will help you make sense of what's going on in your community.Email us at considerthis@npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Juneteenth, the celebration to commemorate the end of chattel slavery in the United States, is the newest federal holiday after President Biden signed it into law on Thursday. It's another example of how the racial reckoning following the murder of George Floyd has been reshaping the way Americans think and talk about race. That shift is also evident in reparation programs for Black descendants of slaves that are being enacted by groups around the country. The Virginia Theological Seminary, for example, has started cutting checks to descendants of the forced labor the campus long relied on. The city of Evanston, Ill., has started to offer housing grants to its Black residents, and other progressive local governments are considering similar approaches. Despite increasing interest in reparations, there is not yet widespread acceptance among Americans. A recent poll from the University of Massachusetts Amherst shows that two-thirds of the U.S. does not agree with cash reparations on a federal scale.Professor Tatishe Nteta ran the poll. He explains what the findings say about the political future of reparations in the U.S. In participating regions, you'll also hear a local news segment that will help you make sense of what's going on in your community.Email us at considerthis@npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Last month, President Biden laid out an ambitious goal: to get 70% of adults in the U.S. at least one vaccine dose by July 4. With less than three weeks to go, that goal may too ambitious, Harvard epidemiologist Bill Hanage tells NPR, and some states may see localized outbreaks this year. Still — nearly two dozen states have already exceeded the 70% threshold. Many are clustered in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, while states with the lowest rates are largely in the South and Southwest. But there is one exception: New Mexico — where some counties report vaccination rates as high as 90%. NPR's Kirk Siegler explains why. In participating regions, you'll also hear a local news segment that will help you make sense of what's going on in your community.Email us at considerthis@npr.org. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy