Doechii, known as the "Swamp Princess," arrived at NPR HQ radiating confidence. She moved with purpose, knowing exactly what she wanted and how to achieve it. Her declarative statement, "I'm everything," from "BOOM BAP" off her Grammy-nominated mixtape, ALLIGATOR BITES NEVER HEAL, was on full display in her Tiny Desk debut.

Backed by a full band, horns and two background singers, Doechii's performance was a masterclass in creativity. Sporting vintage academia looks, complete with matching cornrows and beads, Doechii delivers a freshly rearranged medley of cuts from ALLIGATOR BITES NEVER HEAL, tailored specifically for Tiny Desk. While hip-hop remained at the core, she truly gave us everything: a jazz arrangement of "BOOM BAP," heavy rock vibes on "CATFISH" and a Southern praise break outro on "NISSAN ALTIMA."

She closed her set with "Black Girl Memoir" from her debut album, Oh The Places You'll Go. Before performing, she shared, "I wrote this song specifically for Black women. As a dark-skinned woman, there's a very unique experience I'm trying to internalize … This is dedicated to all the beautiful Black women in the room." While her star has been steadily on the rise since her debut, 2024 is shaping up to be the year Doechii cements herself as a household name.

SET LIST

• "BOOM BAP"
• "BOILED PEANUTS"
• "DENIAL IS A RIVER"
• "CATFISH"
• "NISSAN ALTIMA"
• "BULLFROG"
• "HIDE N SEEK"
• "Black Girl Memoir"

MUSICIANS

• Doechii: vocals
• Tyler Victoria: guitar
• Dee Simone: drums
• Tatiana Tate: trumpeter, arrangement
• Hammondgal: keyboards 
• DJ Miss Milan: vocals
• BREN'NAE: background vocals
• Emmani: background vocals
• Keschia Potter : saxophone
• Zuri Appleby: bassist
• SlimWav: musical direction

TINY DESK TEAM

• Producers: Ashley Pointer, Bobby Carter
• Director/Editor: Joshua Bryant
• Audio Technical Director: Josh Newell
• Videographers: Joshua Bryant, Kara Frame, Sofia Seidel, Wendy Li
• Audio Engineer: Josephine Nyounai
• Production Assistant: Elle Mannion
• Photographer: Alanté Serene
• Tiny Desk Team: Maia Stern, Hazel Cills
• Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed
• Series Creators: Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson
• VP, Visuals and Music: Keith Jenkins

Copyright 2025 Smack Campus Magazine Contributor Ashley Pointer npr.org

When Dua Lipa came to visit the Tiny Desk, she had nothing to prove — and much to live up to. After all, the singer’s Tiny Desk (home) concert, recorded in London in the aftermath of her 2020 blockbuster Future Nostalgia, still holds the record for the most-viewed Tiny Desk concert in history, her 130 million views surpassing even the likes of Mac Miller and Anderson .Paak.

Four years later, the pop superstar finally graced the actual Tiny Desk, this time armed with four warm and inviting songs from Radical Optimism. Arriving in the first half of this year — when the dominant storylines in music so often revolved around grievances and rivalries — Radical Optimism stood out for its comparatively sunny and forgiving takes on failed and failing relationships, seduction, new love and old wounds. And, of course, it dispensed a world-beating banger in “Houdini,” which joins past Dua Lipa classics (“New Rules,” “Levitating,” “Don’t Start Now”) on her own personal Mount Rushmore.

Befitting an artist whose newest songs often reflect the pursuit of personal growth — see: “Happy for You” — Lipa and her team breezed through the NPR Music offices with a mix of low-drama professionalism and unmistakable warmth. We’ve dealt with a lot of stars (and their teams) over the years, and as often as people ask us to dish about people who’ve been difficult, we’ve mostly accumulated stories of people who’ve been lovely to have around. Even among all those, Lipa and her people stood out: They were kind, gracious, fun and game.

That shows up on camera, too, as you’ll see here. This is joyful music, at a time when we could all use it.

SET LIST

• “Training Season”
• “These Walls”
• “Happy for You”
• “Houdini”

MUSICIANS

• Dua Lipa: vocals
• Matthew Carroll: bass
• Adam "Smiley" Wade: drums
• Alex Lanyon: guitar
• Georgie Ward: keys
• Ciara O’Connor: vocals
• Naomi Scarlett: vocals
• Sophie Galpin: glockenspiel, vocals

TINY DESK TEAM

• Producers: Bobby Carter, Stephen Thompson
• Director/Editor: Kara Frame
• Audio Technical Director: Josh Newell
• Host/Series Producer: Bobby Carter
• Videographers: Kara Frame, Joshua Bryant, Maia Stern, Alanté Serene
• Audio Engineer: Tiffany Vera Castro
• Production Assistant: Ashley Pointer
• Photographer: Grace Widyatmadja
• Tiny Desk Copy Editor: Hazel Cills
• Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed
• Series Creators: Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson
• VP, Visuals and Music: Keith Jenkins

Copyright 2025 Smack Campus Magazine: contributor Stephen Thompson npr.org

The process of artistic creation makes for perfect storytelling. There's the unsexy doubt and the exhilarating breakthroughs, the fortifying confirmations and the sticky pockets. It is a messy process. This whole creative affair gets stickier when the artist is a band full of complex personalities and fraught relationships.

This is the central premise of David Adjmi's play Stereophonic, which ends its Broadway run on Jan. 12. The play garnered a record 13 Tony nominations and took home five, including best play. So what is a play doing at the Tiny Desk? Well, the play features an album's worth of original music from Will Butler (formerly of Arcade Fire), whose lyrics provide insight into five people falling apart when they should be coming together creatively. The music is performed by the original Broadway cast members Will Brill (who won a Tony for his performance), Juliana Canfield, Tom Pecinka, Sarah Pidgeon and Chris Stack, who are joined here by composer Butler and music director and orchestrator Justin Craig.

The cast treats us to "Bright (Fast)" featuring Pidgeon's earthy twang, the Pecinka-led "Seven Roads" and Canfield's contemplative duo of "Drive" (supported by Stack and Brill's propulsive beat) and "In Your Arms." Throughout the performance, Butler and Craig provide embellishments that help build out the sonic footprint of the tunes. Our unnamed band (as the audience never quite learns its actual name) closes the set with "Masquerade" in all its grooving '70s rock grandeur.

SET LIST

• "Bright (Fast)"
• "Seven Roads"
• "Drive"
• "In Your Arms"
• "Masquerade"

MUSICIANS

• Will Butler: piano, guitar, vocals, composition
• Justin Craig: guitar, music direction
• Will Brill (as Reg): bass
• Juliana Canfield (as Holly): piano, vocals
• Tom Pecinka (as Peter): guitar, vocals
• Sarah Pidgeon (as Diana): vocals
• Chris Stack (as Simon): drums

TINY DESK TEAM

• Producer: Mitra I. Arthur
• Director/Editor: Joshua Bryant
• Audio Technical Director: Josh Newell
• Host/Series Producer: Bobby Carter
• Videographers: Joshua Bryant, Kara Frame, Maia Stern, Zayhra Rodriguez
• Audio Engineer: Neil Tevault
• Production Assistant: Ashley Pointer
• Photographer: Alanté Serene
• Tiny Desk Copy Editor: Hazel Cills
• Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed
• Series Creators: Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson
• VP, Visuals and Music: Keith Jenkins

Copyright 2025 Smack Campus Magazine: Contributor Mitra I. Arthur npr.org

Saudade is a Portuguese word that can be roughly defined as a feeling of melancholy, nostalgia or yearning for something that is beloved but not present. There's no perfect translation, but one of the closest English expressions of the word I've ever seen is Billie Eilish's Tiny Desk performance.

You'd think the Los Angeles-born singer invented the term. Every breath is so full of indulgent melancholy, hopeful regret, at 22 years old she's become a captivating fixture of what it means, or rather what it feels, to love and lose simultaneously.

Trading belting vocals and rocking guitar for gentle piano and almost-breaking falsetto, she reimagines tracks like "THE GREATEST" in their most raw and honest form. In Eilish's world, love's purest forms are inherently terrifying. Therein lies her star power — she effortlessly, relentlessly brings to the fore the trickier emotions many of us tuck away for fear of what the world might think.

"I don't know what I'm crying for, I don't think I could love you more," she sings on "BIRDS OF A FEATHER." Turns out the world is made up of a lot of people who just want to be seen, and this stripped down set is the perfect space for Eilish to give listeners just that.

SET LIST

• "THE GREATEST"
• "L'AMOUR DE MA VIE"
• "i love you"
• "BIRDS OF A FEATHER"

MUSICIANS

• Billie Eilish: vocals
• Finneas: guitar
• Andrew Marshall: drums
• Solo Smith: bass
• Abe Nouri: piano

TINY DESK TEAM

• Producer: Bobby Carter
• Director/Editor: Maia Stern
• Audio Technical Director: Josh Newell
• Videographers: Maia Stern, Joshua Bryant, Kara Frame, Alanté Serene
• Audio Engineer: Neil Tevault
• Production Assistant: Ashley Pointer
• Photographer: Zayrha Rodriguez
• Tiny Desk Copy Editor: Hazel Cills
• Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed
• Series Creators: Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson
• VP, Visuals and Music: Keith Jenkins

Copyright 2025 Smack Campus Magazine: Contributor Anamaria Artemisa Sayre npr.org

Introduction: The Importance of DEI in Aviation

For decades, the skies have been dominated by a narrow demographic, but Black pilots have a vibrant history in aviation. Throughout history, they were determined to break down barriers with their hard work, skill, and resilience. These aviators still encounter misconceptions, difficult challenges, and fears about Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). Like many other industries, the aviation industry has beenobtuse to accept diversity. This results in black pilots facing underrepresentation along with other minorities in the aviation industry.

The Lies About Black Pilots: Calling Out The Industry & Media Trolls in Aviation

The many pervasive challenges Black pilots encounter throughout history- and still do today- come from individuals who believe that DEI jeopardizes aviation safety and professionalism. The aviation industry has always been and still is dominated by white men. The idea of “not being qualified” has always been a racial stigma that the black community has had to cope with historically. The trolls have surged social media and online forums with bogus accusations targeting Black pilots, criticizing their competency based solely on prejudice. Charlie Kirk, a conservative, sparked uproar with his comments on black pilots. He is always known for sturring controversy and also enjoys debating college students. Kirk was talking about what he thinks to be terrible effects of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies, which are intended to encourage people from ethnic minorities to seek jobs in fields that do not reflect thm.

Charlie Kirk blamed DEI for his racist comment about Black pilots.

Kirk also implied he doesn’t want “LaQueesha James” flying his plane or a Black lesbian operating on him…

Videos and story— https://t.co/StmFpfDJpv

— PatriotTakes 🇺🇸 (@patriottakes) January 24, 2024

Kirk is wrong for several reasons, Kirk's alleged fear of black pilots is unwarranted, and such unverified remarks do little to persuade others in the country that these left-wing schemes are dangerous. Furthermore, considering Kirk's lack of aviation experience, the Tuskegee Airmen would certainly appreciate a word Also, consider that the pilots of all significant commercial airline crashes in the United States. This would entirely undermine Kirk's claims and demonstrate that his purported concerns are unjustified or motivated by an agenda. If Kirk is concerned when he sees black pilots, if he sees any at all, he should be comforted to know that every historical record and statistic shows that his pearl-clutching is unfounded.

Of course this was going to happen… https://t.co/9F0mUWv8so

— PatriotTakes 🇺🇸 (@patriottakes) January 27, 2024

These discriminations frequently repeat the same fallacies that were disseminated during World War II, when the legendary Tuskegee Airmen, an all-Black squadron, were questioned not for their talent, but for their skin color. Today's online trolls are just rehashing old, invalidated assertions, hiding behind pseudonym names, and claiming that boosting diversity through DEI projects would decrease standards. However, this could not be further from reality. Hostility to DEI, particularly among White males in aviation, stems from a fear of losing power in an industry that has historically been homogeneous. It's a type of gatekeeping aimed at keeping the status quo in place, with White male pilots serving as the standard bearers of aviation, despite evidence that diversity promotes safety, creativity, and problem-solving.

The Challenges Black Pilots Face in Work Culture

Racism, Slow recognition, Segregation, Doubt, etc. are the many challenges black pilots face. These generational issues are a view that black people still have to contend with. Black pilots today are underrepresented. Black pilots frequently feel undermined by this lack of diversity, especially when dealing with prejudice from coworkers, passengers, and even management. The Tuskegee Airmen had a lot on their plates. Their biggest misconception is that they were inferior to white men. Assuming that Black troops lacked the discipline and aptitude to operate cutting-edge aircraft and perform in combat situations, White military authorities and the general public questioned their intelligence, bravery, and skill. The Tuskegee Airmen performed exceptionally well, completing demanding training and serving with distinction in World War II despite these prejudices. In addition to dispelling the notion of racial inferiority, their success helped to desegregate the U.S. military, which was a turning point in the struggle for equality and forced a country to reevaluate its ideas about aptitude and race. The African American Organization Aerospace of Professionals (AAOBAP) claims that these difficulties are a result of a lengthy history of racial discrimination in the aviation industry, where Black pilots have traditionally been subjected to preconceptions that cast doubt on their abilities. These prejudices still exist today, as evidenced by the fact that many pilots encounter microaggressions or are misidentified as other crew members, which highlights the continued influence of stereotypes on Black aviation professionals.

And the Fight continues

With the constant trolling, racism, and discrimination, there will always be people like Charlie Kirk. Black pilots have consistently demonstrated their talent, tenacity, and commitment to the sky despite a history of prejudice and skepticism. From the first Tuskegee Airmen to today's successful pilots, their contributions highlight a history of bravery and skill that has dispelled myths and raised the bar for aviation. These men and women unquestionably demonstrate that the obstacles they encounter are not related to competence but rather to perception, embodying the perfection expected—and necessary—of any elite force. As the tale of Black pilots develops, it becomes evident that they are not only capable but also leaders in the struggle for respect, equality, and representation in the airspace and beyond.

Copyright 2024 Smack Campus Magazine A Smack Media Group Company

When I greeted Sabrina Carpenter at NPR HQ for her Tiny Desk debut, her charm was immediately disarming. Bubbling with excitement, she extended her hand, introduced herself and complimented my outfit with genuine warmth. You'd think this was one of her first "big time" gigs, not a regular performance for a pop veteran, having sold out arenas across the country touring her now six time Grammy-nominated sixth album, Short n' Sweet. That humility made me love her even more.

But Carpenter delivers far more than just charm in this performance. Backed by her band, complimented with pedal steel and a string quartet, she reimagines her biggest hits from Short n' Sweet, while sharing the stories in between songs of how these tracks came to life. Opening with "Taste," strings serve up some playful pizzicato, before Carpenter and her band move into a lush, soulful version of "Bed Chem." Then everyone swaps their electric instruments for acoustic to perform "Please Please Please" and "Slim Pickins." Finally, Carpenter closes with the viral favorite "Juno," cheekily asking the audience, "Have you ever tried this one?" before sweeping her rear end across the windchimes, earning a laugh from the room.

"When I first started [writing songs] it was kinda in a room like this — a room with very dry walls and there's no reverb," Carpenter reflects at the top of her performance. "But there's something so real and special." That authenticity set the tone for a memorable session with one of 2024's biggest breakout superstars.

SET LIST

• "Taste"
• "Bed Chem"
• "Please Please Please"
• "Slim Pickins"
• "Espresso"
• "Juno"

MUSICIANS

• Sabrina Carpenter: vocals
• Haeun "hani" You: piano, keyboards
• Caleb Nelson: guitar
• Matt Park: pedal steel guitar
• Chris Johnson: drums
• Alexandra Simpson: viola
• Sarena Hsu: violin
• Yasmeen "YAS" Al-Mazeedi: violin
• Bobby Wooten III: bass
• Marza Merophi Wilks: cello
• Christine Noel Smit: background vocals
• MIA MOR: background vocals

TINY DESK TEAM

• Producers: Ashley Pointer, Bobby Carter
• Director/Editor: Kara Frame
• Audio Technical Director: Josh Newell
• Videographers: Maia Stern, Joshua Bryant, Sofia Seidel, Wendy Li
• Audio Engineer: David Greenburg
• Production Assistant: Elle Mannion
• Photographer: Zayrha Rodriguez
• Tiny Desk Copy Editor: Hazel Cills
• Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed
• Series Creators: Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson
• VP, Visuals and Music: Keith Jenkins

Copyright 2025 Smack Campus Magazine Contributor Ashley Pointer npr.org

More than 300,000 people die from drowning every year – and nearly all of these cases are preventable, according to a new report from the World Health Organization (WHO).

It's the first-ever global report from WHO on how to prevent drownings, drawn from surveying 139 countries.

Children are the highest-risk group, the report found. Nearly a quarter of all drowning deaths happen among children under age 4. Another 19% of drowning deaths are among kids between ages 5 and 14.

That means drowning is a leading cause of death for children across the globe.

"It is definitely underrecognized, and it is extremely devastating -- yet so preventable," said Caroline Lukaszyk, a technical officer for injury prevention at the WHO. "No matter where you live, what context you're in, it's still preventable."

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In addition to laying out the depth of the problem, the report highlights what is working in some countries to bring down the drowning toll, she added. The solutions are low-tech but very effective – like using empty soda bottles as flotation devices.

With simple techniques like these, drownings have dropped by 38% since 2000, the report found – but it remains a major public health issue. And the threat is evolving as climate change makes floods more frequent and severe.

Lukaszyk talked to NPR about the new report and about why drowning is a public health issue.

This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

How did you assemble this report — the first from WHO on how to prevent drowning.

We had 139 countries who voluntarily said, yes, we want to understand the situation of drowning better in our countries. And it wasn't a small task to undertake. We asked them to convene up to 10 different national stakeholders who work on different areas -- health and transport and education and social welfare and [water safety] -- and have a discussion on drowning. And I think quite often a lot of people would sit down and say, why are we talking about this? Why am I here? Why was I invited, as the ports authority, to discuss this issue by [the department of] health?

The report found that 300,000 people die of drowning every year.

Yeah, absolutely. And 300,000 is a pretty significant underestimate, because the data that we're using doesn't capture drowning deaths that happen during floods and other natural disasters, and it also doesn't capture drowning deaths that happen during transport accidents — think about boating, think about the large passenger ferries in Bangladesh and India, in Southeast Asia, that go down.

Those deaths aren't counted in our statistics, and that's primarily because of the difficulty in classifying those deaths in a disaster. There is often a body count, but the cause of death is rarely recorded. There's some research that came out recently that said 75% of deaths during floods are attributed to drowning. So we do know a large proportion is a result of drowning, but we just don't have those really strong statistics.

Are people surprised when you say drowning is a public health issue?

Yes, they are. Often. Whenever I speak about the issue of drowning, people look at me like, "What are you talking about?" This is a pretty new issue for a lot of people [in public health]. It's entirely under-recognized.

And this is because we made so much progress in things like vaccine program rollouts and treating neonatal conditions better, and now we see that injury is the one of the main causes of death for children and young people.

I think it's really important to frame this as a public health issue. If we're saying that it's a public health crisis, a public health issue, then that's WHO's mandate.

So you're hoping this report will bring a change in attitude — that drowning is not an unpreventable accident.

Accidents are always considered these unavoidable things that just happen entirely randomly.

And the report's message is ...

The vast majority of drowning deaths are preventable. And this is another thing that's really quite amazing: The recommendations for drowning prevention are cost-effective. They're scalable. They can be implemented in all types of settings.

Why are kids so vulnerable?

They're running around, they have a little bit more independence. They may not have appropriate swimming and water safety skills, so they don't know how to safely interact with water. Also, their risk assessment isn't fully developed. This all leads to these situations where they could interact with water in a really dangerous or unsafe way.

A lot of the drowning burden is in Southeast Asia and Africa. Mothers are looking after their households, they may have multiple children, there may not be any daycare services or early childhood care available.

And there are ponds and water bodies and rivers everywhere throughout the communities. People need those water bodies for drinking, for cooking, for washing, for bathing -- it's a critical part of life. But it's also a risk, especially for this really young age group who are often near the water unsupervised.

How do you talk about prevention in a way that doesn't make parents feel guilty?

It's not saying, "you should be doing this differently or this better, or why wasn't this done?" It's talking about really simple measures like play pens or barriers at the front door of your home, and these can be made out of locally available materials, like bamboo or other types of wood available in the community.

We promote daycare, including community-based daycare of one parent looking after a group of children to make sure there is that supervision during the busy hours of the day when other mothers are doing household chores.

It's not rocket science, it's not high-tech. It is very much community-based and community-driven solutions.

Fishing communities can also have high drowning rates. A fisherman might spend his whole life near or on a lake but not know how to swim. How can those deaths be prevented?

In the African region, the [risk] profile changes to young men -- men of working age. The data we have around this is pretty scarce, but what we do have points pretty directly to occupational risk. You have these two really high-risk occupations, fishing and water transport.

It's incredible, the distances that really small watercraft cover with very limited safety equipment, through all types of weather, through day and night, taking people across huge expanses.

What can be done to bring down the drowning toll from boat accidents?

It's about checking weather alerts before you disembark from shore to make sure you know what the weather will be like over the water in the duration of time you'll be out. Around the shores of Lake Victoria, Uganda developed a special mobile tracking service where text messages get sent on a regular basis with weather warnings. There's a lot of advocacy in communities around making sure you tell your family or your community when you're leaving and when they can expect to have you back, so search and rescue can be deployed in a more timely manner.

It's about having life jackets on board. There's a lot of work being done using local materials as flotation devices. Empty two-liter plastic Coke bottles -- they're actually really great flotation devices.

They're not necessarily super high-tech solutions. But they are entirely effective.
 
What about swimming lessons?

Yes! Really awesome community-based solutions have emerged over the past 10 years. One was pioneered in Bangladesh and has been taken up in India and other countries, where local ponds are used as swimming pools. The design of this program is really careful; the swimming instructors build a scaffolding out of bamboo, and they submerge the scaffolding into the pond, so you have the safety features that you would have in a standalone pool. It's a really low-cost solution.

In Vietnam, the government commissioned this big national program. They had a goal of teaching 50% of their children between [the ages of] 5 and 14 swimming and water safety skills. But of course, in rural, remote Vietnam, there are no pools. So they organized a program with portable pools. The pool would travel with a team of swimming instructors. It would be collapsed and refilled in all these rural, remote communities. And children will be given a series of 10 weeks of swimming lessons.

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It's not to teach children to swim a perfect butterfly for 100 meters. It really is water safety and survival skills in water. How to float effectively, what to do if you're wearing clothing and something snags you.

Another component is teaching CPR to older children and adults.

Absolutely. One of the other recommendations we have is around bystander training and safe rescue and resuscitation. In remote communities, this is something that can be delivered with pretty minimal resources. You need a CPR dummy, but there are also water rescue tools that have been developed by communities.

One huge component of this water safety education is, how do you safely rescue from the shore? We had a lot of accounts of children playing together in water bodies, one child being caught in a current or snagging on something that's submerged under the water, and the other child jumping in to save them, and you have multiple fatalities.

I talked about the plastic bottles. In Thailand, we've seen a lot of communities just string up these water bottles on ropes near lakes and rivers where people have struggled before. So there are people able to stand on the shores and throw the water bottles with the rope. Another thing is just long bamboo poles [to extend to someone in trouble].

Were there any surprises in the report?

We had a lot of feedback from countries saying, "Wow, we were really sort of focusing in on the wrong areas, we had no idea it was adolescents in our specific country, and we had no idea it was really based around alcohol use, and we were doing all of this stuff around young children." You challenge your own perceptions then, and when your team are the ones deciding where government funding and budget is allocated, where different priorities are set, that's a good exercise.

What would you like to see happen next?

I'm really hoping this report does lead to more country collaboration and just more country knowledge exchange. I think that's a huge aim. You can see what's there and what's missing, and then those gaps can be filled.

Author: Melody Schreiber

Copyright 2025 Smack Campus For more stories visit our contributing partner npr.org

The 28-year-old pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason knows a thing or two about family dynamics. She's the eldest of seven young, classically trained siblings from England. (You may know her brother, cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason, whose career launched after performing at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.) Perhaps that’s why she chose another musical family as the focus of her new album, Mendelssohn. The recording is devoted to music by brother and sister Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn — two wildly gifted prodigies who wrote exquisite music in early 19th century Germany. Along with its luminous melodies, Mendelssohn tells a story of sibling rivalry. The dazzling album opener — the only orchestral work on the recording — is Felix Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto No. 1, a piece that blends the rigor of Bach, the elegance of Mozart and the raw energy of the emerging Romantics, like Chopin. Kanneh-Mason’s attentive performance, alongside the London Mozart Players and conductor Jonathan Bloxham, highlights all the details with muscle and insight. It’s worth noting that in February of 1838, Fanny herself played her brother’s concerto in what would be her only known public performance. She would always be overshadowed by Felix, who enjoyed a superstar career, writing brilliant, featherlight melodies, like those within his incidental music to Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, two selections from which follow the concerto on Kanneh-Mason’s album. She plays the intricate Rachmaninov arrangement of the Scherzo at a moderate tempo, slower than many, but with plenty of glittering fairy dust. Let’s be real, Kanneh-Mason doesn’t have Yuja Wang’s fleet fingers. No one does. But unlike some, she doesn’t pound her way through; she lets the music float in mid-air. The Nocturne, in a rarely heard arrangement by the 19th century pianist-composer Moritz Moszkowski, unfolds serenely — like a warm blanket protecting Shakespeare’s lovers. Fanny Mendelssohn and her brother were inseparable. That is until Felix and her father discouraged her dreams of a career in music. No such prejudice in the Kanneh-Mason family, where all are supported by doting parents. And Isata often performs with her own brother, Sheku. Fanny wrote some 500 pieces of music, mostly for performances in private salons. Only a fraction of them were published, including the Notturno in G minor from 1838, where Kanneh-Mason illuminates a variety of moods within the gently swaying rhythm of a Venetian gondola song. While Felix’s music takes up the bulk of this album, it is Fanny’s work, especially the enigmatic “Easter Sonata,” that is the true treasure. The 23-minute piece is solidly built, with moments of febrile repose and turbulent spasms of brute strength. Fanny wrote the sonata in 1829, but it went missing until 1970, when scholars were convinced — unsurprisingly — that Felix was the author. Finally, in 2010, new evidence proved it to be Fanny’s work. And it is clear from Kanneh-Mason’s agile and passionate performance that the music holds a special place for her. The opening, she says, feels like spring, while the arresting final movement closes with delicately lit chords, moving like a processional into the ether. Fanny Mendelssohn died of a stroke at age 41 in 1847. Felix was heartbroken, and died six months later at 38. They may have been the most naturally musical brother and sister in history. Thanks to Isata Kanneh-Mason, we have a sparkling album that documents some of their best work. By: Tom Huizenga Copyright 2024 Smack Campus Magazine to learn more visit our partner contributor npr.org

Dr. Latoya Storr was an emergency medicine physician for a hospital in Grand Bahama when Hurricane Dorian ripped across the island in 2019. The hospital flooded four feet deep in places. Storr and her colleagues had to move the intensive care unit, pediatric department, and maternal care into the emergency room area—the only space not totally flooded. Storr was particularly struck that the health risks for her patients didn't stop when the storm passed. In the first few days after the hurricane, patients showed up with bad bruises from escaping floodwaters or trying to fix their houses. People came to the hospital who had lost their medications when power went out, or they couldn't refill prescriptions. Weeks later, people started showing up with breathing issues because mold had started to grow in their flooded homes. Storr knows it's not the last time she'll experience a catastrophic storm. "Unfortunately, with climate change, one of the fears that we have is that they may be more severe in intensity," she says—a fear supported by years of climate research. A new study published in Nature Medicine looks directly at the human health impacts from severe weather like hurricanes, floods, and intense storms. The study examined Medicare records before and after weather disasters that incurred more than $1 billion of damages from 2011 to 2016. The analysis didn't include Hurricane Dorian, but it finds exactly what Storr saw: emergency admissions, and even deaths, are higher than expected for days and weeks after storms. "Based off experience that we've seen unfold in the U.S. and elsewhere, we see that there's destruction and disruption to our ability to deliver the high-quality care we want to give patients in the weeks following the weather disasters," says Renee Salas, an emergency department physician at Massachusetts General Hospital. She's also a researcher at Harvard's T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the study's lead author. The study found that six weeks after a storm, the death rate in counties with the greatest destruction was 2 to 4 times higher than in less impacted areas. That's a big jump—and those deaths, Salas says, likely went uncounted in the official death tolls. Emergency departments saw significant upticks in admissions for about two weeks following most major disasters. They could expect about 1,100 extra people to come through their doors in the first week after an average-sized hurricane, and about 30 additional deaths in the first week after a severe storm. The study focused on what happened after extreme weather events that cause more than $1 billion in damage every year. That's a category that has grown steadily over the past decade, driven in part by climate change which can worsen weather phenomena like hurricanes, severe storms, and floods. The U.S. Census Bureau recently estimated 2.5 million Americans were forced from their homes by weather disasters in 2023. In that year alone, the costs of damages to homes, roads, and other infrastructure from extreme weather totaled over $90 billion. Because health costs aren't folded into that number, it's probably an underestimate, Salas points out. Salas's team compared Medicare data from before and after storms or floods in counties that experienced significant economic damage. They looked from 2011 to 2016—a period that included Hurricanes Sandy and Irene and major storms in the Midwest in 2012. The researchers didn't include weather disasters like wildfires and droughts, because the long duration of such events complicates the statistical analyses. They also did not include heat despite heat killing more people in the U.S. than any other type of weather disaster. That's because the billion-dollar disaster database, which the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration compiles, notably does not include most extreme heat events. Similar analyses of post-disaster health impacts have been done for individual storms or disasters, says Kai Chen, an environmental health researcher at Yale University. But they rarely look out more than a few days. Chen says this new study—which looked at many disasters over several years — shows that the human costs of extreme weather are drastically undercounted. Even the new Harvard analysis likely "could be a conservative number," Chen says. Medicare covers only about 20% of the U.S. population. More people are likely being affected than were captured in the study. Chen says adding in smaller storms, heat, or wildfire health impacts would balloon the numbers. Weather disasters have "pronounced human impacts," says Greg Wellenius, an environmental epidemiologist at Boston University. He thinks that identifying those real costs, and tracking them more systematically, will help policymakers, hospital directors, and city planners figure out how to "build resilience in our communities to help protect people today and into the future," he says. Salas remembers a patient who came directly to the emergency department in Boston after getting off a plane from Puerto Rico a few weeks after Hurricane Maria in 2017. She had a ziplock baggie full of empty prescription bottles. Pharmacies on the island didn't have her medications. Salas says it was a clear example of the underappreciated impacts of extreme weather on health. "Given that billion-dollar disasters have intensified and become much more frequent in the subsequent years, this is something we need to get a handle on," says Salas.

[audio mp3="https://play.podtrac.com/npr-1228252962/ondemand.npr.org/anon.npr-mp3/npr/me/2024/02/20240201_me_the_fight_over_banning_menthol_cigarettes_has_a_long_history_steeped_in_race.mp3?orgId=1&topicId=1128&d=229&p=3&story=1228008720&ft=nprml&f=1228008720"][/audio] Lincoln Mondy grew up in a mixed race family in Texas, where his white mother's family used regular tobacco, unlike his Black father. "My dad exclusively smokes menthol cigarettes," he says. "Menthol was such a part of Black culture. And I knew that Black people smoked menthol and that was just a fact." The 29-year-old filmmaker turned his curiosity about race and menthol tobacco into a documentary on the topic he produced for the Truth Initiative, an anti-smoking advocacy group. He then realized how menthol's popularity with the Black community came from decades of racially targeted marketing, including ads (such as the Kent Menthol ad shown above) depicting Black models in Black magazines like Ebony, and cultural events in Black neighborhoods — like the KOOL Jazz festival, sponsored by the menthol brand. "They really created menthol as a Black product," Mondy says. Now, as a proposed ban on menthol remains in limbo since the Biden administration put it on hold in December, lobbying and debate continues about how the ban would impact Black smokers. Not only is the minty, cooling flavored tobacco most heavily marketed and consumed in Black communities, where over 80% of smokers use menthol, it is a big reason Black men face the highest rate of lung cancer, says Phillip Gardiner, a public health activist and co-chair of the African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council. Latino and LGBTQ communities as well as women were also targeted, he says. The minty, cooling flavor of menthol masks the smoke and soothes the throat, making it easier to inhale deeply. "The more deeply you inhale, the more nicotine and toxins you take and the more addicted you become," and the more lethal the product, Gardiner says. That history is why efforts to ban menthol cigarettes and cigars have always been entwined with race. Menthol has become a flashpoint of controversy, dividing Black leaders and their communities. The Food and Drug Administration was set to enact a long-awaited ban on menthol cigarettes and cigars last August. The rule detailing the ban has already been written but needed to be approved by the White House's Office of Management and Budget before it could be finalized. The White House since delayed it until March, and agreed to hold meetings with groups opposed to the rule. This angered activists like Gardiner. "It's ridiculous; thousands of lives are being lost because of the inactivity of the FDA and now the White House," he says. Gardiner says the delays are the result of the industry wielding its financial influence within the Black community. Late last year, tobacco giant Altria recently sponsored a poll finding a menthol ban would sway more Black voters against President Biden. Details of that poll have not been released, and NAACP CEO Derrick Johnson refutes its findings, saying in a video statement, "we're the largest civil rights organization in the Black community in 47 states across the country; no one has raised this as a political issue." One of the most vocal and influential voices against menthol bans is Reverend Al Sharpton. Sharpton and his group, National Action Network, didn't respond to requests for comment, but in the past, they've acknowledged working with and receiving funding from tobacco companies— including in fighting in New York state, which has considered a menthol ban. "Smoking is bad for you, no question about it, but if it's a health health issue, why aren't you banning all cigarettes," Sharpton says to a cheering crowd, in a video from a speech at a 2019 National Action Network event. Implied in a menthol ban, he says is the notion that "whites know how much to smoke and we don't know how much to smoke." More recently, in lobbying against a federal ban, Sharpton has also repeated his argument, including in a letter to White House's domestic policy advisor Susan Rice that it would lead to more over-policing of Black people. He cites the death of Eric Garner at the hands of New York City police during an arrest on suspicion of selling loose untaxed cigarettes. In fact, a federal menthol ban would not outlaw individuals from possessing or using those cigarettes, but bar the manufacture and sale of them. But Lincoln Mondy, the filmmaker, says coming from respected leaders like Sharpton, messages that tap into existing fears about aggressive policing can be deeply confusing and divisive for the Black community. "My granny has pictures of Al Sharpton on her mantle, along with Jesus," he says. "Especially for our elders, you have Black leaders who are selling this tobacco PR line around policing and [messages like]: 'They're just trying to take things away from Black people.'" He and others say the delays in the federal menthol ban have already handed the industry a win. In places like California and Massachusetts that already banned menthol, the tobacco industry is now selling menthol-like flavors that aren't technically menthol, and therefore not subject to those new laws. A similar end run, he says, would be likely if any national ban were to take effect.

[audio mp3="https://play.podtrac.com/npr-1069977606/edge1.pod.npr.org/anon.npr-mp3/npr/atc/2023/08/20230829_atc_should_you_stand_or_sit_at_a_concert_adele_fan_ignites_debate.mp3?orgId=1&topicId=1008&d=155&p=2&story=1196546225&awCollectionId=1&awEpisodeId=1196546225&ft=nprml&f=1196546225"][/audio] Down in front! Why aren't people on their feet dancing? There are all kinds of debates regarding the concertgoing experience. If you're tall, should you stand in the back? Can I tell noisy people to shut up during a show? No, you definitely shouldn't throw stuff at artists on stage (flowers might be the exception). This made me think about whether it's ok to stand when those around you are sitting. Is it OK for other fans or security to tell a fan to sit down? What happened:

• At a recent Adele concert in Las Vegas, Juan Lastra belted out every word to songs, all while filming himself with a selfie stick. Lastra was standing — you can see him clearly in his TikTok video. But most of the people in his section were sitting.
• At least one fan and a security guard told him to sit down so others could see. When Adele stopped singing and asked what was going on, another fan yelled, "They won't let him stand up!"
• Adele told security to leave him alone. "They won't bother you my darling," she said. "Enjoy the show."

Is it ok to stand when everyone's sitting? It depends.

• Just because people are sitting doesn't mean it's required that everyone sit. Fans say at Adele's concert there were signs encouraging them to stand up.
• Sam Swersky, a house manager at the Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts in Virginia, said some artists "thrive" on the enthusiasm. "They want to see their fans up on their feet, dancing, singing along. That's just part of what gives them the energy to put on a great performance," he said.
• Concertgoing is a "social contract," said Audrey Fix Schaefer, a spokesperson for I.M.P. which owns venues in the D.C. area. Concert-goers should respect each other but also be "conscientious...that everybody enjoys it in a different way."

Standing up for your right to sit

• Some people want or need to stay seated. Commenting on the Adele concert, writer Scott Roeben echoed sentiments I've heard from a lot of people, especially on the older side. "We would never pay to attend a live show if it involved: 1) someone blocking our view of the performer, or 2) other audience members screaming the music we've paid to see performed by, you know, a professional performer," he wrote.
• "I have a passionate love for experiencing live music," wrote Jennifer MacDonald in a 2020 post on Medium with the headline Standing at Concerts: Is It Really Necessary? She explained that she "is physically unable to stand up all night without my spine rebelling against me." For her and others like her, she said, "Sitting down does not make us lesser fans."
• I.M.P.'s Schaefer said the only time security would tell fans to sit down at one of their concerts "is if someone is in an ADA area and standing and therefore blocking other people's view that otherwise can't make the choice to stand up or move around."

What I've learned I can relate to Juan Lastra's need to fully embrace the moment. I recently attended a Ziggy Marley concert with my teenage son. We jumped to our feet when we heard songs we liked, sang and danced — while almost everyone around us remained seated. Unlike Lastra, I feared we were blocking their views, so we would periodically sit down. But it was a lot less fun! Swersky at Wolf Trap said seated spectators are constantly asking them to tell others to sit down. Yet after talking to him and Schaefer — not to mention seeing Adele defend her impassioned fan — I wonder if Ziggy Marley might've preferred we remain standing. Eventually he got everyone off their derrieres singing some of his father's biggest hits. Audio and digital story edited by Jennifer Vanasco. Audio produced by Isabella Gomez Sarmiento.

Organizers of the annual Burning Man music and arts festival lifted a driving ban on Monday afternoon as muddy roads that had stranded thousands of attendees in the Nevada desert had dried up enough to allow people to begin leaving. "Exodus operations have officially begun in Black Rock City," organizers posted at 2 p.m. local time. Organizers also asked attendees not to walk out of the Black Rock Desert. The site of the festival is remotely located in northern Nevada, about 120 miles north of Reno. On Sunday, attendees had been stranded after storms turned Nevada's Black Rock Desert playa into a mud bath. Close to an inch of precipitation flooded the area starting on Friday, prompting event organizers to close access to the festival until vehicles could safely pass and to warn campers to conserve food and water. Despite reports of stuck vehicles, overflowing port-a-potties, postponed bus pickups and spotty Wi-Fi service, several attendees who spoke to NPR say the wet weather hadn't dampened moods. "We're pooling all our food as far as resources. And I would say honestly, walking around the city, spirits are pretty high," attendee Anya Kamenetz said on Sunday. The challenging conditions are testing a community of so-called burners, which touts self-reliance and communal effort among its core principles. Event volunteer Josh Lease said that in true Burning Man spirit, people are sharing warm clothes and phone chargers where they can — and music is blaring. "It's like any other Burning Man, just muddy," he told NPR on Saturday evening. "The warnings do sound very dire, and of course, the organization has to tell people to take care," said Claudia Peschiutta, an editor with NPR's Morning Edition who attended the event, but "I haven't seen one person who seems worried about it at all." Some frustration, however, started to seep in for some attendees by Sunday. In rainy Burning Mans past, longtime burner Joe Bamberg said he's seen couches, carpets and clothes eventually dry out. But this time, he said, "all is damp and will be ruined by mold," he said. "I am not thrilled," said Bamberg, who added: "People make do, it is part of the adventure." Meanwhile, authorities in Nevada were investigating a death at the site. The Pershing County Sheriff's Office said on Saturday that a person died during the event but offered few details, including whether the death was weather-related, KNSD-TV reported. The muck is expected to dry up starting Monday, which is forecast to see clear skies, promising long waits in traffic during the exodus on the final day of the annual event. But event organizers have yet to give an estimate of when gates will open to cars.

Attendees are urged to shelter in place

The Burning Man Organization had begun telling attendees to shelter in place on Saturday, when it announced that access into and out of the site was closed for the remainder of the event, which runs from Aug. 27 through Sep. 4. Only emergency vehicles were allowed to pass, the organization said in a statement. "Conserve food, water, and fuel, and shelter in a warm, safe space," the statement urged those stuck in the desert. Although they urged attendees against driving on Sunday, event officials said that some vehicles designed for off-road terrain had been able to navigate the mud and successfully leave the event. Other attendees chose to walk several miles across the muck to exit the grounds. The Burning Man Organization advised people not to make the foot journey at night. "Make sure you have water and the strength to walk as much as 5 miles through the mud," the nonprofit said. "This isn't a simple solution, but it is a possible one should you need or want to make the trek." Music producer Diplo said he and comedian Chris Rock escaped the event on Saturday after walking 6 miles before hitching a ride from a fan in a pickup truck. "I legit walked the side of the road for hours with my thumb out cuz I have a show in dc tonight and didnt want to let yall down," he wrote in an Instagram post. Neal Katyal, former acting Obama-era solicitor general, also made the trek out. He said he was safe after his first trip to the festival ended with "an incredibly harrowing 6-mile hike at midnight through heavy and slippery mud." President Biden had been briefed on the situation, according to a White House official. Event attendees were told over the weekend to listen to state and local officials, and event organizers, the administration official said.

The conditions put Burning Man community spirit to the test

"We have come here knowing this is a place where we bring everything we need to survive," the organization said in a statement on Saturday night. "It is because of this that we are all well-prepared for a weather event like this." "We have done table-top drills for events like this. We are engaged full-time on all aspects of safety and looking ahead to our Exodus as our next priority." Organizers said they would send mobile cell trailers and open up the internet to multiple areas throughout the desert playa, as well as try to help transport buses out of the area. "Get some rest and spend some quality time with your campmates," the festival said in the Saturday night statement. "We will all get out of this, it will just take time." Attendee Bobby White, who hosts the TV series Sailing Doodles, squelched through the mud against a backdrop of gunmetal skies and soggy tents in a YouTube video posted Saturday. "Every time you step, you pick up more mud and it's just really hard to move," White said. With the gates closed, service vehicles on Saturday weren't able to reach the port-a-potties in a timely manner to empty the waste, causing toilets to overflow, attendee Kris Edwards said in a video posted to TikTok. Video posted to social media on Sunday afternoon showed people cheering upon the arrival of a sanitation service vehicle. The weather forced the postponement of some art installation burns, including the burning of the namesake wooden-man effigy, a ritual that traditionally happens on Saturday night. This isn't the first time the entrance was blocked at this year's festival. A group of climate protesters caused miles of gridlock after parking a 28-foot trailer in the way at the start of the event.

TikTok successfully got in formation to get a fan to Beyoncé's Renaissance World Tour. Jon Hetherington was supposed to fly to Seattle last week for a Beyoncé concert, but he couldn't complete the flight because his wheelchair was too tall, which meant he would miss the show. He posted the dilemma on TikTok, and hundreds of the social platform's users began tagging Beyoncé and Parkwood Entertainment, her production and entertainment company. A representative for the singer reached out to him and soon he was on his way to see her perform in Texas. The 34-year-old Oregon resident was pictured with Beyoncé at Thursday's Dallas show. "To the queen herself @beyonce, I will treasure those words you said and the hugs you gave," he wrote on Instagram. "I meant every word I said. No, for anyone and everyone reading this, I will not ever share with you what was said to me, don't even try it. That moment is between the two of us." Hetherington has cerebral palsy, and said that while he was at Oregon's Eugene Airport last Thursday everything proceeded as normal at first. An Alaska Airlines employee examined his ID and tagged his wheelchair, and even remembered him because had flown flew to Seattle two weeks earlier to see singer Janelle Monáe kick off their tour, he told NPR. The employee remembered Hetherington's chair needed some extra finagling, which Hetherington said delayed the earlier flight about 20 minutes, but he was not alerted of any other issues. This time around, Hetherington said an airline employee told him his chair was four inches too tall, then moved him out of his chair and attempted to collapse it, to no avail, while another employee looked online for information about the chair. He was finally given a complaint resolution form and told only an Airbus plane would be able to fit his wheelchair.

Frustrated at the airport, he turned to TikTok

But they did not find any available Airbus flights that would get him there in time for the show. So he went to TikTok. "Well, guess I'm not going to see Seattle, and I'm not seeing Beyoncé," he said in the video. "So after 25 years of waiting, I'm not seeing Beyoncé tonight, so ableism strikes again." "I went outside and I was just pissed. I was demoralized at that point," Hetherington told NPR. "I have about 22,000 followers on TikTok and I usually get about a couple hundred views on my videos, so I thought, 'OK, a couple hundred people will see it.' I never in a billion lifetimes would have thought that this whole thing would have taken off like it did." The video was watched more than 90,000 times. Hetherington and Alaska Airlines said his airline ticket has been refunded. "We feel terrible about our guest's travel experience with us. We're always aiming to do better as we encounter situations such as this one," Alaska Airlines said in a statement. "Our Boeing [aircraft] have dimension limitations when it comes to loading battery-powered mobility aids, like a wheelchair, into the cargo hold." According to Alaska Airlines, its Boeing planes can fit wheelchairs that are a maximum of 34 inches high, while Airbus aircraft can fit ones up to 46 inches. Although not required, the airlines said it recommends people with mobility aids put in a special service request to determine ahead of their flight if their aid can be accommodated.

Why he's such a big Beyoncé fan

Hetherington, who is pansexual, said he has been a Beyoncé fan since he was 9 years old. He said he admires that she is paying homage to the LGBTQ+ community with her Renaissance album, amid passed and potential U.S. legislation that would prohibit youth from receiving gender-affirming care, bar books with LGBTQ+ subject matter from public libraries and ban transgender students from using bathrooms matching the gender they identify with. "She is probably, I would say, the most famous Black woman in the world, and for her to use that stature, that power and authority to lift up — specifically now — the queer community ... is no small thing," Hetherington said. But despite the happy ending, he said the incident is indicative of a bigger issue. After the Monáe concert, he couldn't find a taxi that was wheelchair-friendly, leaving him stranded in the streets of Seattle from midnight to 9 a.m. The battery of his wheelchair died at 8 a.m., he said. "This is not about a concert," he said. "This is not about one artist. This is not about one airline. This is about systemic issues of ableism that are happening every day. Disabled people are dealing with this in society, in general, and our society has been built to exclude disabled people. That's what's important."