As the COVID-19 pandemic began to pick up in Alaska, Dr. Anne Zink, the state's chief medical officer, faced a difficult choice. Should she continue in-person meetings and nightly briefings with Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy? Or should she opt for a more socially distant form of engagement? Zink chose the latter, saying she wanted to model the behavior that she has been appealing to residents to follow. She now appears at Dunleavy's briefings by video. And over the past two months, she has become a trusted voice as she urges Alaskans to follow the strict social distancing and other public health guidelines adopted by the state administration — which doctors groups have credited with keeping the state's COVID-19 numbers among the lowest in the country. Zink, who has a Facebook fan club and a #ThinkLikeZink hashtag , isn't the only public health official to acquire a cultlike following during the pandemic: Dr. Anthony Fauci, the federal infectious disease expert, has inspired a Saturday

Dr. Grace Farris is chief of hospital medicine at Mount Sinai West in Manhattan. She also writes a monthly comics column in the Annals of Internal Medicine called "Dr Mom." You can find her on Instagram @coupdegracefarris . Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Very briefly, at the end of 2019 and the start of 2020, there were slightly more women on American nonfarm payrolls than men. That's no longer true. The historically disastrous April jobs report shows that the brunt of job losses fell on women. Women now account for around just under half — 49% — of American workers, and they accounted for 55% of the increase in job losses last month. One way of looking at why that matters that is to look at the gap that opened up between women's and men's unemployment last month. The below chart shows women's unemployment rate minus men's unemployment rate since 2007. Usually, the line bumps around near or just below zero — meaning men's unemployment is usually near or slightly higher than women's. But that spike on the far right shows how women's unemployment leapt to be 2.7 points higher than men's in April. Women had an unemployment rate of 16.2% to men's 13.5% last month. That's uncommon for a recession. The below chart is a longer view, and the

Airlines and airport operators in the United Kingdom are not waiting for the British government to publicly confirm their fears. Already, the groups representing major players in the U.K.'s air travel industry are pushing back on a proposal that would require travelers to quarantine after arriving from outside the country. A spokesperson for Airlines UK — a trade body with British Airways, EasyJet and Ryanair as members — says the group understands from government officials that plans for a quarantine are in the works, but that details remain scarce at the moment. "We need to see the detail of what they are proposing. Public health must of course be the priority and we will continue to be guided by Sage advice," the group said in a statement emailed to NPR, noting that support measures will be necessary to ensure "that we still have a UK aviation sector once the quarantine period is lifted." "We will be asking for assurances that this decision has been led by the science and that

This is Sample Size, our weekly new music feature with KOSU's Ryan LaCroix and LOOKatOKC music critic Matt Carney. Today, Matt plays new music from Suzi Analogue and Liam Betson , and tells us about the lengths audiophiles will go to get pure sound . Follow Matt & Ryan on Twitter at @mdotcarney and @KOSUryan .

This is Sample Size, our weekly new music feature with KOSU's Ryan LaCroix and LOOKatOKC music critic Matt Carney. Today, Matt plays new music from Frank Ocean , Joyce Manor & M.I.A. Follow Matt & Ryan on Twitter at @mdotcarney and @KOSUryan .

This is Sample Size, our weekly new music feature with KOSU's Ryan LaCroix and LOOKatOKC music critic Matt Carney. Today, Matt plays new music from Frank Ocean , Carly Rae Jepsen , and Chromatics . Follow Matt & Ryan on Twitter at @mdotcarney and @KOSUryan .

This is Sample Size, our weekly new music feature with KOSU's Ryan LaCroix and LOOKatOKC music critic Matt Carney. Today, Matt plays new music from Kaytranada , A Giant Dog , and Leonard Cohen . Follow Matt & Ryan on Twitter at @mdotcarney and @KOSUryan .

This is Sample Size, our weekly new music feature with KOSU's Ryan LaCroix and LOOKatOKC music critic Matt Carney. Today, Matt plays new music from Aaron 'Ab' Abernathy , Drive-By Truckers , and Moses Sumney . Follow Matt & Ryan on Twitter at @mdotcarney & @KOSUryan .

This is Sample Size, our weekly new music feature with KOSU's Ryan LaCroix and LOOKatOKC music critic Matt Carney. Today, Matt plays new music from Hamilton Leithauser + Rostam , American Football , and LABRYS . Follow Matt & Ryan on Twitter at @mdotcarney & @KOSUryan .

This is Sample Size, our weekly new music feature with KOSU's Ryan LaCroix and LOOKatOKC music critic Matt Carney. Today, Matt plays new music from Crying , Randy Newman , and Lady Gaga . Follow Matt & Ryan on Twitter at @mdotcarney & @KOSUryan .

This is Sample Size, our weekly new music feature with KOSU's Ryan LaCroix and LOOKatOKC music critic Matt Carney. Today, Matt plays new music from The Flaming Lips , The Hotelier , and Miya Folick . Follow Matt & Ryan on Twitter at @mdotcarney & @KOSUryan .

This is Sample Size, our weekly new music feature with KOSU's Ryan LaCroix and LOOKatOKC music critic Matt Carney. Today, Matt plays new music from Terry Allen , Japandroids , and Beyonce + Dixie Chicks . Follow Matt & Ryan on Twitter at @mdotcarney & @KOSUryan . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uc4s6Q6XGVs

This is Sample Size, our weekly new music feature with KOSU's Ryan LaCroix and LOOKatOKC music critic Matt Carney. Today, Matt plays new music from A Tribe Called Quest , Magnificent Bird , and Sinkane . Follow Matt & Ryan on Twitter at @mdotcarney & @KOSUryan .

This is Sample Size, our weekly new music feature with KOSU's Ryan LaCroix and LOOKatOKC music critic Matt Carney. Today, Matt plays his favorite Oklahoma songs of 2016 from Husbands , Beau Jennings & the Tigers , and LABRYS . Follow Matt & Ryan on Twitter at @mdotcarney & @KOSUryan . https://youtu.be/NUplqq5cPp0

This is Sample Size, our weekly new music feature with KOSU's Ryan LaCroix and LOOKatOKC music critic Matt Carney. Today, Matt plays his favorite albums of 2016 from Margo Price , William Tyler , and David Bowie . Follow Matt & Ryan on Twitter at @mdotcarney & @KOSUryan .

This is Sample Size, our weekly new music feature with KOSU's Ryan LaCroix and LOOKatOKC music critic Matt Carney. Today, Matt plays his favorite songs of 2016 from Car Seat Headrest , Mitski , and Solange . Follow Matt & Ryan on Twitter at @mdotcarney & @KOSUryan .

This is Sample Size, our weekly new music feature with KOSU's Ryan LaCroix and LOOKatOKC music critic Matt Carney. Today, Matt plays new songs by Jens Lekman , Run The Jewels , and Lambchop . Follow Matt & Ryan on Twitter at @mdotcarney & @KOSUryan .

This is Sample Size, our weekly new music feature with KOSU's Ryan LaCroix and LOOKatOKC music critic Matt Carney. Today, Matt discusses the 2016 U.S. Music Year-End Nielsen Report and plays new songs by The xx and Timber Timbre . Follow Matt & Ryan on Twitter at @mdotcarney & @KOSUryan .

This is Sample Size, our weekly new music feature with KOSU's Ryan LaCroix and LOOKatOKC music critic Matt Carney. Today, Matt plays new music from Japandroids , Spoon , and Thundercat . Follow Matt & Ryan on Twitter at @mdotcarney & @KOSUryan .

This is Sample Size, our weekly new music feature with KOSU's Ryan LaCroix and LOOKatOKC music critic Matt Carney. Today, Matt plays new music from Kehlani , Travis Linville , and Future Islands . Follow Matt & Ryan on Twitter at @mdotcarney & @KOSUryan .

This is Sample Size, our weekly new music feature with KOSU's Ryan LaCroix and LOOKatOKC music critic Matt Carney. Today, Matt explains the results of the Grammys and focuses on two winners—Adele and Chance the Rapper. Plus, a new song from Colin Stetson . Follow Matt & Ryan on Twitter at @mdotcarney & @KOSUryan .

This is Sample Size, our weekly new music feature with KOSU's Ryan LaCroix and LOOKatOKC music critic Matt Carney. Today, Matt brings us new tunes by Los Campesinos! , Jay Som , and Benjamin Booker featuring Mavis Staples! Follow Matt & Ryan on Twitter at @mdotcarney & @KOSUryan .

This is Sample Size, our weekly new music feature with KOSU's Ryan LaCroix and LOOKatOKC music critic Matt Carney. Today, Matt brings us new tunes from the supergroup of Sufjan Stevens, Bryce Dessner, Nico Muhly & James McAlister, plus Quelle Chris and Perfume Genius . Follow Matt & Ryan on Twitter at @mdotcarney & @KOSUryan .

They’re slimy, gray, hungry and love to eat holes in the leaves of your hostas. On this edition of Talk of Iowa , host Charity Nebbe speaks with Entomologist Donald Lewis, Horticulturist Richard Jauron and Forester Mark Vitosh about slugs and their fellow gastropods – snails. Listeners also get their questions answered about plants and trees. Guests: Mark Vitosh , Iowa DNR Forester Donald Lewis , professor of entomology at Iowa State University Richard Jauron , Iowa State University Extension Horticulture Specialist

Educators, parents and students are all struggling to find their way through distance learning, but the challenges can be even greater for special education students.

While schools are closed, we're creating a series of "Talk of Iowa" episodes that will be fun and educational for learners of all ages. Every Tuesday, we'll learn about Iowa wildlife, and every Thursday, we'll learn about Iowa history.

While schools are closed, we're creating a series of "Talk of Iowa" episodes that will be fun and educational for learners of all ages. Every Tuesday, we'll learn about Iowa wildlife, and every Thursday, we'll learn about Iowa history.

The Iowa high school class of 2020 is experiencing a very different senior year than any class that has come before it. In many cases, prom has already been canceled. Year books will go unsigned. There will be no final performances or competitions. Commencement ceremonies are canceled, postponed or will go virtual. During a time when so many people are sick or have died of COVID-19, it may seem trivial to focus on this loss, but for seniors who have spent 13 years of schooling building up to this moment, the loss is real and sad.

What does it mean to find a sense of self in work? The new film " Working Man " explores this question through a group of laid off factory workers as they fight for the reopening of their fictional factory -- the last of its kind in the small Midwestern city where they live.

For the past 20 years, Iowa Public Radio’s Rob Dillard has been working hard to keep Iowans informed and share some of Iowa’s unique voices.

While schools are closed, we're creating a series of "Talk of Iowa" episodes that will be fun and educational for learners of all ages. Every Tuesday, we'll learn about Iowa wildlife, and every Thursday, we'll learn about Iowa history.

The first Iowa woman to summit Mount Everest back in 2016 is on a mission to climb all seven of the highest peaks in the world. The 7 summit seeker has one left – Mount Vinson on the continent of Antarctica. The mountain peaks at 4,892 meters or 16,050 feet high, and Iowa native and climber, Jen Loeb, is hoping to conquer her expedition in November of 2021.

Summer is just around the corner and this year it comes with a great deal of uncertainty. As businesses begin to reopen, how do you decide what level of risk you’re comfortable with? On this edition of Talk of Iowa , host Charity Nebbe is joined by Dr. Rossana Rossa, an infectious diseases specialist, to discuss how Iowans are going to have to make hard choices about whether to partake in recreational activities over the coming months.

In her book Eligible , author Curtis Sittenfeld retells the Jane Austen classic Pride and Prejudice with a modern, Midwestern twist. The Bennet family lives in Cincinnati, Liz Bennet is a journalist in her late 30’s and the bachelors Bingley and Darcy are wealthy doctors with coastal ties.

A special episode from Inflection Point with Lauren Schiller.

"To change the story, you have to change the storyteller."

Refugees literally sacrifice everything to keep their families safe. Christina Psarra, head of mission for Doctors Without Borders, a humanitarian aid organization, bears witness to their sacrifice and resourcefulness, giving everything she has to help them. Along the way, she's discovered that refugees are not victims--they are survivors and it's her job to help them survive.

An awkward conversation with her white mother about “good white people” inspired Ijeoma Oluo

Daniela Petruzalek has made it her mission to make the white cisgender male dominated tech industry truly inclusive.

Click here for a PDF of the Spring 2018 program guide.

For the past decade 96-year-old Betty Reid Soskin has served as the nation’s oldest Park Ranger

Sarah McBride made history as the first transgender person to speak at a national political convention in 2016.

"A lot of young girls are often taught to sort of stay quiet or to put other people's needs before ourselves... And if we are to speak up or to stand up for ourselves it could be taken as being bossy or the other b word." - Emily Abad, Director of Programs at The Mosaic Project, an experiential education program addressing issues of diversity, empathy, and conflict resolution. On this episode of “Inflection Point” host Lauren Schiller talks with Emily Abad about how to find that mix of empathy and assertiveness for all genders.

Can you find compassion in your heart for the haters in your life?

At age 35, Stitch Fix founder Katrina Lake became the youngest female founder and CEO to take a company public in 2017.

Despite our differences, we can find connections that bring us together.

Can an all-woman board move beyond empowerment, and get to actual power?

Organizational psychologist Dr. Barbara Adams says there is transformational power for everyone in diversity and inclusivity.

What does it actually take for women to win elections?