It's time to talk some trash! The 3rd annual Trash Talk Tour in Washtenaw County is right around the corner. Trash Talk Tour co-organizer and zerowaste.org executive director Samuel McMullen joined WEMU's David Fair with a special brand of "trash talk."

The University of Michigan is forging ahead and working towards being a leader in generative artificial intelligence with its U-M-GPT program. As it does, there are environmental concerns to be addressed. The initiative is part of Michigan’s broader effort to integrate AI into its academic and administrative infrastructure, enhancing learning, teaching, and research. But, AI consumes a great deal of energy. WEMU's David Fair spoke with the Vice President for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer at U-M, Dr. Ravi Pendse, about how U-M is dealing with the environmental ramifications of AI.

Washtenaw County has elected its next Water Resources Commissioner. Evan Pratt decided against running for re-election after serving four terms. Former Saline Mayor and State Representative Gretchen Driskell won the race. She joined WEMU's David Fair to discuss the priorities and challenges of the new job.

WATCH THE ARCHIVES HERE!

Beginning September 20, 2024, Amazing Facts International will present Prophecy Odyssey: You Can Know the Future with speaker Pastor Doug Batchelor. This evangelistic Bible series features 16 timely, power-packed presentations that will be broadcast in front of a live audience at the Manhattan Center in New York City, the “capital of the world,” during a time of great global upheaval.

It can also be seen around the world on AFTV, Hope Channel International, 3ABN, Facebook, Roku, YouTube, SUMtv, and SUMtv Latino. Additionally, you can watch Prophecy Odyssey on many satellites around the world, including HotBird (Europe, Middle East, and North Africa), Galaxy 19 (US), IS20 (Central and South Africa), VAST (Australia), and Freeview (UK).

Prophecy Odyssey is approaching fast. It’s not too late to register to be an event host, invite your friends, or sign up to be a Manhattan Missionary!

Devastating events across our sin-darkened planet—financial collapse, natural catastrophes, international conflicts, political strife—are causing many to feel anxious about what the future holds. But the Bible provides hope-filled answers to life’s deepest questions and prepares hearts for the soon coming of Jesus.

[PQ-HERE]Says Pastor Doug, “Communicating the most pertinent prophecies of the Bible is our goal. I believe these unique multimedia presentations will challenge what most people think they know about the world and their purpose in it. Our message is that God’s final prophetic Word will soon come to pass. Are you ready for it? Together, we’ll learn the what, the when, the why, and the how in a way that will prepare us for what is coming to our planet.”

Prophecy Odyssey will be a series like no other, leading viewers to the key prophecies of Scripture—where God gives vital but assuring messages that will change lives for eternity. Pastor Doug will also offer a clear understanding of our world’s current events and why they are happening—and why it all must culminate with the Second Coming.

The first three nights will get off to a quick and fascinating start … 

Night 1: Friday, September 20, 7:00 PM ET — Signs of the Coming King
Unmistakable signs signal Jesus’ soon return—and are you ready for it?

Night 2: Saturday, September 21, 7:00 PM ET — The Prophecy of History
What is the most comprehensive prophecy in all of the Bible?

Night 3: Sunday, September 22, 7:00 PM ET — The Arch-Villain of Prophecy
There is a fiendish effort to turn us away from understanding prophecy.

Other topics to be covered include the truth about hellfire, the afterlife, the millennium, the mark of the beast, the USA in Bible prophecy, and many more eye-opening revelations.

Get Active!

Would you or your church like to be part of this extraordinary opportunity to bring Bible prophecy to a world lost in spiritual darkness? We may not have many more chances to share every aspect of these messages openly, so please prayerfully consider hosting the event at your church or even your home.

Bible lessons are also being developed for this series, with plans for them to be available for sharing at your event. We’ll also make advertising easy. Let’s lead viewers into an eternal, joyful relationship with God together!

Mission Manhattan

We’re also inviting people to be part of this evangelistic project through Mission Manhattan! You will receive free AFCOE training, distribute literature, and do music and health ministry on the streets of Manhattan to raise interest and invite the community to the Prophecy Odyssey meetings in the evening. Training and literature are free, but you will need to cover travel, lodging, and meals. More information here.

Start planning now for this exciting outreach event! 

For more information about Prophecy Odyssey, visit prophecyodyssey.com. And keep watching for more details as we get ready to share God’s truths with millions!

From June 22 to July 6, 2024, Amazing Facts Oceania led an evangelistic and health outreach trip to Kenya. Providing medical and dental care, sharing the gospel in prisons and schools, and preaching at 20 outdoor sites. 

God blessed mightily—4,454 precious souls responded to His call and were baptized. One of the evangelists described the crowds as “very hungry for the Word of God!”

The medical team treated 5,000 needy people across 12 medical and dental clinics. They also provided medications and health education. Additionally, the team distributed 1,600 Bibles in Swahili and English and 83,000 Amazing Facts Study Guides. 

Prisoners eagerly responded to the messages of hope shared by the evangelism team. Nearly 225 prisoners gave their hearts to Jesus and were baptized. They were also thrilled to receive their own copies of the Bible. 

Students at public and Christian schools also responded eagerly to the gospel presentations. In one public school, 500 students eagerly accepted Amazing Facts Study Guides. At another public school, the entire student body rose to their feet to give their lives to Christ.[PQ-HERE]

Led by Ettienne McClintock, partner relationship manager at Amazing Facts Oceania, the team included 17 pastors, lay evangelists, and medical workers from Australia and New Zealand, who responded to our Lord’s commission to “Go and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19). Prior to the team arriving in Kenya, Amazing Facts Oceania had sponsored local evangelists to conduct evangelistic programs at 33 additional sites, making a total of 53 sites. The local churches are now discipling the precious new additions to God’s family at each location.

Divine Protection 

Satan did not want these meetings to take place. Severe monsoonal flooding caused damage across Kenya in the month preceding the evangelistic programs. Then, just as the evangelistic meetings were to begin, violent political protests broke out across Kenya against the government’s new tax laws. Dozens of people around the governor’s office in Nairobi were killed and hundreds more injured in the protests, making headlines around the world. Foreigners were particularly under threat. 

After much prayer, the team decided to proceed with the meetings despite the dangers. God answered dramatically. Above-average rainfall had been predicted for Kenya, but it did not rain for two full weeks while the team ran mass-scale outdoor evangelism—until the last person had been baptized. Then it poured!

God’s protection was also evident as thousands gathered to hear the gospel preached in the open air. One evening, while Ettienne was preaching, he heard the shouts and gunshots of an approaching riot. People were clearly nervous, but no one left when Ettienne asked the congregation if they wanted to go home. A noticeable peace settled over the huge crowd as Ettienne prayed for divine protection. The gunshots soon faded away. Many people made decisions for Christ that night.

Lives Renewed

God has promised in His word that “no weapon that is formed against you will prosper” (Isaiah 54:17), so in answer to earnest prayers, the work went on despite Satan’s best attempts to stop it. The mission produced a harvest of souls in Kenya that could only be possible through a God who works miracles in people’s hearts.

Alex had spent the last year sleeping on park benches while trying to get a job and an education. As the oldest son, Alex was expected to support his family, but his failure to even support himself had pushed him into alcoholism. At this low point, he heard music from one of the evangelistic meetings and came to listen. The message of hope from God’s Word drew him in, and Alex gave his life to Christ that evening. He is now preparing for baptism.

The Oceania team met Jabari the day he was released from prison. * He had been falsely accused and was on his way to murder his accuser and then commit suicide when he came across one of the evangelism sites. Jabari stopped to find out what was happening and met two team members. When they realized that two lives were in grave danger, they took Jabari aside and shared with him about God’s love and forgiveness. Jabari’s face began to soften, and he was visibly touched. He gave his life to God that evening and resolved to let God bring justice instead of trying to make it happen himself.

At one of the roadside medical clinics, a 22-year-old man named John arrived with a large stick in his hand. He was missing his two front teeth but had no apparent disability. “Why the stick?” the doctor asked. 

“I fell into bad company,” the young man responded in fluent English, “and was using drugs and alcohol. My family threw me out of home, so now I live by my stick. I catch rats with my stick, and I roast and eat them. My stick helps me dig out ground nuts to eat so that I can survive.”

John’s story deeply moved the doctor. He taught John how to live more healthfully (no rats!) and told him about Jesus—the Healer who welcomes him as a son, no matter what he has done in the past. John began to attend the meetings and was baptized at the end of the program.

A Renewed Commitment to Reach Australia

After two weeks of seeing God work miraculously in Kenya, the Amazing Facts Oceania team returned to Australia and New Zealand with a renewed commitment to sharing the gospel in their secular homelands. They are now launching a robust digital media and television campaign this month with a presentation called Kingdoms in Time, which focuses on the prophecies of the Bible that have all come true, with the final prophecies soon to unfold. 

Please pray that many will give their lives to Christ through this outreach in Australia and New Zealand. Please also pray for the thousands who accepted Christ in Kenya and for the many seeds of truth that were planted by the Oceania mission trip. 

To read more about the exciting outreach to Kenya and see many more pictures, click here.

*Jabari’s name has been changed to protect his identity.

WATCH THE ARCHIVES HERE!

Manhattan Center, Manhattan – There are 45 minutes until the Prophecy Odyssey meeting begins tonight, but already the Manhattan Center is buzzing with activity. The main floor is beginning to fill up as guests file in from the streets. Amazing Facts Center of Evangelism (AFCOE) students just gathered to pray for the Holy Spirit to work mightily through this meeting. 

Camera operators are getting into position for the evening production. Behind the huge LED wall, the Amazing Facts’ media team is busy putting together a life-changing production to broadcast live around the world. Not long ago, Doug Batchelor, president of Amazing Facts International, was in the media control room going over last-minute plans with the team.

There is a sense of quiet eagerness among the guests. Many are reviewing the Bible studies they received when they walked in the front door. Others are talking with AFCOE students and staff as Jackie plays and sings “Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior” at the grand piano on stage. [PQ-HERE]

Outside, large signs advertise the event along busy 34th Street. Once the meeting begins, a large LED screen on the street allows passersby to watch the meetings live. 

A City Ready for Harvest

The Prophecy Odyssey series opened on Friday night, September 20, to a packed audience. The main floor and three levels of balconies were all full of people eager to hear the Word of God. Many have continued to come for the nightly meetings. 

Prophecy Odyssey is an epic, 15-part Bible series presented by Pastor Doug. Attendees are getting clear, trustworthy, logical answers to their questions about the book of Revelation, prophecy, and the last days. 

Amazing Facts chose New York City for the Prophecy Odyssey series because of the potential to reach people from so many cultures in one place. “The whole reason we’re here is to bring souls into the kingdom,” says Wayne Leman, Amazing Facts’ media creative. “New York City is such a melting pot of cultures. What better place to reap a great harvest?” 

AFCOE students have been doing outreach in the city parks each day. “Our goal is to strike up conversations with people that we meet,” explains J Broder, an AFCOE student from Bakersfield, Calif. “We tell people we are praying for the community and ask them how they think we should pray for people in New York. Then we share the Prophecy Odyssey meeting invitations.” 

“I have so many stories of what God is doing!” says Cornell, another AFCOE student. 

Our Largest Production Yet

“Doing a production in New York City is unlike anything else,” says Wayne. “New York is a technological beast. Everything is booming so fast here. It’s very different than when broadcast from a local church.” 

The media team began preparing for this massive production months ago. They put together a flight pack with all the camera, sound, recording, augmented reality, LED wall, and other media equipment they would need for the series. Then, they practiced loading it into the 16-foot travel trailer and unloading and setting it up rapidly. “It’s a good thing we did!” says Wayne. “We needed every moment we had to get things ready.” 

The first night challenged the media team to the utmost. “We started the production with only four of our eleven cameras working,” Wayne explains. “By the end of the night, we had nine cameras running. The devil definitely was attacking. But we believed, and God answered. It’s only gotten better since.”

It’s Not Too Late

Prophecy Odyssey is being broadcast live around the world in English and Spanish. It is also being translated by artificial intelligence technology into 14 languages. Groups are watching live in Belgium, New Guinea, and many other places around the world. 

It’s not too late to begin watching the Prophecy Odyssey meetings or to share them with someone who needs to know that there is a God in heaven who has good plans for them. Live broadcasts are available at prophecyodyssey.com, AFTV.org, Hope Channel, and on YouTube. Free Bible lessons and recordings of previous meetings are also available.

Thank you for making Prophecy Odyssey possible. Please keep praying that God blesses seekers abundantly!

WATCH THE ARCHIVES HERE!

Manhattan Center, Manhattan — Claudia wasn’t supposed to be in New York to celebrate her birthday with her family until next month. But her schedule shifted, and she ended up here, now. “I didn’t know about Prophecy Odyssey until I got here,” she says. When her mother told her about the series, she knew she needed to come and bring her cousin Paula, who has been searching for God recently. “Now I know why I’m here this week instead of next month!” 

Claudia, Paula, and Claudia’s mom came to Prophecy Odyssey last night and heard Pastor Doug explain who the antichrist beast is in Bible prophecy. The message was fascinating for Paula. “It answered a lot of my questions,” she said afterward. “I loved how clear everything was. And it was all presented so well.” She plans to come again tonight. 

Better than Dry

Patricia started drinking and smoking when she was just seven years old. By the time she was 13, she drank to blackout. She was also finding herself attracted to the same sex. “I was doing it to escape the pain of my dad’s abuse,” she says. “I was so angry with God. Why would he make me like this?” 

Over the years, she tried to stop drinking, but nothing worked. Eventually, she got involved with Alcoholics Anonymous. “They told me I needed to find my higher power, so I started seeking God.” Her search led her to look for things about prayer and the Bible on YouTube. 

One day, a sermon with Pastor Doug popped up in her feed. “What is this?” she wondered. But something told her to watch. Soon, Amazing Facts became her go-to. “I listen to it all the time.” 

Patricia’s excitement about God bubbles over. “I’m better than dry!” she smiles. “I’m seeking God! And He goes out of His way to show me that He loves me.” She hasn’t been in a relationship with another woman for three years. “It’s just me and God.” She gave her life to God in baptism this past weekend and is thrilled to be attending the Prophecy Odyssey and be part of the local church family.

160 Baptized Already

Patricia is not the only one who has been baptized because of Prophecy Odyssey. The local Sabbath-keeping churches have been working hard to prepare for the meetings. Eighteen Bible workers have been preparing people in the greater New York area for baptism. Their work has been extraordinarily successful. 

Pastor Lara, who has been coordinating the local effort, says, “About 160 people have been baptized in New York City already, but I am praying for 250 baptisms. I have no doubt that God will give them to us! We’ve been working hard, and God has been doing amazing things.” 

Pastor Lara is working closely with local congregations to ensure that every newly baptized individual is welcomed into the family of God and has a spiritual guardian who will help them grow in faith.[PQ-HERE]

New York Instead of Peru

Jason and Dee Patton had scheduled a trip to Peru to celebrate their seventeenth anniversary, but then they heard about Prophecy Odyssey and the opportunity to be Manhattan Missionaries. “We did the worst possible thing,” Dee grins. “We decided to pray about it.” It wasn’t long until a friend offered them a fully furnished basement in which to stay in New York.

They couldn’t be happier about their decision to reschedule their trip. On their first day of witnessing, they prayed with a man named Ani. He had just lost his job and was desperately searching for a new one. They kept in touch over the next few days and kept inviting him to come to the meetings. He showed up for the first time on Sunday evening. “Pastor Doug told people they would get a special blessing from being here,” Dee says. “And guess what?! Twenty-four hours after coming to the meeting, he got a job!” 

“This is totally God’s leading!” says Jason.

Prophecy Odyssey Reaching Millions Online

Prophecy Odyssey is also reaching people far beyond the borders of New York City. Already, the live broadcasts have been viewed 28.3 million times on Facebook and 1.9 million times on YouTube. 

Only God knows all the people who are being touched by the series, but the reports filtering back to us are thrilling. One viewer wrote, “I was suicidal as this series started. Watching has completely turned things around for me—and given me hope and something to look forward to and believe in. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.”

Pastor Doug Batchelor, president of Amazing Facts International and speaker for Prophecy Odyssey, says, “What we are seeing now is just the beginning of all God is going to do through this series. Once they get on the internet, people will be able to watch them for years to come.” 

“It is always exciting to go where you see God leading!” adds Karen Batchelor, his wife. “We have been personally praying for these meetings for the past one and a half years. Meeting the people and sharing Bible truth is always amazing!”

Please continue to pray with us for all those attending Prophecy Odyssey in person and watching online. And thank you for helping to make these evangelistic meetings possible! 

How to Watch

Live broadcasts of Prophecy Odyssey are available at prophecyodyssey.com, AFTV.org, Hope Channel, and YouTube. Free Bible lessons and previous meetings are available at prophecyodyssey.com.

WATCH THE ARCHIVES HERE!

There’s something especially thrilling about worshiping God with other devoted Christians, but that excitement is magnified when you realize you are part of something that is reaching people all around the world for Christ. Prophecy Odyssey was just such an experience for the nearly 2,500 people who attended the final weekend of meetings at the Manhattan Center in midtown Manhattan. 

Attendees came from all over the surrounding areas and as far away as Canada, Indonesia, England, and New Zealand to hear Doug Batchelor, president of Amazing Facts International, present the final meetings in the Prophecy Odyssey series. Their faith in God’s Word was reaffirmed through Pastor Doug’s powerful messages about end-time prophecy. Attendees were also treated to beautiful music presented by Jacqueline Jewel and Pastor John Lomacang. 

The audience thrilled as Pastor Bianel Lara, the personal ministries director for the Greater New York Conference, reported that there had already been 251 baptisms in connection with Prophecy Odyssey. (Since then, an additional 70 have been baptized or joined the church by profession of faith.) A Chinese church and a Spanish church have also been planted in Manhattan.

The excitement grew even further when Pastor Doug announced that the meetings had received 35 million views online (which have since increased to over 45 million), as well as having been broadcast live all around the world on 3ABN, and Hope Channel International. 

[PQ-HERE]At the end of Prophecy Odyssey’s final program on Sabbath morning, attendees and Amazing Facts staff joined hands and sang together: “Soldiers all are we to go where Jesus leads. … Heaven is our goal to save every soul. … Pray that we all will be there.” It was a Holy Spirit-blessed climax to the biggest series Amazing Facts has ever attempted.

A Massive Project

“From the outset, this project terrified me,” says Pastor Doug. “It was one of the most complicated and expensive programs Amazing Facts has ever taken on, so it was definitely a faith venture. But by God’s grace, Prophecy Odyssey went exceptionally well. I know that its success was in response to many prayers, careful planning, and hard work.”

Hosting an evangelistic series in New York City required extensive planning and a huge budget. Planning began over a year and a half ago and has involved marketing campaigns, preparing to record and broadcast in 4K, producing a new series of Bible studies, coordination with local churches, and more. It was a project that stretched every member of the Amazing Facts team. 

The marketing team put together strategic advertising that included targeted email blasts, promotion on social media, and placement of television and radio spots in New York City and the surrounding areas. They also enlisted the enthusiastic help of local church members. All the effort paid off in high attendance at the nightly local meetings. 

The media team’s planning yielded meetings that ran smoothly and were visually compelling. The huge LED screen created an engaging backdrop, and the use of augmented reality allowed life-size illustrations to magically appear on stage beside Pastor Doug. 

“The media team captured not just images but lives and emotions,” says Pastor Doug. “From the bustling streets of New York City to people’s expressions each night, the images they captured wove a visual tapestry that touched hearts. Their dedication, adjusting lights and sound, running cables, and managing effects and graphics transformed mere pixels into messages of hope.”

The live broadcasts in English and Spanish were sent via the internet to 3ABN, Hope Channel International, AFTV, YouTube, and social media, enabling millions worldwide to watch simultaneously. The meetings were also translated into 16 additional languages using artificial intelligence technology and are available at prophecyodyssey.com.

New York City to the World 

“We chose New York as the base for this global broadcast because it is the world’s most recognizable city,” explains Pastor Doug. “We felt that filming here would provide the perfect platform for reaching around the world.”

But New York is far more than just a great location for recording a series about end-time events. It is also a city deeply in need of Jesus. “New York City is such a melting pot of people from all over the world,” says Wayne Leman, Prophecy Odyssey producer. “We felt that God was leading us here because it was a place where we could reap a great harvest for the Lord.”

Adds Pastor Doug, “I grew up here in New York, so to come back here again and share the gospel in my hometown is really close to my heart.” Pastor Doug has preached in New York several times. He preached the Millennium of Prophecy series in 1999 and Day to Remember in 2001, just two months after the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center.

To ensure that Prophecy Odyssey reached as many people as possible in New York City, Amazing Facts worked with the local Sabbath-keeping churches to hire 18 individuals who gave Bible studies in the weeks leading up to the series. The Amazing Facts Center of Evangelism (AFCOE) also moved to New York for the duration of the meetings. AFCOE classes were provided free of charge to local Sabbath-keepers and anyone else who wanted to come learn how to share their faith effectively. About 100 people traveled to New York to be Manhattan Missionaries, joining the 26 AFCOE students in creative city evangelism. Their enthusiasm for sharing Jesus motivated a variety of outreaches, including prayer ministry, street preaching, and music ministry. 

God blessed their efforts with numerous divine appointments. Jeffrey Cook, an AFCOE student from California, was led to a street sweeper just moments after praying for God to lead him to the right person. “He was so grateful for prayer,” says Jeffrey. “He said he had never had anyone pray for him before. He started telling me his whole life story and how he had been planning to do something really bad to the guy his girlfriend was cheating with that night. It gave me goosebumps when he said that. I know God needed me there right then.”  

Just the Beginning of God’s Stories …

Space does not permit us to tell all the stories of how God used Prophecy Odyssey to touch individuals with His grace. But perhaps a few will give some idea of the impact these meetings are already having: 

• James, a security guard at the Manhattan Center, requested prayer to stop smoking near the beginning of the meetings. His desire for tobacco disappeared, and he requested Bible studies.

• Margaret came from England to bring her best friend to the meetings. “I realized I’d never shared the gospel with her,” she says.

• Wendy had a dream about rescuing people by the Statute of Liberty right before hearing about the Manhattan Missionary program. “I knew God needed me to come,” she says. “God definitely set up some divine appointments for me.”

• “It’s so exciting to be here,” says David, who attended the final weekend with his wife, Malena. “I was 17 when I came to Millenium of Prophecy 25 years ago. I was a rebellious teenager then, but Pastor Doug’s messages have been an anchor for me. We’re thrilled to be a part of what God is doing here.”

• Debbie learned about Prophecy Odyssey on Facebook. “I knew I had to come,” she smiles. “Pastor Doug makes it easy to understand the Bible.”

• Darien wandered into Times Square and was drawn in by the street preaching and music. He listened for an hour and then spent all afternoon with the missionaries before coming to the evening meetings. 

• Mark took a flyer from a Manhattan Missionary and immediately recognized Pastor Doug. “I used to listen to him all the time,” he said, “but I haven’t been to church in a long time. I know God is calling me back.” 

Pastor Doug says, “We know that God will continue to use Prophecy Odyssey to touch lives for years to come. We often hear stories of people who had our materials sitting around for years before they watched them and were converted. Now that Prophecy Odyssey is online, God will guide people to them and answer their prayers for truth through them.”

Thank you for your prayers and generous support of Prophecy Odyssey. Your devotion to God’s work is enabling the Holy Spirit to write tens of thousands of stories of healing and hope!

Archived broadcasts of Prophecy Odyssey are available at prophecyodyssey.com.

Jessamyn and I managed to stumble our way into and through a podcast despite both having the needle pegged hard to E this afternoon, and here is recorded evidence of that fact, at about 75 minutes.

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The Safe Harbor Act is one of the four amendments Georgians will be voting on in next Tuesday's election. If it passes, the state will impose additional fees on those convicted of certain sex trafficking crimes, as well as adult entertainment establishments. That money will fund treatment and resources for victims of child sex trafficking.

We may think about food all the time, but when is the last time you thought about what your food sounded like?

Featured candidates are Peter Aman, Keisha Bottoms, Vincent Fort, Kwanza Hall, Ceasar Mitchell, Mary Norwood, Michael Sterling, and Cathy Woolard. Moderated by Rickey Bevington of Georgia Public Broadcasting and Denis O’Hayer of Atlanta Public Broadcasting. Recorded January 25, 2017 in Atlanta, Georgia.

Atlanta’s creative output is impressive. The metro region has 492 registered arts organizations from museums and galleries to movie theaters to furniture makers. Statewide, the annual revenue of arts organizations is nearly $800 million. To learn more about how arts influence the daily lives of Atlantans, Rickey Bevington speaks with Susannah Darrow, Executive Director of Arts ATL , a nonprofit publication providing arts criticism and coverage.

The Georgia Institute of Technology is known for graduating its students from nationally-ranked programs in science, technology, engineering and math. A new class taught by visiting professor Dr. Joyce Wilson is using hip-hop to take those students down a more creative pathway than their STEM studies to learn about issues such as race, poverty and cultural identity. The class is titled “Exploring the Lyrics of OutKast and Trap Music to Explore Politics of Social Justice.” Dr. Wilson joined me in the studio to explain why she’s teaching trap at Tech. INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS On using hip-hop to teach social issues at Georgia Tech I think teaching this at an institute of technology is important. It's an opportunity for them to get technological training but also engage in humanistic perspectives around art and social justice. These are the next generation of leaders doing things with science, technology, engineering and math. I feel at home because I'm kind of a math nerd myself. But I also

In 2016, at only 28-years-old, pianist John Burke has already accomplished the dream of a lifetime for many musicians -- to be nominated for a Grammy Award. It's for his newest album " Orogen ," a breathtaking journey through what he describes as the creation of mountains.

An Atlanta entrepreneur is the subject of a new documentary television series premiering Tuesday on Viceland. On Sunday, about 100 Atlanta Film Festival audience members gathered at Dad's Garage Theater for a somewhat surprise screening of the Ondi Timoner project. "We planned this 48 hours ago," said Timoner. "It makes perfect sense for us to be here because Jimmy's from Atlanta." Timoner's camera follows Jimmy Stice, a small staff of mostly Americans, and a few hundred millennial interns who are building a sustainable town called Kalu Yala from scratch in the middle of the jungle. Kalu Yala means "sacred village" in the Kuna language. "We're building a town to look for the best ways we can live in terms of compassionately treating each other in a global community. Access to food access to healthcare access to socioeconomic mobility that's actually beneficial to the environment," said Stice in the show’s trailer . The 10-part series promises plenty of drama documenting young Americans

On Friday April 14, GPB Atlanta broadcasted “All Things Considered” live from SunTrust Park, the Atlanta Braves' new baseball stadium in Cobb County. It was the first home game of the season for the Braves and the first time fans would experience the new $1.1 billion stadium complex. In the show we’ll take a look at important moments in Braves history, at the mixed-use development around SunTrust Park called “The Battery” and, of course - talk about traffic.

Tupac Shakur is one of the most famous rappers in history. Until his murder in 1996 at the age of 25, Shakur was a figurehead of the West Coast rap scene. So Tupac Shakur’s connection to Georgia might surprise you.

Copyright 2020 Fresh Air. To see more, visit Fresh Air . TERRY GROSS, HOST: This is FRESH AIR. Our jazz critic Kevin Whitehead has a review of trumpet player Ambrose Akinmusire's new album with his longtime quartet. Akinmusire is from the Bay Area. He broke out in jazz over a decade ago. He won the Thelonious Monk Competition, started recording a series of ambitious records for Blue Note and made an appearance on Kendrick Lamar's landmark album "To Pimp A Butterfly." Here's Kevin's review. (SOUNDBITE OF AMBROSE AKINMUSIRE'S "YESSSS") KEVIN WHITEHEAD, BYLINE: Ambrose Akinmusire's quartet from their new album poetically titled "On The Tender Spot Of Every Calloused Moment." This singular trumpet player has a keen sense of musical drama, using space and shading to good effect. He's hardly the first improviser to choose a few notes or gestures with care. But he can really push the idea without giving up the vocal quality that jazz soloists prize. (SOUNDBITE OF AMBROSE AKINMUSIRE'S "YESSSS"

The day Margo Price walked into the studio to start recording her new album, That's How Rumors Get Started , she had butterflies in her stomach, a mixture of excitement, trepidation — and morning sickness. "I definitely was not expecting to be pregnant," she says. "I had planned to go into the studio regardless of what was happening in my personal life." Her daughter Ramona was born last June — and her new album is now out in the world, too. Price says that the two processes, making an album and having a baby, were eerily similar. "I think when you're making art and you're creating something, you have this feeling of protection," she says. "You keep it to yourself at first, and it's evolving and growing and changing. And the same [can be said] when you're carrying a baby. It's such a process that it's really hard to describe either one. I think they're both kind of mysterious in their own way. It's something that's just so personal." NPR's Ailsa Chang spoke to Margo Price about staying

The Tiny Desk is working from home for the foreseeable future. Introducing NPR Music's Tiny Desk (home) concerts, bringing you performances from across the country and the world. It's the same spirit — stripped-down sets, an intimate setting — just a different space. I've never come across a moderate Benny Sings fan. The Dutch singer-songwriter and producer has maintained a cult following for over 15 years and performed in the United States for the very first time at the Tiny Desk back in 2016. He's released a couple of singles since we've transitioned to Tiny Desk (home) concerts and I felt it was the opportune moment to ask him to take part. Recorded at his studio in Amsterdam, the set list reads like an inventory of quarantine essentials, opening with "Apartment" from last year's Free Nationals LP and closing with "Music." The hook reminds me that I'm not the only one who continues to seek refuge in song. He sings, " Music help me through this / I can't do this on my own / But music

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: One of the most famous actors in India has COVID-19. Big B, as he's called, is Amitabh Bachchan. Bollywood fans are praying for recovery, as NPR's Lauren Frayer reports. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: (Praying in non-English language). LAUREN FRAYER, BYLINE: At a Hindu temple in Bhopal, India, the faithful chant prayers for Amitabh Bachchan and his family. The 77-year-old Bollywood icon and his son were both hospitalized over the weekend with COVID-19. His daughter-in-law and granddaughter also tested positive and are isolating at home. The Bachchans are bigger than royalty. There's another Hindu temple dedicated to Amitabh Bachchan in Kolkata, complete with a life-sized idol of the actor on a throne. The sanctuary walls are plastered with movie posters. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Non-English language spoken). FRAYER: "We're not fans, we're devotees," this man told local TV.

Saturday Night Live 's Colin Jost knows there's something about his clean-cut image that rubs some people the wrong way. When he joined SNL as a writer in 2005, he worked off-camera — and didn't have to think about his looks. "When you're not on camera or on television, you don't really consider what you look like," he says. But all that changed when he began working on-air in 2014 as the co-anchor of the show's "Weekend Update." "Some people look at me and have sort of a visceral, angry reaction [to me]," he says. "You see it in our audience. When I get hurt or hit on camera — like when [castmate] Cecily [Strong] throws drinks in my face or throws up red wine on me — the audience really loves it." Jost's new memoir, A Very Punchable Face, describes his experiences growing up in a middle-class household on Staten Island . "Part of writing this book was being excited to talk about parts of my life and weird episodes in my life that I thought that would be entertaining for people," he

Copyright 2020 Fresh Air. To see more, visit Fresh Air . TERRY GROSS, HOST: This is FRESH AIR. At a time when many Americans are still home and life seems to have come to a standstill, our film critic Justin Chang says it could be an especially good time to watch "Palm Springs," a romantic comedy about two people forced to repeat the same day over and over again. It stars Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti. It's streaming on Hulu and playing in some drive-in theaters around the country. JUSTIN CHANG, BYLINE: "Palm Springs" was a hot ticket at this year's Sundance Film Festival, one of the last public events to take place before the movie industry shut down. I didn't see it there, but having caught up with it months later at home, I can't help but feel as though this breezily entertaining movie plays a little differently in the era of COVID-19. It's a comedy about isolation and repetition, which might not sound too appealing at a time when many of us are also leading lives of isolation

Sophie Mackintosh wrote her first novel, The Water Cure , while she was also working a full time office job. It was a success — longlisted for the Man Booker prize in 2018. So she left the day job to write her second novel, Blue Ticket. And as she did in her first book, Mackintosh has created a world in Blue Ticket that explores themes of gender, power and family. "On the day of the first period, teenage girls are assigned a blue ticket or white ticket through a lottery system," Mackintosh says. "The blue ticket means you can't have children and a white ticket means that you can. And this one decision that they make very early on in their lives kind of dictates the rest of their life and follows them around." Interview Highlights On the protagonist, Calla, a blue-ticket woman So I had decided — for a long time I decided I wasn't going to have children, and I was very firm on this. And then when I kind of reached my late 20s, I found myself experiencing something which I imagine a lot

The Tiny Desk is working from home for the foreseeable future. Introducing NPR Music's Tiny Desk (home) concerts, bringing you performances from across the country and the world. It's the same spirit — stripped-down sets, an intimate setting — just a different space. Considering how many of us have rearranged our lives to make the home-office lifestyle work, Diana Gordon's setting for her Tiny Desk (home) concert frames her music in a curated chaos that's all too relatable. Teetering towers of manilla folders, the Y2K kitsch of a slime green Apple iBook, clunky cardboard boxes and a Curb Your Enthusiasm coffee mug — it's just the right amount of cramped, mundane confusion to aid her creativity. Like the workplace props that flank her, an intriguing dose of neurotic mess makes Gordon's latest EP, 2020's Wasted Youth, feel so fitting for these unprecedented times. With her masked-up guitarist, Davin Givhan, helping to guide her, Gordon's nihilistic invincibility on "Rollin" and sonic

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: The United States set a new record yesterday for the most new coronavirus cases reported in a single day - more than 68,000. The previous high mark was set just the day before. The pandemic is stressing medical resources in several states like California, Arizona, Texas and Florida that have seen dramatic surges in recent days. The country's top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, this week referred to this moment as a perfect storm of viral contagion, all of which has intensified the debate about what the country - each of us, really - can do to slow down the spread of the virus, like wearing a face mask. Today President Trump was seen wearing a mask in public during a visit to the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. But the president has sent mixed messages about this, refusing for months to wear a mask, as health experts recommend. So to begin tonight, we want to focus on a group of

Copyright 2020 KHNS. To see more, visit KHNS . LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST: Southeast Alaska's economy is getting hammered without cruise ship tourists, who stayed home due to the pandemic. So one tiny town is using its federal relief money to write monthly $1,000 checks to every resident, paying them not to move away. Claire Stremple reports from member station KHNS. CLAIRE STREMPLE, BYLINE: The boardwalk-lined streets of Skagway, Alaska, are usually filled with tourists by midsummer. But this year, the streets are quiet. REBECCA HYLTON: I became unemployed March 13. STREMPLE: Like many people in town, Rebecca Hylton has depended on the tourism industry for decades. She ran marketing for a local brewpub. But no cruises means no business. She couldn't pay her mortgage until she and her 7-year-old son got their first $2,000 from the local government. Then she spent a little money downtown. HYLTON: So right away, we bought some new boots for him, whereas before, I definitely would've

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST: Ryan Sutton is chief food critic for New York Eater, and he says he's not going to dine out - inside at tables while apart from each other, outside in the open air, anywhere under any circumstance at all. And he says you shouldn't either. Ryan Sutton joins us now from Long Island, N.Y. Welcome to the program. RYAN SUTTON: Thanks for having me, Lulu. GARCIA-NAVARRO: So tell us why you're taking this position to stick with takeout exclusively. You know, servers, bussers, overnight cleaning services - isn't it good to give the restaurants that employ them the business they need to stay afloat so that these people have jobs and income for their households? SUTTON: There's no denying that we're all in a very difficult situation right now. However, given that we have over, you know, 50,000 new cases, often every day, throughout the country, just from an individual moral standpoint, I simply can't bring myself to eat at a

Updated at 9:35 p.m. ET Monday The revelation that Fox News prime-time star Tucker Carlson's top writer had posted racist, sexist and homophobic sentiments online for years under a pseudonym has led to renewed scrutiny of Carlson's own commentaries, which have inspired a series of advertising boycotts. The writer, Blake Neff, resigned on Friday after questions raised by CNN's Oliver Darcy led to the posts becoming public. Carlson addressed the controversy on the air Monday night, saying Neff's comments were wrong and "have no connection to the show." After noting Neff had paid the price for his actions, Carlson also spoke about what he called the costs of self-righteousness. "When we pretend we are holy, we are lying," he said. "When we pose as blameless in order to hurt other people, we are committing the gravest sin of all, and we will be punished for it, no question." In an internal memo, Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott and President and Executive Editor Jay Wallace called the postings

The federal deficit ballooned last month as the U.S. government tried to cushion the blow from the coronavirus pandemic. The red ink in June alone totaled $864 billion . The federal government ran a bigger deficit last month alone than it usually does all year. Washington spent hundreds of billions of dollars trying to prop up small businesses and assist laid-off workers. With three months left in the government's fiscal year, the year's deficit of $2.7 trillion is already nearly twice as large as the previous record of $1.4 trillion, set in 2009 during the Great Recession. While the government is spending heavily on the pandemic , tax collections in June were lower than usual. The filing deadline for 2019 income taxes was postponed until July 15. Congressional forecasters expect the federal deficit for the full year to reach $3.7 trillion. With infections on the rise, Congress is expected to consider additional relief measures this month. Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https:/

They fume and rage and demand their rights. Sometimes they even get violent. In the age of COVID-19, most people practice social distancing guidelines when they go into stores and restaurants, putting on masks and standing 6 feet behind other customers. Still, there are the nightmare customers — those who refuse to comply. "I've had a lot of conflict. I've had a lot of pushback from people," says Brenda Leek, owner of Curbside Eatery in La Mesa, Calif. One woman entered Leek's restaurant without a mask, pulling her T-shirt over her face. Leek told her to mask up or leave. "So then she's like, 'This is ridiculous! You're discriminating against me!' Told me I would be hearing from her attorney. And I said, 'That's fine,' " Leek says. Encounters like that are anything but unusual. The Internet is filled with videotaped confrontations involving customers who flout social distancing rules. Sometimes they insist on entering without face coverings. Other times one customer stands too close to

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: A famous paper, a few months ago, described fighting the pandemic as the hammer and the dance. Officials would put down the hammer, shutting down businesses to slow the disease, and then try various maneuvers to dance back toward normal life. RACHEL MARTIN, HOST: California lowered the hammer last spring. Then came the dance. It's been gradually reopening businesses and beaches over the past couple months. But now Governor Gavin Newsom says he's got to go back to the hammer because COVID is spreading again. (SOUNDBITE OF PRESS CONFERENCE) GAVIN NEWSOM: A week or so ago, I was reporting just six lives lost. And then a few days later, well in excess of a hundred lives lost. And so this continues to be a deadly disease. MARTIN: It's not just businesses closing. The two biggest school districts in California say they won't have kids back in the classrooms for the foreseeable future. INSKEEP: Which is what we're going to discuss

Updated at 12:45 p.m. ET The dramatic collapse of the U.S. economy from the coronavirus is pummeling America's largest banks, raising new concerns about how much growth is slowing. Wells Fargo lost $2.4 billion in the second quarter — its first quarterly loss since 2008 during the financial crisis — and said it expects to cut its dividend to shareholders by 80%. Citigroup saw its profit drop 73% in the quarter. And JPMorgan Chase, the nation's biggest bank, was forced to set aside billions of dollars more to cover bad loans during the second quarter, although money it made from trading in the frothy financial markets assured it made a profit anyway. The results underscore the toll that the recession is taking on big banks, which serve as a barometer of how the broader U.S. economy is faring. Hopes that the economy will rebound as fast as it declined — a so-called V-shaped recovery — seem increasingly unlikely. "We still face much uncertainty regarding the future path of the economy,"

Prairie strips in fields of corn or soybeans can protect the soil and allow wildlife to flourish. This strip was established in a field near Traer, Iowa, in 2015. Omar de Kok-Mercado, Iowa State University Lisa Schulte Moore loves nature. To stand in an old-growth forest, she says, "I can only describe it as healing." When she moved to Iowa to teach ecology at Iowa State University, she didn't get that same feeling when she found herself amid acres of corn. She wasn't hearing birds or seeing many bugs. "All I can hear are the leaves of the rustling corn," she says. "Not one biological noise. You know, they call it the green desert." This is, in fact, the central environmental problem with agriculture. This year, corn and soybeans cover an area of the United States equal in size to all the East Coast states from New York to Georgia. It has displaced wildlife and left the soil more vulnerable to water and wind erosion. But Schulte Moore says that it doesn't have to be a green desert. She

Updated at 4 p.m. ET Months after approving some limited involvement by the Chinese technology giant Huawei in constructing the U.K.'s next-generation wireless data network, British regulators reversed course Tuesday. Beginning in January, U.K. regulators will implement a ban on telecom operators buying Huawei equipment. Existing Huawei 5G equipment will need to be removed from the U.K.'s 5G network by 2027. The decision comes after relations between the U.K. and China declined sharply over China's actions in Hong Kong, and in the face of a potential rebellion by parliamentarians from the U.K.'s ruling Conservative party who are concerned about the security implications of Chinese involvement in the 5G rollout. But it also follows sustained U.S. pressure on the U.K. and other European countries to exclude Huawei from 5G development. The U.S. says Huawei's equipment can be used for espionage by Beijing, and it has threatened to withhold intelligence from its allies that continued to use

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Have you ever taken the test? The Bible counsels, “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith.” (2 Corinthians 13:5). Pastor Doug Batchelor offers ten brief but vital checkpoints to help you self-evaluate if you have been genuinely converted. No matter how long you’ve been a Christian, get ready for eye-opening results!

President Trump has won at least a temporary reprieve from a judge's order to release his tax records as part of a criminal investigation into his business dealings. Those records could be released to investigators as litigation continues. Tax experts say the documents could reveal a lot — or not much at all — about Trump's financial history. "Numbers tell stories," said Kelly Richmond Pope, who teaches forensic accounting at DePaul University. "So following those numbers can help piece together a story." The returns could prompt further investigation by prosecutors in New York, who are digging into Trump's business dealings around hush money that his organization allegedly paid to two women who say they had extramarital affairs with him. And whatever the returns contain, they're a matter of public interest, given that Trump has bucked precedent by not releasing them. Here are a few things that tax experts say they'll be watching for as litigation over Trump's tax records continues:

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST: A bipartisan delegation of Congresspeople is just back from Ukraine. It was a trip designed to strengthen the U.S.-Ukraine alliance, and it was planned before news broke of the whistleblower complaint against President Trump involving that same country. Congressman John Garamendi led the delegation as a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee. And the Democrat from California joins us now. Welcome, Congressman. JOHN GARAMENDI: Good to be with you. SHAPIRO: One central question in the impeachment inquiry is whether President Trump demanded help investigating a political rival in exchange for U.S. aid to Ukraine. And I know that aid was a central topic on your trip, so what did you learn about Ukraine's reliance on American assistance? GARAMENDI: Well, first of all, Ukraine is an extraordinary country. These citizens of that country are determined to be independent. They have been fighting a war against Russia for the last five years. They've lost 13- to 14

MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST: It is time to bring home U.S. troops from Syria. That was a tweet from the president this morning. It made many people think the president was acting on his longstanding goal of getting U.S. forces out of long-running wars in the Middle East. He also appeared to be clearing the way for Turkey to cross the border into northern Syria. But what has followed today has been confusion and criticism of the president, followed by more tweets from Trump, including one in which he threatened to destroy the economy of Turkey. NPR national security correspondent Greg Myre is here. Hi, Greg. GREG MYRE, BYLINE: Hey, Mary Louise. KELLY: It feels like it might be a good idea to just back us up 24 hours or so. We know that President Trump had a phone call with President Erdogan of Turkey, and then all this unspooled from there. What happened? MYRE: Right. Well, these presidential phone calls with foreign leaders continue to be highly problematic. Trump spoke with the Turkish

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST: A bipartisan delegation of Congresspeople is just back from Ukraine. It was a trip designed to strengthen the U.S.-Ukraine alliance, and it was planned before news broke of the whistleblower complaint against President Trump involving that same country. Congressman John Garamendi led the delegation as a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee. And the Democrat from California joins us now. Welcome, Congressman. JOHN GARAMENDI: Good to be with you. SHAPIRO: One central question in the impeachment inquiry is whether President Trump demanded help investigating a political rival in exchange for U.S. aid to Ukraine. And I know that aid was a central topic on your trip, so what did you learn about Ukraine's reliance on American assistance? GARAMENDI: Well, first of all, Ukraine is an extraordinary country. These citizens of that country are determined to be independent. They have been fighting a war against Russia for the last five years. They've lost 13- to 14

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST: A bipartisan delegation of Congresspeople is just back from Ukraine. It was a trip designed to strengthen the U.S.-Ukraine alliance, and it was planned before news broke of the whistleblower complaint against President Trump involving that same country. Congressman John Garamendi led the delegation as a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee. And the Democrat from California joins us now. Welcome, Congressman. JOHN GARAMENDI: Good to be with you. SHAPIRO: One central question in the impeachment inquiry is whether President Trump demanded help investigating a political rival in exchange for U.S. aid to Ukraine. And I know that aid was a central topic on your trip, so what did you learn about Ukraine's reliance on American assistance? GARAMENDI: Well, first of all, Ukraine is an extraordinary country. These citizens of that country are determined to be independent. They have been fighting a war against Russia for the last five years. They've lost 13- to 14

Copyright 2019 NPR. To see more, visit MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST: Over the weekend, we learned that a second whistleblower has come forward in the Ukraine affair. The anonymous individual is said to have firsthand knowledge of President Trump's dealings with Ukraine. NPR justice correspondent Ryan Lucas is here in the studio with more. Hey there, Ryan. RYAN LUCAS, BYLINE: Hello there. KELLY: So whistleblower number two - what do we know about this person? LUCAS: A lot remains a mystery, to be honest. The individual has been described as an intelligence official but remains, as you said, anonymous. He or she is being represented by the same legal team as the whistleblower who submitted the initial formal complaint to the Intelligence Committee inspector general, and it's that complaint, of course, that kicked off this whole Trump-Ukraine affair. One of the lawyers on the legal team, Mark Zaid, says this second individual has spoken with the inspector general. That means that this person

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST: A bipartisan delegation of Congresspeople is just back from Ukraine. It was a trip designed to strengthen the U.S.-Ukraine alliance, and it was planned before news broke of the whistleblower complaint against President Trump involving that same country. Congressman John Garamendi led the delegation as a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee. And the Democrat from California joins us now. Welcome, Congressman. JOHN GARAMENDI: Good to be with you. SHAPIRO: One central question in the impeachment inquiry is whether President Trump demanded help investigating a political rival in exchange for U.S. aid to Ukraine. And I know that aid was a central topic on your trip, so what did you learn about Ukraine's reliance on American assistance? GARAMENDI: Well, first of all, Ukraine is an extraordinary country. These citizens of that country are determined to be independent. They have been fighting a war against Russia for the last five years. They've lost 13- to 14