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Not out of the COVID-19 woods just yet

Mar 29, 2021

Not out of the COVID-19 woods just yet

Every week since the pandemic shutdowns started in March 2020, there have been more new unemployment claims filed than in any single week during the Great Recession. Spencer Platt/Getty Images

We're in a weird spot in the COVID-19 pandemic, and that's putting health officials and policymakers in a difficult situation. Also on today's show: the future of the U.S.-China trade war and President Biden wants to spend big on science.

Segments From this episode

Biden holds line on China tariffs, for now

by Scott Tong

Mar 29, 2021

Keeping the trade levies in place is seen as a way the U.S. can maintain leverage with China on a range of issues.

Then-Vice President Joe Biden speaks in Beijing in 2013. Maintaining tariffs on China gives the U.S. bargaining leverage and supports Biden's effort to strengthen domestic supply chains.

Lintao Zhang/Getty Images

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COVID-19

In 2 decisions, CDC signals the pandemic still has months to go

by Kimberly Adams

Mar 29, 2021

The eviction moratorium remains in place until summer, and cruise ships won't sail from U.S. ports until at least late November.

“Please hold on a little while longer," said CDC Director Rochelle Walensky, urging Americans to maintain coronavirus safety precautions.

Susan Walsh/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

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Workplace Culture

How workers who started jobs remotely are adapting a year on

by Meghan McCarty Carino

Mar 29, 2021

Many have never seen their company's office or met their co-workers in person.

“We found that games and wordplay were a great way of supporting that sense of people reaching through the screen," said Jessica Shaw, founder of PACT Creative Training.

SDI Productions via Getty Images

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Biden wants to nearly double U.S. spending on science

by Nancy Marshall-Genzer

Mar 29, 2021

The president says he'd like to increase spending to about 2% of the country's GDP — closer to what it was in the 1960s.

Artificial intelligence, like the AI used in these robots, is one of the main areas of scientific research this spending would go towards.

Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images

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Brexit

Brexit border controls disrupt Northern Ireland business, provoke pro-British backlash

by Stephen Beard

Mar 29, 2021

Post-Brexit trade friction makes some citizens in the province feel like foreigners in their own country.

The Northern Ireland Protocol was meant to effectively keep the province in the EU but has led to unintended consequences.

Paul Faith/AFP via Getty Images

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Music from the episode

Tightrope (feat. Big Boi) - Big Boi Vocal Edit Janelle Monáe, Big Boi

Just a Friend Biz Markie

Green Light Lorde

Wide Eyes Local Natives

Aloha Chris Bear

Chartreuse Capital Cities

The team

Nancy Farghalli Executive Producer

Maria Hollenhorst Producer II

Sean McHenry Director & Associate Producer II

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