#npr life kit

[sswslitinmotion]

I may have shared this link previously, but I'll have to check that at a later time. Presenting: the NPR link to the Life Kit podcast episode about How to Get Into Poetry, from March 30, 2020 - back in the dark days of the COVID-19 pandemic, when we were seeking the arts for solace. NPR's post for this episode has been updated as of April 19, 2024, in time for National Poetry Month, summing up 5 great tips on how to read poetry - including "To read poetry like a poet, don't worry about 'getting it.'"

It's a good post to read, and still a good listen, even if we're past the pandemic but we still need the arts because we're living in crazy times. -- ssw15

Per NPR's Andrew Limbong:

Don't approach poetry like it's school.

Don't worry about "getting it."

Read it out loud.

Visualize the poem.

Read a lot of poetry.

[oscarisaacasimov]

How to Save for Retirement

Good news: There's a lot about retirement savings that you DO NOT have to thoroughly understand to make savvy investments. You don't have to be a math person or have a traditional job or have a "5 year plan".

1) Start saving as early as you can. The one financial advantage we have over the older generations is TIME, so USE IT. Starting early means making "free money," your interest earns interest that will be paid back to you. The amount you save in the early years is expected to double every decade, so the more years with an account, the more free money.

2) Start today if you haven't yet. I mean it. Even if it's only 50-100 / month. You will have an account earning free money in your name, and it's easy to add more funds later when the basics are already set up. If you don't have access to a 401(k) or similar, open an IRA (the Roth IRA kind is for those with a low income and a low tax payment in the springs). NOW is more important than which type of account.

3) Choose an "index fund" with a "target date" around the age you expect to retire. Index funds are basically a tiny sliver of the whole economy around you - stocks for companies large and small, bonds for the US government, real estate, international components. Index funds provide better returns for a lower fee than "actively managed" funds, where the professional's guess wrong more often than not. If you are investing in an index, or piece of the market, than the market can never leave you behind. Target dates mean more higher risk, higher reward stocks in the earliest years, and gradually adjusting to more stable and steady bonds as you near retirement and have less time to recoop a loss. If any of this sounds scary or complicated, this is the common and proven best way to invest over a lifetime.

4) If your employer offers a retirement match contribution (often 2% - 5% of your takehome pay), invest at least that much of your own pay, because again we love FREE MONEY.

5) Increase your retirement payments to yourself anytime life gets easier. Significant raise at work? Moved to a cheaper town? Paid off your car / house / student loans / day care years? Send some of that new monthly money straight into the retirement fund.

6) Your eventual goal is to save 15% of your annual income toward retirement. If this seems insane, start where you can, and aim to add an additional 1-2% with every new year.

7) "Set it and forget it." DO NOT TOUCH your retirement money. Don't even look at it. Maybe once / year if you are curious. The road of compound interest will include some downturns with the stock market is down. This is normal for everyone, but keeping that steady investment through highs & lows is the best strategy for longterm growth of your money.

7b) It is not a kindness to your children to pull money out of your retirement savings on their behalf. You'll lose that much money plus the years of "free money" accumulation plus some early withdrawal fees &/ weird tasks. This makes you more likely to become financially dependent on your kids during your retirement. Not a favor in the long run.

8 ) "If investing feels fun and exciting, then you are not investing, you are gambling." If you are intrigued by the idea of investing in particular companies or trying to time the market - cool. Take some money that wouldn't be disastrous to lose and try your luck - the odds are not in your favor. But your retirement plan must be slow and steady. Source

[npr-stan]

Listen to: Eating Healthy Without Overspending

Listen to: Eating Healthy Without Overspending - https://one.npr.org/i/920807670:1197919417

[yepthatsacowalright]

"If you are not forced to be on the screen, then the real agency you have is to ask the question, what is the purpose of this reading? If the purpose is to experience the beauty of an author, if you are doing it on the screen, I assure you, even with your most disciplined habits, you're going to miss - you're going to skim no matter what because that's what we do. We're so accustomed to skimming. So if the purpose is beauty, forget the screen. If the purpose is a contract or something legal that you really need to ponder and pore over, or in my case, often reviewing an article. If I've decided I have to do this article as a review that's careful, I print it out because print does not hasten us. Print goes according to our own pace.

For my email, I assure you, Andrew, I never deep-read, and therefore I skip a lot of things and make mistakes, even. But I do not deep-read many things that all I need is the gist. And when you only need the gist, you can just, you know, use whatever medium you want. But if you want to really go back to your reading habits before the screen, before you became almost a skim reader, then I ask you to really think hard about your choices." - Maryanne Wolf on the Life Kit episode How to practice 'deep reading'

[puzzledjay]

Another Palestine Masterpost

Here is another compiled list of ongoing Palestine links. Feel free to add more + attributions / sources if you can! Many additional resources and be found in Sulfurcosmos’s Help Palestine tumblr masterpost Donation / Advocacy

Aid for Children and Families via PCRF (direct donation page)

Emergency Food Donations via World Food Program

Donate to Doctors Without Boarders*

Donate to Anera (provides hygine kits and menstrual products)*

Donate to UNICEF (explaination page)* *Humanitarian Aid article / links sourced via NPR article, cross-referenced with article / links via CharityWatch, further supported by this Build Palestine article Charity verification sites: CharityWatch & CharityNavigator

Donate E-Sims, from Mirna El Helbawi on twitter Purchase tutorial for E-Sims Tumblr post E-Sim explainer by blackpearlblast

Trees for Life via Land of Canaan Foundation

Resources / Education / Art

Advocacy for Palestine booklet (downloadable), from wizard_bisan1 on insta

Boycott list and quick reference via BDS (may be outdated) Additional info via FOA To check involvement of complicit companies, use WhoProfits and Investigate

Food Insecurity Map via IPC

History education via Decolonize Palestine

Free Palestine Posters from Artists Against Apartheid found via wikipediadogdotnet’s tumblr post

Tumblr masterpost of Palestinian books by virgomoon

Palestinian media tumblr post by randomthoughtswhileeatingdonuts

Support Palestinian Businesses via this tumblr masterpost from Sulfurcosmos

Petitions / Contacting Representatives

Action Network

Amnesty International

Move On

Teachers for Palestine

USCPR

Call US reps via 5calls (US Congress ceasefire tracker)

Tumblr Resource Posts

Help Palestine masterpost by Sulfurcosmos

Links to other masterposts & resources by maraschino-fairy

Dated archive of information (+links to ‘23 info) by mauesartetc

FROM THE RIVER TO THE SEA PALESTINE WILL BE FREE.

[jimstares]

My friend @brainsludgemissives posted NPR's New Year's resolution generator and someone had drawn this. As a person who's run (a lot) this is outstanding. If you've ever thought about running, I highly recommend the tips in this article

[in-sufficientdata]

I'm 42 and just finally worked out my being agender "counts" despite having little desire to do anything to stop being perceived as a woman.

I have a close high school friend who just came out this year and is beginning to transition.

You, dear reader, have so much time.

I say this as someone with some wicked gerascophobia – even if you're afraid of getting older, even if it terrifies you, there's so much time.

NPR recently published this article about aging that I believe would help us all:

To tl;dr the article's premise, your attitude toward aging is the best predictor of your outcome.

If you see each day as a new opportunity, a chance to grow and change, the time will be more rewarding. And that's not to say I don't still struggle!

The thing I have spent the longest in my life, back when I believed in a deity, crying and praying long into the nights, was about being terrified to one day turn 30. And now I'm 42.

At first still being alive after 30 felt like borrowed time, but it's really not that.

It's a chance to live the life I want to live. I'm trying to make the most of it.

Heck knows sometimes I fail at it. But at least I'm here to try.

[eddie-redmayne-italian-blog]

'Cabaret' comes back to Broadway starring Eddie Redmayne and Gayle Rankin

APRIL 20, 20248:00 AM ET

HEARD ON WEEKEND EDITION SATURDAY

NPR's Scott Simon speaks to Eddie Redmayne and Gayle Rankin, who star in the new Broadway revival of "Cabaret."

SCOTT SIMON, HOST: You probably recognize the music from the first notes. (SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WILLKOMMEN") EDDIE REDMAYNE: (As Emcee, singing) Willkommen, bienvenue, welcome. Fremde, etranger, stranger. SIMON: "Cabaret," the 1966 Broadway musical by Joe Masteroff, John Kander and Fred Ebb. It's drawn from Christopher Isherwood's memoir of high times and hot jazz and is set in a fictional Berlin nightspot called the Kit Kat Club. (SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WILLKOMMEN") REDMAYNE: (As Emcee, singing) Im Cabaret, au Cabaret, to Cabaret. SIMON: At a time when sequins, high-stepping flappers and forbidden love gives way to goose-stepping and beating Jews on the street. A new revival of "Cabaret" has opened on Broadway after winning seven Olivier Awards in London. Eddie Redmayne plays the Emcee, and he joins us from New York. May I say willkommen to you? REDMAYNE: You may indeed. Hi.

SIMON: And Gayle Rankin the British chanteuse who comes to Berlin. I get to say fraulein Sally Bowles. (LAUGHTER) GAYLE RANKIN: Hello, darling (laughter). I had to (laughter). SIMON: Oh, my gosh. Wait. Sorry. Let me just catch my heart for a moment. Thanks so much. (LAUGHTER) SIMON: Eddie Redmayne, you've played the Emcee before. I was about to say early in your career, but really, before you started your career. REDMAYNE: That's absolutely true. Yes, I was a kid. I was at high school when I - we did a little school production. I think I was about 14, 15 years old. It was one of those moments in my life where I would say really I fell in love with theater. It thrilled me, and it made me think, and it moved me. And so I always sort of credit it weirdly as being the thing that that got me into acting full and proper. SIMON: What does the Emcee do for the audience?

REDMAYNE: I think one of the reasons the Emcee is such a iconic role and one that so many actors lean into is he's so enigmatic. He was conjured by Hal Prince and Joel Grey as a way of connecting the Sally Bowles story, and so he almost lives in an abstract place. And so for an actor, that is joyous because there are sort of no limitations on the one hand, and it's also quite daunting. He sort of starts as a puppeteer almost, the kind of the Shakespearian fool, perhaps... (SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "TWO LADIES") REDMAYNE: (As Emcee) Come on, my little ones. UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As character, singing) Beedle dee, deedle dee, dee. UNIDENTIFIED ACTORS: (As characters, singing) Beedle dee, deedle dee, dee. REDMAYNE: (As Emcee, singing) Beedle dee, deedle dee, beedle dee, deedle dee. UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As character, singing) Beedle dee, deedle dee, dee. REDMAYNE: (Singing) Two ladies. UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As characters, singing) Beedle dee, dee dee dee.

REDMAYNE: ...Who then, over the course of the piece, rises to the all-knowing king or the sort of from puppeteer to conductor, and he becomes rather than the victim, he's almost the perpetrator. And so this person that's hopefully pulled you in at the beginning of the evening and seduced you and made you laugh, you realize is actually conducting the entire piece. (SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "IF YOU COULD SEE HER") REDMAYNE: (As Emcee, singing) If could see her through my eyes, she wouldn't look Jewish at all. SIMON: And Gayle Rankin, you have played other roles in "Cabaret" before Sally Bowles, haven't you? RANKIN: I have. I made my Broadway debut, actually, playing Fraulein Kost in the Sam Mendes revival 10 years ago with Alan and Michelle and Emma Stone. Eddie and I were just talking about it just the other day, and he was like, is this so weird? Is it so weird? And I was like, you know what? It's not weird. It's not weird. And it doesn't - I feel like a new person and in a new world 'cause that's - you know, "Cabaret," it comes back, and the world is new a decade later. It's new, and it's also the same.

SIMON: Help us look inside of Sally's mind and heart. What brings her to Berlin in the early '30s? RANKIN: You know, there's not a lot that's given to us, you know, about Sally. (SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MEIN HERR")

RANKIN: (As Sally Bowles, singing) But I do what I can, inch by inch, step by step, mile by mile. For me, it was very important for me to kind of figure out Sally's relationship to artistry and creativity and why she ended up at the club. And there's a huge, you know, kind of cultural discussion about whether Sally has talent or whether she does not have talent. And that's a really fascinating thing, I think, to me. And I think it's amazing how people think they can decide or that they know that she's not - quote-unquote, "not talented" or is talented. It's just wild to me. SIMON: I have to ask. There are so many famous names who have played the two parts into which you two step now - Dame Judi Dench, Natasha Richardson, Michelle Williams. Alan Cumming, Joel Grey have played the Emcee. I didn't even mention the film with Liza Minnelli and Joel Grey, now, did I? So do previous productions inspire you, or do you just have to, you know, leave them in the fridge? REDMAYNE: I've been such a passionate fan of "Cabaret" since I was a kid that I've seen everything in the sense that I've - you can see some of Sam's production on YouTube. I saw Sam's production with Emma and Alan. I've watched the film. I even saw a random Spanish version when I was... RANKIN: Oh.

REDMAYNE: ...Younger. And they've been so brilliant, the productions before, that I hope we come sort of standing on their shoulders and with great respect for them, but also trying to do something new and fresh. And one of the things that was important for me was that idea - one of the Emcee's first lines is leave your troubles outside, and that for audience members coming to see this in New York, you enter via a sort of back alley. You get taken down into the underbelly of the theater, where there is an entire cast of performers playing in these really beautiful spaces, and you get a bit discombobulated. It's labyrinthine, and you get sort of lost, so that by the time you are taken actually into the theater itself, which sits in the round, hopefully, you have genuinely left all memory of 52nd Street outside. SIMON: I got to say, your production reached through to me with something I hadn't quite realized before. Things are terrible and getting worse on the streets. They're beating Jews and putting them into ghettos. There's a refuge in the club. There's also a refuge in Fraulein Schneider's boardinghouse, where she, for the first time in her life, really has a relationship with a man who happens to be a fruit seller and a Jewish man. Both your characters have that refuge in the club, and they have their characters in the boardinghouse. But, you know, refuges - well, real life can bring them down, can't they?

REDMAYNE: Absolutely. And I feel like the play, in its essence, is a warning in some ways. It serves as a warning about when hate can take over humanity and when humanity is lost to hate. And that feels so relevant at this moment. There are so many examples of that throughout the world today, but I hope that the brilliance of what Kander, Ebb and Masteroff created was that it seduces you in and in a way that feels really sort of magnificent but then begins to touch on these - this repetition of history that resounds and serves as a warning. RANKIN: And it kind of - what's so scary about it is how the refuge is created, and then you slowly realize that actually, there's a poison inside of your refuge. SIMON: What do you take in from the audience every night? REDMAYNE: Well, I mean, one of the joys for me as a performer is the intimacy of the space. So there's not really a sort of a bad seat in the house at the August Wilson, and the other character in the room with the Emcee is the audience. And what I have loved about our experience in New York is people because it's an event almost, the evening, from the second you pass the threshold. The theater's been redesigned and reconfigured in a way. People are getting dressed up. So you have people in black tie next to people in fetish gear next to people in jeans and a T-shirt, and you get all sorts of characters.

RANKIN: And to have a relationship with the audience, you know, and to enjoy how fun... REDMAYNE: Yeah. RANKIN: ...This is and can be throughout the show till the very end - what is written in this piece, there's - we're still laughing through tears at a certain point toward - for the very end of the show, and that's what's so kind of timeless and important about this space, that there's something that doesn't die inside of our club. SIMON: Gayle Rankin and Eddie Redmayne star in the new production of "Cabaret" on Broadway. Thank you both so much for being with us. REDMAYNE: Thanks for having us. RANKIN: Thank you so much. (SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "TOMORROW BELONGS TO ME") REDMAYNE: (As Emcee, singing) The sun on the meadow is summery warm. The stag in the forest runs free.

https://www.npr.org/2024/04/20/1246083026/cabaret-comes-back-to-broadway-starring-eddie-redmayne-and-gayle-rankin

[soupsnakessss]

just found your blog and i’m a big fan!! i’ve always thought that something was “up” with those two but never cared to look into it further until now, when tumblr recommended you and i spent hours reading all the posts i could lol 🫣 i have two questions for you: first, what are your top mindy and bj moments? second, any other blogs like yours that you recommend? i’m rapidly becoming obsessed with them i fear 🤪

** this has been in my drafts for like two months now- sorry anon but here you go!**

This is such a fun but hard question.  It's impossible to narrow it down…

When BJ suddenly got choked up and started crying about Mindy on NPR last year.

When Mindy was talking about this tweet from him on the Today show in 2018 and also, suddenly started crying.

This IG post (caption!) from Mindy in 2012 and the way BJ is looking at her.

This tweet from BJ on Halloween 2011 and the way Mindy is smiling at him- that he deleted shortly after because all the replies were asking why she’s kneeling.

Being the cutest parents together this May when they attended the spring fundraiser gala for Kit’s school.

When BJ was away in Europe in 2014 and was caught obsessively liking all of Mindys IG posts.

When BJ described Mindy as having “skin the color of a caramel latte, and the voice of a studious songbird”

This birthday present Mindy gave him.

And this birthday present- the expensive necklaces BJ bought her while he was in Paris in 2013.

Mindy’s “Happy Birthday, Rude Boy” post for him.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Mindy Kaling (@mindykaling)

The “come home” saga / BJ & Kit’s FaceTime 😭

“You autocomplete me”

These videos:

The two of them at BJ's 40th birthday party.

The legendary Bookcon talk - which includes the "love of my life" moment.

Mindy explaining how he was going to dress up as Santa for the kids in 2020.

All of the times Andy Cohen has gotten them to talk about their relationship.

BJ talking about their relationship last year and saying she is the most important person in his life.

Or saying that having "multiple generations" all together with Mindy, the kids, and both families in Boston this summer was "a dream come true"

Sightings like:

Out and about in NYC when she was secretly pregnant with Kit.

Mindy going to New Mexico to visit him on his movie set when she was secretly pregnant with Spencer.

The Hawaii trip no one knew about in 2012.

BJ spotted carrying and kissing baby Kit in 2018. And BJ spotted kissing baby Spencer in 2021, while Mindy held him.

The sweetest Central Park stroll with Kit before Mindy did the Met Gala in 2019.

This old sighting of them kissing and laughing in NYC.

Any and all of thirsty comments he leaves on Mindy’s IG.

These portraits from 2018 & 2020.

The time they were spotted getting cozy at the 2019 VF Oscar Party.

When BJ referred to them as eternal.

This quote from Mindy

This quote from BJ

And lastly this one

❤️❤️❤️ Everything is a top moment!

Blogs i recommend are: @heartcm /@karenwalkerdesigns / @aflawedfashion / @livelovecaliforniadreams / @bjkaling / these and any of the ones I previously linked, to look through their archives and tags.

[tellywoodtrash]

Hi TT. Hope you're doing good. Can you recommend any good interesting podcasts? Any genre is fine as long as it's entertaining :p Also love your podcast it reminds me of my girl gang sitting and discussing movies and shows❤️❤️❤️waiting for the next one!!!

Hiiiii friend!

Here are my faves, in no particular order:

Stuff You Should Know

Cool People Who Did Cool Stuff

History Of Everything

Filmy Ladies

The Desi Crime Podcast

Behind The Bastards

Khandaan Podcast

Calling Bullsh!t

The Seen and the Unseen

Short History Of...

Ridiculous Crime

Beyond the Scenes from The Daily Show

The Bechdel Cast

NPR Life Kit

Not For Everyone (I haven't listened to this one yet, but I greatly enjoy Caroline Winkler's Youtube channel and her general vibe, so I've subscribed, but need to listen and catch up)

[ca1iban]

Helpful ways to keep distress in check : Life Kit : NPR

I view my life with hatred, contempt

[oscarisaacasimov]

Credit Scores

Disclaimer: Some of this advice may not be immediately applicable to people who are struggling financially.

On the other hand, if you are responsible with money & lucky, your credit score will pretty much take care of itself.

I just don't want anyone to be accidentally lowering their credit score because they don't know the "rules of the game."

.......................................................................................................................

Dos:

--Pay off all your debt owed every single month - car loan, mortgage and yes credit card. (It's a common falsehood that carrying a credit card balance helps your score, it only does harm plus wastes your money on interest.)

--Keep your credit card spending below 30% of your official spending limit for that card; lower% is even better.

--For an credit card bill above the 30%, pay your balance before the "statement date" and don't wait until the due date.

--If you get a significant raise or other financial boon, contact your credit card company to request a raise to your spending limit.

--Focus on your FICO credit score, and don't worry about any other credit score calculators.

--Avoid "hard inquiries" into your credit unless you expect to be approved for an imminent large purchase (vehicles, rental/mortgage, etc.)

--Only take out credit if you know you won't abuse it. A "thin file" is better than a file full of financial red flags.

Don'ts:

--Cancel your oldest credit card. Keep it going, set it up to autopay a small monthly bill (netflix, water, or the like)

--Apply for new credit cards unless you really need them. The hard credit check, the newness of the credit line, any overdue payments, and any spending near that card's credit limit can ALL harm your credit score.

--Expect a credit score change to change immediately or directly due to increased income or increased savings. Those factors are not a part of your credit score (though of course if you budget that money well, your credit score will eventually reflect your better financial stability).

--Fuss if your credit score is 740 instead of 850; 740 is the low end of the "perfect" range, you'll be approved for basically anything.

--Worry if your starting credit score is below 740. Nothing is wrong and you are not being penalized. Credit scores include 5 components: payment history, amounts owed, length of credit history, credit mix - these will all improve over time if you don't miss payments. The 5th component, new credit, may be lowering your score when you open your first credit line, but this too will fade with time (as long as you don't quickly open additional credit lines).

How to find your credit score for free from trusted sources: 1) Check with your bank or credit union.

2) Request your score through these three companies only: Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax. 3) use Consumer Financial Protection Bureau links:

(Note that you may have slightly different FICO credit scores across different financial websites, this is normal.)

Sources

[npr-stan]

Listen to: Protect your ears from hearing loss

Listen to: Protect your ears from hearing loss - https://one.npr.org/i/1199886064:1244347991

[ausetkmt]

NPR: In new documentary, Ibram X. Kendi asks 'What is wrong with Black people?'

In new documentary, Ibram X. Kendi asks 'What is wrong with Black people?'

Eric Deggans looks at the new documentary "Stamped from the Beginning," which looks at the history of racist ideas in America.

AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:

The Netflix documentary "Stamped From The Beginning" starts with a provocative question writer and professor Ibram X. Kendi asks of other Black academics.

(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "STAMPED FROM THE BEGINNING")

IBRAM X KENDI: Can you please tell me what is wrong with Black people?

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: What is wrong with Black people?

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: OK, what do you mean by that?

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: What is wrong with Black people?

RASCOE: Kendi, who founded the Center for Antiracist Research at Boston University, answers by invoking how systemic racism can convince Black people and everyone else that Black people deserve to be marginalized. NPR TV critic and media analyst Eric Deggans has watched "Stamped From The Beginning" and has also been following recent allegations of mismanagement against Kendi at the BU center. Hi, Eric.

ERIC DEGGANS, BYLINE: Hi.

RASCOE: So first, tell us more about this documentary. It's out on Netflix later this month.

DEGGANS: Yeah, it's this percolating primer on the themes in Kendi's award-winning 2016 book of the same name. Now, there's compelling animation, historical photos, interviews with lots of academics - although it might be tough for some people to watch. It's centered on this idea that much of the systemic racism that's directed against Black people was created as an attempt to justify enslavement and exploitation of Black people, not the other way around. And in the film, you know, Kendi speaks of this ruler known as Prince Henry of Portugal who he says turned to enslaving Black people from Africa in the mid-1400s instead of Europeans because it was harder for them to run away. Here's a clip. Let's listen.

(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "STAMPED FROM THE BEGINNING")

KENDI: Prince Henry didn't want to admit he was violently enslaving African people to make money, so he dispatched a royal chronicler by the name of Gomes Zurara.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

KENDI: Gomes Zurara justified his slave trading by stating that Prince Henry was doing it to save souls and that these people in Africa were inferior.

DEGGANS: So that, Kendi says, is the creation of Blackness in which Europeans treat Africans from many different tribes and countries as one inferior race to justify exploiting them.

RASCOE: So these are some very complex concepts about race and history. How does this fit with his other work, you know, like his bestselling book "How To Be An Antiracist" or his ESPN series on sports and race?

DEGGANS: Well, you know, I've interviewed Kendi for NPR's Life Kit podcast. And at the core of a lot of his work is this idea that racism is a behavior, not just a state of being - that it comes down to choices you make every day. And in Netflix's "Stamped From The Beginning," that means examining these ideas like the myth of Black hypersexuality, which has been invoked throughout history to justify raping Black women or lynching Black men. And after the death of George Floyd in 2020, you know, Kendi gained new prominence speaking on these themes - the themes in "How To Be An Antiracist." And those ideas are found in so many contemporary issues that it makes sense that Kendi could leverage them into an ESPN project on racism in sports or this Netflix film.

RASCOE: And what about that criticism Kendi ran into following his decision earlier this year to lay off about half the staff at the Center for Antiracist Research at Boston University? Where do those allegations of mismanagement stand?

DEGGANS: Well, the university just released an internal audit finding there were no issues with how the center's finances were handled, which kind of backed up Kendi's contention that the layoffs were not a result of bad fiscal management. And it also pushes back against some critics who tried to delegitimize his concepts by suggesting he's some kind of fraud. Now, hopefully, this will allow people to focus more on his ideas, which he sums up at the end of "Stamped From The Beginning" by answering that original question. The only thing wrong with Black people, he says, is that we think something is wrong with Black people.

RASCOE: NPR TV critic and media analyst Eric Deggans. Thank you so much.

DEGGANS: Thank you.

[alexi8832]

NPR: 4 tips for spotting deepfakes and other AI-generated images : Life Kit

[lamajaoscura]

How to mend your own clothes : Life Kit : NPR