UpFront

School districts in chaos due to COVID surge fueled by Omicron; New York’s transit system faces slowdowns due to worker shortage; Immunocompromised folks seek 4th and 5th booster shots; Plus Mailk Al Nasir on Gil Scott-Heron

Volunteers hand out masks at Stillwell Terminal on Wed., August 25, 2021. | Image by Marc A. Hermann / MTA

On today’s show:

0:08 – Calamity ensues in school districts across the country due to a surge in COVID cases due to the Omicron variant. Dana Goldstein (@DanaGoldstein), national education correspondent for the New York Times joins us to discuss.

0:19 – Sarah Karp (@SSKedreporter), education reporter for WBEZ – Chicago Public Radio joins us to discuss the conversations taking place amongst teachers, parents, and city officials following a vote by the Chicago Teachers Union to return to remote learning.

0:33 – Stephen Nessen (@s_nessen), transportation reporter for WNYC – New York Public Radio joins us to discuss service cuts and worker shortages at the largest transit system in the US – New York’s MTA.

0:50 – Amanda Morris (@AmandaMoMorris), New York Times reporting fellow focused on disability issues joins us to discuss her reporting on some of the immunocompromised folks seeking unapproved 4th or 5th vaccine boosters.

1:08 – We spend our second hour with Malik Al Nasir (@MalikAndTheOGs), a British author, freelance journalist, filmmaker, academic and performance poet. Cat spoke with Malik late last year about his memoir of racism and abuse under Liverpool’s care system and the mentorship of Gil Scott-Heron. His book is called Letters to Gil.