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How structural racism affects the health of Black Americans · Apple News Today

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  Shumita Basu, Narrating: Good morning! It's Friday, June 2nd. I'm Shumita Basu. This is "Apple News Today." On today's show, the debt-ceiling bill now heads to Biden's desk for his signature, a more comprehensive buyer's guide for electric vehicles, and why you might not remember that amazing concert you went to.
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  But first, being Black in America means you're more likely to have health problems that are out of your control. The "Associated Press" is out with a year-long investigation that looks at how structural racism is responsible for health disparities that have made it harder for generations of Black Americans to live healthy lives.
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  They experience higher rates of chronic ailments like diabetes, high blood pressure, Alzheimer's and COVID-19. They have higher maternal mortality rates and lower life expectancies. And "AP" reporter Kat Stafford found Black children are more likely to have asthma and be exposed to certain triggers like air pollution.
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  Stafford learned, this largely comes down to where these children live, neighborhoods that are more likely to be near polluting factories or plants or highways.
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  Kat Stafford: There's research that shows that the same communities that were segregated or redlined decades and decades ago, today, those same communities are the ones that lack adequate access to healthy foods. They are also the same communities that are more likely to have close proximity to these plants and other pollutants that we see.
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  Today, four in ten Black kids live in areas with poor environmental and health conditions. Stafford went to Connecticut, which has some of the highest asthma rates in the country. That's where she met five-year-old Carter and his nine-year-old sister Caydence, who both suffer from severe asthma.
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  Stafford: They were forced to miss a lot of school. Two weeks, I believe, at once at one point. So, this has a huge impact on the children, right? As one doctor noted in the story, when you start to miss school, you start to become behind in your studies and that could lead to an entire trickle-down effect that could frankly impact you for the rest of your life.
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  Their mom has asthma too, and she told Stafford she believes mold in their old rental apartment is partly to blame. Rentals are more likely to have health threats and asthma triggers like mold, mice and cockroaches. And Black families are more likely to live in rentals because of discriminatory housing policies. They're also less likely to have easy access to health care for the same reasons.
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  Stafford: Every single story that we wrote, it really was about connecting the dots and just making clear how something you experience even before you take your first breath of life as an African American can literally set the stage and foundation for what you experience throughout every single stage of your life.
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  Let's now turn to a few other big headlines in the news. We have a Senate-passed debt-ceiling bill. Senators voted last night to send the bill to Biden's desk for his signature and narrowly avert what would have been a disastrous default. The passage came after hours of negotiations and efforts to pass some amendments to the legislation that didn't pan out.
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  In other news, Bill Cosby faces a new civil lawsuit from a woman who accused him of sexually assaulting her in the 1960s. The suit is now allowable because California lawmakers have created a temporary "lookback window" law, which creates an exception for sexual abuse lawsuits in cases that exceed the 10-year statute of limitations. A spokesperson for Cosby said the accuser has no merit. Similar "lookback window" laws passed in other states allowed more women to come forward with lawsuits against Cosby. He was convicted of aggravated assault in 2018 and was released from state prison in 2021 when a court overturned his conviction.
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  On to what forecasters are saying about this year's hurricane season in the Atlantic, which is just starting. Meteorologists at the National Hurricane Center predict this season will be fairly typical. They're forecasting up to four major hurricanes, that's Category 3 or higher. The climate pattern known as El Niño is developing quickly, though, and making some forecasters nervous. El Niños bring unusually warm waters to the Atlantic. And the warmer the water, the greater the potential for extremely strong hurricanes. If El Niño arrives later than expected, forecasters say a more damaging and active hurricane season could come with it.
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  And lastly, a new Spelling Bee champion has been crowned. Dev Shah, an eighth grader from Florida, won with this word.
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  [START SCRIPPS NATIONAL SPELLING BEE ARCHIVAL CLIP]
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  Spelling Bee Judge 1: Psammophile.
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  Dev Shah: P-S-A-M-M-O-P-H-I-L-E, psammophile.
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  Spelling Bee Judge 2: That is correct!
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  [CROWD CHEERS]
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  [END SCRIPPS NATIONAL SPELLING BEE ARCHIVAL CLIP]
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  In case you're wondering, a psammophile, that winning word that Shah spelled, is an organism that thrives in sandy areas, according to "Merriam-Webster." But I'm sure you knew that already. Shah walks away with a $50,000 prize.
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  Electric vehicles are having a moment. Tax incentives are making them more affordable, charging stations are popping up across the country, and companies are rolling out new models with significantly lower carbon footprints, costs and maintenance needs than traditional gas-powered cars.
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  But building this next generation of cars and trucks requires a huge amount of minerals up front. And this shift is happening so fast that some are concerned the industry is repeating mistakes that harm people and ecosystems.
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  Rebecca Tan: The supply chain for what goes into these batteries is spread out across the world, right, and it's so far away from the consumer in California [CHUCKLES] that the kind of rights violations, the kind of environmental externalities, I think are still not very well understood.
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  That's Rebecca Tan, "The Washington Post" Southeast Asia Bureau Chief and one of my guests this week on our interview show, "Apple News In Conversation." She's part of a team of reporters who are trying to better understand what's happening in the remote parts of the world that have the minerals needed for the roughly 1,000-pound batteries that power these new cars.
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  Tan traveled to Indonesia to check out one of the first refineries built to help the world transition away from fossil fuels. There, she spoke to a farmer named Liyus, whose family has lived off the land nearby for four generations.
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  Rebecca Tan: And since the refining facility was built and since the mine started to expand its operations, a lot of those natural resources have gone away. They no longer are able to use the rivers that go by their village. You know, there's fewer and fewer fish in the coastline that's just surrounding them. And meaningfully, you know, it's hard for them to get around. He used to be able to walk from A to B basically, and now it's kind of fenced off and guarded.
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  At the same time, climate scientists say making the switch from a gas-powered car to an EV is one of the best ways to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions warming the planet. So, what's a conscientious car buyer to do? "The Post" put together a buyer's guide. But what makes this one stand out is, it factors in all the environmental and human harm in the supply chain, and it recommends companies that commit to more ethical practices. If you're thinking about making the switch to an electric vehicle, this episode is for you. You can find it in Apple Podcasts, or if you're listening in the News app, we'll queue it up to play for you right after this show ends.
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  If your social media feeds these days look anything like mine, you know that people are losing their minds going to concerts to see two of the biggest titans in music: Beyoncé and Taylor Swift.
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  [START TAYLOR SWIFT ERAS TOUR ARCHIVAL CLIP]
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  [CROWD CHEERS]
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  [TAYLOR SWIFT SINGS "CRUEL SUMMER"]
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  [END TAYLOR SWIFT ERAS TOUR ARCHIVAL CLIP]
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  Fans have been shelling out hundreds, sometimes thousands of dollars for tickets to attend the "Renaissance" and "Eras" tours. But some concertgoers are experiencing a strange phenomenon. They're having a tough time remembering the hours-long show that they just saw. As Taylor Swift might say, their memories are a total "Blank Space."
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  Now, it turns out there is a scientific explanation for their memory loss. "TIME" magazine talked to a few psychologists, and they say because fans are so excited, their neurons are firing off at rates that make it "really hard" to form new memories.
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  It turns out, there is a moderate level of excitement that's just right for forming new memories. And big life events, whether it's a wedding or watching Beyoncé fly around on a glittery horse, can sometimes push us too far over the edge. Adding caffeine or alcohol to the mix doesn't help either.
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  Now, it looks like Beyoncé must've read this "TIME" article because recently, at one of her shows, she took a moment to remind the audience to be present and take it all in.
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  Beyoncé: I want you guys to remember this second right now. I want you to remember what you're wearing when you're staring.
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  [END BEYONCÉ RENAISSANCE TOUR ARCHIVAL CLIP]
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  What she's saying is really good grounding advice. And in fact, it's in line with the advice of some psychologists who spoke to "TIME." They said, just try to stay calm, be present and focus on the great time you're having. And keep this in mind: We simply aren't designed to remember everything. So, think of your mind like a camera capable of taking snapshots but not full recordings.
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  You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app. And if you're already listening in the News app right now, stick around. Our weekend interview show, "In Conversation," is coming up next. It has the rest of my conversation with "The Washington Post" reporters about their electric vehicle buyer's guide. So, enjoy listening to that, have a great weekend, and I'll be back with the news on Monday.
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