Regional Roundup: April 11th

For the seventh time in two years, the Biden administration is allowing student loan borrowers to freeze their payments until August 31, 2022.  Student debt activists say the extension doesn’t go far enough. Instead, they’re calling on the administration to institute an overall student loan forgiveness program that would cancel over $1.6 trillion in loans and restore those who have defaulted to good standing.  We get reaction to the announcement from Villanova University assistant professor JALIL BISHOP who studies college affordability for Black students.

Then, a team of scientists at the University of Pennsylvania investigated ways to treat inflammation with hormone testing on obese mice but got a big surprise when the rodents lost tons of body fat – rapidly – by ‘sweating’ it out. We’ll talk about the research that led to these shiny-coated mice and what it could mean for the future of treatment for obesity-related illnesses and more with RUTH CHOA and TAKU KAMBAYASHI. And, we revisit our interview with MIN JIN LEE, author of the New York Times bestseller Pachinko, which tells the story of a Korean immigrant family as they experience the troubled history of legal and social discrimination in Japan. The book inspired a popular new drama series by the same name, now streaming.