1A NPR

Carmelo Anthony has spent his adulthood at the top of the NBA. He was drafted in 2003 after leading Syracuse University to an NCAA championship win his freshman year. Since then, the ten-time NBA all-star has worked his way onto the league's list of all-time scorers.

But after nearly two decades in the NBA, Anthony wants to be known as more than a basketball player.

Anthony's latest project is a new memoir, "Where Tomorrows Aren't Promised." It recounts his childhood growing up in the housing projects in Brooklyn and the Murphy Homes in West Baltimore.

We talk to Anthony about his childhood, basketball, his passion for social justice and philanthropy, and his legacy.

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One in 500 Americans has died of COVID-19. Intensive Care Units in many states, especially in the South, are critically full, causing those without the disease to wait to see a physician or receive treatment.

House Democrats prepped a plan to bump the corporate tax rate to pay for President Joe Biden's $3.5 trillion infrastructure package.

Despite political analysts predicting a tighter race, California Gov. Gavin Newsom convincingly defeated a recall election.

Meanwhile, following the U.S. troop withdrawal in Afghanistan and the Taliban takeover of the country, millions of Afghans now face starvation per a United Nations report. Overseas, thousands of Afghans are stuck on military bases in the U.S. waiting for resettlement.

The European Union announced a new biomedical authority to fight future pandemics.

We cover all these stories and more during the News Roundup.

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School boards are used to dealing with local grievances. But these days, their meetings are becoming venues for national issues. These often mundane gatherings have become ground zero for heated debates over mask mandates, critical race theory, and gender pronouns.

But school boards have long been local flashpoints for national issues. Are the current disputes much different from those in the past over sex education, textbooks, or the fight to keep evolution out of the classroom?

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Congress is back in session and one of its most important tasks now is to figure out how to pay for President Joe Biden's $3.5 trillion dollar plan to expand the social safety net.

Democrats hope to fund it by raising taxes for wealthy corporations and individuals, which Republicans are pushing back on.

So how does Congress move forward?

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A week after the Supreme Court declined to block Texas' new abortion restrictions, the Justice Department sued the state of Texas.

Attorney General Merrick Garland, who announced the lawsuit, says the statute is unconstitutional.

We talk about the new lawsuit — and answer your questions about the most restrictive abortion law in the country.

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As the delta variant rages on, President Joe Biden says he will issue an executive order that would require certain businesses to mandate the Covid-19 vaccine for their employees.

There's a high likelihood this move will spur legal challenges, and it also raises the question of what the federal government can and can't mandate.

Biden's executive order could be a unifying force when it comes to the vaccine. It could also deepen the power struggle between federal and state authorities.

So, who should have that power? And how does polarization complicate things?

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