What America got right (and wrong) during the Covid-19 pandemic ‘Plague Year’
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Lawrence Wright’s new book “The Plague Year,” is an expansive look at America during the Covid-19 pandemic.
More diverse, higher poverty: What babies tell us about the future South
In states across the Deep South, children of color make up about half of the child population. And those children are now two to three times more likely to live in poverty than their white counterparts, according to a new report issued this month, forecasting a potential for growing economic inequality across the region. “Looking at how babies are [...]
In a rural Alabama town, young Southerners have created their own ‘magical community’
Sarah Cole, 32, is relaxing on the front porch swing with her partner, Robert Fitzpatrick, when her phone buzzes. It’s a text from their friend, Tim Higgins, inviting them over. Tim and his partner, Aaron Head, live just across the street. The spring breeze ruffles at least half a dozen different windchimes strung along the porch [...]
The legacy of Black Joy
The first two weeks of 2021 have felt like a whole month to me. But I managed to catch a theme despite the chaos this week, and that is: What is your Black joy legacy? While we often talk about legacies when our folks are no longer with us, it’s important to note how our words and actions build our legacies in the present day. [...]
‘This is exhausting’: Therapists speak up about the pandemic, the weight they carry
Thousands of Americans have tried out therapy in the wake of 2020. Mental health awareness is up, but therapists are slammed.
New year, same Black Joy
On the last day of 2020, I read jokes on social media going around about black-eyed peas. A tried-and-true tradition was turned into a cautionary tale: Don’t soak them peas this year. They didn’t bring us a lick of luck of 2020. We’re walking into 2021 with new traditions. I laughed and [...]
At this COVID-19 unit, things were getting better. Now, its nurses fear a ‘tsunami’ is coming
Working in a hospital COVID-19 unit right now feels a little like being in a disaster flick, said Jake Perkins. A 24-year-old registered nurse in a medical intensive care unit at UAB, he’s caring for the hospital’s sickest COVID-19 patients. “It reminds me of a movie about a tsunami,” he told Reckon. “You turn around and you see this wave coming at you.” Recently, UAB Hospital hit a [...]
Reckoners respond: Who are you honoring with your vote?
We asked the Reckon audience who they were honoring with their 2020 vote. Here's how they responded.
Will the ‘Doug Jones effect’ transform Southern politics?
This week on the Reckon Interview, we’re examining “the Doug Jones effect.”
Will the stimulus package address inequities in the South?
It’s possible that this could be the latest economic downturn to deepen historic inequities, not address them.
2020 has permanently changed college football
This week on the Reckon Interview, we are discussing the politics of football. The historic movements led by athletes, and the slow change of major institutions like the SEC and NCAA.
Southerners from eight states demand Medicaid expansion
Activists from eight Southern states have formed a new coalition to urge Medicaid expansion. Of the 12 states that have not expanded Medicaid since the passage of the 2010 Affordable Care Act, eight are in the South. Nine out of 10 people who fall in the so-called “coverage gap” — [...]
The South’s rural hospitals need a lifeline
The South is a region where few states have expanded Medicaid, a decision driven in part by the politics of expanding a program tied to the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.
Broken by design: The long history of the South’s fragmented health care system
The Covid-19 pandemic laid bare the problems with the South’s fragmented, patchwork health care system. Nine out of 10 people in the United States who fall into the “coverage gap” live in the South. The region leads the country in high rates of chronic disease and each year we see more and more hospitals shuttering across the rural South.
What’s the best case scenario for a coronavirus vaccine?
UAB's Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo discusses potential vaccines, hospital capacity, school safety and more.
Tell us why you mask up
We want to hear your reasons.
Why do you wear a mask?
We're sharing your reasons why you mask up.
More than 103,000 dead in the U.S. because of COVID-19
Something to think about next time you are debating whether to take precautions to protect yourself and others.
As Alabama reopens, will people wear masks?
Crowds gathered Tuesday afternoon in parking lots surrounding Huntsville Hospital. Parents and kids, grandparents and teens sat on tailgates and waited for a promised military flyover honoring hospital workers. Few were wearing masks, but none were crowded together, keeping mostly to their cars.
How are extroverts finding purpose without people?
The unmistakable riff from the early ’90s grunge hit, “Smells Like Teen Spirit," by Nirvana has been keeping Anna Mahan busy in quarantine. Mahan, a recent graduate of the University of North Alabama, has been trying to fill every moment of self-isolation with engaging activities, like learning chords on her new guitar, streaming shows, and reading books. In a non-pandemic world, the self-described extrovert would be working closely with others at her now-canceled internship in Honduras.
Frank Stitt on the challenges facing restaurants during the coronavirus pandemic
Frank Stitt, co-owner and operator of Highlands Bar & Grill, James Beard Award winner for Best American Restaurant (2018), Bottega, and Chez Fonfon in Birmingham
Here’s how Alabama parents teach during the pandemic
Alabama families are dealing with a host of compounding issues as they adjust to remote learning, including working from home while homeschooling children and protecting the family – and their finances – from the coronavirus pandemic.
Many believed college admissions would never change. Then COVID-19 hit.
High school juniors and seniors would usually be preparing for final standardized tests, polishing their college applications and rounding out their adolescence with senior photoshoots and promposals.
John Paul White on John Prine, Alabama and how COVID-19 has changed the music business
John Paul White speaks with Reckon about how COVID-19 is affecting the music business, Muscle Shoals and what John Prine means to him.
