So far, Maggie Rogers has spent a healthy dose of her professional career as an online sensation. That may not sound strange given the Internet age, but in Rogers’ case, it was entirely accidental. In 2016, Rogers was attending class at New York...

So far, Maggie Rogers has spent a healthy dose of her professional career as an online sensation. That may not sound strange given the Internet age, but in Rogers’ case, it was entirely accidental.

In 2016, Rogers was attending class at New York University when super producer Pharrell sat in on a master class to critique the students’ work. Pharrell was blown away by Rogers’ song “Alaska.” Pharrell’s filmed reaction to her music was uploaded to YouTube and Rogers became a viral star.

It’s a horrible cliche to say someone’s life changed overnight but in Rogers’ case, it really did. Since that day, Rogers has been touring around the world, playing her songs to huge crowds and appearing on late night television. It’s all led up to this: Three years after going viral, Rogers is negotiating all the peaks and pitfalls of stardom on her debut album, Heard It in a Past Life, out Jan. 18.

Maggie Rogers Reintroduces Herself

Photo: Cameron Pollack/NPR

(Source: NPR)

Try this: Write a list of every piece of plastic you touch in a day.

I did it. I stopped counting at 56 items.

Plastic is to our time what wood was for millennia. But unlike wood, most plastic doesn’t go away. It ends up as trash in streets, rivers, lakes and oceans. It breaks down into microplastic — particles a tenth of an inch or smaller — and gets into our food and water. The health effects are largely unknown.

News stories feature dead whales and turtles with stomachs full of plastic. Activists built a huge floating net to collect it (which recently failed). Concerned citizens clean up beaches.

But that’s not helping much. Eight million tons of plastic wash into oceans every year.

What’s the alternative? Is it feasible to persuade the wealthiest, most profitable corporations in the world to completely change the way they make plastic and package consumer goods?

There’s a group of people in a very unlikely place who are aiming to do just that. Their story starts in 2001, in Southeast Asia.

An Island Crusader Takes On The Big Brands Behind Plastic Waste

Photos: Jes Aznar for NPR

(Source: NPR)

Pelosi Calls For Postponement Of State Of The Union Address Due To Shutdown

In a letter to President Trump, Pelosi cites security concerns and suggests working together to find another suitable date. Pelosi also gave the president the option to deliver the address in writing.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., sent a letter to President Trump Wednesday, suggesting a postponement until after the shutdown is over. The speech, which the president would deliver to a joint session of Congress and a national broadcast audience, was originally scheduled for Jan. 29.

Top House Republican Leader Calls On Rep. Steve King To Resign

House GOP Conference Chairwoman Liz Cheney was one of the first Republicans to criticize the Iowa Congressman for his latest in a history of controversial remarks.

The highest ranking female House Republican called on Iowa GOP Rep. Steve King to resign from Congress over his recent comments to The New York Times on white supremacy and white nationalism.

“We do not support it or agree with it, and as I said I think he should find another line of work,” House GOP Conference Chairwoman Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., told reporters Tuesday morning.

(Source: NPR)

Future Of Theresa May’s Brexit Deal, And Brexit Itself, Hinges On Pivotal VoteOnce more, the U.K. has arrived at a difficult fork in the road. Down one path is the withdrawal agreement Prime Minister Theresa May negotiated with the European Union, a...

Future Of Theresa May’s Brexit Deal, And Brexit Itself, Hinges On Pivotal Vote

Once more, the U.K. has arrived at a difficult fork in the road.

Down one path is the withdrawal agreement Prime Minister Theresa May negotiated with the European Union, a deal meant to ease the jarring changes that could come with the U.K.’s departure from the international bloc on March 29. Down the other path is a rejection of that agreement — and the possible embrace of alternatives ranging from a no-deal Brexit to no Brexit at all.

British lawmakers will decide which course to take with a pivotal vote Tuesday. And May has made it clear that once it’s been determined, there might be no turning back.

Photo: Tolga Akmen/AFP/Getty Images

Channing’s trademark platinum blond hair framed a face that always seemed to be smiling, her wide-eyed innocent style belied a very savvy mind, and her voice was unmistakable. She died Tuesday morning, her publicist told Broadway World. She was 97...

Channing’s trademark platinum blond hair framed a face that always seemed to be smiling, her wide-eyed innocent style belied a very savvy mind, and her voice was unmistakable. She died Tuesday morning, her publicist told Broadway World. She was 97 years old.

Born in Seattle in 1921, Channing’s parents were Christian Scientists. She recalls that she got her first glimpse of backstage delivering copies of The Christian Science Monitor to theaters.

“It came over me that I was looking at the stage and backstage of a cathedral, a temple, a mosque, a mother church,” Channing wrote in her memoir Just Lucky, I Guess. “I know I’m using adult words to describe a child’s feelings, but I don’t know how else to tell you this simple reaction of a child to a holy place.”

Channing’s near religious connection to her audience gave her an astounding amount of energy, and she grew irritated with those who tried to diminish the importance of theater in people’s lives.

Bidding Farewell To ‘Hello, Dolly!’: Actress Carol Channing Dies At 97

Photo: Archive Photos/Getty Images

(Source: NPR)