Matter of Fact with Soledad O'Brien

Extreme Misery (climate change); Facing the Unimaginable (children with Covid-19); Olympic Courage (Bonnie St. John)

New beginnings for Afghan refugee families in America; whether the coronavirus relief packages worked; a microbrewery run by active gang members; a wrong turn by climate scientists leads to a discovery.

Global warming and disasters; environmental racism; plastic packaging; improving the cheetah's odds of survival; the Butterfly Highway in the United Kingdom

A Mississippi case barring abortion after 15 weeks; the deadliest disease outbreak in U.S. history; comic Gina Brillon shares her thoughts on Latinos in America; immigration courts; the United Farm Workers.

The mass exodus from jobs; Puerto Rico's power problems; rural Americans, hospital closures and COVID-19; increases in violent crime; a manmade glacier.

Critical infrastructure systems that need repair or replacement; Sylvia Mendez, whose legal case laid the foundation for Brown vs. Board of Education; a restaurant's comeback; vaccines for HIV and malaria; Beethoven's 10th Symphony completed.

This week on Matter of Fact, a look at the supply chain crisis, as it keeps products off of shelves and is causing prices to spike. Correspondent Dina Demetrius talks to a business owner who is anxiously waiting for his products to arrive. Plus, America has a drinking water problem. Catherine Coleman Flowers is a MacArthur Genius Award winner, and the founding director of the Center for Rural Enterprise and Environmental Justice. Soledad talks to her about how she’s looking for solutions to help communities suffering from lack of access to clean water. Then, how California’s shrinking Salton Sea is polluting the community around it.

A small American town responds to the changing dynamics and needs of its community; Minneapolis voters may impact police departments around the U.S.; Mexican artist Frida Kahlo's work; sponsoring Afghan families; retire wind-turbines

The Supreme Court hears a major case that could change how and where Americans carry guns; a farmer in a male-dominated industry; the EPA Presidential Innovation award winner; overloaded emergency rooms; a boxing gym gets a massive outdoor complex.

Why women are leaving the workforce; America's schools face shortages; the climate change crisis; a possible planet in another galaxy; the origin of Veterans Day.

Two women who started the Black and Missing Foundation; an innovation training program; a brutal massacre in Florida's history; New Dehli, India, chokes on toxic air; wind turbine walls.

A high school changes students' lives; athlete, scholar, executive and White House adviser Bonnie St. John; a restaurant owner attracts and keeps employees; gay sweetheart dancers take part in a Pow Wow; how cranberries are grown and picked.

Vaccination numbers have dropped in West Virginia; jury selection and how serving on a high-profile trial can impact jurors; Roe vs. Wade; a road trip from Denver to St. Louis; Africans build a great wall of plants and trees.

Attitudes about bias and racism; racial stereotypes through the years in Hollywood; author Wes Moore; rapper Genesis Israeli Rose Schmitz Briggs Be.

What people say about their American identities; challenges and what holds the nation together; builders of the Transcontinental Railroad; the Chinese Exclusion Act; founder of the New York Times 1619 Project Nikole Hannah Jones; Jose Antonio Vargas.

A program that pays kids to go to school and provides them with job training; Paralympic skier, author and public speaker Bonnie St. John; chef Amanda Cohen; competitive sweetheart dancers Sean Snyder and Adrian Stevens; cranberries.

Exploring the earliest days of the COVID-19 outbreak; stories of people trying to find safety and protect the most vulnerable as the outbreak spreads; how the U.S. is dealing with the Omicron variant.

Voters worry about the stability of the U.S. electoral system; a mega-drought grips the western U.S., affecting farmers; students protest the banning of books; the Child Tax Credit; the January 6th attack.

Whether COVID will become endemic; missing persons of color; early civil rights activist Claudette Colvin; Afghan evacuees in need of permanent housing.

The "No Surprises" Act is intended to reduce individuals' medical debt; Keith Bynum and Evan Thomas; Kyren and Kyng Gibson; the education crisis; four-day work weeks.

Immigrants help to revitalize the economy; starvation in Afghanistan; a new way to staff a police force; the oil spill off the Pervuvian coast; the U.S. blood crisis.

Inflation, house prices and rent; the 1980 Super Bowl; Alex Paen, who secured access to the U.S. compound during the Iranian hostage crisis; effects of making neighborhoods greener; the 5G rollout; giving redwood forests back to Native Americans.

No, the pandemic is not over. As vaccine and mask restrictions ease, Matter of Fact looks at how immunocompromised and COVID-19 long haulers will be affected in this new phase. Plus, a look at the amount of disinformation and misinformation about the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Matter of Fact brings seven strangers together for a virtual social experience. See what happens when texting turns to talking – as they react to viral videos showing racial bias. Plus, how symbols and on-screen representation impact the way we see each other.

Battling big polluters in North Carolina; the megadrought in the western U.S.; urban farms help to fight food insecurity; palm trees may be harming the environment.

The COVID-19 pandemic's impact on schools; tiny houses; Boston Mayor Michelle Wu; indigenous women who have gone missing or been murdered; palm trees and the environments.

In a far-reaching interview, Soledad O’Brien speaks with the multi-talented John Legend about his musical roots and his passion to fix what he calls the “ criminal punishment system.”

In this episode of Matter of Fact, Soledad O’Brien looks at some of the changemakers working to close the inequity gaps in American society. Author Ibram X Kendi; the Hope Chicago scholarship program; racial activist Beth Howard; civil rights activist Dolores Huerta; Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

This week Matter of Fact visits the community of Jackson, Mississippi, to see how police officers and non-profits are coming together to curb gun violence. Plus, we look at the effects of inflation on millennials and Gen Z-ers, and talk with one of the last American athletes to escape Ukraine.

This week Matter of Fact looks at why more than 20,000 ballots were rejected in last month’s Texas primary. Plus, we look at how Ukrainian Holocaust survivors are being evacuated to Germany and sit down with Jackson, Mississippi’s mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba to see where he stands on police funding and abolishing open carry laws.

Teenagers in crisis. This week, Matter of Fact looks at teen mental health as rates of depression and anxiety are on the rise, worsened by the pandemic. Plus, we look at the connection between diabetes and COVID-19.

Separate is never equal. This week, Matter of Fact catches up with Sylvia Mendez, a pioneering civil rights leader who as a child paved the way for integrated schools – years before Brown v. Education. Plus, we look at how a North Carolina brewery is bringing rival gangs together to curb violence and meet up with a rising star and one of the changing faces of NASCAR.

Memory loss. Physical exhaustion. This week Matter of Fact takes a closer look at how COVID-19 long haulers — up to an estimated 23 million Americans — are struggling to access medical care. Plus, evictions are higher than before the pandemic and North American indigenous nations are getting back some of their land.

Abortion Rights. This week, Matter of Fact takes a closer look at the leaked majority opinion regarding the future of Roe v Wade. Plus, how the wide-scale use of facial recognition monitoring technology is raising questions about privacy rights and civil liberties.

Child care is expensive. This week, Matter of Fact looks at how both parents and child care providers are struggling to keep up with the costs. Plus, innovative safe homes are helping women return to community instead of prison and an update on an “unlikely friendship.”

Traumatic Grief. This week, Matter of Fact looks backs on another community impacted by the violence from racism and white supremacy: Charleston, South Carolina. Plus, a look at why children in one New York neighborhood are at higher risk of asthma. Then, how gun violence is now the leading cause of American youth deaths.

A high school football coach makes a documentary to destigmatize suicide; children's and adolescents' mental health; touring production "Drumfolk" tells the story of Stono Rebellion; climate change and sleep; the murder of George Floyd.

This week Matter of Fact looks at the hard truth of bias.

This week, Matter of Fact revisits the Listening Tour, “To Be An American.

This week on Matter of Fact, Soledad speaks with civil rights leaders Dolores Huerta and Ibram X. Kendi. Plus, a sit-down with Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor and a closer look at Rednecks for Black Lives and Hope Chicago.

Digital deserts. This week Matter of Fact meets with a group of rural Arkansans working to get what millions of Americans already have: an affordable, reliable Internet connection. Plus, a closer look at how equipped the current power grids are to handle heat waves and an interview with WNBA player-turned-owner Renee Montgomery on the importance of Title IX.

Basketball for change. This week, Matter of Fact connects with the Miami Heat basketball team to see how they’re working to bridge relationships between police officers and local communities. Plus, a closer look at the harassment and threats facing local election officials and a behind-the-scenes look at Capitol Hill’s newest statue of legendary educator and civil rights leader Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune.

Tech in your backyard. This week, Matter of Fact catches up with a trio of entrepreneurs who are building a tech hub in their hometown of Jackson, Mississippi, to create jobs and inspiring a new generation of innovators. Plus, legendary comedian Margaret Cho gets candid about finding her voice and a conversation with composer Andrea Ramsey about how she’s bringing the past to the present.

Infrastructure in America. This week Matter of Fact looks at the roles that reliable, affordable broadband and clean drinking water play in accessing quality education and healthier lives. Plus, how the lack of available child care is putting a strain on families and why you may be getting worse sleep than in the past.

Sweet potato gin and vodka. This week Matter of Fact takes a look at the legacy of one farm family in Arkansas and how it’s putting a new spin on an old crop. Plus, how a group of dedicated public health researchers is combatting misinformation in BIPOC communities, and California schools have a new plan to increase the number of school counselors desperately needed by students.

Climate change and asthma. This week Matter of Fact looks at how children in one New York neighborhood are at higher risk of developing asthma than anywhere else in the city. Plus, a closer look at the legendary baseball player Roberto Clemente and questions about the long-term stability of our power grids in the face of prolonged heat waves.

This week Matter of Fact looks at the 100-year-old history of Japanese-American boarding houses and meets with three LA-based men worried about losing the only home they’ve known for decades to a hot real estate market. Plus, HBO “Katrina Babies” filmmaker Edward Buckles, Jr, speaks with Soledad & poet Elizabeth Acevedo performs “Inheritance,” based on her poem, “Hair.”

A national shortage of the truck drivers, mechanics, and technicians. This week Matter of Fact looks at an innovative training program helping workers get the skills to get the jobs. A visit with the CEO of American Diesel Training Centers to see its effort to have companies pay for tuition is successfully recruiting and retaining new hires. Plus, a conversation on criminal justice reform between Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner and abolitionist Richie Reseda.