The Modern Library
Many libraries have stepped up and evolved during the pandemic to offer more remote classes and resources, as well as a place to work and connect with others if you need to get out of the house. The best part? It’s all free.


Many libraries have stepped up and evolved during the pandemic to offer more remote classes and resources, as well as a place to work and connect with others if you need to get out of the house. The best part? It’s all free.

Many film lovers have gotten accustomed to watching new movies at home during the pandemic, but is it for the better? Film creators are pushing for a return back to theaters, but only time will tell what’s next.

Imagine working for hours on end outside in temperatures exceeding 90 or 100 degrees. On top of this, there’s little shade, minimal breaks and often not enough water. This is the reality for millions of laborers who work in agriculture, construction and other industries. Why aren’t there more legal guidelines protecting these essential workers?

The average American checks their phone about 90 times a day, according to a 2019 survey from tech research firm, Asurion. How often would you say you check? Every hour? Once every 20 minutes? Do you ever panic when your phone isn’t right next to you?

Ballet requires athleticism, artistry and decades of grueling practice. It’s an extremely competitive field and few dancers manage to become principal dancers at major theaters. This week on Viewpoints – James Whiteside, a principal dancer at the American Ballet Theatre, shares his professional ballet journey and what he’s learned about himself along the …

Gold mining has been a lucrative business for many generations. Today, it’s still a booming industry with global mining companies expanding into new markets each year. This week – we highlight the incredible story of activists in northern El Salvador who stood up to mining company, OceanaGold and won.

While this may change as COVID-19 cases rise due to the Delta variant, for now, many schools are moving forward with plans to welcome students back with the caveat of requiring face masks while indoors. We discuss the highly anticipated return.

Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson both made history last month as they rocketed out of Earth’s atmosphere and successfully reached space. This trip was many years in the making as both billionaires built their own respective companies, Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic, to transport them to space as private civilians. Now, people are lining up and paying hefty …

Wondering what to do with the dozens of face masks and all of those unused yeast packets? Us too. There are several items that Americans sought after during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic that help to showcase what this period in time was like. Once the pandemic is fully over, how will we look back and remember this time? How are museum curators and …

There are some items of clothing that truly never go out of style. Whether it’s a pair of jeans or a classic black dress, these pieces transform with the vibe and trends of each decade. Fashion writer and author of The Ten Lauren Cochrane joins us this week to highlight some of the most iconic clothes in fashion history.

In 2019, the book publishing industry in the U.S. generated more than $25 billion dollars in revenue and employed close to 70,000 people. It’s a massive industry that publishes and generates publicity for many thousands of physical and e-books each year. Literary editor Peter Ginna joins us this week to breakdown the business and the crucial role that …

There’s much more to being a professional musician than the practice and performance aspect of the career. For independent artists, there’s an entire side of entrepreneurship to handle, including money management, marketing, networking and more. Debra Silvert, the flutist of the orchestral ensemble, Duo Sequenza, highlights the challenges and rewards of …

It seems like lately almost everyone is heading to the airport. Whether you’re flying, driving or taking a train, vacations are a highly anticipated time to get away from everyday life. Everyone deserves relaxation, but is there a way to make sure that you’re traveling more consciously? Are you booking excursions with local, independent companies? Supporting …

Unions, which are organized labor groups, are prevalent across the U.S. You’ve probably heard of the term in the media or may know someone who’s part of a union. But, have you ever heard of a worker center? It operates in similar functions as unions; however, this resource is much more community-based and is more of a guiding advocate in responsive …

The 50 richest families in the world have a combined net worth of $1.2 trillion. The Koch family, the second richest name on the list, is worth a staggering $100 billion. For many families, it isn’t just about success and business growth, but the business of building wealth through loopholes like philanthropy and loose taxation laws.

Lake Mead, the reservoir created by the Hoover Dam, is at its lowest levels ever recorded. Drought is not a new problem in the West, but it is getting worse as the years go by. What’s being done to curb water consumption and increase supply so people’s taps don’t run dry?

The average clothing item today is worn anywhere from seven to ten times before it’s discarded on donated. Why is this number so low, and what happens once the garment leaves a person’s closet? Maxine Bedat, a prominent voice in sustainable fashion, joins us this week to shed some light on the clothing crisis and how its impacting workers and the …

In the U.S., most Americans commonly use vegetable or olive oil when cooking. While we don’t often here about palm oil, it’s in many of the products that we buy at the grocery store, including everything from food to personal care products. And abroad, palm oil is widely used in cooking and frying. Last year, global consumption reached 72 million tons. …

The average person ends up trashing 25 percent of the food they buy from the grocery store. This can mean fresh produce, expired dairy, stale bread – the list goes on and on. This cycle of food waste across households, grocery stores and restaurants adds up, resulting in more than 81 billion pounds of fresh, edible food being thrown away each year. What’s …

The birth of the space shuttle in 1981 marked a new era of space travel. For the first time ever, NASA had a spacecraft that could launch into space and come back to earth and land like an airplane. While the shuttle had many successful flights, there were also some big catastrophes that ultimately led the program to cease operations in 2011. Former chief …

The cryptocurrency that started it all, Bitcoin, is now valued at around 1.6 trillion dollars. And in just the last month, another, newer form of crypto, Dogecoin has skyrocketed in popularity across the Internet, sharply driving up the price per token. We explore the fascinating and fast-evolving world of cryptocurrency and the future of traditional …

Many women today still have little knowledge on financial planning and how to make their income work for them rather than the other way around. Executive and financial expert Jennifer Barrett joins us this week to shed some light on the importance of becoming financially autonomous and advocating for yourself in your career, relationships and beyond.

How often do you buy an item from the store that’s packaged in a plastic container or wrapped in plastic? Daily decisions like these add up and are feeding into the global plastic crisis. Scientists estimate that there’s anywhere between nine to 16 million tons of plastic on the sea floor, polluting the environment, harming species and releasing harmful …

As more Americans get vaccinated, the light at the end of the tunnel shines a little bit brighter each day. We discuss the slow return of theater-released movies and some of the future films we’re most excited for.
Subscribe to get the latest from Viewpoints Radio directly in your inbox.

