Breakthrough COVID-19 Cases; What Real Sports Coaches Are Learning From Ted Lasso; Funkadelic's 'Maggot Brain' At 50

Plus, Bette Midler and Joni Mitchell are among the newest Kennedy Center honorees. [View this email online]( [NPR]( by Korva Coleman and Jill Hudson First Up [A thick haze hangs over Manhattan on Tuesday. Wildfires in the West, including the Bootleg Fire in Oregon, are creating hazy skies and poor air quality as far away as the East Coast.]( Julie Jacobson/AP Here's what we're following today. Western wildfires are causing breathing hazards 3,000 miles away. Eastern states have [experienced hazy air for days]( sparked by the blazes that has seeped into southeastern Canada. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi vetoed two Republican nominees to the panel set to investigate the Jan. 6 insurrection, saying she was rejecting their nominations "with respect for the integrity of the investigation." [Read more about it here](. A number of recent high-profile vaccine breakthrough cases — in the White House, Congress and Major League Baseball — have a lot of people worried. But health experts say [they're not alarmed or surprised]( by the current cases. There’s been massive, deadly flooding over the past few days in central China, and authorities have called in the military to help rescue efforts. [Troops blew a hole in a dam]( that was close to failing to release pent up water that would have burst it. --------------------------------------------------------------- Newsletter continues after sponsor message --------------------------------------------------------------- Today's Listens [The show's cast of characters have become something of an onscreen family.]( Apple TV+ What can youth coaches learn from a fictional TV one like Ted Lasso? Lots, according to the Positive Coaching Alliance, an organization that helps train coaches in the power of positivity. [Listen here](. ESPN host Maria Taylor has announced she is leaving the sports network just weeks after remarks by a colleague became public suggesting that Taylor was promoted because she is Black. [Click to hear the details](. [Funkadelic is the result of George Clinton flirting with psychedelic music, a style he describes as "loud R&B."]( Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images Aiming to make a record that fans would still listen to decades later, George Clinton and Funkadelic released "Maggot Brain" in July 1971. The album opened the floodgates of R&B and psychedelic rock, and is probably best known for the title track, an audacious, emotive 10-minute-long bluesy title track kicked off by a brief, eccentric poem from leader George Clinton. NPR's Eric Deggans talks to Funkadelic family and friends about the milestone acid-funk album. [Click here to listen]( or [read the story](. --------------------------------------------------------------- Before You Go [Bette Midler performs during the 91st Annual Academy Awards at Dolby Theatre on Feb. 24, 2019, in Hollywood, Calif.]( Kevin Winter/Getty Images - The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on Wednesday announced its 44th lifetime achievement award winners. [They are]( Motown founder Berry Gordy, opera star Justino Díaz, singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, entertainer Bette Midler and television impresario Lorne Michaels, who created Saturday Night Live. - Musician Eric Clapton says he won't perform in any venue that requires audience-goers to be vaccinated [against COVID-19](. --------------------------------------------------------------- Stream your local NPR station. Visit NPR.org to find your local station stream. --------------------------------------------------------------- Enjoying this newsletter? Forward to a friend! They can [sign up here](. Looking for more great content? [Check out all of our newsletter offerings]( — including Music, Politics, Health and more! You received this message because you're subscribed to Daily News emails. This email was sent by National Public Radio, Inc., 1111 North Capitol Street NE, Washington, DC 20002 [Unsubscribe]( | [Privacy Policy]( [NPR logo]