Polarized ZIP codes; the coach behind Kamila Valieva; what's your attachment style?

Plus, how to stay happy in the second half of life. [View this email online]( [Best of NPR]( February 20, 2022 This past week, we looked the [geographic "Big Sort,"]( Kamila Valieva's [coach]( and teens who get vaccinated [against their parents' wishes](. Plus, NPR's Scott Simon has a few recommendations. --------------------------------------------------------------- Scott’s weekly weigh-in [The Olympic rings in the sunrise]( David Ramos/Getty Images A good weekend to you. I couldn’t bring myself to watch more than a few minutes of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games that end today in Beijing. NBC cut ad rates because U.S. audiences are down 40%. No doubt there are many reasons. But I think many just find it hard to watch dazzling events staged in a country that contains (and conceals) so many human rights crimes. I spoke with Gulbahar Haitiwaji, who has written a searing memoir, [How I Survived a Chinese Reeducation Camp: A Uyghur Woman’s Story.]( Haitiwaji says she knows that whatever she endured, she is lucky to be alive to tell her story. NPR sports correspondent Tom Goldman is in Beijing. [He and I were both appalled]( not only by the doping scandal on the Russian team but by the cold reception Russia’s coaches gave to Kamila Valieva, their own skater, after she fell short in her final routine. It is hard not to think she has been used by scheming adults, who now scold her. I had the sad duty to [bid goodbye to P.J. O’Rourke,]( the humorist (and regular on our neighboring Saturday morning show, Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me), who left us this week at the age of 74. And in this week’s essay, I told the story of [Ashutosh Kaushik,]( who became a celebrity in India at the age of 27 and now, at the age of 42, has gone to court to try to get what’s called the right to be forgotten. He reminds us that fame is a light that can shine harshly. [Scott Simon]( Scott Simon is one of NPR's most renowned news anchors. He is the host of [Weekend Edition Saturday]( and one of the hosts of the morning news podcast Up First. Be sure to listen to him every Saturday on your local NPR station, and follow him [on Twitter](. --------------------------------------------------------------- Newsletter continues after sponsor message --------------------------------------------------------------- by [Carol Ritchie]( Stories you may have missed [The Juyongguan Pass, part of China's Great Wall stands just roughly 30 miles from central Beijing.]( Jaclyn Diaz/NPR NPR's Jaclyn Diaz was allowed to step outside the COVID-quarantine bubble of the Beijing Winter Games to visit China’s Great Wall along with just a few other lucky reporters. She jumped at the chance to see the “real China” — but the [trip turned out feeling tightly controlled]( she writes. “Instead of getting to step outside of our bubble, this was just an expansion of it.” America is growing more geographically polarized — red ZIP codes are getting redder and blue ZIP codes are becoming bluer, a trend known as the Big Sort. Social scientists and journalists may fret over this political segregation, but for the people moving to be with their own tribe, [it's a kind of deliverance](. High school junior Nicolas Montero and his parents are separated by a political and cultural rift common in the U.S.: He is in favor of COVID-19 vaccination, but his parents are not. The [impasse led to an act of defiance]( when he traveled to Philadelphia and got vaccinated. The possibility of a Russian invasion of Ukraine has raised the specter of consequences — sanctions, countersanctions, energy supply issues, a flood of refugees — that would be felt far beyond Ukraine's borders. Here's [how it would impact people in the U.S.]( The head of the International Olympic Committee said he was "disturbed" by the way Russian skating coach Eteri Tutberidze treated 15-year-old Kamila Valieva after her disastrous free skate. Tutberidze is known for developing [young champions who peak in their teens]( and then retire, often because of injury, questionable diet and overtraining. ➡️ Trimetazidine is the heart drug that was found in Valieva's system. Here's what it does, why it was banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency and [how it could have ended up in Valieva's system](. --------------------------------------------------------------- Editor's picks [Old ladies dancing by a statue of a dancing man]( Christopher Furlong/Getty Images Aging can be difficult, but there's no reason the second half of your life can't be as joyous as the first. Social scientist [Arthur Brooks breaks down]( how to make it happen. A video showing a Chinese woman chained inside a shed got nearly 2 billion clicks and has sparked a [national debate over her identity](. A Catholic priest in Arizona resigned for using the wrong word in baptisms for decades — he said, "We baptize you" when he should have said, "I baptize you" — rendering the rite [invalid for thousands of people](. When your partner doesn't respond to your texts right away, how does it make you feel? According to scientists, each person has a unique mode of intimacy. Take this [quiz to discover your attachment style](. --------------------------------------------------------------- Listen to your local NPR station. Visit NPR.org to find your local station stream. [Listen Live]( [Facebook]( [Instagram]( [Twitter]( 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 Daily News, Politics, Health and more! You received this message because you're subscribed to Best of NPR emails. This email was sent by National Public Radio, Inc., 1111 North Capitol Street NE, Washington, DC 20002 [Unsubscribe]( | [Privacy Policy]( [NPR logo]