Skateboarders, weavers, kite makers: A Smithsonian party for 'Indigenous voices' This year's Smithsonian Folklife Festival featured "Indigenous Voices of the Americas" and was full of surprises — like Bolivian women skateboarding in traditional garb — bowler hats and poofy skirts. Marc Silver
These bigger-than-life portraits turn gun death statistics into indelible stories A volunteer curator in Philadelphia puts on art exhibits to raise awareness of lives lost to gun violence. Christine Spolar
Why are IUDs still such a mystery to women? Look at funding, doctors and politics IUDs are a safe and reliable form of birth control, but many people struggle to get simple answers about the device. NPR’s Ailsa Chang talks with Mia Armstrong-Lopez, who wrote about this for Slate. Ailsa Chang
His first Independence Day in the U.S. blew his mind. It wasn't just the fireworks "Who could have colonized a great country like America?" That's what this Ghanaian thought when his American wife told him it was Independence Day. George Mwinnyaa
Medicare explores a new way to support caregivers of dementia patients The government is launching an experimental program to ease the burden on caregivers of people with Alzheimer's. The idea is to keep patients healthier without exhausting their families. Alex Olgin
A new way to prevent HIV delivers dramatic results in trial The testing of lenacapavir was halted because results were so impressive — 100% effectiveness. The decision was made to give all participants the injection rather than the alternative daily pill. Maria Isabel Barros Guinle
One rural community is training doulas to increase access to maternity care Rural communities in the U.S. are losing access to maternity care, raising the risk for pregnancy complications and maternal mortality.
Nursing homes falling farther behind on vaccinating patients for COVID COVID-19 continues to menace nursing homes across the US, but a new report reveals just four out of 10 nursing home residents have gotten their updated COVID shot since last fall. Sarah Boden
In just a few years, half of all states passed bans on trans health care for kids The Supreme Court will hear a case on gender-affirming care in the next term after a flurry of legislation. Lower courts have come to conflicting conclusions when these bans were challenged. Hilary Fung
FDA approves a second Alzheimer's drug that can modestly slow disease The approval of Eli Lilly's Kisunla provides a new option for patients in the early stages of the incurable, memory-destroying ailment. The Associated Press