The World and Everything in It: September 27, 2022

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Good morning!

Midterm elections are now just weeks away. We’ll survey the lay of the land.

NICK EICHER, HOST: That’s ahead on Washington Wednesday.

Also today, WORLD Tour.

Plus, whitewater rafting: We’ll introduce you to a river guide.

And finding delight in creative design.

REICHARD: It’s Wednesday, September 28th. This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Mary Reichard.

EICHER: And I’m Nick Eicher. Good morning!

REICHARD: It’s time for news. Here’s Kent Covington.

KENT COVINGTON, NEWS ANCHOR: Hurricane Ian » Hurricane Ian is on a collision course with the west coast of Florida today. It could slam the shoreline as a Category 4 storm.

Gov. Ron DeSantis …

DESANTIS: In some areas, there will be catastrophic flooding and life-threatening storm surge.

The eye of the storm is expected to make landfall anywhere between Ft. Myers in southwest Florida and the Horseshoe Beach area more than 100 miles north of Tampa.

In addition to powerful winds, this will be a major rain event. John Cangialosi with the National Hurricane Center says he expects …

CANGIALOSI: Somewhere in southwest or west-central Florida to see nearly 20 inches of rain. And there’s going to be a widespread region of around 10 inches.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told Floridians to prepare for extended power outages.

Russia-Ukraine » The Kremlin, as expected, claimed on Tuesday that residents in Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine voted overwhelmingly to join Russia.

That declaration paves the way for Russia to annex those regions, escalating the war.

ZELENSKYY: [Speaking Ukrainian]

Ukrainian President Volodymy Zelenskyy said after Moscow’s, quote, "pseudo-referendums"... his government will not negotiate with Russia.

ZELENSKYY: [Speaking Ukrainian]

The predetermined outcomes set the stage for a dangerous new phase in Russia’s seven-month war.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Russia’s “sham referendums and nuclear rhetoric …”

STOLTENBERG: Combined with also the mobilization of armed forces in Russia, all this is a serious escalation of the conflict.

The referendums began Sept. 23, often with armed officials going door-to-door collecting votes.

Russian gas pipeline » Explosions rattled the Baltic Sea before underwater natural gas pipelines from Russia to Germany sprang unusual leaks.

Experts say it was a likely act of sabotage during an energy standoff between Europe and Russia.

Seismologist Björn Lund said this wasn’t a natural occurrence.

LUND: We know very well what an underwater blast looks like, and so in this case, there is no doubt. This is not an earthquake.

Officials reported three leaks on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines.

U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken said Tuesday the incident has not yet been confirmed as sabotage.

BLINKEN: But if it is confirmed, that’s clearly in no one’s interest. Now, my understanding is the leaks won’t have a significant impact on Europe’s energy resilience.

The incident Tuesday overshadowed the inauguration of a long-awaited pipeline that will bring Norwegian gas to Poland to bolster the continent's energy independence from Moscow.

Biden student debt lawsuit » A libertarian group is suing to halt President Biden’s plan to cancel student debt. WORLD’s Josh Schumacher has more.

JOSH SCHUMACHER, REPORTER: The Pacific Legal Foundation says Biden is overstepping his legal authority with a plan to erase $10,000 in federal student debt for many borrowers.

An attorney for the group said “Congress did not authorize the executive branch to unilaterally cancel student debt.”

The group argues the plan would place state tax burdens on some Americans who get their debt forgiven. It filed the lawsuit in a federal court in Indiana, one of several states that would tax any student debt canceled under the plan.

The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimates Biden’s plan will cost taxpayers $400 billion.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Josh Schumacher.

Iran protests » AUDIO: [Iran protest]

Unrest continues to erupt across Iran following the death of a 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman. She died after Iran’s so-called morality police arrested her for not wearing her hijab correctly. The police claim she had a heart attack, but witnesses and doctors have said she died from a blow to the head.

Crackdowns on protesters have turned violent.

UN spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani …

SHAMSASANI: We at the UN human rights office are very concern about the continued violent response to protests in Iran.

In a video posted to social media, a woman is heard here reacting as she watched police beat a protester on a sidewalk.

At a university in Tehran, students rallied to call for the release of a detained protester, chanting "Woman, life, freedom.”

AUDIO: [Student protests]

The Iranian government is restricting phone and internet access in an effort to curb the protests.

Satanic Temple sues over Indiana pro-life law » The Satanic Temple is suing over a pro-life law in Indiana. WORLD’s Kristen Flavin has more.

KRISTEN FLAVIN, REPORTER: GOP Gov. Eric Holcomb last month signed a bill that protects unborn babies in almost every case.

But the Satanic Temple says it has some 11,000 members in Indiana and that the abortion restrictions violate their religious rights.

The group argued that its female members believe—quote—“the fetal tissue they carry in their uterus … until viability - is part of their body and not imbued with any humanity …”

A county judge recently froze enforcement of the law after another suit by the ACLU and abortion providers.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin.

I’m Kent Covington. Straight ahead: midterm elections worth watching as the midterms approach.

Plus, World Tour.

This is The World and Everything in It.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: It’s Wednesday the 28th of September, 2022.

This is WORLD Radio and we thank you for listening. Good morning, I’m Mary Reichard.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher. It’s time for Washington Wednesday.

Midterm elections are now less than six weeks away.

Recent congressional opinion polls show Republicans with an edge as election day draws near. But polls over the past couple months also show a momentum shift toward Democrats in the battle for the Senate.

And joining us now to catch us up on the battle for control of Congress is Kyle Kondik. He is an elections analyst and director of communications at the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics.

REICHARD: Kyle, good morning!

KYLE KONDIK, GUEST: Good morning!

REICHARD: Well, let’s start with the House. What’s the forecast?

KONDIK: Yeah, I think Republicans are still favored to flip the House. I think maybe we’ve lowered the ceiling a little bit on potential Republican gains. We had thought a net gain of somewhere in the 20s was sort of what we're looking at. We're probably more in the teens right now, although things are still, I think, in flux. And that's actually kind of a low, if that is indeed what happens, would be kind of a low total for an opposition party in a midterm. But one thing you also got to remember is that, you know, the Republicans won 213 House seats, which is pretty close to majority in 2020. And so back when the Republicans were winning 54 seats in 1994, and 64 in 2010, they were starting from a much lower total. They were at around 180 seats or so at that time. So, they're already in a pretty good place in the House. They only need to make a small net gain to actually flip the majority. Things have gotten better for Democrats, I think, particularly since the Dobbs abortion decision, which I think energized Democrats and might help them to some degree with swing voters. But if you look at the overall House playing field, a lot of the seats that seem to be most competitive and are attracting the most outside involvement from the parties and spending and that sort of thing, it's still a playing field that tilts very much towards seats that are currently held by Democrats. And the Republicans only really need to flip a handful of seats in order to win the House. So I still think the Republicans are in decent shape in the House.

REICHARD: What would you say are the top handful of races to watch in the battle for the House?

KONDIK: Yeah, there are several in which the presidential results in 2020 were pretty close to the national average. I’d say particularly the ones that maybe Biden carried, but by less than what he won nationally, which was about four, four and a half points. And I think you can look at some of the most important swing states and find some of the most important swing seats. So, right now, the race that's attracted the most outside spending is Michigan seven, which is held by Democrat Elissa Slotkin. It's a very narrowly won Biden seat that is now centered around the Michigan state capitol in Lansing. Dan Kildee another seat in Michigan. That's a very competitive district that runs a little bit north of the Lansing seat we were just talking about. There are a couple seats in Northeast Pennsylvania—Democrats Matt Cartwright and Susan Wild in pretty marginal seats. There are a number of House seats in and around Las Vegas, Nevada. In fact, three of the four seats in that state, those three all touch Las Vegas, and they're all pretty competitive. They're kind of narrowly Democratic leaning, but they've attracted a lot outside spending. And Nevada, of course, is another key swing state. So you know, look, there are dozens of at least potentially competitive House seats across the country. But you can find some in the states that are also hosting competitive Senate and gubernatorial races this year, and that were really competitive for President in 2020.

REICHARD: Now, as we mentioned, a few months ago, it looked likely that the GOP would reclaim control of the Senate, but that picture has shifted in recent months, correct?

KONDIK: Yeah, I mean, look, I think the race for the Senate is really close and competitive. I think that we've known that there were some challenges for Republicans that we've known about for months in advance. First of all, the map is not that great for Republicans. There are 35 seats being contested. Republicans are already defending 21 of them. And so just the imbalance in terms of the Senate seats up in a given year can sort of shed some light on what might happen. And so the Republicans do have to play some defense, including in states like Pennsylvania and Wisconsin that have looked like they would be competitive for a long time. Also, the Republicans opted to nominate a lot of candidates who don't have any formal elected experience, and in many cases, people who haven't even run for office. And so those are sort of some risky choices. And the Democratic fundraising has really been very strong, at least on the candidate side. But again, the change in the political environment has also had an impact on the Senate. And so if we were talking maybe three, four months ago, I probably would say, yeah, the race for the Senate is really close. But I think at the end of the day, you know, the Republicans will figure it out, basically, given that they only need to net one seat. Now I think it's more like a true kind of toss up where I'm not necessarily giving the benefit of the doubt for the Republicans. But I'd also say that for all of the kind of gloom and doom for Republican chances over the last couple of months, the Senate is still right there for the taking. I mean, there are plenty of competitive races and some opportunities for the Republicans to play offense. I think particularly Georgia and Nevada really stand out in that regard. Those are the two Senate races that we regard as toss ups. And you know, if Republicans can win both of those, they probably win the Senate majority. So, you know, there are other competitive races to talk about, but the Senate is 50-50 right now. So, you know, a net gain of one will do it for the Republicans.

REICHARD: So what would you say are the top-5 races to watch in the Senate now?

KONDIK: Yeah, besides Georgia and Nevada, which are two states that Democratic incumbents are defending and the two states that were narrowly won by Joe Biden in 2020. Pennsylvania is probably next on that list. Democrat John Fetterman, it's an open seat held by retiring Republican Pat Toomey. Fetterman seems to be leading TV Doctor Mehmet Oz, Republican nominee. But there's been some signs that that one is getting closer. You know, I think I sort of favor Fetterman at this point. But I don't think anyone should be shocked if Oz were to come back and win in that state. Arizona, a state that Democrats are defending. It looks like Democrat Mark Kelly is probably leading at this point. But it's still pretty close and competitive. And then I think that Republicans are defending North Carolina, Wisconsin and Ohio, I think Republicans are probably favored in all those states. But those races all seem very close and competitive. So if you sort of narrowed down to the seventh or eighth most competitive races, it's a mix of both Democratic and Republican held seats, which I think shows how kind of broadly competitive the race for the Senate is.

REICHARD: I had also heard some talk that Marco Rubio might be in some trouble in Florida, but it does look like he’s maintained a steady lead in the polls. How do you size up that race?

KONDIK: Yeah, the Democratic challenger there I think it's pretty strong. Val Demings, who's a U.S. House member and she has been a very good fundraiser and her and Rubio are basically it kind of like spending parity. And you might expect an incumbent like Rubio to have to have a money advantage. But Florida has, I think, trended more toward the Republicans in recent years. You know, it's not like some sort of landslide state for Republicans. But polling has generally shown Rubio with a little bit of a lead, and the polls have maybe underestimated Republicans in that state a little bit in the past few cycles. Doesn't mean it'll happen again, but I think there's a fair amount of confidence for Republicans that Rubio should end up being okay. And, of course, Governor Ron DeSantis, is also running for a second term. DeSantis seems to be doing a little bit better than Rubio. But it's probably unrealistic to think that anyone can really win like a big blowout in Florida these days. But I think the overall trajectory of both the Governor and Senate races is fine for Republicans in that state.

REICHARD: Steering out of Washington here for a moment, what about the gubernatorial races across the county? Is one party or the other in a strong position to make gains in November?

KONDIK: So, this is what’s interesting about governors is, so, midterm year, typically you'd expect the opposition party to net House seats, to net Senate seats, and to net governor seats. But this time, the two governorships that are likeliest to change hands are both blue states that currently have retiring Republican governors, Maryland and Massachusetts. Larry Hogan is retiring in Maryland, Charlie Baker is retiring in Massachusetts. And the Republicans have nominated some fairly hard-right candidates in both those states who are underfunded. And it seems like Democrats are very strongly favored to flip both of those states back to blue with the gubernatorial level. And so that gives the Democrats a couple of pickups at the start of the cycle. And then it's a question of whether Republicans can make gains of their own. Republicans do have a lot of offensive opportunities against Democratic incumbents in Wisconsin, Nevada, a Democratic incumbent in Kansas, which is typically a red state, but elected a Democratic governor in 2018. Blue State Oregon is featuring a three way race this cycle. And that is also a toss up, even though that's a Democratic-leaning state otherwise. Republicans are also defending an open seat toss up of their own in Arizona. So again, I think the Democrats start with a couple of pickups in their pocket and then we'll see how the rest of these races break out. But you know, the Republicans have some good opportunities of their own.

REICHARD: Kyle Kondik is with the University of Virginia Center for Politics. Kyle, thanks so much!

KONDIK: Thank you!

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It: WORLD Tour with Onize Ohikere, our reporter in Africa.

ONIZE OHIKERE, REPORTER: Iran protests—Today’s World Tour takes off with protests in Iran.

AUDIO: [Protesters chanting]

Defiant protesters chanted and burned headscarves across Iran in another consecutive night of protests.

Demonstrations flared after a 22-year-old woman died in police custody last week. Iran’s morality police arrested her for violating modesty laws.

Police have arrested more than 1,200 protesters, while at least 75 people have died in the clashes.

AUDIO: [Protester chanting]

In the streets of Paris on Sunday, thousands of people joined a solidarity march. Similar protests also sprang up in London and Istanbul.

Italian election— Next, we go to Italy, where an electoral victory brought historic changes.

AUDIO: [Crowd cheering]

In Sunday’s general election, the Brothers of Italy party won 26 percent of the vote. That means party leader Giorgia Meloni is on a course to serve as Italy’s first female prime minister.

Meloni’s party is also part of a conservative alliance that clinched a clear majority in both houses of parliament. Their victory puts in power Italy’s most conservative government since World War II.

Meloni’s party traces its roots to the neo-fascist Italian Social Movement. As a teenager, Meloni served as an activist with the party’s youth wing ... but has since denounced fascism and distanced herself from the party’s history.

^{MELONI: [Speaking in Italian]}

Meloni says here she will govern for all Italians and focus on uniting people. Her coalition has promised to lower taxes, end mass immigration, and promote family values.

Italy isn’t the only country shifting to the political right. Sweden, France, and Spain also recorded conservative gains in recent elections.

Philippines storm— We head next to the storm-ravaged Philippines.

AUDIO: [Traffic in flood]

Typhoon Noru toppled trees and knocked out power across the Philippines’ most populous island on Sunday and Monday.

The storm is the strongest to hit the Philippines this year.

Authorities said five rescuers died while trying to help flooded residents in Bulacan province, near the capital, Manila. A landslide also killed one elderly man in Quezon province.

AUDIO: [Resident speaking in Tagalog]

This resident says the flood washed away his home 15 minutes after his family evacuated.

Disaster officials anticipated widespread devastation but later described the damage as minimal. The Philippines faces an average of 20 storms each year.

Border reopening— We end today at the border between Venezuela and Colombia.

AUDIO: [Trucks honking]

A cargo truck adorned with balloons and flags honked loudly as it crossed the Simon Bolivar International Bridge Monday.

The crossing formally reopened cargo trade between the South American neighbors after seven years.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro restricted transporting goods across the border in 2015 and the countries fully severed ties in 2019. That’s after members of Venezuela’s opposition tried to cross with food and medicine.

Colombia’s leftist president Gustavo Petro assumed office in August. He pledged to restore ties with Venezuela. The countries also plan to resume commercial flights.

That’s it for this week’s World Tour. Reporting for WORLD, I’m Onize Ohikere in Abuja, Nigeria.

NICK EICHER, HOST: A bargain hunter looking for a simple KitchenAid mixer at an estate sale found a much-bigger bargain.

The man stumbled upon a framed document hanging on a wall. It had elaborate script in Latin and it looked downright medieval.

So he bought it for $75 and confirmed with experts it was from the late 13th Century, it was used in the Beauvais Cathedral in France and could be worth as much as $10,000.

Not a bad return on that $75.

Now he can afford a new mixer.

It’s The World and Everything in It.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Today is Wednesday, September 28th. Good morning and thank you for listening to WORLD Radio.

I’m Mary Reichard.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher. Coming next on The World and Everything in It: Whitewater rafting.

It was back in the 1970s that whitewater rafting first gained popularity. Now, more than a million people in the United States each year take guided rafting trips. But few understand the tips and tricks that make it all possible.

This summer, WORLD Radio Associate Correspondent Grace Snell shadowed a river guide to learn those ins and outs.

REICHARD: Just a note here: You’ll notice some of the audio sounds distorted. Well, those are the hazards when you MacGyver a mic to a river guide. Things happen!

GRACE SNELL, REPORTER: It’s 9:30 a.m.—time for the first run of the day on the Black River. A handful of river guides herd sleepy-eyed guests in yellow helmets aboard inflatable rafts.

VICKERY: In the old days, years ago when we were starting on this river in the 1990s, ‘Them rafters,’ that was how we would be referred to: ‘them rafters’...

Tom Vickery is the outpost manager for the Whitewater Challengers. His white hair and blue eyes stand out sharply against sun-tanned skin. Vickery has rafted in Colorado, Brazil, and Costa Rica. But in the 90s he settled down to captain a motley crew of locals and college students in upstate New York.

VICKERY: They're crazy, anybody in their right mind wouldn't go anywhere near that river. It's a dangerous river, people die all the time…

Today, Vickery’s shadowing a 19-year-old trainee waiting on his guide’s license. He’s been working with the novice all summer, teaching him what it takes to be a river guide.

Vickery says guiding is about more than just boating skills and water safety. It all comes down to crafting an adventure experience for guests.

AUDIO: [River sounds]

TOM VICKERY: Each rapid that you come to is like a play, is like a scene in a play, or a music score, and it has to build up, and you’re creating their experience as we go down the river, and until they come off the river and they’re like, “That was the best thing that ever happened. That was the best day of the summer.”

It takes a lot of behind-the-scenes work from guides. They have to be host, expert, and entertainer all in one. 

AUDIO: [River sounds]

RIVER GUIDE: Three strokes forward, altogether…

The trainee Vickery is shadowing runs his crew through basic commands. Then they shove off.

RIVER GUIDE: For now, that’s our commands, and let’s have some fun today.

The raft is launching against a dilapidated urban background. Watertown used to be an industrial hub, but its mix of dingy shops now crumble and sag over the river. As the raft passes under Maggie’s Pub, the crew hits their first rapid—three big waves named “Hole Brothers.”

TOM VICKERY: He’s trying to keep the boat straight because if it turns it wants to dump us out one side and come off the wave so the skill for the guide is to be able to hold us there…

AUDIO: [Sounds from Hole Brothers]

Downtown fades as the raft drifts under Highway 81. The crew is now approaching Knife’s Edge—one of only two class four rapids on the route. If a guide doesn’t land its back-to-back drops just right, he can flip the raft and send the crew swimming.

TOM VICKERY: A small mistake can lead to a dump truck or people in the water, for the most part we try to keep people in the boat. It’s gonna be more fun for the customer.

Each rapid has different paths through it. Guides have to make split-second decisions about what their crews can handle. Today, the young guide takes his group on “True Path,” the “rowdier” path through Knife’s Edge.

RIVER GUIDE: That’s the fun line right there. I could have taken you Bee Line Skate, but that’s the more chill side. I like what we did.

AUDIO: [Bird sounds]

The second act snakes through “The Canyon.” Seven rapids fall rapid-fire between its rocky walls.

The crew crashes through three rapids, dodging rocks like “Sneaker Sucker” and “The Ripping Wall.” The raft bounces off “Panic Rock” in the middle of a rapid called Zag.

RIVER GUIDE: We’re gonna get a little bump here, all right then go all forward...

But the guide recovers and takes the crew safely over an eight-foot drop at Rocket Ride.

The last rapid is Shave and a Haircut. Here, the guide lets one of the crew “ride the bull”—perching on the front of the raft with a hand in the air as they go down.

AUDIO: [Rushing, screaming, all forward, nice work, keep going]

The whitewater lies behind them now. The guests hop out and paddle alongside the boat through the Swimmer’s Rapids. Vickery takes the time to debrief the run with their guide.

RIVER GUIDE: Zag was probably the low point when, I just like, I didn’t get the angle soon, and so I was starting from the left, which would have been okay…

TOM VICKERY: You’re trying to recover rather than reading water and understanding. I don’t expect you to read water like an experienced guide, you’re just not going to. I’m pointing them out because that’s how you’re going to learn.

RIVER GUIDE: Yeah, no, I appreciate that.

TOM VICKERY: You can’t live your next rapid based off of performance of the last one. You have to start fresh every rapid.

The swimmers climb back aboard for a final tow to the end. They stagger ashore at Fish Island and board electric purple school buses for the ride back.

AUDIO: [Gravel sounds]

The guests dismount back at the base and crunch up a gravel drive toward an Amish-made building with a shiny tin roof. They hang up life vests, rack paddles, and toss helmets into bins.

AUDIO: [Equipment sounds]

Guides and guests mingle outside smiling and chatting after hours of water and sun. For guides like Vickery, this is exactly what success looks like.

TOM VICKERY: Just being outdoors and enjoying it, getting away from the cellphones for a little while, I mean, when you're in the middle of a rapid, you’re not thinking about your work tomorrow. You’re thinking about getting to the bottom of that rapid. There’s something about experiences, especially in the outdoors, I think that really make a person complete.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Grace Snell in Watertown, New York.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Today is Wednesday, September 28th. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Mary Reichard.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher. Up next: WORLD commentator Janie B. Cheaney on a new “handy little household helper.”

JANIE B. CHEANEY, COMMENTATOR: Of all the household chores, the one I like least is vacuuming. It was the task I complained about the loudest when I was a kid, dragging around the dusty old Electrolux that my dad had made even heavier by nailing a plywood base to it. Vacuums got easier and lighter over time but that didn’t make me like them any better.

For sheer drudgery, nothing else compared. Hanging out laundry? A great way to get some fresh air, and those sheets and towels smell so good when you take them down. Washing dishes? I used to prop up a book beside the sink; now it’s podcast time. Dusting? Well, when I get around to doing it, what could be easier than gliding a microfiber cloth along the shelves and countertops? Even scrubbing toilets is but the work of a moment, with a dollop of bleach and a stiff brush.

But our Sears canister vac had been sitting patiently in our living room for two weeks, waiting for me to get around to it, when an early birthday gift arrived: a robot vacuum cleaner. The best invention ever.

You’ve seen them; many of you probably have one by now. Mine is a round machine with a roller brush and two side brushes. Charge it up and turn it on, and it darts and dodges around the floor like a puppy sniffing out new territory. It’s so cute I want to pet it. I let it go for an hour or two, then press a button and it backs up to its own charging station and shuts itself off. I accidentally programmed it to go to work at 5:30 one morning, but otherwise it’s an obedient little household helper I can’t imagine doing without.

Who thinks of these things? Psalm 107 keeps going through my mind: “Let them praise the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wonderful works to the children of men!” The Lord didn’t invent my Cybovac, or not directly, but his wonderful works to the children of men include the inventive, creative potential of the children of men. To tear up at Beethoven’s Third symphony or gaze at Rembrandt’s Prodigal Son, to gasp at a balletic leap or jump to your feet at a sixty-eight-yard pass completion—even to marvel at a Roomba--all is praising the Lord for his wonderful works through the children of men.

Too quickly we turn to praising the creature rather than the creator but, as the Lord said to Moses, Who made your mouth? Who created the hands to weave and shape, the bodies to excel, and the minds to conceive? Our devices may sometimes be ill-conceived and misused, but for all things useful and beautiful, it is fitting to give praise. And maybe the Lord delights in our worthy inventions and creations as much as we do.

I’m Janie B. Cheaney.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Tomorrow: Russian men of military-age continue to flee their country. We’ll have a report.

And, teaching boys about what’s most important—and in a way they understand.

That and more tomorrow.

I’m Nick Eicher.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard.

The World and Everything in It comes to you from WORLD Radio.

WORLD’s mission is biblically objective journalism that informs, educates, and inspires.

The Bible says: In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. (Ephesians 6:16-18 ESV)

Go now in grace and peace.

WORLD Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of WORLD Radio programming is the audio record.