A rough day in Congress for Kevin McCarthy; support pours in for Damar Hamlin; the wellness to QAnon pipeline

Plus, why our perception of time makes fixing climate change tricky.

View this email online by Suzanne Nuyen Good morning. Workers earning minimum wage in 23 states and D.C. got a raise over the New Year's holiday, with Nebraska seeing the largest increase. Here's what we're following today: First up Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images Yesterday was supposed to be Kevin McCarthy's moment. But Congress adjourned without McCarthy —     or anyone — as speaker after three rounds of voting. It's the first time in a century voting went beyond one round. Take a look at photos from an eventful first day for the 118th Congress. Many doctors believe that Buffalo Bills starter Damar Hamlin experienced commotio cordis on the field when he collapsed. It's been described as a "perfect storm of events" involving the impact of a specific force to the chest at a specific moment in the cardiac cycle. ➡️ Support for the football player poured in as fans donated millions to a fundraiser he started for kids in his hometown. Most people are focused on problems that can be solved immediately, and this basic human relationship with time makes solving climate change a tricky problem. Psychologists say we need to speed up the benefits for taking action if we want leaders and others to pay attention and act. Brace yourselves: January is usually the busiest month of the year for job cuts. If you're impacted by layoffs, small decisions — like calling creditors or announcing your job loss on social media — can make it sting a lot less. Newsletter continues after sponsor message Picture show Carol Guzy for NPR Sgt. Mykhailo Varvarych, a commander in Ukraine's 80th Airborne Assault Brigade, lost both legs while fighting in Luhansk. He and his fiancée, Iryna Botvynska, maintain an unflinching romance. These photos show an unfailing love through adversity. 🎧 Listen as they tell their story. Deep dive Emily Guerin/KPCC/LAist Themes like everything is connected, nothing happens without a purpose and nothing is what it seems are central to both yoga philosophy and conspiratorial thinking, leading to what some call the "wellness to QAnon pipeline." The radicalization of a Los Angeles-based Kundalini yoga teacher named Guru Jagat is a prime example. 🧘 Katie Griggs ran a Kundalini yoga studio in the Venice neighborhood of Los Angeles under the name Guru Jagat. She was seen as an "edgy disruptor," unafraid to use her voice.  🧘 Guru Jagat's conspiratorial teachings ramped up during the pandemic. She believed that the government wanted everyone at home for reasons other than public health. 🧘 Many people practice yoga without believing in conspiracy theories, but the wellness industry's emphasis on "doing your own research" and "finding your own truth" makes many susceptible to conspiratorial thinking. Before you go Eva Marie Uzcategu/Bloomberg via Getty Images A new study finds that between 2017 and 2021, the number of very young children eating edible forms of marijuana spiked dramatically, with many kids ending up in hospitals. The mastermind of the Varsity Blues college admissions scandal, Rick Singer, is set to be sentenced today. Federal prosecutors called the scheme "staggering in its scope and breathtaking in its audacity." Walt Cunningham, the astronaut who piloted the first manned Apollo mission, has died at 90. An American Airlines worker was killed after being "ingested into the engine" of a parked plane in Montgomery, Ala. Federal officials are investigating the death. Listen to your local NPR station. Visit NPR.org to hear live radio from WBEZ (edit station). 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