Vaccine Angels & Women In Science! 💉
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Description
🏔 How is President Biden doing on his promise to move fast on environmental protections? 💉 14-year-old Benjamin Kagan, founder of the Chicago Vaccine Angels, joins us to explain how he's helping make sure vaccines can get to the people who need them most. 👩🏽🔬 Our celebration of Women's History Month continues with our five favorite books about women in science! 🐻 Plus! The Trivia Question of the Day!
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💉 Discover how the Chicago Vaccine Angels are simplifying the vaccine process for people who need it most!
✍️ Find a copy of the transcript for today's episode here
Transcript
Various voices 0:00
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
Bethany Van Delft 0:07
From our five favorite science books to vaccine angels, I'm Bethany Van Delft, and this is The Ten News. During his 2020 campaign, President Biden promised to move fast on environmental protections now that he's been in office for a few months. How's he doing on that promise?
Sound Bit 0:29
I want to hear everything.
Bethany Van Delft 0:30
Well, so far, his administration has added 18 new regulations and overturn 20 policies that environmental groups like the Audubon Society, and the Natural Resources Defense Council opposed.
Sound Bit 0:44
Now we're talking.
Bethany Van Delft 0:45
They've stopped a copper mine from operating in Arizona, after local Native American tribes argued it could endanger sacred sites and sensitive habitats. Administration also pumped the brakes on a decision to slash 3 million acres of Northern spotted owl habitat, at least for now. Maybe the biggest decision so far was ending the permit to finish the Keystone XL pipeline, which was supposed to carry crude oil from Alberta, Canada, all the way to the southern states in the Gulf Coast. Why is that a big deal? Well, environmentalists were against the pipeline from the beginning over safety concerns, and the increased greenhouse gases that the pipeline would release into the atmosphere. It also threatens the water supply and lands of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe and other native peoples. Is there more work to do?
Sound Bit 1:41
Yep.
Bethany Van Delft 1:42
Absolutely, but everything's got to start somewhere, right. 14 year old Benjamin Kagan cares about people's health. How much does he care, Benjamin learn the ins and outs of booking COVID-19 vaccine appointments on behalf of strangers. Correspondent Pamela Kirkland caught up with Benjamin to discuss his new vaccine hunting skills.
Pamela 2:13
Now, with another COVID-19 vaccine available, there's hope that more people can get vaccinated against the virus. But actually getting the appointment has been hard. We wanted to talk to someone who's helping make sure vaccines can get to the people who need them.
Benjamin 2:29
I'm Benjamin Kagan, I am a freshman in high school. And I live in Chicago, Illinois, and I'm the founder of the Chicago vaccine angels.
Pamela 2:38
That's exactly why we wanted to talk to you about this group you started called Chicago vaccine angels. Tell us about that. And what you guys do.
Benjamin 2:45
First, I started my grandparents from Florida navigate the super technological system. And, you know, I sort of realized that they were never going to be able to book their own appointment. So I took care of it and booked it for them. And I sort of progressed on from there, I booked appointments from my parent's employees, they are an essential business here in Chicago. And I heard about this Facebook group. And I joined the group and started giving other people tips on you know, where to look for appointments, you know, check this grocery store at this time, check that pharmacy at this time, after a while people started messaging me on facebook saying, you know, can you help me like I can't do this myself, I don't type fast enough. I'm not awake at midnight, I'm, you know, too slow, when it jumps out, you know, I refresh and doesn't work or something. And so I started getting a lot of messages like that I started helping these people one on one. And after a while I was just too swamped with these people to take care of it all myself. So eventually, I realized that I need to organize it into a spreadsheet and, you know, get some more people to help me. So I created a Google form. And the Google Form takes the information that people enters and it puts it directly into a Google Sheet. And then the Google Sheet is viewed by my team and I and so from the Google Sheet, we do our best to schedule those people and get them in with appointments as soon as we can.
Pamela 4:11
You can see how badly this is needed. When you look at Facebook pages like the Chicago vaccine hunters and similar pages around the country. How does it make you feel that there are so many people out there looking for help?
Benjamin 4:23
Yeah, so you know, it shouldn't be like this, I really don't think that it should be a system where a 14 year old has to go out and you know, join the Chicago vaccine hunters and then sort of help run that group and then found found this subgroup and you know, have to be helping these people. Like this shouldn't be the way that this has been set up. I shouldn't have to be doing this. And yet I am because there's been a failure by our government to have an organized system.
Pamela 4:50
How can other kids help their family members, maybe their neighbors find appointments, any tips?
Benjamin 4:57
Probably my best tip would be don't just live in your neighborhood. Look around look around your area you know some people that I work with are willing to drive you know, three hours to downstate Illinois and others are willing to drive 15 minutes from their house. It is so much easier to drive to schedule the people that will drive three hours because they're willing to go anywhere and so I can most likely score them in an appointment somewhere and actually score because it really is like like a you got lucky type thing like you got lucky I scored you an appointment. Um, and it's it's much easier to schedule those people, um, than it is to schedule view they only want to go within 15 minutes their house. So I would just say don't look in your immediate area. Look around, see if there's a suburb you can go to or another place that's close, close enough to drive to the you can go get your vaccine because there's not always availability, you know, in your neighborhood.
Pamela 5:55
Well, Benjamin, you are a very patient person filling a very important need for you. Thanks so much for talking to the Ten.
Bethany Van Delft 6:04
Up next correspondent Laine Farber, our favorite Women in Science shares her top five books about women in science.
Laine 6:15
March 8 is a day to celebrate all of the amazing accomplishments of women, young and old, to give a round of applause to those who have made history long ago, and those who are making history right now. And to celebrate International Women's Day, I dug through my book collection and hit the local library to find my favorite books starring real and fictional female scientists. Number one, "We are Water Protectors" by Carole Lindstrom and illustrated by Micheala Goade, written and illustrated by indigenous women. "We are Water Protectors" tells the tale of a fictional young woman from the Ojibwe tribe battling a very real issue water pollution from industrial pipelines. What are tribes land is threatened, the young heroine must rally her people to use their voices and protect Earth's most precious resources. Number two, "Joan Procter: Dragon Doctor" by Patricia Valdez and illustrated by Felicita Sala. This beautifully illustrated biography tells the true story of Joan Procter, a woman with a passion for cold blooded animals. Follow Joan as she grows from a quiet young girl with a pet crocodile to a wise researcher. Forward thinking museum curator and even daring dragon caretaker. Whoa. Number three, "Ada Twist: Scientist" by Andrea Beaty and illustrated by David Roberts. One of my favorite books of all time, "Ada Twist: Scientist" tells the story of the titular character Ada. With a brain that loves solving the puzzles of our everyday world. Ada is unafraid to ask questions, test theories, and make messes just like any good scientist
Sound Bit 8:07
Clever girl.
Laine 8:08
Number four, "Mae Among the Stars" by Roda Ahmed and illustrated by Stasia Burrington. Based on a true story, "Mae Among the Stars" tells the tale of a young girl with big dreams. Follow young Mae Jemison as she pursues her passions and dances amongst the stars as the first female African American astronaut cool. And last but not least, number five "Women in Science: 50 Fearless Pioneers who Changed the World," written and illustrated by Rachel Ignotofsky. If you like science, history, and super cool drawings, then this book is for you. "Women in Science" takes you on a journey throughout history, learning about 50 incredibly fierce women who changed the world read about the glowing chemist Marie Curie, DNA decoder Rosalind Franklin, fossile finder Mary Anning, and many more wonderful women.
Bethany Van Delft 9:13
It's trivia time. While camping in Alaska last month, what unusual surprise was waiting for a woman in her town house? Was it A) a dog sled? B) a bear? or C) a ventriloquist dummy?
Did you guess it? The answer is be A) bear. That's right. A woman who was camping out in the Alaskan back country last month, sat down to do her business and got the surprise of a lifetime when she discovered a bear was just below the toilet seat. Holy moly, thankfully, nothing too serious happened. Just some scratches that experts believe came from the bear's paw. This is a great reminder to always check your surroundings before you get too comfortable, especially when camping in the Alaskan back country. Oh, time's up. But before we go, here's a quick note for the grownups. Do you love listening to The Ten News? As much as we love making it? Yes, well, now you can sign up for The Ten Newsletter, a free email with even more stories to enjoy with the kiddos to make sure you don't miss anything we do. Thanks for listening to The Ten News. Look out for new episodes on Tuesdays, Thursdays and extras on Saturdays. The Ten News is a co production of Small But Mighty Media and Next Chapter Podcasts and is distributed by iHeartRadio. Our editorial director is Tracey Crooks, editing and sound designed by Pete Musto, who also co wrote today's episode with Ben Austin de Campo. Our creative director is Jenner Pasqua. Stephen Tompkins is our head of audience development. And our production assistant is Sarah Olender. Pamela Kirkland and Laine Farber contributed to today's episode. Our production director is Jeremiah Tittle, and The Ten News is executive produced by Donald Albright and show creator Tracy Leeds Kaplan, do you want to be part of this show? Have a grown up help you record a question a joke or a fun fact you want to share and email it to us at hello@thetennews.com and show your love for The Ten News. Go to your favorite podcast app and submit a rating and review. It really helps others find the show so they can join the fun too. I'm Bethany Van Delft, and thanks for listening to The Ten News. Let me go check out our bathroom for bears. I mean, it's not an outhouse, but I don't know, city bears.
