Sarah Gonzalez

Reporter, WNYC/NJPR

Sarah Gonzalez appears in the following:

Coronavirus Pandemic Sparks Movement To Rethink Incarceration

Friday, July 24, 2020

For decades, Democrats and Republicans competed to be toughest on crime. But that's changing. NPR's Planet Money podcast explores the changing views on prisons in Oklahoma.

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Nose Pipe, Milkmaids And Death Row Inmates: A Look At The History Of The 1st Vaccine

Friday, June 19, 2020

The idea of vaccination is almost 2,000 years old. The story of the very first vaccine involves a nose pipe, milkmaids, death row inmates, and a beautiful woman out for revenge.

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People Can't See It, But This Grocery Worker Still Wears Lipstick Under Her Mask

Friday, May 29, 2020

As a low-wage worker, Yesenia Ortiz wishes she would get paid more during the pandemic because of the extra level of risk to which she is exposed.

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Why Essential Workers Are Not Paid More After Their Jobs Got Risky

Friday, May 22, 2020

In a competitive labor market, employers would need to pay workers more money for riskier jobs. But now, essential workers are making as much money as they were before the pandemic.

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How Government Agencies Determine The Dollar Value Of Human Life

Thursday, April 23, 2020

Reopening the economy requires contemplating the trade-off between lives and money. Government agencies are already used to putting dollar values on human life when considering safety regulations.

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Farm Workers Can't Keep Their Distance, And Can't Get Into The U.S. To Work

Friday, March 27, 2020

The people who harvest food face two challenges right now: tighter border controls keeping many away from the fields, and cramped living quarters that make social distancing almost impossible.

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Hurricane Irma May Have Destroyed Barbuda's Generations-Old Land System

Friday, February 07, 2020

In the Caribbean island of Barbuda, land is not bought or sold. Put up a fence and the land is yours forever, for free — if you're Barbudan. But now there is a plan to start selling it.

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Some Of The Biggest Companies Are Reinventing How We Get Paid And How Often

Thursday, December 19, 2019

For years, low wage workers have had to wait two weeks between paychecks, a long time. But technology and a tight labor market could be changing that.

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Decades Ago, British Economist Created The Framework For A Carbon Tax

Thursday, November 07, 2019

More than 100 hundred years ago, British economist Arthur Cecil Pigou explained how to tax things like pollution. His insight is being used to fight climate change.

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The Future Of French Fries

Friday, October 25, 2019

French fries are facing an existential crisis. As consumers opt for food delivery services, the shelf life of fries isn't good enough. But some are trying to engineer the fry of the future.

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Helium Shortage Forces A Search For New Sources

Friday, August 23, 2019

The U.S. government may have helped create the current helium shortage, and now people are looking for new sources of the gas.

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China's New Recycling Policy Could Give U.S. An Opportunity To Rethink Its Process

Thursday, August 01, 2019

More recycling isn't always good for the environment. Now that China is buying less recyclables, cities are shoving their water bottles and cardboard boxes into the trash pile. And it might be OK.

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Recycling And The Mob

Thursday, August 01, 2019

We kind of owe recycling to the Mafia and a 1987 garbage barge that couldn't dock anywhere. That's when cities started sending trucks to everyone's homes to pick up glass bottles and cardboard boxes.

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NYC Invests In Permanent Housing For Homeless. Will Phase Out Hotel Use

Thursday, June 06, 2019

New York City has a law that guarantees everyone a right to shelter, but there aren't enough homeless shelters. The city has turned to renting out hotel rooms.

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Planet Money: Dollar Stores' Effects On Communities

Thursday, May 09, 2019

Every day, four new dollar stores will open in the U.S. Dollar stores open in places where few other businesses will go: rural and urban areas. They're threatening businesses that survived Walmart.

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Episode 909: Dollar Stores Vs Lettuce

Friday, April 26, 2019

Dollar General, Dollar Tree and Family Dollars are opening up stores every six hours around the country. Some towns are fighting them.

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Episode 904: Joke Theft

Saturday, April 06, 2019

We follow the founder of f*ckjerry and comedian Jim Mendrinos into the world of comedy. Where a whole series of informal sanctions are deployed to protect jokes from theft.

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Episode 901: Bad Cops Are Expensive

Friday, March 22, 2019

There's an entire, powerful industry pushing behind the scenes for better police behavior--not with protests or picket signs, but spreadsheets and actuaries.

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Stolen Gasoline Is Smuggled All Over The World, U.N. Says

Friday, March 22, 2019

Mexico's president is taking steps to stop cartels from stealing gas, but it is unlikely to make a difference. The U.N. says gas is smuggled in Coke bottles and by unmanned donkeys and pirate ships.

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Episode 899: Mexico Fights The Fuel Pirates

Friday, March 08, 2019

Cartels in Mexico aren't just trafficking in drugs anymore; they're also stealing fuel. The Mexican Government is taking action to cut them off. But it's costing a lot of money, and lives.

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