First up

Benjamin Wittes

Here's what we're following today:

Anti-war activists spent hours Wednesday evening projecting a giant image of the Ukrainian flag onto the Russian embassy in D.C. in bright lights. Benjamin Wittes, one of the demonstrators, says they wanted to "make it feel like they couldn't get away from the world's glare of judgment."

Two more subvariants of omicron have popped up in New York, and they're spreading. Together they make up 90% of cases in central New York state. The good news: The rise in cases is much slower and more gradual than that of the original omicron variant.

This year, many Ukrainian Jews are celebrating Passover far from home. The holiday, which celebrates the liberation and escape of Jewish people from slavery in ancient Egypt, feels much more poignant as many Ukrainians are currently refugees themselves.

Correction: An earlier version of this newsletter incorrectly said the Jewish people escaped from Europe.

Two weeks after an NPR report revealed major flaws in an income-driven student loan repayment program, lawmakers are calling for an investigation. Senators want to "ensure borrowers are accessing income-driven repayment plan benefits and receive the student loan forgiveness they have earned."

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Today’s listens

Carol Guzy

About half of the residents of Kyiv have fled after Russia invaded Ukraine. The ones who stayed behind wouldn't and often couldn't leave. Many of them are elderly. Listen to their stories, or read them here.

A survey from Pew Charitable Trusts finds that 36 million Americans have used alternatives to a traditional mortgage to finance a home. These deals pose a great financial risk, especially for those with the most to lose. Listen to some of their stories, or read them here.

Weekend picks

Hulu

Check out what our critics are watching, reading and listening to this weekend:

TV: Hulu's The Kardashians picks up where Keeping up With the Kardashians ended. It's often feels like a better filmed version the show they just stopped doing.

Books: Aesthetically complex yet emotionally accessible, Ocean Vuong's Time is a Mother at once innovates and affirms the existing poetic tradition as he reflects on life without his mother.

Music: Throughout Warm Chris, Aldous Harding's elastic singing voice stretches across scenes you can't quite see but can powerfully feel.

Before you go

Audrey Nguyen/NPR

In North America, we've lost lost roughly 1-in-4 birds from 1970 to 2019. The news seems bleak, but there's a lot we can do to help the bird population survive.
Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal wants to assuage employees' fears after Elon Musk launched a $43 billion hostage takeover of the company. He says he doesn't feel Twitter is "being held hostage."
The next time your parents say video games will rot your brain, show them this article. Shizuko Morimoto's research hopes to see if video games can help heal cognitive decline.