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Director Kevin Smith's latest film, Jersey Girl, stars Ben Affleck as a single father raising a young daughter. It's a departure from Smith's past work. The biting, iconoclastic humor of films such as Clerks, Dogma and Chasing Amy had established Smith as a force outside Hollywood's mainstream. Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan has a review.

A report on sex abuse in the German Catholic Church faulted former Pope Benedict's handling of four cases. Benedict acknowledged the abuses under his watch but denied any wrongdoing.

Democrats like Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock are under pressure. President Biden's approval numbers are low, his legislative agenda has stalled, and control of Congress is up for grabs this fall.

NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with economy reporter Chabeli Carrazana from The 19th News about women whose spouses and children have died of COVID struggling to seek benefits from Social Security offices.

The stuffed animal version of mascot Bing Dwen Dwen has become so sought after that people are camping overnight to buy it in Beijing.

The incandescent, influential funk musician Betty Davis died on Wednesday. She made a string of albums in the mid-1970s that helped to shape stylish, Afrofuturist strains of funk and hip-hop.

Several Democratic-led states are rolling back coronavirus restrictions in the face of public wariness as the omicron surge eases. Federal health officials advise those restrictions are still needed.

Virginia Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger and Texas Republican Chip Roy say their bill to ban lawmakers from picking stocks is picking up steam. Top leaders have now signed on, showing momentum.

The celesta, an instrument invented in 1896, gets its name for its "celestial," tinkling sound. It provides the distinctive music that accompanies the dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker. NPR's Bob Edwards discusses the instrument with Morning Edition music commentator Miles Hoffman, and Lambert Orkis of the National Symphony plays some celesta riffs.

The Justice Department's federal civil rights case against the men who killed Ahmaud Arbery began this week. Here's a look at that trial and the civil rights agenda for Department of Justice in 2022.