Voicy初の公式英語ニュースチャンネル「Voicy News Brief with articles from New York Times」。チャンネルでは、バイリンガルパーソナリティがThe New York Timesの記事を英語で読み、記事の中に出てくる単語を日本語で解説しています。

Voicy Journalでは、毎週金曜日にその週に読んだ記事を、まとめて紹介します！１週間の終わりに、その週の放送をもう１度聞いて復習するのも良いかもしれません。VoicyのPCページやアプリでは、再生速度も変えられるので、自分の理解度に応じて、調整してみましょう。

4/10(土)の放送

Prince’s ‘Welcome 2 America,’ an Unreleased Album, Is Due Out in July

著者：Joe Coscarelli
(c) 2021 The New York Times Company

For the first time since Prince died unexpectedly in 2016, the singer’s estate will release a completed — but never-before-heard — album from his storied vault of leftover music.

Until now, the estate has largely focused on rereleasing some of the biggest albums of Prince’s career, like “1999” and “Sign o’ the Times,” or on compilations like “Originals,” made up of the singer’s demos that became hits for other artists.

But on July 30, “Welcome 2 America,” a 12-track album recorded at Prince’s Paisley Park Studios in 2010, will finally see the light of day.

In its announcement, the estate called “Welcome 2 America” a document of “Prince’s concerns, hopes and visions for a shifting society, presciently foreshadowing an era of political division, disinformation, and a renewed fight for racial justice.” The album touches on “golden parachutes, the superficial nature of social media, reality TV-fueled celebrity culture, and corporate monopolies in the music industry, ultimately concluding that America is the ‘Land of the free / home of the slave,’” the estate said.

It also included a quote about the album from Prince at the time, written in his trademark style: “The world is fraught with misin4mation. George Orwell’s vision of the future is here. We need 2 remain steadfast in faith in the trying times ahead.”

In line with that message, songs from the album include titles like “Running Game (Son of a Slave Master),” “Born 2 Die” and “One Day We Will All B Free.” On the title track, Prince sings, “Distracted by the features of the iPhone / Got an application, 2 fix Ur situation.”

From 2010 to 2012, Prince played more than 80 concerts on a tour of the same name, but he never explained why he shelved the related “Welcome 2 America” album.

The singer died from an accidental overdose of an opioid painkiller five years ago this month.

The release of “Welcome 2 America” will come via Legacy Recordings, a division of Sony Music Entertainment, which began releasing Prince music after an earlier $31 million deal between the estate and Universal Music was rescinded by a judge.

Prince’s vault at Paisley Park, his studio complex outside of Minneapolis, is thought to contain hundreds — or potentially thousands — of unreleased songs.

due out 　 (商品などが) 出荷［発売・提供］される予定である
estate　　 財産、不動産、遺産
vault　　 貴重品保管室、貯蔵所
see the light of day　 (芸術作品などが) 日の目を見る
presciently　 予知して
foreshadow　 前兆となる、予示する
*overshadow　影を投げ掛ける、暗くする、見劣りさせる
fraught with　～を伴う、～だらけである、～をはらんでいる
steadfast (意志・決意・信念などが) 確固たる、不動の、しっかりした
shelve　 (問題・計画などを) 棚上げする、見送る、延期する
rescind　　 (決定・命令・注文などを) 取り消す、撤回する

4/11(日)の放送

Sony Pictures, Netflix Sign Exclusive Streaming Deal

著者：Nicole Sperling
(c) 2021 The New York Times Company

In another sign of Netflix’s growing dominance, Sony Pictures Entertainment has signed a four-year deal that will give the streaming giant the exclusive U.S. rights to Sony’s films once they leave theaters and premium video-on-demand services.

The deal, which begins with the studio’s 2022 releases, builds on Netflix’s existing partnership with Sony Pictures Animation and replaces the agreement Sony, one of the few major studios without its own streaming service, has had with Starz Entertainment since 2005.

That means that upcoming films like “Morbius,” which features Jared Leto playing the Marvel vampire, and “Uncharted,” starring Tom Holland in an adaptation of a PlayStation game, will become available on Netflix after they complete their theatrical and on-demand runs. As part of the deal, Sony will make two to three movies a year for Netflix, expanding Sony’s slate and giving Netflix exclusive films for its service.

“This not only allows us to bring Sony’s impressive slate of beloved film franchises and new IP to Netflix in the U.S., but it also establishes a new source of first-run films for Netflix movie lovers worldwide,” Netflix’s head of global films, Scott Stuber, said in a statement on Thursday.

Sony emphasized that the arrangement would not alter its theatrical strategy. Before the pandemic, the studio released 15 to 20 films a year in theaters, a plan it intends to resume now that theaters are reopening. Films made for Netflix will be in addition to the theatrical releases, it said.

With the pandemic shutting down movie theaters for much of last year, Sony Pictures, like most studios, pushed many of its films into 2021. It also sold a handful to streaming services, including “Greyhound” with Tom Hanks to Apple and the upcoming animated comedy “The Mitchells vs The Machines,” from the creators of Sony’s Oscar-winning film “Spiderman: Into the Spider-verse,” to Netflix.

Exclusive 独占的な
Dominance 支配
Upcoming 次にくる
Adaptation 改作
Theatrical 劇場の
Slate 石板
Franchise 権利
IP intellectual property 知的財産

4/12(月)の放送

Harry Will Attend Philip’s Funeral, Raising Hope Royal Rift Will Heal

著者：Benjamin Mueller
(c) 2021 The New York Times Company

LONDON — Buckingham Palace said Saturday that Prince Harry would be returning to Britain for Prince Philip’s funeral next weekend, setting in motion fevered speculation about whether the reunion would mend fences in the royal family or sow deeper discord.

The visit, Harry’s first since stepping down as a senior royal last year, will force a meeting with his brother, Prince William, and father, Prince Charles, who Harry said in an explosive interview last month were trapped in an unhappy palace life. But Harry will travel without his wife, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, who palace officials said would remain at the couple’s California home on doctor’s orders because she is in the latter stages of pregnancy.

For weeks, while the world awaited Oprah Winfrey’s interview last month with Harry and Meghan, the eyes of many Britons were fixed on the health of Philip, Harry’s grandfather, who had been hospitalized with a heart condition.

Newspapers pictured Prince Charles in February leaving the bedside of Philip, his father — the son’s eyes bloodshot as he was driven away. Harry and Meghan were castigated for comments about leaving their royal roles that detractors saw as ill-mannered in light of Philip’s illness. “Have They No Respect?” the Daily Mail screamed.

That period of national concern over Philip’s health lent the royal family sympathy during an unusual dust-up within the institution, one that pitted brother against brother as Harry, in the interview with Winfrey, accused his family of racism and emotional abandonment.

With that conflict still raging, Philip’s death Friday at age 99 opened a new and uncertain chapter in the turbulent life of the House of Windsor. Among the first acts of the post-Philip era was the announcement that Harry would attend his grandfather’s funeral, scheduled for April 17, a slimmed-down ceremony that palace officials said would be limited to 30 people.

No question was more on the minds of royal watchers than whether Harry would make peace with William after a monthslong feud.

“Harry will come home, and a meeting between the brothers and perhaps, with luck, a reconciliation over their dead grandfather could be a possibility,” said Penny Junor, a royal historian.

Or not.

“It’s going to go one way or the other,” Junor said. “There’s a sort of war going on within the family, and being played out in public. It’s been everything the family doesn’t want.”

rift (人間関係などの） 断絶、仲たがい
mend fences 仲直りをする
sow discord 不和の種をまく
Briton イギリス人
castigate (人・行為などを)酷評する
detractor 中傷する人
in light of ～を考慮すると、～を踏まえて
dust-up 争い
pit (someone) against 人に(…に対して)対抗する
feud (長年にわたる)確執、不和

4/13(火)の放送

Online Schools Are Here to Stay, Even After the Pandemic

著者：Natasha Singer
(c) 2021 The New York Times Company

Rory Levin, a sixth grader in Bloomington, Minnesota, used to hate going to school. He has a health condition that often makes him feel apprehensive around other students. Taking special-education classes did little to ease his anxiety.

So when his district created a stand-alone digital-only program, Bloomington Online School, last year for the pandemic, Rory opted to try it. Now the 11-year-old is enjoying school for the first time, said his mother, Lisa Levin. He loves the live video classes and has made friends with other online students, she said.

In December, Bloomington Public Schools decided to keep running the online school even after the pandemic subsides. Lisa Levin plans to re-enroll Rory for this fall.

“It is such a good fit for him,” she said. “We’re really hoping they can continue it for the rest of his school career.”

A year after the coronavirus set off a seismic disruption in public education, some of the remote programs that districts intended to be temporary are poised to outlast the pandemic. Even as students flock back to classrooms, a subset of families who have come to prefer online learning are pushing to keep it going — and school systems are rushing to accommodate them.

The districts are racing to set up full-fledged online schools even as concerns mount that remote learning has taken a substantial toll on many children’s academic progress and emotional health. Parents and lawmakers, alarmed by the situation, have urged schools to reopen.

Even so, at least several hundred of the nation’s 13,000 school districts have established virtual schools this academic year, with an eye to operating them for years to come, education researchers said. Unlike many makeshift pandemic school programs, these stand-alone virtual schools have their own teachers, who work only with remote students and use curricula designed for online learning.

Yet a surge of online schools comes with risks. It could normalize remote learning approaches that have had poor results for many students, education researchers said. It could also further divide a fragile national education system, especially when many Asian, Black and Latino families have been wary of sending their children back to school this year.

“My fear is that it will lead to further fracturing and fragmentation,” said Jack Schneider, an assistant professor of education at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell.

condition　病気
apprehensive　不安な(気持ち)
☝️apprehend(理解する)→理解が早い→不安
stand-alone　独立した
opt　決める
☝️option(選択肢)の動詞形→選ぶ、決める
subside　静まる　[語源: sub(下に)+side(座る)]
seismic　地震の(ような)
poised to ~　(〜する)用意ができている
flock　群がる
full-fledged　本格的な
☝️「羽の生え揃った」の意
substantial　相当な　[語源: sub(下に)+stance(立つ)=本質、物質　+tial(〜のような)→相当な]
with an eye to ~　〜のために
☝️「視野に入れて」に近い
makeshift　仮の
curricula　カリキュラムの単数形

4/14(水)の放送

Minnesota Sports Teams Postpone Games After Shooting

著者：Tyler Kepner and Sopan Deb
(c) 2021 The New York Times Company

Professional baseball, basketball and hockey games in Minnesota were postponed Monday in response to tension and unrest after a police officer shot and killed a Black man during a traffic stop north of Minneapolis.

The Minnesota Twins postponed their afternoon game with the Boston Red Sox and were quickly followed by the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves calling off a game against the Brooklyn Nets and the NHL’s Minnesota Wild postponing a match against the St. Louis Blues.

With the region on edge as the trial of Derek Chauvin, the police officer facing murder charges in the death of George Floyd, continues in Minneapolis, the Twins said it would not have been appropriate to play. The police in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, where the latest shooting took place Sunday, said that the victim, Daunte Wright, 20, was shot accidentally by an officer who had intended to use a Taser.

“Our community’s been through a lot, and we have a trial taking place just blocks away from Target Field,” the Twins team president, Dave St. Peter, said in a Zoom call with reporters. “Emotions across our community, emotions across our organization, are raw.”

He added that baseball seemed “a little less important” now, and that the Twins prioritized safety and compassion over holding the game as scheduled.

“Make no mistake, part of the decision here today is out of respect for the Wright family, but there’s a big part of this decision that’s also rooted in safety and consultation with law enforcement about unknowns, about what will, or could transpire within the broader community over the next several hours, based on the news that has come out of Brooklyn Center this morning,” St. Peter said.

The Twins and the Red Sox were scheduled to play four games through Thursday, and this is Boston’s only scheduled trip to Minnesota this season. The teams play a series in Boston in late August, but St. Peter said the Twins have not considered moving the series to Fenway Park.

The NBA’s announcement did not say when the Timberwolves and Nets would make up the lost game. The Wild’s game against the Blues has been rescheduled for May 12.

postpone　延期する
unrest　社会的な混乱・騒動
on edge　緊張状態、ピリピリした状態
appropriate　適切な、ふさわしい
intend　〜するつもりである、意図する
through a lot　苦労を重ねる
raw　生々しい
compassion　思いやり、同情
out of respect for 〜　〜に配慮して
make up　再試合

4/15(木)の放送

FDA Will Allow Abortion Pills By Mail During the Pandemic

著者：Pam Belluck
(c) 2021 The New York Times Company

The Biden administration has decided to allow women to receive abortion pills by mail for the duration of the coronavirus pandemic, the latest development in an issue that has increasingly taken center stage in the American abortion debate.

In a letter sent Monday to two leading organizations representing reproductive health physicians, the acting commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration said that the agency would temporarily stop enforcing its requirement that the first of two drugs needed to terminate an early pregnancy be dispensed in a medical clinic.

The new policy counters a Supreme Court decision in January that sided with the Trump administration, which had appealed a federal judge’s decision in July to suspend the requirement. The judge had argued that the requirement put women at risk during the pandemic because they would need to visit clinics in person and often travel significant distances to do so.

Abortion through medication, first approved by the FDA in 2000, is increasingly becoming women’s preferred method for terminating a pregnancy. As of 2017, research estimated that about 60% of abortion patients early enough in pregnancy to be eligible — 10 weeks pregnant or less — chose medication abortion over suction or surgery.

But the FDA requires that the first drug in the two-medication regimen, mifepristone, be dispensed in clinics or hospitals by specially certified doctors or other medical providers. For years, reproductive health experts have urged that the requirement be lifted on the grounds that there are no significant safety reasons for in-person dispensing of a pill that women are then legally allowed to take on their own in any location, and that the restriction places the greatest burden on low-income women and those in areas with limited access to abortion providers.

For several years, with the FDA’s permission, researchers have been conducting a study that provides telemedicine consultations to women seeking abortions and mails them the pills. Their research has found the approach to be safe and effective.

abortion pills 中絶ピル、中絶薬
take center stage 主役になる、注目を集める
Reproductive Health 性と生殖に関する健康、リプロダクティブ・ヘルス
physicians 医師、内科医
dispense 調合する、投与する
medication 薬、薬品
regimen 投薬計画、投与スケジュール
certified doctors 認定医、認定医師
on the grounds that ～という理由で
telemedicine 遠隔医療
【関連用語】
Obstetrician 産科医
Gynaecologist 婦人科医
略）OB/GYN 産婦人科医

4/16(金)の放送

As Senate Advances Bill on Hate Crimes Targeting Asian Americans, Biden Names Liaison to Community

著者：Catie Edmondson
(c) 2021 The New York Times Company

WASHINGTON — The Senate voted Wednesday to advance legislation that would strengthen federal efforts to address hate crimes directed at Asian Americans, paving the way for passage of the measure and sending a bipartisan denunciation of the sharp increase in discrimination and violence against Asian communities in the United States.

The vote came the same day that President Joe Biden named a liaison from his administration to the Asian American Pacific Islander community.

The bill, called the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, passed a procedural hurdle in a 92-6 vote, and a final vote is expected later this week. The bill — sponsored by Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, and Rep. Grace Meng, D-N.Y. — would create a new position at the Justice Department to expedite the review of hate crimes related to the coronavirus pandemic, expand public channels to report such crimes, and require the department to issue guidance to mitigate racially discriminatory language in describing the pandemic.

Later on Wednesday, the White House announced the new position. Erika L. Moritsugu will serve as deputy assistant to the president and liaison to the AAPI community, a role created after the Senate’s two Asian American Democrats, Hirono and Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, criticized the Biden administration for a lack of AAPI representation at the highest levels.

Moritsugu, who is of Japanese and Chinese descent, is vice president at the National Partnership for Women & Families, a nonprofit group that advocates for women’s health, reproductive rights and economic equity.

The announcement comes as attacks targeting Asian Americans, many of them women or older people, have increased nearly 150% in the past year, according to experts who testified last month before a House panel.

Hirono told reporters that Republican and Democratic leaders were still negotiating the amendment process.

Republicans had initially offered a tepid response to the bill but ultimately decided they could not line up in opposition to a hate-crime measure. Most rallied around it after Democrats said they would add a bipartisan provision to establish state-run hate crime hotlines and provide grant money to law enforcement agencies that train their officers to identify hate crimes.

bill 　　法案／議案
liaison　　連絡役／橋渡し役
pave the way　　道を開く／皮切りをする
denunciation　　（公然の）非難／弾劾
expedite　促進する／急き立てる
mitigate　　鎮静する／軽減する
reproductive rights　　生殖の権利／リプロダクティブ•ライツ
equity　　公平／公正
amendment　　改正／改善
tepid　　ぬるい／薄い
hotline　　電話相談サービス／直接電話線