While hate crimes in this country increased last year by two percent overall, hate crimes against Americans of Asian and Pacific Island descent rose by 146 percent, with the Trump administration’s use of racist rhetoric during the pandemic blamed by some for the rise in violence. History shows that Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders have had to weather this wave of discrimination and scapegoating many times before. CBS News correspondent Weijia Jiang reports. Source

Correspondent (and former MTV host) Serena Altschul discusses the birth in 1981 of the cable channel devoted to music videos, that became a broadcast pioneer of pop culture, news and reality TV. This is no longer your grandmother’s MTV! Source

While hate crimes in the U.S. increased last year by 2% overall, hate crimes against Americans of Asian-American and Pacific Islander descent rose by 146%; they have had to weather discrimination and violence many times before. Source

For decades salesman Ron Popeil hawked household gadgets to millions of TV viewers, mastering the airwaves with his informercials for the Veg-O-Matic, the Pocket Fisherman, and countless other devices you just couldn’t live without. Jane Pauley looks back on the life of Popeil, who died this week at the age of 86. Source

Washington Post book critic Ron Charles checks out some of the latest “beach reads,” including Cynthia Barnett’s “The Sound of the Sea: Seashells and the Fate of the Oceans.” Source

Recommendations of new fiction and non-fiction titles. Source

A fascinating scientific and cultural history for anyone who’s ever admired the ocean’s most beautiful objects – a literal “beach read.” Source

The author of “American War” offers a heartbreaking novel that puts a face on the staggering statistics of the tens of millions of people displaced from their homes as the result of persecution and violence. Source

In a new novel by the acclaimed author of “A Separation,” a woman is assigned to be the interpreter for a politician on trial at The Hague for war crimes, forcing her into the mind of a man who terrifies her. Source

The gymnast has not yet made a decision on whether she will compete in the balance beam event. Source