July 26, 2026

Matt Damon is Odysseus in a new film that was written, produced and directed by Christopher Nolan.Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal Pic/Melinda Sue Gordon

The new film adaptation of The Odyssey was a welcome sight for many high school English teachers, NPR Ed’s Sequoia Carrillo discovered.

Homer’s epic poem is a standard part of the curriculum all over the country. As much as many teachers, however, find the story of Odysseus’ 20-year journey home to be moving and relatable, many students find the ancient material vexing and inaccessible.

Teachers told Sequoia that, although adaptations of the 2,000-year-old work abound, there are never too many options for trying to engage students in this work.

Casey Crowhurst, an English teacher at Monticello High School in Illinois, shared his gratitude for the director of the film, which stars Matt Damon and Anne Hathaway, on TikTok. "I just saw the Odyssey, and I want to say on behalf of all English teachers: Thank you, Christopher Nolan. Thank you."

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Some years ago, Susan Greenstein Prescott’s high school English teacher proposed an assignment that terrified her: reciting a poem in front of the entire class.

Greenstein Prescott told NPR’s Hidden Brain team that she had a mild stutter. Her mother agreed to write a note asking that she be excused from sharing in front of everyone.

"I'd be trying to get a word out that might begin with [the letter] 'd' or a 'th' — and the word wouldn't come out, or I might say 'the' three times," Greenstein Prescott said.

The day of the assignment, Greenstein Prescott recited the poem not in front of the whole class but one-on-one for her teacher, Mr. DeMayo. Once she was done, he said something she'd never heard before: that he liked listening to her voice. For the first time, she considered the possibility that public speaking didn't have to be a source of dread.

It changed her life. To find out what happened,

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Are you a special education teacher with 5 to 15 years of experience and/or a special educator working in middle school? If so, the NPR Ed team wants to hear from you for a series we’re working on about special educators. Reach reporter Jonaki Mehta at jmehta@npr.org or on Signal at jonakimehta.602.

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Good reads and listens...

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How new Trump administration rules could affect international students: New visa restrictions could make it harder for international students to study in the U.S., NPR Ed’s Elissa Nadworny and Janet Woojeong Lee report. The Department of Homeland Security is adding strict time limits to student visas and restricting how international students transfer schools or change their study plans. The rule could have a big impact on college campuses, where international students can make up as much as a fifth of the student body.

More men look to nursing careers: Nursing is and has been an overwhelmingly female occupation: Across the country, only about 1 in 8 nurses are men. But their share has been rising, thanks to ongoing efforts by schools including the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where about 1 in 6 nursing students are men, NPR’s Andrea Hsu reports. Professor Curry Bordelon, who's also president-elect of the American Association for Men in Nursing, has worked his whole career to set a new narrative around nursing.

French lawmakers approve sweeping social media ban for children under 15: Several families in France have sued TikTok over teen suicides they say are linked to harmful content. Now, the Associated Press reports, the country is the first in the European Union to pass a blanket ban on the platforms as concerns grow worldwide over the harmful effects of digital content on kids.

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The art of becoming a doctor...

From See One, Do One, Teach One: The Art of Becoming a Doctor: A Graphic Memoir by Grace Farris MDW. W. Norton & Company

"Before I started medical school," physician Grace Ferris writes, "I was completely unprepared." But, as she shows in her new graphic memoir, once someone has switched over to becoming a professional healthcare worker, a whole new set of issues presents itself, Tahneer Oksman writes for NPR. At that point, it can be difficult to toggle from patient to patient — and to remember what it was even like to be the person receiving care.

Farris, whose book gives equal weight to her impressive accomplishments as both doctor and artist, skillfully guides readers on her long and winding medical school journey.

Farris brings readers behind the scenes to help them develop a better understanding of all aspects of the experience — from anxiety over student loans and persistent bouts of impostor syndrome to friendships forged under stressful circumstances and the impossibility of a work-personal life balance.

She even takes us with her into her first-year anatomy class, where things go along relatively smoothly until, late in the semester … the bone saw is taken out.

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