Yes, we know they're technically called "MacArthur fellows." We also know that the MacArthur Foundation doesn't love that the term "genius" has stuck around for so long. (The term is "both too narrow and too broad," it says.) But when we're talking about people researching pediatric brain cancer treatments or championing voting rights for incarcerated citizens or crafting mind-expanding documentaries, the term fits well enough as any other.
This year's list of recipients includes art historian and curator Nicole Fleetwood, whose museum exhibition "Marking Time" collected artwork made by incarcerated people while in prison. The list also includes landscape ecologist Lisa Schulte Moore, who has been working with farmers toward more sustainable agricultural systems. And it also includes Daniel Alarcón, writer and producer of the NPR-distributed podcast Radio Ambulante.
Read more at NPR.