Sometimes those “make me smile” stories are actually kinda sad. We’ve featured a few like that on the show recently. There are also those stories that might seem sad or frustrating, but if you squint a little they’re pretty inspiring. Take, for instance, the great lengths to which some Americans have gone to fight voter suppression and make themselves heard this election season. That’s what we’re talking about today. Plus: the third wave of coronavirus cases and Amazon’s colossal quarterly report.

Here’s a list of everything we talked about on the show today:

• “New wave of COVID threatens to engulf St. Louis area hospitals” from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch

• “A room, a bar and a classroom: how the coronavirus is spread through the air” from El País

• “Pelosi and Mnuchin, once Washington’s Odd Couple, publicly disavow economic relief talks – and each other” from the Washington Post

• “Amazon reports sales growth of 37%, topping estimates” from CNBC

• “Her mail-in ballot didn’t arrive from Tarrant County, so she drove 20 hours to vote” from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Finally: We need your voice memos! Tell us what you think of the show or ask a question for Kai Ryssdal and Molly Wood to answer! Here’s how to do it.