09/21/2025: Disrupter U., Sculpting Evolution, Flight of the Monarchs

Charlie Kirk’s assassination last week has prompted a nationwide conversation on free speech, a founding principle of a Texas startup university that correspondent Jon Wertheim first reported on in November. The University of Austin has been labeled by some as “anti-woke,” but founders, students and advisors tell Wertheim they believe they’re grounded in free speech, disrupting modern academia by fostering debate and ideological openness in their classrooms.

Researchers on Nantucket are attempting something unprecedented: using genetic engineering to curb Lyme disease, a tick-borne illness spreading across the U.S. Instead of targeting deer or ticks, they hope to release genetically altered wild mice that are immune to Lyme disease and thereby curb its transmission. CBS News chief medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook visits the island to meet the scientists and hear how their first-of-its-kind approach could reshape the future of disease prevention.

One of the most awe-inspiring and mysterious migrations in the natural world stretches from the United States and Canada to Mexico. This incredible spectacle involves millions of monarch butterflies embarking on a monumental aerial journey. Correspondent Anderson Cooper reports from the mountains of Mexico, where the monarchs spend the winter months sheltering in trees before emerging in February to take flight again.

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