1A

It’s been a successful summer for Robert Prevost — one of Chicago’s most distinguished citizens.

His essay on artificial intelligence was released in paperback to enthusiastic reviews. It was described by one prominent commentator as “beautifully written, hugely significant, speaks truth to power.” His three-city tour of France exceeded all expectations, drawing huge crowds. An estimated 800,000 people packed the Champs-Elysees to see him. And his beloved Chicago White Sox went from woeful to winners and made the World Series playoffs.

Prevost, of course, is better known these days by another name: Pope Leo XIV. He’s the first ever American head of the Catholic church. 

So, how’s he doing? We sit down with a panel of experts to find out.

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Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in American men — and the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths. One in eight men will be diagnosed in their lifetime. And Black men are more than twice as likely to die from it.

Between the social stigma and misconceptions about diagnostic methods, it’s not something many men want to talk about. Some 99 percent of people diagnosed early with prostate cancer live at least 5 more years. And treatment options and guidelines are evolving rapidly.

Our “In Good Health” series continues. We gather a group of doctors from three of the disciplines involved in the treatment of prostate cancer.

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Last week, a key stretch of the Pacific Ocean hit its highest temperature on record. And it’s still climbing.

It’s a warning sign of theso-called Super El Niño, expected to bringfloods, droughts, and heat waves. And higher prices for staples like coffee.

What to expect fromthe super El Niño — and how states are preparing.

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A veteran journalist covered the Jan. 6 attacks on the Capitol. That experience got her exploring the connection between stress, trauma, and our political choices.

Our mental health might affect our politics. But our politics also definitely affect our mental health.

In this edition of “If You Can Keep It,” we examine that intersection.

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The Department of Homeland Security has allocated$20 million to pay for pro-Trump ads glorifying the president, which have drawn criticism from both Republicans and Democrats.

The pay-to-play allegations plaguing Maine Sen. Susan Collins haveswing voters in her state re-thinking their support for the five-term GOP incumbent.

And top AI executives descended upon Washington this week for a meeting at the White House. They agreed toself-police their industry following several high-profile mishaps and dire warnings from their colleagues about the dangers of their product.

And, in global news, asthe value of Iran’s currency hits a record low, Qatari mediators are working to find a deal for peace that would be acceptable to leaders in both Washington and Tehran.

The Gaza Health Ministry reports that thePalestinian death toll for the war in Gaza has surpassed 74,000.

And Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered an increase to the size of his country’s armyfor the fourth time this year.

We cover the most important stories from around the world in the News Roundup.

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In five weeks, more than 100 million people will vote as part of the 2026 midterm elections.

In New Hampshire and across the country, that means that voters will go to the polls to choose representatives, senators, governors, state legislators, city councilors, school board members, and more.

So, what do we know about the basic nuts and bolts of our elections? Do we know who’s on our ballot and understand the positions we’re being asked to vote on? Do we understand how our election system works — especially since that system is the target of baseless allegations from the president?

What’s the connection between a good civics education and a functioning political system?

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Gas. Groceries. Housing. Almost everywhere you look in the U.S. economy right now, prices are up – and people are feeling the squeeze.

As of July, six in ten Americans say Trump’s economic policies have worsened economic conditions in the country,according to a survey from Pew Research. That’s up from roughly 53 percent who said the same last fall.

Whilethe U.S. economy is strong on paper — with relatively low unemployment and shrinking inflation —voter concerns about affordability are expected to factor heavily into the midterm elections.

So, how should you manage your money right now? And what financial decisions are you weighing that you’d like a second opinion on? We put your questions to a panel of experts.

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Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests reached record highs this summer. And the full scope is just coming into focus. Some 43,000 people were arrested in June, more than 49,000 in July, and almost 51,000 in August —an agency record.

The Republican-controlled House of Representatives last June passed a $70 billion package tofund ICE and the Border Patrol through the end of President Donald Trump’s second term. As ICE became the best funded law enforcement agency in the country, its tactics changed. Instead of high-profile operations centralized in one location – like the operations in Minnesota, Chicago, and Los Angeles last year – they’re focusing on quieter, everyday arrests throughout the country.

And more details are being released about a record number of Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests of pregnant women last fall.A September report by The Guardian revealed that ICE placed more pregnant immigrants in detention last fall and winter than at any time over the previous year.

ICE data from February reveals that 86 pregnant women were in ICE custody — more than 10 percent were detained in their third trimester. Nearly 400 women who were pregnant, postpartum, or nursing were deported from January 2025 to February 2026, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

We sit down and get into how pregnant women are being affected by the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign.

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The midterms are just five weeks away. Ballots are already in the mail and in person voting is underway in some states. Meanwhile, the federal government’s role in this election is still being hashed out in the courts.

This month, the Supreme Court blocked President Donald Trump’s attempt to givethe U.S. Postal Service greater control over mail in ballots. Then on Friday, it reviveda federal citizenship-check system that a lower court had found illegal. And three separate lawsuits have been filed in recent weeks tokeep armed federal agents away from polling places.

The White House says its push to federalize elections is about protecting the integrity of the vote. But a new NPR, PBS News, and Marist poll found that75 percent of voters trust their state or local government to run a fair and accurate election.

Amid all the false claims and efforts to confuse, how are elections running for the midterms?

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President Donald Trumpbanned television networks he deemed adversarial from the White House press pool this week. Following a lawsuit, a judge issued a 14-day stay, temporarily restoring White House access to CNN, MSNow, and POLITICO.

New reporting indicates that the ICE agent who shot a Venezuelan man in Austin, Texas, last Sunday was issued a body camera for use in the field,but wasn’t wearing it at the time of the encounter.

And a poll finds that President Trump’s approval ratings have sunk to another low —diving to 32 percent.

And, in global news, The81st United Nations General Assembly opened in New York City this week. President Donald Trump threatened to annihilate Iran, the Israeli delegation walked out during a speech by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the leader of the Palestinian Authorityaddressed the assembly via video after being denied a U.S. visa.

Pomp, pageantry and grand displays of friendship. But was there substancein the Trump – Xi Summit in Washington?

Leaders in the Tigray region of Ethiopiasay they’re mobilizing their military against the country’s federal government and a 2022 ceasefire falls apart. And as the Ebola virus continues to surge in Congo, the World Health Organization iswarning that there may be a shortage of aid workers to staff treatment centers.

We cover the most important stories from around the world in the News Roundup.

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World leaders have descended upon New York City forthis year’s edition of the United Nations General Assembly. And a lot is happening.

So far, we’ve seen some most pointed criticism of Israel’s conduct heard at the U.N. in years. This led to the Israeli delegation walking outduring the Turkish president’s address.

It’s been nearly three years since Oct. 7. And the Palestinian Authority’s president isn’t in the room — the United States denied him a visa.Mahmoud Abbas will instead address the assembly on Thursday by video.

What is being said about Gaza at this General Assembly? And what does it tell us about the limits of the U.N.’s power when America isn’t on board?

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For decades, U.S. colleges and universities have been regarded as among the best in the world. From the Ivy League to state research institutions, thousands of students and professors from around the globe flocked to America year after year to study, teach, and innovate.

International students represented about 6 percent of all higher education students – that’s about 1.1 million. But last year, international student enrollment fell by a fifth compared to the year before. That’s the largest percentage change since the pandemic, according to federal data.

And early data suggest that drop in enrollment continued this school year.

How did the U.S. begin losing dominance in higher education? And what does this decline mean for students, faculty, and innovation in this country?

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President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinpingare set to meet this week in a highly anticipated sit down as theU.N. summit continues in New York.

This conference comes amid starkwarnings over AI safety, U.S.-China trade anxiety, and theongoing war in Iran.

What‘s on the agenda and what do each of these superpowers want?

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No two words defined President Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign more than “America first.”

The name of this country has been at the center of President Trump’s rhetoric. But his administration’s approach to foreign policy tells a different story. The Trump administration has done everything from leveraging tariffs, to canceling visas, to sanctioning foreign leaders trying to influence elections abroad for personal gain.

In her new Atlantic essay, “Empire of Grift,” Anne Applebaum outlines in painstaking detail the ways Trump and his allies are only ‘America first’ in talk while lining their pockets in practice.

In this installment of our weekly democracy series, “If You Can Keep It,” we discuss how the president is deploying the tools of U.S. diplomacy to make the world safer for corruption and authoritarianism.

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This week the nation woke up to thepotential danger of runaway tech — that AI is behaving in ways its creators don’t intend and can’t control. And that we might be as little as six months to a year away from AI being capable of acting on its own.

The midterm election is coming. Prices are high. And a new Congressional Budget Office report out this week saysthe main reason for relentless inflation is the Iran war.

And President Donald Trump has made mail-in-voting a major part of his campaign to sow doubt in the voting process. But on Monday, the Supreme Courtblocked his executive order to change how mail-in ballots are sent to voters across the country.

And, in global news, this week, Yemeni Houthis militia members seized the Red Sea port of Mokha and several islands inside the Bab el-Mandeb Strait,a key shipping passage.

Reporting from The Washington Post revealed the details of a$2.8 billion arms package the Trump administration will send to Israel. The sale includes 2,000-pound bombs, the largest single sale of the controversial munition in recent years.

And next week, is the U.N. General Assembly will stage its annual meeting in New York.Then, Chinese President Xi Jinpingheads to Washington for a much-anticipated meeting with President Donald Trump.

We cover the most important stories from around the world in the News Roundup.

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Between 2020 and 2025, nearly 200 women have died from ectopic pregnancies. That’salmost double the number of deaths in the previous six years.

Ectopic pregnancies happen when an embryo implants outside the uterus and can’t develop properly. If left untreated, the embryo can rupture, causing deadly bleeding. The treatment for ectopic pregnancies – which are almost never viable – is termination. But sincethe reversal of Roe v. Wade in 2022, terminating a pregnancy has become more complicated in states with abortion restrictions.

We sit down to talk abouta new investigation from ProPublica that explores the role these state abortion bans could be playing in the rise in deaths related to ectopic pregnancies.

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Last week, a researcher at the artificial intelligence company Anthropic announced his resignation on X, formerly known as Twitter.  

Jacob Coxon wrote that his former company — along with Open AI, where he also recently worked — are acting irresponsibly and “racing straight to self-improving superintelligence and gambling with our lives.”

That post went viral — it’s now been viewed nearly 200 million times. Then, on Saturday, Anthropic’s own CEO, Dario Amodei, published an essay calling on the entire industry to deliberately slow down. He also shared some ideas about how to do it. The head of Open AI, Sam Altman, replied by saying, “I agree with Dario that we need to pace the frontier.”

Should we slow down AI innovation — and is that even possible? What’s at risk if we don’t?

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The administration is expanding its third-country deportation campaign.

Since President Donald Trump took office last year, more than 25,000 people have been sent to over 29 countries they’re not from. That includes places like Liberia, Guatemala, South Sudan, Guyana, Ghana, and Honduras.

Now, more than 30 countries have agreed to accept deportees from the U.S. What does that mean for the people sent to a place they’ve never been? And for the relationship between accepting countries and the U.S.?

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At least a billion dollars of untraceable cash is flowing into this year’s midterm elections.

That’s according toan analysis by The New York Times from late last month. These funds – referred to as dark money by campaign finance experts – are coming from super PACs, non-profits, and wealthy donors.

Tracing exactlyhow much dark money is flowing through campaigns is difficult. Money spent to hire influencers online, direct mail campaigns, and employ door knockers isn’t always publicly disclosed as campaign spending.

In this edition of “If you Can Keep it,” we tacklethe role of dark money in our midterm elections.

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Despite President Donald Trump’s historic unpopularity, Republicans are betting on him big ahead of this year’s midterms. The partystaged a first midterm convention in Dallas, Texas this week.

Following renewed hostilities between the U.S. and Iran, the price of crude oil has risen to over $100 per barrel, meaning American drivers are in for more pain at the pump.

And this week New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced the release of a public portal allowing access to records relating to 9/11.

And, in global news, a new book alleges that Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu was warned of the Hamas offensive,just days before the October 7, 2023 attack.

This week, President Donald Trump announced he would institute bans on some Canadian goods, including dairy products, alcohol, and motorcycles.

And the far-right AfD German political party made historic gains in a state election this week.

We cover the most important stories from around the world in the News Roundup.

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The Lindsay Clancy murder trial captivated the American public for weeks.

Prosecutors charged Clancy with murdering her three children. They say she then tried to take her own life and that her injuries left her paralyzed from the waist down. Clancy’s lawyers say she was experiencing postpartum psychosis and should not be held criminally responsible. But prosecutors say she planned the deaths.

After seven days of deliberation, the jury remained deadlocked and the case ended in a mistrial.

The trial has divided the nation and sparked conversations over about maternal mental health, raising questions over gaps in care for parents after giving birth. About one in five expecting or postpartum women in the U.S. experience mental health disorders. And according to a 2025 study, overall maternal mental health has dramatically dropped in the past seven years, with only 25 percent of moms reporting excellent mental health.

What do we know – and don’t know – about maternal mental health care? And how can our systems be bolstered to help those who need it most after giving birth?

If you are experiencing a mental health crisis or thinking of harming yourself, the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is available 24/7 by phone and text. The National Maternal Mental Health Hotline is also available 24/7. You can text, call or chat at 1-833-TLC-MAMA. The Postpartum Support International also offers a helpline at1-800-944-4773or you can visitpostpartum.net.

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The way we work has changed dramatically over the last decade. Using AI is quickly becoming the norm in many workplaces when, just a few years ago, it felt closer to science fiction. And the hybrid work model that began during the pandemic has made remote work much more common. 

We’ve also seen shifts around what it means to be an “essential worker.” It’s a term that emerged during the pandemic, but has largely fallen out of our vocabulary. This category included nurses and doctors, government workers, those in transportation, food and agriculture, water, and waste management. 

But there’s a different name for a growing segment of the work population that includes those we once deemed essential — the “disposable” worker. Unlike their “essential” counterparts, the disposable workforce isn’t defined by the services they offer, but by the weakening contract between them and their employers.

In honor of Labor Day week, we discuss what it means to be disposable in today’s labor market — and what happens when people abandon traditional work arrangements altogether.

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A quarter century after 9/11, the health of those who responded to the attacks continues to be affected.

Some 3,000 people died across three locations that day. An estimated 400,000 people were exposed to toxic contaminants and risked physical injury in the hours and days that followed. That’s according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Since the dust and debris have settled, more than 96,000 have been diagnosed with physical and mental health conditions related to 9/11.

In 2010, President Barack Obama signed the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, establishing the World Trade Center Health Program and reopening the 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund. Today, more than 150,000 people are enrolled in the program.

But that program wouldn’t exist without the advocacy of survivors and first responders who put their bodies and lives on the line following the attacks. How did that fight for care unfold?

For more information about the Rutgers WTC Health Program,click here.And to learn more about applying,click here.

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How did you celebrate July 4 this year? What did the country’s landmark 250th anniversary, in honor of the founding of the United States, mean to you?

The next 50 years likely hold a lot of change for our country where democracy, economic uncertainty, technology, and our social fabric are concerned.

What do we want that change to look like? In this previously-aired episode, we opened the phones so that you, our listeners, could tell us.

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Following months of a tenuous ceasefire and several rounds of failed negotiations, the U.S. and Iran traded military strikes this week threatening to once again plunge the surrounding region into conflict.

A whistleblower inside the United States Postal Service is warning that the agency is rushing to implement a system to deal with mail-in ballots that, due to its untested nature, could disenfranchise millions of voters in the U.S.

Months after the beginning of Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in U.S. cities, and after several fatal shootings, ICE now says it has enough body cameras for its agents.

And, in global news, following renewed violence between Washington and Tehran, Russian President Vladimir Putin pledged support for Iran this week in its conflict with the U.S. and encouraged other world leaders to do the same.

The U.S. is working with interim President Delcy Rodriguez on a plan to take control of roughly one fifth of Venezuela’s oil supply.

And voters in Iceland struck down a referendum on restarting talks to join the European Union.

We cover the most important stories from around the world in the News Roundup.

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If you’ve driven on any road in the U.S. lately, chances are your license plate has been captured by a Flock camera.

Flock lets police around the country track your car. The company’s cameras can even help determine whether you’ve committed a crime. Now, it’s is facing big time backlash for what critics call excessive surveillance.

What does widespread deployment of license plate readers on U.S. roads means for our privacy?

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Imagine a small town in rural Tennessee — a town square, a yellow brick courthouse, a family-owned restaurant, a café, and beautiful sunrises and sunsets across the Appalachian foothills.

Now, imagine a group of far-right real estate developers — backed by Silicon Valley venture capital and with powerful ties to Washington — move into town. They have a vision to build a new kind of community and turn it into a haven for like-minded white Christians.

That’s what’s happening in Gainesboro, Tennessee. And it’s part of a growing movement by some far-right Christian nationalists to relocate to red states and turn small towns into white enclaves. 

Locals in Gainesboro are alarmed. They call it a “takeover.” And they are pushing back. That’s the story of “Our Town,” a new Bloomberg investigative podcast series. We sit down with its hosts to talk about this takeover in Tennessee.

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For some of you, it’s still a week away. For others — the doors are already open.

It’s back to school. But in this edition of 1A, it’s all about the teachers. They’ve been called heroes. They’ve fought for better salaries and benefits. They‘ve been asked to do more with less. They’ve started go-fund-me campaigns to pay for your classroom supplies when the funding just isn’t there.

Last year, we asked teachers what excited and worried them before the school year. And this year, we’re doing it again.What are teachers in the U.S. feeling ahead of a school year sure to be filled with triumphs and perils?

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Between 1950 and 1975, an estimated 1.5 million women were sent to homes for unwed mothers across the United States. There, most were hidden away from their families and communities until they gave birth and placed their babies for adoption. Some of those adoptions were involuntary.

That type of experience is hard to forget. For one family, a past that had been buried for decades finally came to light after a DNA test connected two long-lost sisters. We hear from both of them, as part of the new book, “My Mother’s Daughter: Finding Myself in My Family’s Fractured Past.”

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Following a Supreme Court decision that cleared the way, a federal judge lifted a nationwide block on President Donald Trump’s executive order that limited mail-in voting ahead of the midterm elections.

A historic drought in the northwestern United States is supercharging what’s on track to already be a historic wildfire season.

And reporting from The Wall Street Journal indicated that Trump intervened at the Department of Justice as the agency was preparing to sue Live Nation, the world’s largest concert promoter.

And, in global news, this week, President Donald Trump imposed 50% tariffs on Canadian imports, prompting Ottawa to retaliate with tariffs of its own. Canada and the U.S. exchanged about 872 billion dollars in goods and services in 2025.

Friday marks six months since the start of the U.S. war with Iran. This week Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent issued a warning to foreign governments and companies saying they could lose access to the U.S. financial system if they continue doing business with Tehran. President Trump said he’s not in a hurry to return to the negotiating table.

And a catastrophic flood at the border between Nepal and China killed at least 400 people, with thousands more still missing.

We cover the most important stories from around the world in the News Roundup.

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Four years after the fall of Roe v. Wade upended federal protections for abortion access, abortion opponents have set their sights on a new target in the world of fertility: surrogacy.

A gestational surrogate is a woman who carries an embryo that was formed using the egg of another woman. Before the pregnancy, the surrogate also agrees to return the baby to its intended parents once born.

At its core, surrogacy is a contractual agreement. But because there’s no federal law regulating surrogacy agreements, it’s left up to state to decide how they can be enforced. That’s the issue at the heart of a high-profile legal dispute between an Alaska surrogate and a California couple.

Why are some abortion opponents looking to ban surrogacy? And could they succeed? And how does the patchwork of regulations that govern surrogacy agreements complicate the process?

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On Tuesday, August 25th, American country musician, philanthropist, and icon Dolly Parton died at the age of 80 in Nashville, Tennessee. 

Years before her death, she asked her nephew and head of security, Bryan Seaver, to make a video announcing her passing. In the video posted to social media yesterday, he shared this exchange with his aunt:
 

“Dolly called me and said she wants to rest on a beautiful bed of plush cotton because after a life of wearing heavy rhinestones, she finally deserves to be comfortable, and have some rest.”
 

In 2023, we celebrated the queen of rhinestone’s achievements and music here on 1A. Please enjoy this replay of that show in honor of Dolly Parton’s legacy. Here's what we wrote about that conversation at the time.

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Dolly Parton’s resume is as big as her hair. And at age 77 she’s adding another title to it: “Rockstar.”

Her new album was released on Nov. 17. It’s a mix of covers of classic rock songs, featuring collaborations with a whopping list of who’s who in Rock-n-Roll. And there are almost 30 tracks – give or take a few – depending on the version of the album that you buy. With 9 new singles, “Rockstar” is Dolly’s most significant foray into Rock and Roll music.

While Dolly has fully embraced a new “Rockstar” persona – down to the black studded outfits – glimmers of rockstar have existed in Dolly’s previous eras. And over the past fifty years, Dolly has won plenty of awards and accolades for her songwriting, becoming one of music’s most prolific songwriters.

Sit back and grab yourself a cup of ambition. For this edition of the 1A Record Club – Dolly Parton’s new album “Rockstar” and what her latest musical evolution represents.

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Throughout history, people have been fascinated by automation, technological progress, and how it can change our lives.

In 1956, General Motors made a film about the distant future of 1976, when cars would drive themselves with the help of traffic-control towers. In 1993, AT&T envisioned what sounds a lot like today’s smart home and smart watch technology.

Much of what the companies behind these advertisements promised has come true. The idea, running through all of it, was that technology will set you free. It will connect you. It will give you power over your own life. It will make things better.

We sit down to talk with historian Jill Lepore about whether or not that’s true.

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The current Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is the deadliest in the country’s history.

With over 2,500 deaths and more than 5,000 confirmed cases, it’s now the second largest ever worldwide. And it’s spreading at record speed. It’s even outpacing the West Africa outbreak that killed more than 11,000 people between 2014 and 2016.

What do we know about why this outbreak is moving so quickly?

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Imagine that the U.S. isn’t a democracy. Instead, it;s run like a corporation. The nation’s leader acts as a CEO and always has the final say.

This would be a world of unchecked capitalism. It’s a world where countries are replaced with privately-owned startups, and technology renders democracy obsolete. It sounds like a setup to a dystopian sci-fi movie.

But it’s a world that some of the biggest leaders in the tech industry are trying to make a reality.

In this installment of “If You Can Keep It,” we dig into the motivations of America’s real-life tech billionaires, what they really want with our system of governance, and what it all means for us.

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The United States’ national debt has now surpassed $40 trillion, a milestone that forecasters thought the country wouldn’t reach for months.

President Donald Trump drew the ire of many military families, lawmakers, and the public when he was asked if the deployment of the USS Lincoln to the Middle East had gone on too long. He responded by saying, “No no no no…not nearly long enough.”

Florida State Rep. Angie Nixon pulled off one of the biggest upsets of this year’s primary season. The Democratic Socialist beat former Army intelligence officer Alexander Vindman by more than 12 points in the state’s Democratic Senate primary.

And, in global news, President Donald Trump started this week by threatening Canada with drastic new tariffs, some as high as 50 percent, if negotiators from both countries didn’t reach a new trade deal.

Reporting from The New York Times indicates that the U.S. Navy is helping tankers sneak through the Strait of Hormuz by turning their ship transponders off. American Officials say around 10 million barrels of oil are now making their way to global markets.

And Trump is also pushing for another meeting with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, potentially as soon as this fall. The two last met in 2019 during the president’s first term.

We cover the most important stories from around the world in the News Roundup.

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On the night of Sept. 27, 2024, Hurricane Helene dropped a historic wall of rain on the southern Appalachian mountains.

Some 31 inches of water fell in three days. The Swannanoa River rose 27 feet. Roads, bridges, and entire communities – very little was left in the storm’s aftermath.  

More than 250 people died across the Southeast. More than a hundred of them in North Carolina alone. It was the deadliest hurricane to hit the continental United States since Katrina.

We check in on how much western North Carolina has rebuilt in the nearly two years since the storm. And how far it still has to go. 

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If you have a favorite wellness podcaster or influencer, you’ve probably heard about peptides. These injectable compounds are comprised of a string of amino acids and promise effects like weight loss, better sleep, muscle growth and more.

Given the potential benefits, it comes as no surprise that interest has exploded. The market is ready to provide. It’s already valued around $140 billion and by 2033 is projected to reach over $290 billion in value.

Last month, an FDA advisory panel voted to make six peptides more accessible to the public. But scientists warned against this decision, saying there’s not enough data concerning their safety and effectiveness.

Many people are already getting their hands on peptides through what’s been called the gray market. What does the FDA’s decision mean for access? And how safe are they really? 

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When was the last time you went to the doctor?

Not necessarily for something big, not for a broken finger or the flu. Just a checkup. A regular annual visit to make sure everything is ok with your health.

For about a third of Americans, it’s probably been too long. In 2024, more than 100 million people did not have a regular primary doctor at all, according to the National Association of Community Health Centers.

The outlook is particularly bleak for young people. More than a quarter of people aged 18 to 29 polled in a national survey this summer said they didn’t have a primary care doctor. And over half of them who did have a doctor said they skipped or didn’t schedule an annual wellness check up in the past year.

But the blame shouldn’t fall solely on the patients. Primary care doctors are getting squeezed by the current healthcare system. There’s a growing shortage of primary care physicians. That can mean wait times of months just to get an appointment.

For today’s installment of our series, “In Good Health,” we’re unpacking the state of primary care—and what to do if you don’t have access to it.

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Donald Trump is adding billions of dollars to his personal fortune while he serves as president.

In 2024, the president made about $600 million. In his first year of his second term in office, that number jumped to more than $2.2 billion. The latest White House disclosures show most of those earnings came from cryptocurrency and crypto-related businesses.

He also continues to make millions from real estate and golf deals, many in foreign countries negotiating with the U.S. government he controls. And he’s received $117 million in legal settlements.

In this edition of our series, “If You Can Keep It,” we take a look at the scale of President Trump’s personal enrichment during his second term. What happens when the line blurs between the president’s personal wealth and the interests of the country?

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Haitians that used to have Temporary Protected Status are facing a new reality in the United States. Immigration operations targeting members of this community are currently underway at the direction of the Department of Homeland Security.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced this week she would be leaving her post within the Trump administration.

And new reporting indicates that members of Congress are relying on AI chatbots to legislate more than ever before.

And, in global news, despite President Donald Trump promising to keep the Strait of Hormuz open for boat traffic, the number of ships traversing the waterway has fallen to a new three-month low.

As his country’s October elections approach, Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to find the balance between appeasing Trump as he pushes for a solution in Gaza and keeping the Israeli right-wing happy.

And this Saturday marks the five-year anniversary of the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan.

We cover the most important stories from around the world in the News Roundup.

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When Head Start was founded, the idea was simple: give low-income kids a running start before kindergarten — not just with preschool classes and childcare, but with health screenings and support for their families.

Some 60 years later, it serves more than 750,000 children — and their families — every year.

But the Trump administration thinks the program is too costly and inefficient. Last week, it proposed the most significant changes to Head Start in decades. The proposed rules would eliminate many of the federal standards for how programs are run and hand those decisions to the states. They would also cap how much programs can spend on administrative costs.

Officials say the changes would save money and open up new slots for hundreds of thousands of kids. Critics say stripping these standards is the first step towards dismantling the program entirely.  

What does the evidence say about whether Head Start works? And what happens if those federal standards go away?

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Nationwide, students, teachers, and parents are gearing up for the school year.

And measles is spreading. The U.S. has already logged more cases this year than in all of 2025. It’s the highest count in 35 years. That’s in large part because measles vaccination rates have slipped below 95 percent – the threshold public health experts say is needed to stop community spread.  

Last week on CNN, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said children should be vaccinated for measles after being pressed on-camera, even as he used the same interview to push a debunked claim about respiratory syncytial virus.  

And on Monday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at upending the childhood vaccine schedule, including changes to the measles vaccine and others. But what will actually change at the doctor’s office?

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Journalists often say, “Follow the money.” But what if we said, “Follow billions of dollars to understand who controls this country’s political policy, technology and culture” instead?

Tesla CEO, Elon Musk dropped $200 million on the 2024 election and later headed up the now defunct Department of Government Efficiency.Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos’s company paid $48 million to license and distribute first lady Melania Trump’s documentary. And Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg donated $1 million to the president’s inaugural fund and was appointed to the Trump’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology to help shape national innovation and AI policy.

Could the key to understanding the economic and political tides in the U.S. today come down to understanding the wealthiest among us?

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From school board officials and city council members, to decisions over roads and disaster relief budgets, local elections make a direct impact on your day-to-day life.

But state and local elections get less attention, less media coverage, and lower voter turnout. In November’s municipal elections in Dallas, Texas, some 14 council seats were up for the vote but turnout was just 8 percent. And average voter turnout for mayoral elections in the U.S. is 20 percent or less.

What can voters do to stay more informed on a local level?

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Progressive Senate Candidate Abdul El-Sayed won his Michigan primary this week, sending a strong message to the Democratic party establishment that backed his opponent.

Dr. Anthony Fauci was found in contempt of Congress on Thursday. The vote by the Senate Homeland Security Committee came after Fauci invoked his Fifth Amendment right over 100 times during a recent hearing.

And reports indicate the U.S. missile stockpile is running low. President Trump and the Pentagon have denied the story.

And, in global news, illegal settler activity is expanding across the occupied West Bank. And this week Israeli prosecutors charged a Jewish settler over the killing of a Palestinian community leader – the ⁠first such indictment in nearly three years.

Following a rush of migrants from Morocco into the Spanish territory of Ceuta, the Spanish prime minister is facing criticism from other European Union leaders over his country’s immigration policy.

And Russia is overhauling its military strategy, taking advantage of Ukraine’s current lack of missile interceptors.

We cover the most important stories from around the world in the News Roundup.

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Artificial intelligence is rapidly changing how we work, live, and engage with the world. Whether that’s using ChatGPT to do our taxes or spending hours sifting through AI generated images on social media. 

It’s also reshaping our education system. Roughly half of U.S. students said they used AI in some way for school, according to a 2025 survey from the Rand Corporation. But some students aren’t on board.

So, how are students and teachers around the country using this new tool? And what does this mean for the future of school, and how we define what it’s actually for?

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Affording groceries is becoming a struggle for many Americans.

Food prices are up 33 percent since 2019. That’s according to federal data analyzed by the Associated Press. It’s led some people to change their diets or where they shop. Others are taking more drastic measures by dipping into their savings or going into credit card debt.

A 2025 survey from the Urban Institute found that one in four people using credit cards to buy food had trouble paying those bills.

What’s behind the jump in grocery prices? How is it affecting Americans’ financial stability? And how is all of this affecting our economy as a whole?

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Data centers.

They’ve been all over the news. Last month, protesters showed up in 125 cities across the country on a single Saturday to demonstrate against these structures, either proposed or completed.

But are the politicians listening? We sit down for the second part of our data center deep dive. This time, we talk politics. Why have data centers become a political flashpoint so quickly? And who is calling the shots at the local, state, and federal level?

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Should judges be elected?

That’s the question Kansas voters are answering on the ballot this month. A constitutional amendment aims to change how judges are chosen in the state – abandoning the 68-year-old system of appointing judges.

Proponents of the change say elections put the choice back in voters’ hands. And their arguments aren’t new: Republicans in Kansas have long argued for judicial elections.

Critics of the amendment say elections politicize the process of picking judges. More than $10 million has been spent in total campaigning in Kansas – and those against the amendment are outspending those for it by huge margins.

As part of our weekly series “If You Can Keep It,” we take closer look at how judges are picked in this country and what it means for the rulings they issue.

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in Washington this week for his first visit to the White House since the war in Iran began.

Former CDC head Anthony Fauci invoked his Fifth Amendment rights as he sat in before Congress during a hearing led by Sen. Rand Paul concerning the doctor’s COVID diaries.

And Temporary Protected Status lapsed for hundreds of thousands of Haitians living in the U.S. this week.

We cover the most important stories from around the nation in the domestic hour of the News Roundup.

And, in global news, reports suggest that Russia is assisting Iran target U.S. troops as the war between the United States and Iran rages. There are few if any signs of diplomacy from either Washington or Tehran.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was in Washington to meet with President Donald Trump.

And in what could be a new normal, wildfires are raging across Spain and France.

We cover the most important stories from around the world in the News Roundup.

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If you’ve been on the internet lately, you’ve probably been fooled by AI at least once. Don’t worry, you’re not alone. One poll by the data security company, All About Cookies, found that 77 percent of Americans have been duped by artificial intelligence at some point.

Sometimes it can seem harmless – like that viral TikTok video of bunnies jumping on a trampoline, which raked in over 25 million likes. But AI has also been used maliciously, creating misinformation in the realm of politics, health, and breaking news events.

The use of AI has also duped people within the creative fields – from music to visual art. And it’s being used within education as teachers raising concerns over widespread cheating.

How can detection tools keep up with all the fast-changing technology and its varied uses?

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Irish singer-songwriter Glen Hansard died today in a motorcycle crash in Ireland at the age of 56. We sat down with him in April to talk about his storied career and his final album, "Don+t Settle – Transmissions East and West." Here's what we wrote about that conversation at the time.

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The song “Falling Slowly” first debuted in the 2007 indie romance film “Once” starring Irish singer-songwriter Glen Hansard and Czech-Islandic singer-songwriter Markéta Irglová. It tells the story of a dramatized version of their own musical partnership.

That song won an Oscar for best original song and the musical duo became a hit in the U.S. when they recorded and toured as The Swell Season.

But long before any success stateside, Hansard was a fixture of the Irish music scene, first busking on Dublin streets at age 13. And in 1990 he formed the Irish rock group The Frames.

Today, Hansard is reflecting on his decades of music-making and looking ahead. His new two-part album is called “Don+t Settle – Transmissions East and West.” He sits down with us to talk about the first part.

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Navigating a challenging moment in a friendship. Weighing a new job or changing your career. Seeing news about instability in our politics. A confusing diagnosis at the doctor’s office. Tending to a loved one in the hospital or in hospice.

Uncertainty strikes us in every part of our lives, big and small. And about three quarters of the world’s more than 8 billion people turn to faith.

In this edition of our series, “Pending,” we look at faith. When can it help with uncertainty? And how can we use it, whatever that means for us, in the face of problems we think we can’t solve?

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At least 18 American service members have been killed and hundreds more wounded since the start of the Iran war.

On Tuesday, President Donald Trump spoke little of the troops who’d recently been killed before giving updates on the war:

We feel very badly, but you know those great people, those great patriots who are out there fighting that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. Iran has been very, very badly damaged. They’ve lost everything almost militarily. They’ve got very little left. They’ve got some missiles. They’ve got some drones. They’ve got some manufacturing ability, not much. We control the strait. They don’t control anything, so we’ll see what happens.

We get into funding – whether Congress will exercise its powers over the flow of money and the president’s war powers.

The Pentagon is shutting out the free press and even downplaying troop deaths. Those four service members killed in Jordan and Iraq last weekend? The Pentagon scrubbed them from the war casualty record less than a week later. The Trump administration said their deaths don’t count toward the official Iran war death toll because they were killed after the president declared a ceasefire in April.

Over the weekend, after facing backlash from veterans and military families, the Pentagon restored those four soldiers killed in Iranian strikes last weekend to their casualty database and added more than 140 new wounded soldiers.

Today on 1A, what responsibility does the Pentagon have to communicate transparently with the media and the American public?

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Nearly 100 U.S. service members have been injured since the resumption of hostilities between Iran and the U.S. The American death toll now stands at 18.

In Maine, Democrats have chosen their replacement candidate to challenge Sen. Susan Collins. Troy Jackson is a former state lawmaker and is stepping in to fill the void left by Graham Platner. Platner stepped aside after allegations of sexual assault.

And a Florida pastor is suing OpenAI over dangerous health advice he received from ChatGPT.

We cover the most important stories from around the country in the domestic hour of the News Roundup.

And, in global news, after the resumption of the war with Iran, both Washington and Tehran are digging their heels in over the Strait of Hormuz. This week President Donald Trump promising vengeance if Iran continues killing American service members.

Ukraine sent more than 400 drones to Moscow after Russia targeted Kyiv with ballistic missiles.

And French lawmakers approve a blanket social media ban for children under 15.

We cover the most important stories from around the world in the News Roundup.

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Extreme heat isn’t just an inconvenience. It’s a growing public health threat.

More than 40 million people across the U.S. have remained under heat alerts this month. Heat remains the deadliest extreme weather event in the United States. At least 44 people have died as a result of July heatwaves. And in Europe, heatwaves killed more than 10,000 people in June, according to health data published this month.

Climate change is making heatwaves hotter and more frequent. And high temps aren’t just being reported in daytime. Nighttime temperatures are higher than ever. And scientists say that’s raising the risk of heat exhaustion and heatstroke – and taking away crucial time for you and the planet to recover.

What do you need to know about the effects of heat on your health? And how you can stay safe?

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How did you celebrate July 4 this year? What did the country’s landmark 250th anniversary, in honor of the founding of the United States, mean to you?

The next 50 years likely hold a lot of change for our country where democracy, economic uncertainty, technology, and our social fabric are concerned.

What do we want that change to look like? We opened the phones so that you, our listeners, can tell us.

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You may have heard of a parasite that’s causing some gastrointestinal distress.

Cyclospora has sickened thousands of people across 34 states this summer – more than six times the number reported at this point last year. The CDC has linked a major cluster to shredded iceberg lettuce at Taco Bell in some states. And Taylor Farms de Mexico has now pulled all of its iceberg lettuce from the U.S. market despite an FDA finding that reports that its product contained the parasite were a false positive.

We answer your questions about what cyclosporiasis is, how you get it, and why investigators have had such a hard time finding the source.

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One of the most critical parts of a democracy is the right to dissent. But if democratic norms weaken, that right can become harder to exercise. And when authoritarianism creeps into a government, dissent can get dangerous.

Nelson Mandela spent 27 years in prison for resisting Apartheid before becoming South Africa’s first Black president. Before becoming president of Czechoslovakia, Vaclav Havel was jailed for his dissident writing under Communist rule.

But there are also dissidents everywhere around us here at home. Protesters demonstrated against ICE in cities across the U.S. last week. And an estimated 8 million people turned up worldwide for “No Kings” protests in March.

So, what does it actually take to stand up to a government that’s stopped playing by the rules? And when does it make a difference? We speak with the authors of the new book “On Courage: How To Be A Dissident in an Age of Fear.”

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As ICE ramps up its operations in and around American communities, its agents were involved in the deaths of three men in the last week.

Trump Director of National Intelligence nominee Jay Clayton refused to answer Georgia Sen. John Ossoff’s question about the results of the 2020 presidential election during a confirmation hearing.

After weeks of silence, Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell confirmed on Sunday that he was on the mend after suffering a fall and pneumonia. The 84-year-old posted a photo from the hospital this weekto put an end to rampant speculation on his health. 

And, in global news, questions about the operational status of the Strait of Hormuz continue to echo around the globe. And President Donald Trump and Iranian leaders traded barbs following the lapse of the ceasefire and renewed strikes between the two combatants.

Following devastating Russian attacks, June was the deadliest month for civilians in Ukraine since 2022.

And U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio says that the U.S. will attempt to diplomatically dismantle the International Criminal Court.

We cover the most important stories from around the globe on the weekly News Roundup.

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Israel is expanding its command of Gaza and now controls almost 70 percent of the tiny enclave that’s home to more than two million people.

More than 1,100 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas nearly a year ago. Some 73,000 Palestinians have been killed in total since Israel’s military offensive began after Hamas fighters killed 1,200 people on Oct. 7, 2023. Meanwhile, dozens of aid groups have been barred from operating in Gaza.

Almost every Gazan is dealing with hunger, with 77 percent of the population facing high levels of food insecurity, according to the World Food Programme.

So, what do these shifting lines of control mean for those in need? And how could changing political tides affect the situation?

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An Alzheimer’s diagnosis can have a real impact on a person and their family. There’s a lot to consider — what the future will hold, what symptoms they’ll experience, and on what timeline.

About 7.5 million people in the U.S. currently suffer from Alzheimer’s. Every year, around half a million more are diagnosed with the disease or another form of dementia. As the population gets older, that figure will continue to rise.

For decades, researchers have struggled to understand these kinds of diseases. But when it comes to testing and treatment, particularly for Alzheimer’s, there have been significant advances in the past few years.

In this installment of our series, “In Good Health,” we tackle the revolution in dementia research. What will that mean for patients?

For more information on dementia research, find Pam Belluck’slatest reporting at the New York Times.And Dr. Karlawish’s“Neurotransmissions” columnat STAT News, covering dementia care and research.

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What do gyms, TV shows, pet food, and smart doorbells all have in common?

Nowadays, you might use a monthly subscription or other recurring membership to access these goods or services. The average American spends $219 every month on subscriptions. That’s more than $2,600 a year. Those recurring payments mean predictable profits for companies. That is, unless you cancel.

Enter: subscription traps. That’s when companies make it easy for customers to sign up but difficult to be done. Some also use deceptive tactics to automatically enroll customers into a subscription after a free trial ends without making the terms clear. In recent years, cities and states have moved to crack down on subscription traps.

They’re also taking steps to regulate junk fees that companies can add to goods and services. That’s caused prices to soar far beyond what’s advertised. One of those leading the way is New York City, where authorities announced a ban on abusive subscription practices on Friday.

How are regulators around the country working to protect consumers?

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The Trump administration is threatening top election officials with criminal prosecution if any ballot is cast by noncitizens in their state. That’s according to a letter from the Justice Department sent last week to all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

The president’s threats raise the specter of noncitizen voting. In Michigan, for example, officials found that only 16 noncitizens voted in the 2024 election. That’s 0.00028 percent of the state’s total votes. And in Texas, their state investigation found about 100 potential noncitizen voters in 2024, though Gov. Greg Abbot initially suggested that there were over 1,900 potential noncitizen voters in the state.

The Trump administration’s efforts to sow doubt in elections doesn’t stop there. Last Thursday, President Trump fired the remaining members of the bipartisan federal Election Assistance Commission, just months ahead of this year’s midterms. And the Federal Emergency Management Agency warned states it will withhold a percentage of antiterrorism preparedness funds if states don’t change the way they conduct elections, including implementing paper ballots, verifying citizenship, and running costly audits.

In this installment of our weekly politics series, “If You Can Keep It,” we look at the administration’s attacks on the election process. How is it affecting the way that Americans’ perceive their elections — and what that all means for freedom and fairness of our elections.

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Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner dropped out of the race for Maine Sen. Susan Collins’ seat in Congress, after sexual assault allegations made by a former partner surfaced. Democrats are searching for a replacement.

Calls for answers on Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell’s whereabouts and wellbeing are growing. The former Senate majority leader has not been seen in three weeks, leading to speculation about his health.

And the United States was knocked out of the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup this week following a 4-1 defeat to Belgium.

And, in global news, President Donald Trump saidthe MOU between the U.S. and Iran is over, calling Iranian leaders “scum.”

At the annual NATO summit, Danish leadersunderlined their commitment to Greenland after Trump claimed the territory would be better suited to American control.

Brexit champion Nigel Farage abruptly resigned from his position in Parliament this week. He will run for office again. Critics say the situation is a ploy to avoid a formal inquiry over his finances.

We cover the most important stories from around the world in the News Roundup.

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Humans like to know what’s coming next. How to plan for the future. And what the consequences of our actions might be.

But the modern world is only becoming less certain — war abroad and political conflict at home, technological breakthroughs once only seen in science fiction, a volatile economy and labor market with the careers of billions at risk. And of course, the climate crisis, which rages on in the background, and now in the foreground of our lives?

What exactly is uncertainty? And is it always a bad thing?

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At the end of June, the Supreme Court ruled six to three that the federal government can end Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, for more than 300,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians currently residing legally in the United States.

TPS is a program that allows people from designated countries currently experiencing crises, like natural disasters or civil war, to live and workin the U.S.

Some Haitian TPS recipients have been in the U.S. for 16 years. They work in hospitals, warehouses, and factories nationwide. In Springfield, Ohio, they make up nearly a fifth of the city’s population.

But their time in America could come to an end as soon as late July.

What does the future hold for TPS holders and their families? And what does it mean for the communities and jobs they leave behind?

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We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. 250 years on, are these words still guiding us?

The Declaration of Independence marked the start of our American Experiment. Does that document still hold central tenets of who we are as a nation? Deep political polarization has made that question murkier than perhaps ever before.

We reflect on what a shared civic gospel looks like for America today and what role faith playsin that search.

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It’s been nearly a year since a major reshaping of the State Department. It was part of the Trump Administration’s goal to overhaul the federal government and to streamline and reduce redundancies. On July 8, 2025 the Supreme Court cleared the way for the Administration’s massive reduction in force plan. Days later, more than 1,350 employees, including foreign services officers were laid off from the State Department.

At the time, the moves were criticized by current and former diplomats. The American Foreign Service Association said, “Losing more diplomatic expertise at this critical global moment is a catastrophic blow to our national interests.”

As part of our If You Can Keep it series we ask what this reshaping has meant for U.S. global power, aid, and diplomacy. Also: how is the agency operating today and what happened to all those former employees?

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It's a milestone birthday for the U.S. this weekend. And we're marking the 250th by taking a look back at this year's Sounds of America series.

Every year,the National Recording Registry at the Library of Congress selects 25 pieces of sound to add to its collection — songs, speeches, and beyond.

In the past, we’ve partnered withthe 14th Librarian of Congress, Carla Hayden, who oversaw this project for nine years. Each spring, 1A worked with Hayden and the Library of Congress to bring you a look at why those honorees matter to America.

This year, the Library of Congress looks a little different. President Donald Trump fired Hayden in 2025. The White House cited her“pursuit of DEI” as reason for her dismissal.

But we continued our annual series this year with a look at the 2026 inductees. And we'll continue to ask you: What are the sounds of America? Highlights have included Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have A Dream” speech, Tracy Chapman singing “Fast Car," The Giants’ “shot heard round the world” walk-off home run in 1951. And the theme song from Super Mario. You cannominate your favorite piece of sound through the Library of Congress.

Now to the class of 2026: First, we sit down with Rachael Stoeltje. She’s the head of the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center in Culpeper, Virginia, which houses and preserves the Library of Congress’ audio and video artifacts. Then, we get the backstory on"The Devil Went Down to Georgia," by the Charlie Daniels Band. We bop along to"Beauty and the Beat" by The Go-Go's and meet members of the all-women rock band. And close it out with the radio broadcast of"The Fight of the Century" between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier.

The Sounds of America series is produced by Jennie Cataldo of Accompany Studios.

You can hear all our past Sounds of America interviews with Carla Haydenhere. 

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Throughout history, adulthood has often been defined by clear markers — turning 18, moving out of your parents’ home, or getting married. But most of us know that being an adult by law is very different from being one in real life.

Traditional markers of adulthood like purchasing a home or getting married are happening later and later these days. The average first-time homebuyer in 1981 was just 29 years old. But in 2025, the median age of a first-time homebuyer was 40. That’s a historic high, according to the National Association of Realtors.

People are also hearing wedding bells later in life. One and ten adults are now marrying for the first time between the ages of 40 and 59, according to the Wall Street Journal.

What does it mean to be an adult, especially when our definition of adulthood has evolved? And what if you never really feel like a grown-up, even well into old age?

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“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

250 years ago, the founding fathers were days away from adopting the Declaration of Independence.

Fast forward to July 4, 2026, two and a half centuries later, has America lived up to those lofty ideals?

Is this anniversary a time for celebration, mourning, reckoning, or something else? We hear from 1A listeners on what Independence Day means to them.

Note: One of our callers referenced the Frederick Douglass speech ‘What to the Slave is the Fourth of July.’ You can read thathere. 

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Americans are grappling with a rising cost in healthcare. For the first time in five years, fewer than half of Americans can consistently afford healthcare. That’s according to the latest data from Gallup. The cost of healthcare in the US remains higher than any other large, wealthy country. According to a report from the Department of Health and Human Services,five million fewer people are enrolled in marketplace plans for 2026, compared to last year. That’s as average premium costs rose about 58%.

With health care costs increasingly becoming a stress for Americans, voters are now making the issue a top priority at the ballot box. And it’s an issue that crosses party and geographic lines. According to new polling from The Century Foundation, 71% of Democrats, 66% of Republicans and 75% of rural voters agree that reigning in hospital costs should be a top priority for lawmakers. While new polling from Ipsos and Axios suggests that a majority of Americans say they’re more likely to vote for candidates in November who will lower their health costs.

How will the issue of healthcare shape the midterms? And how are Americans grappling with the cost of their health?

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President Donald Trump has taken an increasingly personal role in the government’s clemency process, wielding pardons aid his allies and advance his own political grievances.

A Reuters investigation found that 96% of Trump’s second-term clemency grants have gone to recipients who didn’t fulfill longstanding DOJ guidelines for such requests. Past presidents on have sidestepped those rules before, but fewer than 1% of those who received clemency during the Biden administration and just 14% of recipients in Trump’s first presidency failed to meet the guidelines.

Pardon applicants once had to comply with longstanding DOJ guidelines, such as a five-year wait after conviction or demonstrated remorse for their crimes. But a Reuters’ analysis shows that under Trump, clemency now is far more dependent upon access to his inner circle. They also found that “access is enhanced when an applicant can craft a narrative that resonates with the president’s own sense of victimization.”

During his first administration, Trump granted just 238 pardons and commutations, most of which came amid his frantic final days in office. But this term the White House has made clemencies a key part of its agenda.

As part of our weekly series “If You Can Keep it,” we discuss pardons in the second Trump Administration.

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This week the Supreme Court sides with President Trump on ending Temporary Protected Status. The decades-long program currently gives legal status in the U.S. to about 350,000 Haitians and more than 6,000 Syrians seeking refuge from crises at home.

The court also ruled to renew a “turn-back” policy at the border with Mexico that prevents migrants from entering the U.S. to seek asylum. A decision on President Trump’s effort to end birthright citizenship in the U.S. is expected soon.

Also in Washington, the president creates chaos in his own party, demanding that Republican Senators reconsider their support for a war powers resolution on Iran. A vote to limit war powers passed on Tuesday with support from four Republicans. A similar resolution failed on Wednesday. President Trump also on Wednesday refused to sign a bipartisan housing bill that had passed the House 358-32.

And in New York, three candidates backed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani win their primaries for Congressional seats against establishment Democrats.

And, in global news, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President J.D. Vance were overseas this week, selling and negotiating an end to the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran.

But Iran’s chief negotiator calls the deal an “American declaration of defeat” and it marks the end of any remaining joint Iran-strategy between the U.S. and Israel.

Delegations from Israel and Lebanon meet in Washington to extend a ceasefire in a conflict that’s killed more than 4,000 people in Lebanon and displaced 20% of the population of under 6 million. And Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vows to continue fighting in Lebanon as he faces pressure at home and isolation from U.S. leaders.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer resigns in the U.K., but analysts say his likely successor Andy Burnham will face the same deep challenges that have knocked out six leaders in the 10 years since Brexit.

We cover the most important stories from around the world in the News Roundup.

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Artificial Intelligence is advancing at a dizzying pace. One analysis shows it doubling its abilities every seven months.

And it’s surpassed humans in more than just trivia and Chess. Last year, an AI from Microsoft solved complex medical cases with 85% accuracy, far about the 20% average for experienced physicians. And a recent Stanford report found that some of the newest A-I systems now match or beat the average human expert on PhD-level science questions.

But what happens when A-I is better and smarter than the brightest among us at everytask? That’s called superintelligence.

Researchers disagree about how close we are to that sci-fi goal: is it years, or decades—or possible at all? And what happens if that genie-in-a-bottle is let loose? Some say the risk is as existential as total human extinction.

We’ll discuss the biggest promise – and peril – of AI’s advancement beyond humans.

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Black Americans serving in the U.S. military have long lived with a great contradiction. The country they’re fighting to protect is the same one that’s failed to serve and protect them.

Despite this, Black Americans continue to enlist. There are over 350,000 Black active duty and select reserve members and more than 2.4 million Black veterans. That’s according to the Institute for Veterans and Military Families at Syracuse University.

This year, Defense secretary Pete Hegseth has blocked or delayed the promotions of more than a dozen Black and female senior officers. He’s also dismissed several high-ranking Black and female officers, according to The Atlantic. This comes amid the second Trump administration’s aggressive rollback of programs and policies connected to diversity, equity and inclusion.

Black military members have always battled discrimination. But for some, this is a step too far in the wrong direction. So, what does their future hold? And what does it mean for the U.S. military?

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The full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. The U.S. and Israel’s war in Iran. The Israel-Hamas war.

Each of these conflicts of the last few years is rewriting how war is fought. Cheap drones are doing damage that once required far more expensive weapons. Battlefield information is now available at a distance in real time. And some of the biggest innovations are coming from countries with relatively small defense budgets.

We sit down with a panel of experts and ask what these conflicts are teaching us – and how the U.S. is responding to these lessons.

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How would lawmakers respond to election interference – both foreign and domestic – ahead of the midterm elections?

That was the central question of a summit held earlier this month between top Senate Democrats and election experts. The meeting came weeks after President Donald Trump signed an executive order that gave the U.S. postal service control over who gets to vote by mail. That order is being challenged in court.

Meanwhile, the president continues to spread unfounded claims about the insecurity of U.S. elections. And he’s characterizing his executive orders as a means to shore up trust in voting.

How is the president using his power to undermine the midterms and the electoral process? And what’s at stake for our democracy if election interference succeeds?

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Novels centering on love and sex are among the best-selling books year after year. More and more are challenging the conventions of romance as a genre — and bringing us well beyond fairy tale endings.

Two novels out this summer are pushing some of the boundaries of romance writing and love stories as we know them.

Haili Blassingame’s “They All Fall in Love at the End” follows a young Black writer in D.C. as she explores non-monogamy while her city (and the whole world) deals with the fallout of the 2024 election.

And in Tia Williams’ “The Missed Connection,” a casting agent tries to find the handsome stranger who sat next to her on a flight while navigating past trauma and a shaky work-life balance.

We ask these new authors about writing complex love stories.

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When a couple struggles to conceive, the assumption is often that there is something wrong with the woman. Women are evaluated for infertility far more often than men. 

But male factor infertility accounts for about half of all infertility cases. And when that’s the case, men are less likely to talk about it, seek support, or even get tested in the first place.  

In this installment of our “In Good Health” series, we talk about male infertility — what causes it, what can be done about it, and what it’s like to go through it.

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This week, on the southern shores of Lake Geneva, leaders of the Group of Seven countries gathered for their annual summit.

There are several pressing issues that require attention including the U.S. and Israeli war with Iran, the resulting economic crisis, the state of the Persian Gulf, and long term questions about the future of relations with Iran.

The G7 meeting also notably brought Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy face-to-face with President Donald Trump. Trump told reporters that the war Ukraine was not a priority for the United States, saying that his country had “nothing to do” with a war that was “thousands of miles away.”

We discuss what this 2026 G7 meeting reveals about the state of the U.S. relationship with its most important allies, especially after months of a war of choice with Iran.

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It’s a busy time for the Supreme Court – with 20 cases left and only weeks left in its term. The Court has a stackeddocket of high-profile cases that could have seismic effects for years to come.

Decisions are expected soon on immigration and Birthright Citizenship, a nearly 160-year legal precedent that says those born in the US are citizens. Plus decisions on mail in ballots, transgender athletes and the president’s ability to fire the heads of independent agencies.

We’ll get into all of it and what these decisions could mean for you.

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President Trump is working fast to remake the nation’s capital in his image.

His major construction projects include demolishing the East Wing of the White House for his proposed ballroom and a planned 250-foot arch that would dwarf the Lincoln Memorial.

As part of the mission to renovate D.C., the White House has bypassed many of the checks put in place for any president seeking major transformations in the city — like firing all six members of the Commission of Fine Arts and installing deputies who align with his policies.

But as the president moves to transform D.C., what does the lack of oversight say about how transparent the administration is being with its plans? And where is the money from these projects coming from?

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The latest inflation number are out, and prices are rising fast. Last month, prices soared at the fastest rates seen in three years.

A new $70 billion immigration enforcement bill narrowly passed the Senate on Tuesday. The package funds ICE and Border Patrol through the end of Trump’s second term in office.

And the World Cup began on Thursday, withMexico taking on South Africa in a replay of the opening match of the 2010 tournament.

And, in global news, early in the week President Donald Trump told reporters the U.S. would hit Iran hard after Iranian forces attacked a helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz this week. He also threatened to “assume total control” of Iran’s oil and gas industries. On Thursday, he canceled plans for those attacks.

Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are going through a rough patch. When the United States and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28, they appeared to be shoulder to shoulder. But over the past 100 days, things have changed. Reports of expletive filled calls and defiance on the part of each leader continue to grow.

And on Tuesday, anti-immigrant riots broke out in Belfast after a Sudanese asylum seeker was charged with attempted murder in a stabbing attack that left a man with serious face and neck wounds.

We cover the most important stories from around the world in the News Roundup.

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In 1966, the United States declared victory over a destructive flesh-eating parasite that devastated livestock. The New World Screwworm is a fly whose larvae burrow into the living flesh of mammals. It was eradicated after a long campaign that involved releasing millions of sterile flies over infested areas.

Last week, that fly came back.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed five cases of larvae contamination in Texas and New Mexico – the first detections in decades. Federal officials say the food supply is safe, but the cattle industry is on high alert. The American cattle supply is already at a 75-year low. Beef prices are high. And a screwworm outbreak could make it worse.

Outside farms and ranches, the tick population is growing and spreading in new parts of the country. Emergency room visits for tick bites hit a 10-year seasonal high in April. And a growing number of Americans are discovering they’ve developed an allergy to red meat triggered by tick bites.

We sit down with a panel of experts to talk about it.

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104 games. 48 teams. Three host nations. One dream.

The men’s World Cup returns to North America for the first time in 32 years. And fans from all over the world are descending on cities like Dallas, Toronto, and Monterrey, hoping to watch their nations find glory.

But it’s not all grass and glamour. The run-up to this tournament has been plagued by issues around ticket pricing, transportation costs, threats of immigration enforcement, and the consequences of geopolitical conflict.

What does it all mean for the action on the field?

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Across the U.S., cities and communities are celebrating Pride during the month of June.

At the same time, a new poll from Gallup suggests attitudes around LGBTQ issues are shifting. After two decades, support for the community has now dropped. The swing is being largely driven by republicans. Just four years ago, polling data suggested a majority of Republicans supported same sex marriage at 55 percent. That number is now at 37 percent.

Trans issues, specifically, is another story. Only 5 percent of Republicans say changing one’s gender is morally acceptable. That number was at 22 percent five years ago.

Trans rights in the U.S. are a hot button issue among conservative politicians and voters. President Donald Trump campaigned on it, spending millions of dollars on anti-trans ads. Since then, the administration has rolled back protections for and access to gender-affirming care.

What is the state of LGBTQ+ rights in the U.S. today? And what does this reported dip in acceptance mean for the community?

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Last week marked the anniversary of Congress passing the 19th Amendment.

In 1919, that Constitutional amendment gave women the right to vote — although it only applied in practice to white women for decades. Poll taxes, literacy tests, and Jim Crow-era state laws prevented Black women from voting.

Fast forward 107 years, and a growing conservative movement now wants to repeal the 19th Amendment and the other hard-won rights of women and people of color. It’s called “masculinism,” and its goal is to combat what its believers see as a “feminized” U.S. society.

In this edition of “If You Can Keep It,” we explore how a fringe movement on the right is gaining momentum thanks to its connections to the Trump administration. What do followers of this movement want? And what does it mean for our democracy if a growing movement in conservative politics wants to re-institute patriarchy?

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The U.S. House of Representatives voted this week to end the war in Iran. While not yet passed into law, it demonstrates a break between the Trump administration and the GOP-majority legislative body.

In light of its recent ruling concerning the Voting Rights Act, the Supreme Court once again cleared the way for Alabama to use its new Congressional map. This comesdespite a three-judge panel has blocking the map in late May.

A convicted Jan. 6 rioter was hired at the Pentagon this week. Elias Irizarry will now work in one of the agency’s offices that handles highly-classified military information.

And, in global news, talks between Washington and Tehran are hanging by a thread. Now, Iranian officials say they have yet to deploy the full power of their military and they are prepared for any scenario, even a direct confrontation.

Ukrainian missiles hit the Russian city of St. Petersburg this week as Vladimir Putin’s premiere economic forum begins.

And during testimony on Capitol Hill, Marco Rubio told lawmakers that Greenland remains a part of Denmark “for now.”

We cover the most important stories from around the world in the News Roundup.

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On Tuesday, a legion of screaming fans packed the Beacon Theatre in New York City – arms outstretched for the glittery, long-haired rock star known as the Vampire Lestat.

Of course, in reality, the vampire Lestat de Lioncourt and his touring band don’t exist. He’s the creation of beloved horror writer Anne Rice. And this version of him, played by actor Sam Reid, is the lead of AMC’s television adaptation of Rice’s books.

But for the fans who packed the Beacon Theatre this week, these distinctions are unimportant. And it speaks to a shared commitment between the fans of Rice’s vampiric world and the actors and creators behind the series who strive to honor it.

The third season of “Interview with the Vampire’s” begins airing Sunday. It’s a departure from the first two – which focused on Louis de Point du Lac, played by actor Jacob Anderson, his transformation into a vampire, and his rocky relationship with his maker.

The third season puts Lestat in the driver’s seat – his perspective, his music, and a peak into his 200-year backstory. We sit down with the series showrunner and the actors to discuss the show’s third season, honoring Rice’s vision, and rocking out as a vampire.

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More than 300,000 federal workers have left government service since the start of the second Trump administration.

Some were laid off by the administration. Some took buyouts. Some walked out. The cuts hit every major agency — from the State Department to the Justice Department.

That doesn’t mean things have been easy for those still working for the government. Last week, the Office of Personnel Management proposed requiring all federal employees to sign non-disclosure agreements that would prevent them from sharing internal government information.

We sit down to talk about how those cuts are affecting the workers who remained.

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Smart phones. Smart cars. Smart speakers. Web browsers. Social media. Artificial Intelligence.

Technologies we rely on every day generate a massive amount of information about what we do, where we go, what we like, and who we are. That data can make life very convenient — your rideshare app knows where you want go before you enter an address, you only see ads for products you’re already interested in buying, videos on subjects you enjoy are already auto-populated in your feed.

But at what cost? What’s the tradeoff?

Andrew Guthrie Ferguson is a professor of law at the George Washington University School of Law and a national surveillance expert. He says that the rise of the self-surveillance state has big ramifications for Americans’ personal freedoms and America’s democratic values.

We sit down with him to talk about how are data is being used against us and about his books, “Your Data Will Be Used Against You: Policing in the Age of Self-Surveillance.”

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Since the start of his second term, President Donald Trump has fashioned the Department of Justice into a tool he can wield against his enemies.

So far, Trump has installed his personal lawyer as the top official. He’s culled the ranks of career prosecutors. And he’s pressured U.S. attorneys into bringing cases against people he considers political enemies.

In recent months, grand juries have acted as the last line of defense against his full weaponization of the justice system — refusing to indict in cases where the government hasn’t proven a crime has been committed.

In this latest installment of our weekly politics series, “If You Can Keep It,” what do recent high-profile grand jury proceedings tell us about accountability at the Justice Department?

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The US and Iran appear to be close to a peace deal. That’s according to US officials, but it’s still awaiting President Trump approval. He’s reviewing the details today.

The deal would reportedly extend the ceasefire for 60 days, reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and open talks over the future of Iran’s nuclear program.

We unpack the other big news of the week: Is the U.S ready for the Ebola outbreak? Conflict also erupted outside an ICE detention center in New Jersey, where detainees are on a hunger and labor strike. And major results out of the Texas runoff election.

And for this week’s global news, we have some special guests from the BBC and The Global Story podcast from the BBC to take us through some international news.

The Trump administration is continuing to squeeze Cuba’s communist regime with sanctions as it prepares for the possible collapse of the island’s totalitarian government as early as this summer, according to U.S officials.

And in another week of whiplash in the negotiations between the US and Iran, the countries appear on the cusp of a peace deal. The agreement would reportedly extend the ceasefire for 60 days, reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and commit to negotiating Iran’s nuclear enrichment program. Though it still needs President Trump’s approval.

We also talk Europe, and how the E.U is dealing with multiple diplomatic challenges from the far right to Russia to the Trump administration.

We cover the most important stories from around the world in the News Roundup.

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The official start of summer movie season is here. As the temperatures heat up, the box office is already off to a blazing start.

Already in 2026, the film industry is experiencing its strongest theatrical rebound since the pandemic, after years of bad news. That’s thanks tofilms like The Devil Wears Prada 2and the Michael Jackson biopic Michael.

We hear from movie critics what films they’ll be watching, in the theater and at the box office.

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Chronic pelvic and vulvovaginal pain is surprisingly common among women of all ages. In fact, 1 in 3 women will experience a pelvic floor disorder at some point in their lifetimes.

So, why is it so difficult to receive diagnosis and treatment for these conditions? And why don’t we talk about our pain ‘down there’ in general?

In this installment in our series, “In Good Health,” we sit down with a panel of experts to talk about it.

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The U.S. is facing a steep healthcare worker shortage. A 2025 federal analysis projected that by 2038, 30 out of 35 physician specialties will be hurting for practitioners, with over 140,000 roles left unfilled. And for nurses, that shortage is projected to be over 108,000.

And last week, 25 states plus the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit against the Department of Education over new federal student loan limits on graduate degrees. Those caps apply to programs that could graduate workers into these threatened health care fields.

But Education Secretary Linda McMahon says these worries are overblown and that these new rules aim to force colleges to lower tuition rates.

So, what do these changes really mean for the future of our healthcare workforce in the U.S.?

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