A war the president promised would last weeks is now in its third month. And the ripple effects are rocking the global economy. The Strait of Hormuz is still closed to most ships. Iran, the U.S., and Israel don’t look ready for a peace deal. Iran’s air force and navy are severely damaged. But recent intelligence reports say the regime has control of more missiles and weapons systems than the Trump administration has acknowledged, and that it’s taking advantage of the ceasefire to rearm. Meanwhil...
May 20, 2026•45 min
This week, thousands of Americans attended a day-long conservative prayer gathering. The event was billed as a rededication of the U.S. as “One Nation Under God” for our nation’s 250th birthday. The gathering was a private-public partnership backed by the White House. Non-Christian voices of faith were notably absent, apart from one Jewish rabbi. Almost all the speakers featured were Christians and most were Evangelicals. Some were Trump cabinet members and lawmakers. With the separation of chur...
May 19, 2026•46 min
It’s been more than two weeks since the Supreme Court made the decision to weaken a key provision of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. That piece of the legislation protected minority voters from discrimination in elections. Now, that ruling has invoked a new wave of calls to reform the court. In the last installment of our “If You Can Keep It” series, we discussed what those reforms might look like, from expanding the size of the bench, to restricting the shadow docket. Our listeners had so many t...
May 18, 2026•45 min
Despite assertions by President Donald Trump to the contrary, reporting from The New York Times indicates that Iran’s military is still in fighting shape, regaining access to 30 of its 33 missile sites near the Strait of Hormuz. The Supreme Court’s decision to strike down a key provision of the Voting Rights Act has paved the way for Alabama to use a controversial GOP-drawn electoral map in the upcoming midterms. And FBI Director Kash Patel appeared on Capitol Hill this week to give testimony be...
May 15, 2026•1 hr 28 min
Mayors are uniquely aware of what’s needed to make their cities run more efficiently. And when it comes to improving city life — from housing, to public safety, to city services — a lack of resources can be a major obstacle. In February, Bloomberg Philanthropies announced the winners of this year’s mayors’ challenge. A $1 million prize was awarded to 24 winners from 20 countries selected from 630 entries. 1A spoke to some of those winners at Bloomberg’s Citylab conference in Madrid, Spain. The s...
May 14, 2026•44 min
In August 2024, 26-year-old Conor Hylton checked into Bridgeport Hospital in Connecticut. Overnight, he was transferred to critical care, where he died. It was only after his passing that his family found out that Conor was treated at what’s known as a “tele-ICU.” His story shines a light on a practice that’s been around for decades despite a lack of substantial research about its outcomes. A tele-ICU is a hospital unit where patient care is handled off-site by remote doctors, nurses, or special...
May 13, 2026•45 min
Last year, when Columbia University found itself embroiled by anti-war protests and fighting with the Trump administration, journalist Jodi Kantor was invited to speak at the school’s commencement. “My friends actually tried to stop me. Like, ‘Don’t do it. Call in sick,'” remembers Kantor. The Pulitzer prize-winner did wind up giving that speech. And that experience led her to write a new book about how young people can find their life’s work. We sit down with Kantor to talk about ‘How to Start....
May 12, 2026•34 min
Public trust in the Supreme Court is at a 30-year low, according to Pew Research Center. For some, this month marked a turning point in perceptions of its legitimacy. The court recently ruled in Louisiana v. Callais. Its decision undermined a key provision of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that protected minority voters and sought to prevent racial discrimination in elections. Following the court’s ruling, Tennessee’s GOP-controlled legislature passed a new congressional map, dismantling the stat...
May 11, 2026•43 min
President Donald Trump told PBS News this week that his offensive in the Middle East has a “very good chance of ending.” Just days later though, the U.S. traded fire with Iran in the Strait of Hormuz, threatening an already fragile ceasefire. The U.S. is still hoping for a “serious offer” from Iran on a proposal to end the war, according to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, even as the threat of escalation looms. Donald Trump isn’t on the ballot in the upcoming Indiana primary. But his agenda cert...
May 08, 2026•1 hr 25 min
One drug is at the center of the current legal battle over abortion: mifepristone. Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, mifepristone has become the dominant method of abortion in the United States, filling the gap left by clinic closures in states with abortion bans. And the number of abortions has actually risen nationally as a result. That’s a problem for abortion access opponents. Now, they’re taking aim at one of the main ways it’s prescribed – via telehealth. And last wee...
May 07, 2026•44 min
Last November, Calvin Duncan won an election to serve as the chief records keeper for the criminal courts of the parish that covers New Orleans. He received 68 percent of the vote, beating out a powerful incumbent. He has some personal experience with Louisiana courts. He was incarcerated for a murder conviction for 28 years. He studied criminal law to advocate for himself, and a judge eventually found him innocent. He was freed in 2011. But now, the Louisiana state legislature has moved to elim...
May 06, 2026•41 min
Power is at the center of Americans’ lives. It lets us cool our homes, keeps them lit, and charges our electronics. But the more things we plug into our aging power grid, the more strained it becomes. And electricity use in the U.S. is rising for the first time in more than a decade. What happens when our grid can’t keep up? We sit down with a panel of experts to find out. Find more of our programs online . Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a . See pcm.adswizz.c...
May 05, 2026•43 min
Last week, in a six-to-three ruling along ideological lines, the Supreme Court dealt a major blow to the Voting Rights Act of 1965. That’s the landmark Civil Rights era law designed to prevent racial discrimination in an election. The law was passed to unravel Jim Crow era policies that limited or blocked Black Americans’ access to the ballot. The decision in Louisiana v. Callais struck down Louisiana’s congressional map as an “unconstitutional gerrymander.” But the ruling goes further. It effec...
May 04, 2026•44 min
The Supreme Court this week struck down a voting map in Louisiana that created a second majority-Black district, ruling it an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. In doing so, the majority also struck an enormous blow to the landmark Voting Rights Act , and fueled GOP redistricting efforts before the midterms. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth headed to Congress, where things got testy as lawmakers grilled him over the war with Iran. Pentagon officials put a price tag on the conflict so far: $25...
May 01, 2026•1 hr 28 min
American farmers are being squeezed. Tariffs are raising the cost of equipment and services. And now the war in Iran is driving up the cost of fertilizer and fuel . And the Farm bill — the sweeping, traditionally bipartisan legislation that shapes everything from crop insurance to food aid – hasn’t been reauthorized since 2018. Next week, the House will try again . What’s in the bill and why the coalition that supported it for years seems to be falling apart. Find more of our programs online . L...
Apr 30, 2026•44 min
In 2024, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was a presidential hopeful running under the banner of “making America healthy again.” Among his most fervent supporters: vaccine skeptics and cynics, nutrition-focused parents and anti-pesticide activists. After dropping out of the presidential contest and endorsing Donald Trump, Kennedy emerged as the president’s foremost pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. Now, many in the so-called “MAHA coalition” are disappointed with Secretary Kennedy f...
Apr 29, 2026•34 min
Artificial intelligence is revolutionizing how we run cities. It has the potential to make life more affordable, efficient, and safe. But with little oversight and policy, what are the risks to residents? As tech changes our communities, it’s often mayors who are leading the way. More than 500 of them are meeting in Madrid to share their best ideas as part of this year’s Bloomberg CityLab , a global cities summit from Bloomberg Philanthropies in partnership with the Aspen Institute … and 1A is t...
Apr 28, 2026•44 min
A growing number of states are looking at implementing a wealth tax to fund social services. California is among them, with a billionaire tax set to be included on its November ballot. And this month, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist, and Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul introduced a proposed tax on luxury second homes in the city. In March, Washington passed its first ever income tax – which has already been met with a legal challenge. All this comes as the wealth...
Apr 27, 2026•38 min
President Donald Trump is giving Iran a short window to unify behind an offer for peace in the Middle East after negotiations between Tehran and Washington recently broke down — or the ceasefire he extended Tuesday ends. Donald Trump’s labor secretary, Lori Chavez-DeRemer, is leaving the agency amidst accusations of misconduct. She’s now the third cabinet member to leave during the second Trump administration. Elsewhere, Virginia voters approved a new congressional map on Tuesday that could help...
Apr 24, 2026•1 hr 25 min
Just a few decades ago, human immunodeficiency virus, also known as HIV, was a death sentence for those who contracted it. However, over the past 35 years, more effective medication and widespread access to AIDS drug assistance programs have helped those with the virus live longer and healthier lives. But in the coming months, tens of thousands of people living with HIV in the U.S. could lose access to that medication. That’s because states around the country are trying to save money by making c...
Apr 23, 2026•42 min
More than 70 million Americans live with a disability. That’s roughly one in four adults. And any of us can join that number at any point in our lives. Through an injury, illness, or simply getting older. Disabled people are one of the largest minorities in this country. Yet there’s one part of their lives that almost never gets discussed: sex. Today, that silence is being challenged – by disabled people themselves – online, in film and television, and in conversations happening in bedrooms and ...
Apr 22, 2026•43 min
Towns across the U.S. are now grappling with what it means to have ICE detention centers in their backyard — even communities that overwhelmingly voted for President Donald Trump and support his deportation efforts. Last week, hundreds of protestors showed up outside a Maryland courtroom while a federal judge temporarily blocked the construction of a detention center in the state. That pause will remain in place as a lawsuit from the the state’s attorney general plays out. And last month, Pennsy...
Apr 21, 2026•45 min
Most of us would agree that access to foreign intelligence is important to national security. But whose private data gets swept up in the process? The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) was first established in 1978 following Watergate. It’s a key U.S. surveillance tool. Section 702 was added to the act in 2008 allowing the government to collect the communications of more than 300,000 foreign nationals outside of the U.S. without a warrant every year. And the Trump administration would...
Apr 20, 2026•45 min
We start with the U.S.-Israel war with Iran — a war that President Donald Trump said would end in two to three weeks. Now, in its seventh week, the Pentagon is sending 10,000 more troops to the Middle East to pressure Iran into making a peace deal. On Sunday, Trump posted a long rant on Truth Social calling Pope Leo XIV “weak on crime, and terrible for foreign policy.” Then, later that night, Trump posted an AI-generated photo that appeared to depict him as Jesus Christ. Rep. Eric Swalwell was a...
Apr 17, 2026•1 hr 27 min
For over 75 years, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization has bolstered American power and shaped the world order as we know it. But under President Donald Trump, its future is uncertain. The United States has spent the better part of a year telling its allies they’re on their own. Trump has threatened to annex Greenland – the sovereign territory of NATO ally, Denmark. He skipped the Munich Security Conference. And he launched the war in Iran without consulting NATO allies. Now, the president is...
Apr 16, 2026•43 min
Imagine you’re in a bookstore and you wander over to the fiction section. There, you find two shelves: one for human-written novels… and one for novels written by AI. That future may not be as far off as you think. Roughly 4 million books were published in the U.S. in 2025. That’s a more than a 32 percent increase from 2024, according to the trade magazine Publisher’s Weekly. It’s unclear how many of those books were written by AI, in part because software used to detect it can be ineffective. A...
Apr 15, 2026•44 min
It’s that time of the year again. Have you finished filing your return? Doing taxes this season has been particularly fraught – for both taxpayers and the Internal Revenue Service. It’s been a year since DOGE slashed federal funding and cut droves of federal employees. Those departures hit the IRS hard. Its leadership has largely turned over. Also, Republicans in Congress took back billions of dollars the agency had received to improve its systems. Then, they gave the IRS even more tax code chan...
Apr 14, 2026•44 min
The Democrats are having a moment. They’ve enjoyed massive turnout for recent primaries, special elections, and local races. And voter data shows they’re also gaining support among Republican and independent voters. In Wisconsin, liberal judge Chris Taylor recently won a spot on the state Supreme Court by nearly 20 points. That’s nearly double the margin of victory another liberal candidate in 2025. Some Republicans are worried about what wins like these mean for the GOP’s performance in the mid...
Apr 13, 2026•44 min
The U.S. and Iran have agreed to a two-week ceasefire after President Donald Trump threatened that “a whole civilization will die” in a social media post this week. Iranian officials are temporarily reopening the Strait of Hormuz as long as the truce remains unbroken. Trump also signed an executive order this week that restricts mail-in voting, a practice he’s long criticized due to his belief that it leads to fraud. There is no evidence for the president’s claim. Meanwhile, the president’s form...
Apr 10, 2026•1 hr 25 min
In 2019, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, the first openly gay governor elected in the U.S., signed a bill banning conversion therapy in the state. Last week, the Supreme Court ruled that ban may be unconstitutional. Conversion therapy seeks to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity. The practice has been deemed unethical and ineffective by most major mental health groups. And a study from the Trevor Project found that young people who go through conversion therapy were more than twice...
Apr 09, 2026•44 min
