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Episodes

ICYMI: A Quarter Of HHS Workforce Lost Due To Cuts

The Trump administration's cutbacks to the federal workforce continued this week at the Department of Health and Human Services. Thousands of staffers were fired at agencies like the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced the layoffs last week, an additional "reduction in force" of 10,000 people on top of the 10,000 who've already left the department this year. This amounts to one of the largest government de...

Apr 03, 2025•11 min

How Did This Get Here: Your iPhone

Your new iPhone goes through a lot before you peel the plastic off and finally boot it up. Further Apple purchases might have to go through more thanks to the Trump administration's tariffs. From its assembly, to its packaging, to its shipping, to stocking, to purchase, it's a long process. So, what does it actually look like? Why is this the way we do it? And what could be done to make things better? This is our new series,"How Did This Get Here." We explore how goods make their way to us from ...

Apr 02, 2025•37 min

Birding To Help Revitalize Conservation Efforts

Some of the best songs you can hear this spring aren't on the radio. Hundreds of millions of birds make their annual migration back into North America in early March. Despite their return to our neighborhoods and backyards to wake us up bright and early, a new report reveals they're numbering fewer and fewer. The 2025 State of the Birds report is a joint effort spearheaded by a coalition of science and conservation organizations. It found widespread population decline across nearly all habitats ...

Apr 01, 2025•30 min

ICYMI: Trump's 'Liberation Day' Tariffs Are Almost Here

President Donald Trump's "Liberation Day" of reciprocal tariffs is almost here. On April 2, Trump is rolling out a plan that would charge a blanket dollar for dollar tax on goods coming into the U.S. Trump clarified Sunday that this policy would apply to all countries instead of a more focused list. The uncertainty around and scope of these tariffs (and a potential trade war) has spooked Wall Street and raised fears of inflation. We discuss America's financial future. Want to support 1A? Give to...

Apr 01, 2025•12 min

'If You Can Keep It': Trump And Big Law Firms

President Trump is known for going after his political opponents. And for the past month or so, one target has been certain powerful lawyers and law firms. But why is he going after these lawyers and firms? Will courts let him get away with intimidating law firms he doesn't like with threats and executive orders? And how does it all fit into Trump's broader efforts to tilt the legal system to his advantage? Today we hear from one of the lawyers named in the recent flurry of White House orders an...

Mar 31, 2025•33 min

ICYMI: The Special Florida Congressional Race Is Close

Florida holds a special election tomorrow for a House seat that has long been solidly red. Now? Maybe a bit less so. Former Congressman Mike Waltz gave up his seat in the 6th Congressional District – the area around Daytona Beach – to accept the post of President Donald Trump's national security advisor. In line to win his vacant seat tomorrow is Trump-backed Randy Fine, a state senator. But in recent days polls have been too close for comfort for many Republicans. Fine's Democratic opponent, ma...

Mar 31, 2025•12 min

Foreign Journalists On Covering The Trump Administration

We've spent a lot of time in 2025 talking about the president. The executive orders. The court challenges. The cabinet appointments. Now, the Signal group chats. It's a challenge to report on the administration, full stop. But what if you're not reporting on the administration for an audience directly affected by the U.S. federal government? What kinds of challenges does that present? In a 1A first, we sit down in front of an audience at our home base at WAMU in Washington, DC, to talk to three ...

Mar 30, 2025•42 min

The News Roundup For March 28, 2025

This week the Atlantic published messages shared between national security officials on a Signal group chat laying out plans for U.S airstrikes in Yemen. It appears that National Security Advisor Mike Waltz added The Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg to the message thread. European leaders have been cautious in their comments on the scandal. President Trump is threatening to suspend security clearances and access to federal buildings of lawyers he does not like. Meanwhile, Israel continu...

Mar 28, 2025•1 hr 27 min

ICYMI: The Consequences Of Slashing USAID Funding

The acting assistant administrator for global health at USAID, Nicholas Enrich, was placed on administrative leave in early March. Before his departure, he had made a series of chilling predictions in memos concerning the consequences of the Trump administration's gutting of the agency. These include some 18 million additional cases of malaria and 166,000 resulting deaths. One million children who will remain malnourished. And 200,000 additional children paralyzed by polio. And he placed the bla...

Mar 28, 2025•16 min

The Choice To Rebuild After A Natural Disaster

As the earth continues to heat up unsustainably due to society's love of fossil fuels, scientists say natural disasters are only going to become more frequent and more destructive. That's something California knows all too well. Wildfires burned more than 58,000 acres this year and destroyed more than 16,000 structures, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. For many towns, a disaster like a wildfire or hurricane can completely destroy the town and its history, l...

Mar 27, 2025•36 min

Finding Agency In Chaos

If you've been following the news lately — including with 1A — it can be a lot to take in. We've heard from many of you about how the news makes you feel. But what can we do in chaotic moments of history to build a sense of control in our lives? Maybe it's organizing in your community, starting a new hobby, or picking up that TV show from 10 years ago that you promised you'd get around to watching. We talk about what finding agency in the chaos can look like, and why we should actively focus on ...

Mar 26, 2025•31 min

The Future Of Environmental Policy

It's safe to say the Trump administration has shaken up the federal government. That includes environmental policy and the Environmental Protection Agency. The Trump administration is making deep cuts to the department. The agency's top official, Lee Zeldin, says he wants to cut 65 percent of its budget. The EPA has already slashed jobs at the environmental justice office, which addresses disproportionate environmental and health effects on minority and low-income populations. The agency is now ...

Mar 25, 2025•35 min

Click Here: The TikTok Ban, China, And National Security

The story of TikTok in the U.S. is one that's had many chapters, to say the least. First, then-President Donald Trump called for its ban in 2020. Then, President Joe Biden signed a bipartisan law in 2024 requiring the company in charge of the video-sharing platform to sell the app or face a ban. Then, the app went dark this January after failing to sell, only to come back hours later, thanking newly-inaugurated President Donald Trump for his support in keeping the app operational. The president ...

Mar 24, 2025•39 min

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