The Senate approves President Trump's rescission package. Donald Trump has spent much of the week admonishing members of his MAGA base for raising the alert about his administration's failure to release information about Jeffrey Epstein. At least 20 people were crushed to death at Gaza Humanitarian Fund aid distribution site in Khan Younis. And Britain lowers its voting age, in the largest expansion of voting rights in the country in decades. Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio s...
Jul 18, 2025•1 hr 26 min
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Jul 18, 2025•2 min
In his rescissions request to Congress last month, President Donald Trump asked that the hundreds of millions dollars budgeted for the President's Emergency Plans for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, be cancelled. Senate Republicans have decided that PEPFAR is safe from cuts for now, but those fighting the global epidemic are worried. We talk about what these funding cuts would mean for those actually doing the research, and more importantly, for those living with HIV. Want to support 1A? Give to your lo...
Jul 17, 2025•33 min
One of the biggest cuts included in President Donald Trump's recent tax and spending bill is to Medicaid, the federal program that provides health insurance to low-income Americans and people with disabilities. The Congressional Budget Office estimates it would lose $1 trillion over the next ten years. Republicans say these changes address fraud and waste in the Medicaid program. But some rural hospitals and states warn it could have devastating effects. We break down what those changes mean for...
Jul 16, 2025•39 min
Donald Trump is growing impatient with Russian President Vladimir Putin, publicly lamenting earlier this week the fact that Russia hasn't agreed to a peace deal with Ukraine. Trump also promised new tariffs if a peace deal doesn't come in 50 days. New sanctions are on the table, too. With NATO's secretary general, Mark Rutte, by his side, Trump also announced the U.S. would help Europe send more weapons to Ukraine. Under the arrangement, NATO would buy American weapons and pass them to Kyiv. We ...
Jul 15, 2025•12 min
On July 4, 2026, the United States will celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. President Donald Trump kicked off the countdown to the anniversary at a rally in Iowa – right as Congress passed his sweeping domestic policy bill. But how has this country's identity changed in 250 years? And what innovations – in science, technology, and democracy – have led us to this moment? In this installment of If You Can Keep It, we discuss what can we learn about th...
Jul 14, 2025•32 min
Search crews and volunteers continue to scour miles along the Guadalupe River for the dozens of people still missing after deadly Texas flooding last week. President Trump's reciprocal tariffs are put on hold, again. And while the president calls the U.S the "hottest" country in the world, economists and industry experts warn his policies are positioning the country to be less competitive on the global stage. Meanwhile, President Trump has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize once again, thi...
Jul 11, 2025•1 hr 23 min
President Trump's so-called "One Big Beautiful Bill" which was passed last week will have major implications for most Americans. How much will this cost you? Well, there's the effect this will have on climate change – and the rising costs of electricity Some estimates suggest electricity bills in states like Texas could be $777 more a year by 2035. The Senate version of the legislation repeals the clean energy tax credits from the Inflation Reduction Act for all solar and wind projects that don'...
Jul 10, 2025•39 min
Last week saw dangerous weather in Europe, where a brutal heat wave swept across the continent. Now wildfires from that heatwave are scorching several Mediterranean countries. Closer to home, hundreds of heat records were set across the U.S in the month of June, including Baltimore, which saw a record high of 105 degrees. Nearly 130 million people were under extreme heat warnings or heat advisories on last Thursday, according to NOAA's Weather Prediction Center. Heat is a deadly threat that has ...
Jul 09, 2025•31 min
On Friday, central Texas, near San Antonio, was hit by what officials are calling a "100‑year flood." Heavy downpours caused a deadly 30‑plus-foot surge on the Guadalupe River and catastrophic flash flooding. Nearly 90 people have been killed and dozens remain missing. Search and rescue operations continued Monday as more heavy rain threatens the region. Operators of Camp Mystic, a century-old summer camp in the Texas Hill Country, said they lost 27 campers and counselors, confirming their worst...
Jul 08, 2025•12 min
On Friday, President Donald Trump celebrated the passage of his signature tax and spending bill into law. At nearly 900 pages, the legislation is a sprawling collection of tax breaks, spending cuts and other Republican priorities, including new money for national defense and deportations. It will also reduce Medicaid spending by more than $1 trillion over the next decade. That will result in an estimated 11.8 million people losing health insurance coverage. Among those who will be hardest hit? R...
Jul 07, 2025•11 min
Who are we as a nation? What's important to us? And who do we want to be? 1A recently spent some time at the Aspen Ideas Festival where Gallup Research unveiled data that indicates most Americans can agree broadly on the answers to those queries, but differ on which ones are the most important. We sit down and get into what values make an American, an American. Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station and subscribe to this podcast. Have questions? Connect with us. Listen to 1A...
Jul 07, 2025•33 min
Unless you're a physicist, you've probably only encountered quantum mechanics on TV. And even when it was explained, you might've still been a little confused. The field of quantum mechanics was created a century ago. Today, scientists are using it to create methods of communication that can't be hacked, higher quality digital images, and to develop medications. But many of us don't even understand what quantum mechanics is — or how it's deepening our understanding of the universe. For today's i...
Jul 04, 2025•34 min
Meta Chief Technology Officer Andrew Bosworth, Palantir Chief Technology Officer Shyam Sankar, OpenAI Head of Product Kevin Weil, and Thinking Machines Lab advisor Bob McGrew are now lieutenant colonels in the U.S. Army Reserves. They're part of a military unit called Detachment 201, also known as the the Executive Innovation Corps. Their US Army says their swearing in is the "start of a bigger mission to inspire more tech pros to serve without leaving their careers, showing the next generation ...
Jul 03, 2025•40 min
The so-called 'big, beautiful bill' has squeaked by in the Senate and now moves back to the House. The massive piece of legislation is the centerpiece of Trump's agenda, filled with tax breaks and spending cuts that would touch just about every American. We discuss what's on the table now in the GOP mega bill. And how might it affect us if it passes. Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station and subscribe to this podcast. Have questions? Connect with us. Listen to 1A sponsor-fr...
Jul 02, 2025•30 min
Last week, Kennedy announced the U.S. would not renew its $1.2 billion commitment to the global vaccine agency Gavi. The new Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices also met for the first time last week since Kennedy fired and then replaced its members. We talk about the outlook for U.S. vaccine policy both at home and abroad. Then, we switch gears to discuss the link between menopause and an increased risk of cardiovascular illness. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in women in t...
Jul 01, 2025•31 min
Last month, President Donald Trump openly questioned the separation of church and state during the establishment of the Presidential Commission on Religious Liberty. He said that he is bringing religion back to the country. We continue our "If You Can Keep It" series by assessing the boundaries of the separation between religion and the government. Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station and subscribe to this podcast. Have questions? Connect with us. Listen to 1A sponsor-free...
Jun 30, 2025•23 min
Sen. Elissa Slotkin isn't just a congressperson, she's also a former CIA analyst. That means she has special insight into what's be going on abroad. And there's a lot happening these days. But, as a Democrat, there are plenty of things to focus on at home, too. Namely, what her party is going to do to ensure success in the midterm elections. We sit down with her to discuss the Trump administration, the Democratic party, and American foreign policy. Want to support 1A? Give to your local public r...
Jun 30, 2025•22 min
NATO leaders met this week and promised to increase defense spending to 5 percent of GDP. Meanwhile, Donald Trump claimed at that same summit that the U.S. strikes on nuclear sites in Iran had "completely and fully obliterated" the country's nuclear program. American intelligence reports, however, indicate the attack only set Tehran back a few months. Zohran Mamdani, the New York assembly member representing the state's 36th district, is expected to be the Democratic party's nominee for mayor af...
Jun 27, 2025•1 hr 25 min
80 years ago, Smokey the Bear was mostly talking about campfire safety. Now? Things are a little different. Forest fires have always been a normal part of our landscape – and a tool used by human civilizations for millennia. But as climate change makes our landscapes hotter and drier, wildfires are getting bigger and more destructive. Fire consumed 8.9 million acres across the U.S. last year. The LA County fires this January are the costliest so far, with some estimates putting the total close t...
Jun 26, 2025•33 min
Earlier this week, the U-S embassy in Qatar issued a warning to American citizens to quote: "shelter in place until further notice." Qatar is home to the largest U-S military base in the Middle East. The alert came amid growing fears of Iranian retaliation against U-S troops and personnel overseas, after President Trump ordered strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites. When global news like this breaks, embassies – and the ambassadors leading them – play a crucial role. They're on the ground, serv...
Jun 25, 2025•33 min
José Andrés is a Michelin-starred chef and the owner of 40 restaurants across the globe. But the culinary star is just as well known for his humanitarian work. His organization, World Central Kitchen, has fed millions in Gaza and Ukraine and during natural disasters in the U.S. and abroad. Now, he's releasing a memoir about what it's like to not only feed people when they want it, but when they need it. We talk to Andrés about his life, work, and his new book, "Change the Recipe." Want to suppor...
Jun 24, 2025•33 min
Donald Trump's new Commission on Religious Liberty met last week for the first time. When Trump signed the executive order in May establishing the group, he marked the occasion by saying, "We're bringing religion back to our country, and it's a big deal." But isn't the separation of church and state guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution? Can the president just "forget about it" even once? We discuss the complicated answer. Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station and subscribe t...
Jun 23, 2025•20 min
With strikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities on Saturday, President Donald Trump has brought the United States into Israel's war with Iran. Israel began its campaign against Iran 10 days ago with what it called a "preemptive strike." Now, Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi warned on social media that Iran "reserves all options to defend its sovereignty, interest, and people." Iran has so far retaliated only on Israeli sites. Some 40,000 American troops on the ground across the Middle Ea...
Jun 23, 2025•23 min
In his first six months back in the Oval Office, President Trump rolled back decades of U.S. climate policy. So far, he's scaled back regulations that help keep our air and water clean, delayed critical protections for endangered species, withdrawn the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement for a second time, and cut staffing and federal spending on critical environmental agencies and programs – among other changes. Trump's commitment to increase oil and gas production will escalate the effects w...
Jun 20, 2025•31 min
What's your most vivid school memory? Do you remember it as a time of exploration? Was it a place where you could figure out who you were and what you wanted to become? Or did it feel like it wasn't made for you? Did it feel constricting, or like a place with lots of rules about how you had to act and what you couldn't do? Your experience of schools likely depended on the administrators, who your teachers were, how your city or state set up the curriculum, and the resources your school received....
Jun 19, 2025•33 min
Drug overdose deaths have been increasing steadily for over two decades in large part due to opioids. That's until recently. Now, new data from the Centers for Disease Control found that 2024 saw the largest one year decline ever recorded. And that 24% decline was felt across the country. Every state except two saw a drop in overdose deaths. The drop comes after an aggressive public health response from both the Biden Administration and local efforts, including making the overdose reversing drug...
Jun 19, 2025•33 min
On Monday, the Israeli military struck the headquarters of Iran's state television network. The explosion was caught on video in the middle of a news broadcast. As the conflict enters its fifth day, 224 civilians have been killed in Iran. And in Israel, at least 24 people have been killed according to the prime minister's office. Meanwhile, Israel's war in Gaza continues. This weekend at least 79 Palestinians were killed across the Gaza strip, many at an aid distribution point operated by the U-...
Jun 17, 2025•12 min
On Saturday, Representative Melissa Hortman, a Democratic-Farmer-Labor party leader in the Minnesota House, was killed along with her husband Mark at their home in a suburb of Minneapolis. Another state representative, Democratic senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette, were also shot, but are recovering. Minnesota governor Tim Walz announced late Sunday that police had caught the main suspect in the case after a massive manhunt. The suspect, Vance Boelter, is due in court on Monday. We discuss...
Jun 16, 2025•11 min
President Donald Trump's decision to send the National Guard to Los Angeles is now up in the air – with a federal appeals court reviewing the case. A lower court has already said Trump acted illegally. For this edition of our weekly politics series, "If You Can Keep It," we explore how presidents can and can't deploy U.S. troops domestically. Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station and subscribe to this podcast. Have questions? Connect with us. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by si...
Jun 16, 2025•31 min
