Bloomberg News reports on Harvard University’s pushback to demands from the Trump administration and the resulting retribution. CNN examines how other universities have responded. And Wesleyan president Michael Roth talks about his own approach. The Wall Street Journal ’s Yaroslav Trofimov joins to discuss how some U.S. allies are hedging their bets in a trade war with China. As the White House and El Salvador have declined to help return Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the Uni...
Apr 16, 2025•15 min
El Salvador President Nayib Bukele said he will not help return Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the U.S. after Garcia was mistakenly deported to El Salvador. NBC News has more. And Rolling Stone reports on private White House considerations about sending U.S. citizens there as well. Joseph Walker from the Wall Street Journal joins to talk about a possible way that Republicans could cut Medicaid funding. Anil Oza, Sharon Begley fellow at Stat News , discusses the rise in U.S. maternal mortality ra...
Apr 15, 2025•14 min
The government says Meta broke the law when it acquired Instagram and WhatsApp. The trial starts today. The Verge ’s Lauren Feiner details the case. The Trump administration has purposely classified thousands of living immigrants as dead. Lisa Rein from the Washington Post explains why. Universities are coming off a pandemic that closed campuses and reduced enrollment numbers. These days, they’re contending with the Trump administration’s disruptive cuts to research. Bloomberg ...
Apr 14, 2025•14 min
At the end of a chaotic week for the markets, we ask Bloomberg reporter Shawn Donnan what it’s all been for. Plus, the Supreme Court says the Trump administration must facilitate the return of a man who was erroneously deported, six people died in a helicopter crash in the Hudson River, and why politics and high visa costs have some international music artists rethinking big events in the U.S. Today’s episode was hosted by Shumita Basu....
Apr 11, 2025•15 min
A look at China’s targeted response to Trump’s tariffs. Lingling Wei with the Wall Street Journal has the details. The IRS and the DHS have finalized an agreement to share taxpayer data with federal immigration authorities as part of Trump’s deportation crackdown. Shannon Najmabadi with the Washington Post breaks down what the policy change could mean for immigrants without legal status. International students are seeing their visas revoked without warning or reas...
Apr 10, 2025•14 min
Tensions are rising within the White House as a result of inconsistent messaging on the policy goals for tariffs. Bloomberg ’s Justin Sink details the challenge in sorting out the varying disputes. The Trump administration is using a point system to determine who is eligible to be deported. Sergio Martínez-Beltrán with NPR describes how the system is leading to critical errors. The Los Angeles Times looks at the administration’s attempts to strip legal fun...
Apr 09, 2025•15 min
Michigan’s auto industry is at the forefront of the economic turmoil brought on by the Trump administration’s tariffs. The Wall Street Journal ’s Jeanne Whalen tells us about the impact on manufacturers and workers so far. Flight attendants who work for the airline that’s overseeing most of the federal government’s deportation flights told ProPublica ’s McKenzie Funk that they don’t feel like they can treat passengers humanely — or keep them...
Apr 08, 2025•15 min
The Trump administration is defending sweeping tariffs that sent markets careening. Shawn Donnan of Bloomberg News discusses what might happen next. Trump has attempted to revoke temporary protected status for some Venezuelans. KFF Health News reporter Vanessa G. Sánchez tells us how the caregiving industry could be affected. The Wall Street Journal examines the recent killing of Palestinian paramedics and how cellphone video footage helped detail the incident. Plus, a second child has di...
Apr 07, 2025•14 min
President Trump’s tariffs have caused U.S. markets to plummet. How to prepare for a potential recession, and how the tariffs might have an outsized impact on a small African nation. Plus, Semafor ’s Elana Schor joins to discuss major news from Washington this week including Sen. Cory Booker’s record-length speech, and a push for proxy voting in the House. Today’s episode was hosted by Shumita Basu....
Apr 04, 2025•13 min
A Maryland father was mistakenly sent to a Salvadoran prison. The administration called it an “administrative error.” Nick Miroff of The Atlantic joins to discuss. Farmers, a constituency that supported Trump, are worried about the impact of tariffs. The Wall Street Journal ’s Kristina Peterson talks about how they’re feeling. Politico ’s Alice Miranda Ollstein discusses a Planned Parenthood case that went before the Supreme Court. Plus, why you shouldn&rsquo...
Apr 03, 2025•14 min
Americans are feeling uneasy about the economy. Business Insider ’s Emily Stewart describes why. New election results from Wisconsin and Florida provide indications to how voters are thinking about Trump and Elon Musk. NBC News and Politico have the details. Last week, Palestinians protested Hamas in Gaza. NPR ’s Daniel Estrin explains the actions’ significance. Plus, the Justice Department is seeking the death penalty in the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO, Cory Booker...
Apr 02, 2025•14 min
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has been denying people entry into the country after searching their phones. Gaby Del Valle from The Verge details what travelers should know about their rights. Andrea González-Ramírez, senior writer for The Cut , joins to discuss her reporting on a woman who was criminally charged after suffering a miscarriage. The Washington Post ’s Patrick Marley tells us what to watch in today’s Wisconsin Supreme Court race. Plus, the worst quarter for t...
Apr 01, 2025•14 min
The Trump administration’s drive to dismantle inclusion policies is undercutting federal funding for scientific-research grants. The 19th looks into some of the fallout. CNN reports on how special elections for two House seats in Florida this week have Republican leaders worried about their razor-thin majority. A preliminary report from South Korea’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission acknowledges that the government failed to protect the rights of adoptees. The Washin...
Mar 31, 2025•14 min
Politico ’s Dasha Burns joins to discuss the political blowback after the leak of a Trump administration group chat on Signal that included war plans. Plus, Trump pulled the nomination of Rep. Elise Stefanik for U.N. ambassador, mass layoffs at HHS, and what archaeologists learned from ancient footprints in North America. Today’s episode was hosted by Shumita Basu....
Mar 28, 2025•13 min
The Washington Post ’s Todd Frankel joins to talk about how Elon Musk and Trump’s claims of rampant fraud and waste at the Social Security Administration are overblown. Meanwhile, new rules on Social Security overpayments go into effect this week, CBS News reports. Erin Mulvaney with the Wall Street Journal explains why Trump is targeting law firms with executive orders. The leaders of NPR and PBS testified on Capitol Hill, as public media comes under attack. CNN’s Brian Stelte...
Mar 27, 2025•14 min
Earlier this month Venezuelans were designated as gang members by the U.S. with little to no due process, deported to El Salvador, and imprisoned. Photojournalist Philip Holsinger with Time , who was on the tarmac when they arrived, describes what he observed. Government officials faced hard questions in a congressional hearing about how a journalist ended up in a private conversation about war plans on a commercial messaging app. The Washington Post has the details. The Trump administrat...
Mar 26, 2025•15 min
Trump officials inadvertently added a journalist to a text thread discussing sensitive military plans, The Atlantic reports. It all took place over a non-government-sanctioned messaging app called Signal. Trump’s border and immigration crackdown is sweeping up unexpected people, including some with valid documents and some for expressing their opinions on the administration. NBC and Politico have details on individuals caught up in the chaos. The White House’s inconsistent mes...
Mar 25, 2025•15 min
Trump’s executive order to dismantle the Department of Education could hurt rural and low-income schools. Axios reports that states that voted for Trump might be hit the hardest. Venezuelans were sent from the U.S. to El Salvador after the Trump administration alleged, without sharing evidence, that they belonged to a gang. The Washington Post ’s Silvia Foster-Frau explains how the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 factors in. Canada doesn’t have the same issues as t...
Mar 24, 2025•14 min
Are the checks and balances that define American democracy breaking down? Ankush Khardori, an attorney, former federal prosecutor, and senior writer for Politico , joins to help us take stock of this moment — and where we go from here. Plus, Trump signed an executive order aimed at dismantling the Department of Education, former high-ranking government officials had their Social Security numbers leaked in the JFK assassination documents, and a woman was elected to lead the International Olympic ...
Mar 21, 2025•15 min
Health officials in Texas say the measles outbreak could take a year to contain. Stat has the details. A father in mourning spoke to The Atlantic about what it was like to lose a child to the disease. Reuters ’ Dawn Chmielewski explains the unusual role the White House is playing in the sale of TikTok. Justin Williams and Sabreena Merchant with The Athletic share what they’ll be watching for during March Madness . Plus, a jury ordered Greenpeace to pay more than $660 million i...
Mar 20, 2025•14 min
Two astronauts returned to Earth yesterday after spending more than nine months in space. Andrea Leinfelder, reporter at the Houston Chronicle , tells us about the journey. The latest from two crises overseas: Hours after Putin agreed in a phone call with Trump to pause attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure, Russia launched missiles and drones into Ukraine. And Israeli forces have resumed full combat in Gaza, the BBC reports. Florida offers an early window into how the Trump administr...
Mar 19, 2025•14 min
Hamas accused Israel of violating the ceasefire agreement early Tuesday after a wave of military strikes in Gaza killed more than 400 people, Palestinian authorities said. A federal judge pressed Justice Department officials to explain why flights carrying Venezuelan migrants were allowed to land in El Salvador despite a ruling he issued to turn the flights back. ABC News reports that the judge was skeptical of the administration’s argument justifying its action. The Wall Street Journal ’s...
Mar 18, 2025•16 min
The U.S. apprehended and deported valid visa and green-card holders over the past few months. Newsweek reports that among them was a doctor from Brown University’s medical school. Business Insider says the administration’s hardline immigration policy and trade war are scaring away tourists. Trump invoked a wartime law to deport hundreds of migrants allegedly affiliated with a Venezuelan gang over the weekend. NBC News reports that a judge blocked the law’s use, but not before the dep...
Mar 17, 2025•13 min
On today’s show: David Weigel of Semafor joins to talk about the various responses to the Trump administration from Democrats and those forming an early opposition to his moves. Plus, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer changes his position and backs the GOP’s funding bill, Trump’s effort to ban birthright citizenship makes it to the Supreme Court, and Donatella Versace steps down . Today’s episode was hosted by Shumita Basu....
Mar 14, 2025•14 min
In recent weeks, there's been rising consumer backlash against Tesla. The Wall Street Journal ’s Becky Peterson explains how Elon Musk's role in Trump's government is impacting his businesses. The Washington Post ’s Mary Beth Sheridan examines Trump’s relationship with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum. A judge says Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil will remain in a Louisiana immigration jail for now. There's been widespread condemnation of his arrest by human rights lawyers and first amendm...
Mar 13, 2025•15 min
On today’s show: Daniel Flatley of Bloomberg News explains Trump’s tariff policies and some of the economic pressures around them. The Guardian examines why the Department of Education is investigating allegations of antisemitism on college campuses. CNN ’s Deidre McPhillips looks at what happened the last time the U.S. faced a significant measles outbreak — and the valuable lessons learned from the public-health response. Plus, the House passed a stopgap funding measure to av...
Mar 12, 2025•15 min
On today’s show: Immigration authorities arrested Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate who led demonstrations on campus. NBC News reports on how Trump has promised that it’s the first of many such arrests to come. Amanda Coletta , Canada correspondent for the Washington Post , explains how Trump’s actions have affected politics in the country. Justine Calma, science reporter with The Verge , joins to discuss the impact of cuts at the Nation...
Mar 11, 2025•15 min
On today’s show: House Speaker Mike Johnson introduced a stopgap spending bill to avoid a partial government shutdown scheduled for Friday. NBC News reports that Trump is on board but that it’s unclear if Republicans have the votes to pass the bill in either chamber. Sanne Wass, a reporter in Denmark for Bloomberg , joins to discuss how Trump’s comments about taking over Greenland have shaken up the territory’s upcoming elections. The Wall Street Journal ’s Kristina Peter...
Mar 10, 2025•13 min
On today’s show: Aaron Wiener of the Washington Post joins to discuss the confusion among federal workers as some returned to offices with canceled leases . ProPublica ’s Joshua Kaplan explains how an evangelical pastor and House Speaker Mike Johnson came to share a home in Washington, D.C. Atlantic staff writer McKay Coppins joins this week’s Apple News In Conversation to talk about a bitter succession drama in the Murdoch family. Plus, Trump backs off certain tariffs, the fir...
Mar 07, 2025•12 min
On today’s show: ProPublica ’s Andy Kroll examines how Trump’s cuts at the IRS could make it harder for the federal government to root out fraud. Dylan Baddour of Inside Climate News joins to explain a case at the Supreme Court pitting Texas against the federal government on nuclear-waste disposal. Leslie Patton, a consumer reporter at Bloomberg News , examines what happened to one company as the backlash to black-plastic kitchen utensils grew. Plus, the Supreme C...
Mar 06, 2025•14 min
