Join Shumita Basu every weekday morning as she guides you through some of the most fascinating stories in the news — and how the world’s best journalists are covering them.
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New Yorker staff writer David D. Kirkpatrick spent months tallying up the dizzying amount of cash Trump has made off the presidency. He joins to talk about it. Rachel Siegel, housing reporter at the Washington Post , describes how Dallas has become a national model for how to move the needle on homelessness. California passed a law in 2020 to boost wildfire protections for homes, but its implementation was delayed. Bloomberg reporter Todd Woody examines why — and how the delay affected victims o...
Stalking has become an unsettling part of the elite-sports landscape. The Athletic ’s Carson Kessler investigates why cases are climbing. Washington Post reporter Michael Birnbaum unpacks the key takeaways from Ukrainian President Zelenskyy’s high-stakes meeting at the White House yesterday. Politico reporter Melanie Mason explains California’s plan to redraw election maps in response to Texas. Plus, members of Congress will soon get their hands on some of the Epstein files, why a vaccine adviso...
Politico ’s Paul McLeary joins to talk about what’s next as President Trump meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Washington, D.C., today. Trump failed to secure a peace agreement after meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday. High-profile European leaders are also traveling to Washington in support of Zelenskyy. Several Republican states over the weekend said they will deploy additional National Guard troops to D.C. to join Trump’s crackdown on crime and hom...
Reuters White House correspondent Steve Holland discusses the high-stakes meeting between President Trump and Russian President Putin in Alaska — and what it could mean for President Zelenskyy’s Ukraine. Dan Frosch with the Wall Street Journal breaks down why so many American children live in, or precariously close to, poverty. The largest tech companies in the U.S. are ramping up AI spending. The Washington Post ’s Gerrit De Vynck details the staggering amount of cash being spent. Plus, the bat...
Three out of 10 people have trouble falling and staying asleep. Jennifer Senior, staff writer for The Atlantic , explains why many commonly recommended solutions can only go so far. The Wall Street Journal ’s Matt Grossman lays out why some economists are concerned about Trump’s nominee to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Rachel Uranga with the Los Angeles Times discusses the administration’s aggressive immigration raids in L.A., and how they may have violated the Fourth Amendment. Plus, Tru...
The National Guard was deployed into Washington, D.C. Vera Bergengruen from the Wall Street Journal explains the unprecedented ways the Trump administration is using the military on domestic soil. The U.S. loosened its restrictions for what chips Nvidia can sell to China, in exchange for a percentage of the revenue. Lisa Eadicicco from CNN tells us why it’s such an unusual deal. Israel has faced international condemnation after it killed several journalists in Gaza. The BBC profiles them. Plus, ...
Trump deployed the National Guard to Washington, D.C. Brian Mann from NPR explains how the president is using emergency powers to take control of the city’s police force. Elizabeth Findell from the Wall Street Journal reports on the growing number of ICE detainees being flown from state to state so often that lawyers are losing them in the system. Mothers are leaving the workforce in greater numbers. Abha Bhattarai from the Washington Post has been looking into why. Plus, Trump picked a conserva...
Caitlin Dickerson with the Atlantic reports on how Congress has allocated an unprecedented sum of money to immigration enforcement, and how they might spend it. President Putin is set to visit the U.S. for the first time in a decade to discuss Ukraine with President Trump. But critics are worried the country will be carved up without its leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy present. Nurses are being driven from their profession by violence in the emergency room, as Kyra Breslin reports for Women’s Health ...
Benjamin Netanyahu wants to take control of all of Gaza. Alexander Cornwell with Reuters unpacks what that means. The Trump administration is pulling support for harm-reduction policies for addiction. David Ovalle with the Washington Post describes why. Florida has taken the lead in advancing Trump’s immigration agenda. Jasmine Garsd spoke to In Conversation about what that looks like on the ground. Plus, universities ordered to hand over admissions data on race, why the U.S. is souring on orang...
Tariffs for nearly 70 countries are implemented today. CNN ’s Elisabeth Buchwald explains where all the money is going. Republicans are under pressure to sell the tax-and-spending bill during summer recess. But crowds at town halls aren’t making it easy, as Semafor ’s Eleanor Mueller tells us. U.S. citizens are getting caught up in the immigration crackdown. Sam Levin from The Guardian has been following some disturbing cases. Plus, the latest following a shooting at Georgia’s Fort Stewart, new ...
More universities are beginning to engage with the Trump administration on settlements and other agreements. Liam Knox of Bloomberg News joins to discuss how the White House’s pressure campaign is building. The data centers used to power AI are using up a lot of electricity. Peter Whoriskey at the Washington Post explains what that means for your bills. Journalists in California have unveiled a massive database documenting police use of force and misconduct, using previously unreleased documents...
The Texas governor is in a political showdown with Democrats. Lawmakers have fled the state to derail a redistricting vote that would could hand the GOP more seats for the midterms. McKenzie Funk from ProPublica talks about how ICE agents have turned to smashing through car windows to make arrests. The small African nation of Lesotho was hit with a significant tariff threat earlier this year. The Wall Street Journal ’s Alexandra Wexler reports on the economic impact on the country. Plus, Israeli...
Trump fired a key official after she delivered some bad news about jobs numbers. Courtenay Brown with Axios explains what that means for the credibility of government statistics, and unpacks what we learned about the U.S. economy from last week’s flurry of news. As Trump pushes for an end to the war in Ukraine, many thousands of children taken from the country to Russia are still missing. Simon Shuster, a senior correspondent at Time , joins to discuss his reporting. It’s been one month since se...
Trump unveiled a new set of tariffs across the globe as his deadline arrived. Manuela Andreoni from Reuters explains why he hopes higher duties on Brazil and sanctions against a judge will derail the country’s trial against former President Jair Bolsonaro. One of Trump’s former personal lawyers was narrowly confirmed by Senate Republicans to a lifetime position as a federal appeals judge. Washington Post reporter Perry Stein explains why Emil Bove’s confirmation was so controversial. A drug you’...
As President Trump touts trade deals ahead his Friday tariff deadline, Politico ’s Daniel Desrochers reports that a lot of the details remain murky. Washington Post reporter Liz Goodwin explains how an unlikely alliance formed to fix America’s housing crisis Israel’s blockade on aid to Gaza has created famine conditions, according to a new report . NPR spoke with doctors about the long-term health implications of starvation. Plus, the Federal Reserve held interest rates steady amid historic diss...
One of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded struck off Russia’s east coast, setting off tsunami warnings in the U.S., Japan, and elsewhere. Reuters has the latest. For years, the EPA has regulated greenhouse-gas emissions. Bloomberg News ’s Ari Natter explains why the agency is now trying to change that — and what the consequences could be. Hearings on January’s deadly airline collision near D.C. are getting underway, the Washington Post reports. One of the issues is staffing: The FAA needs m...
According to a ProPublica report, the IRS is building a system that would share taxpayer data with ICE. Investigative reporter William Turton explains his findings. This week we’ll get a slew of new economic data that could indicate some of the impact of Trump’s tariff strategy. Bloomberg News ’s Shawn Donnan joins to discuss what to watch and how the global economy has already changed. The Washington Post uncovered allegations of forced labor in the Brazilian Amazon some decades ago. Rio de Jan...
Photos of emaciated, starving Palestinians have drawn international condemnation of Israel’s blockade of aid to Gaza. NBC reports. Over the weekend, Israel said it would begin allowing more supplies into the enclave. The Washington Post has the details. Cory Turner with NPR explains what SAVE -plan borrowers need to know about their other repayment options as interest starts accruing on their loans this week. Venezuelans deported by the Trump administration say they were tortured during their fo...
The Guardian looks at how Trump’s goal to deport 1 million people in his first year in office stands, six months into his term. The paper’s Will Craft has the details. There has been n a spike in executions in the U.S. After being a witness to some and getting to know death-row inmates, The Atlantic ’s Elizabeth Bruenig speaks to In Conversation , and argues that the death penalty should be abolished. Matthew Dalton with the Wall Street Journal describes how extreme heat is causing European atti...
Trump was briefed in May that his name was among many cited in the files relating to the Jeffrey Epstein case, according to reports from the Wall Street Journal . Meanwhile, a House committee subpoenaed Epstein’s associate Ghislaine Maxwell. NBC News has the latest. Texas Republicans want to redraw the electoral maps in ways that could deliver more wins at next year’s midterms. Eleanor Klibanoff from the Texas Tribune explains. A Los Angeles hospital becomes the latest hospital to withdraw certa...
President Trump has filed an unprecedented libel lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal, claiming $20 billion in damages over a report about Jeffrey Epstein, raising questions about free speech and media retaliation. The episode also details the escalating humanitarian crisis in Gaza as Israeli troops push into new areas, with severe malnutrition and aid blockages affecting civilians. Additionally, new information emerges from the Air India crash investigation, suggesting critical fuel switches were mishandled. Other segments cover political pushback and a scientific mystery concerning Earth's shrinking days.
Six months in, how have the Trump administration’s actions aligned with Project 2025’s plan? The Atlantic ’s David Graham joins the show to assess. Lawyers representing Harvard University and the Trump administration were in court yesterday over the White House’s stripping of billions of dollars in grants. MassLive reports. Over a month ago, members of the National Guard were deployed to Los Angeles amid protests. Jenny Jarvie, national reporter for the L.A. Times , says many are now bored. Plus...
Six months into Trump’s second term in office, a CNN poll finds that a majority of Americans disapprove of the administration’s deportation program. Philip Bump with the Washington Post examines the history of Trump’s support among his base. The recently passed GOP tax-and-spending bill makes steep cuts to Medicaid and SNAP spending. Sarah Wire of USA Today reports on how states are concerned about making up the shortfall. The same bill created a new type of investment account for kids. The Wall...
The House approved Trump’s plans to claw back $8 billion in approved funding for foreign aid. Experts told NPR the administration has provided little to no evidence to justify the cited claims of waste, fraud, and abuse. The Supreme Court is delivering wins for Trump’s agenda while often providing no explanation for its decisions. Bloomberg ’s Lydia Wheeler explores why. The administration is trying to speed up deportation s by making people they detain ineligible for bond hearings. Maria Sacche...
The Senate just passed a bill that would cut more than $1.1 billion in previously allocated federal funds for public media. The Wall Street Journal reports. The president of PBS tells the Washington Post the move would result in an existential crisis for member stations that depend on federal dollars. Trump has been going back and forth on his desire to fire Fed Chair Jerome Powell. Neil Irwin from Axios discusses whether the president has the power to do so, and why a recent Fed building renova...
The Senate voted to advance legislation that would claw back over $9 billion dollars for foreign aid and public media that both chambers of Congress, and President Trump himself had previously approved. Reuters ’s Bo Erickson explains how it's part of a broader effort by the administration to assert more authority over the federal budget. The executive director of Camp Mystic, the all-girls camp in Texas, received a severe flood warning on his phone in the early-morning hours of July 4. Accordin...
New reporting from the Miami Herald reveals that a significant portion of detainees held at an immigration detention facility in the Florida Everglades do not have criminal charges. Reporter Ana Ceballos joins to discuss that story and another highlighting conditions inside. Some Trump supporters inside and outside of the White House are disappointed with how the administration handled the Jeffrey Epstein case. The Washington Post ’s Natalie Allison reports on how the broader MAGA movement is re...
It’s one year since the assassination attempt against Trump, and a damning Senate committee report just described the event as a “preventable tragedy.” Carol Leonnig at the Washington Post explains what went wrong and what we know about the shooter’s motives . New reporting from CNN indicates that recently implemented cost controls may have delayed FEMA’s response to the deadly floods in Texas. Scott Peterson was convicted of killing his wife in 2002. He always professed his innocence, and now t...
Trump is expected to visit Texas today, amid longer-term questions over the future of FEMA. Zack Colman from Politico takes us through them. The president has recently expressed frustration with Russia’s Putin. The Wall Street Journal ’s Matthew Luxmoore explains why, and explores what could come next in the war in Ukraine. Federal immigration agents are increasingly wearing masks. Jenny Jarvie of the Los Angeles Times describes how that’s affecting targeted communities. Plus, student activist M...
A federal judge issued a new, temporary nationwide block on Trump’s birthright citizenship ban. Tom Hals of Reuters told us about the plaintiffs’ legal strategy. Lily Hay Newman, a senior writer for Wired , takes us behind the scenes of a group of young cybercriminals called the Scattered Spider. Plus, measles has hit record levels in the U.S., Elon Musk lost his CEO at X, and the AI music going viral . Today’s episode was hosted by Shumita Basu....
