[MUSIC FADES IN]
Good morning and happy New Year. It's Tuesday, January 2nd. Hope you had a nice holiday season. I'm Mark Garrison in for Shumita Basu, who's on maternity leave. On today's show, Iowa prepares to make its mark on the Republican presidential race, the new 2024 laws that could affect your state and your retirement savings and why it's okay to be okay or even terrible at a new hobby.
[MUSIC FADES OUT]
But first, let's take a quick look at some big stories in the news. In Japan, rescuers are working to find survivors of the 7.6 magnitude earthquake. At least 48 people are dead. People on the coast had to seek higher ground after the quake triggered tsunami waves. Also, a Japan Airlines plane was engulfed in flames at Tokyo's Haneda Airport. The airline said all 379 passengers and crew on board were safely evacuated.
Japan's Coast Guard said one of its planes collided with the passenger jet while on its way to deliver aid to earthquake victims. Moving to Gaza, where Israel says it'll start pulling some troops out, but it also says that the fighting is expected to continue well into the year. The U.S. has continued to support Israel's armed forces, but also recently pushed for them to change focus from large-scale bombing and ground assaults to smaller, more targeted operations.
Gaza officials say the death toll there is around 22,000 people, largely civilians. Also, Israel's high court has struck down Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's law to limit the court's power. The move was controversial well before the Gaza war. Critics of Netanyahu saw it as an attempt to remove a check on the power of his government. If he refuses to abide by the ruling, that could throw the country into a constitutional crisis, all while it wages war in Gaza.
And in sports, the college football championship game is now set. Michigan beat Alabama in overtime yesterday, and Washington survived a late scare to beat Texas.
[START ESPN ARCHIVAL CLIP]
[CHEERING]
Washington hangs on and wins the Allstate Sugar Bowl in the college football playoff semifinal.
[END ESPN ARCHIVAL CLIP]
Michigan and Washington will now play for the title on January 8th in Houston.
[UPBEAT MUSIC]
Let's shift now to U.S. politics.
[MUSIC FADES OUT]
We're less than two weeks out from the first real test of former President Trump's campaign: the Iowa caucuses. This comes as Trump faces multiple criminal trials and so far two successful efforts to remove him from state ballots, first in Colorado, then in Maine, though both states have the decisions on hold while Trump appeals. Polls show Trump with a strong lead in Iowa. Earlier, we spoke to L.A. Times political reporter Seema Mehta about the stakes there.
Right now, it's really, really difficult to see a path for anybody but former President Trump to be the GOP nominee. If he comes in over 50 and the other candidates are in the teens at best, it doesn't look good for them.
She says one of the key differences between Trump's 2016 campaign in Iowa, which he lost, is that his organization on the ground is now more sophisticated.
In 2015, 2016, he did not have the most organized campaign. I mean, he had celebrity, certainly, because of his role as a business person and his TV personality, but he did not have a super organized campaign. And this time around, they do have a much more efficient campaign.
And so, even if he hasn't spent as much time in the states, like, you do have people on the ground who are reaching out to caucus goers, who are calling people, who are knocking on doors, who are getting people to sign commit to caucus cards.
Iowa's attorney general is backing Trump, and she told supporters that the campaign has the best organization she'd ever seen. As for the other Republicans in the race, a strong second place finish could be spun as a victory of sorts.
If one of his rivals, basically Ron DeSantis or Nikki Haley, if they come in really close to him as a close second, that could give them momentum going into New Hampshire, and then you head into South Carolina.
Currently, "FiveThirtyEight's" national polling average has Trump at 61%, Haley and DeSantis are at around 11%.
[SOMBER MUSIC]
Now that it's 2024, a bunch of new laws are in effect, concerning everything from guns to diversity initiatives to your 401(k) plan.
[MUSIC FADES OUT]
There's even a legal development involving Mickey Mouse. The "Guardian" has a roundup of all the new gun laws. In California, there's a ban on carrying concealed guns in parks, playgrounds, churches, banks and other public places. In Illinois, it's now much harder to purchase many types of semi-automatic assault weapons, including AK-47s and AR-15s. Colorado is cracking down on ghost guns, weapons that can be made at home without serial numbers for tracing.
And Washington state now has a 10-day waiting period on firearms purchases. All this comes after another deadly year. According to the Gun Violence Archive, there were 656 mass shootings in the U.S. in 2023. In Texas, a new law gets rid of diversity, equity and inclusion offices at public colleges and universities. This one is similar to what was enacted last year in Florida and could spread to other conservative states.
Staying on the topic of higher ed, there's also a big change to help people with student loan debt save for retirement. Now loan payments can be matched with company contributions to 401(k) plans. It's a way for people to pay down their debt without missing out on the benefit of 401(k) matches. And one of the earliest images of Mickey Mouse is now in the public domain. It's the black and white version of Mickey from the 1928 animated short film "Steamboat Willie."
[START STEAMBOAT WILLIE ARCHIVAL CLIP]
[STEAMBOAT WILLIE WHISTLING]
[END STEAMBOAT WILLIE ARCHIVAL CLIP]
Now that the copyright's expired, other creators can put their own spin on it. Some pretty weird stuff could pop up. There's already a trailer for a slasher film called "Mickey's Mouse Trap." Disney is making clear that the copyright expiration only applies to that very early animated version of Mickey, and it'll protect the rights to more modern versions of Mickey Mouse and other characters.
[VIBRANT MUSIC]
Finally, a new year can mean a new hobby.
[MUSIC FADES OUT]
Maybe you got a knitting set or a pasta maker as a holiday gift, or you're taking up a new sport as part of your 2024 fitness resolution. "Vox" argues if you're starting any new hobby, try not to worry if you're not good at it. In fact, it's totally fine if you are terrible. This is very tricky advice to take. For many of us, it's easier to drop a hobby than to struggle with it. And we've come to see not being great at something as a kind of weakness. Social media doesn't help.
People tend to post the most perfectly shaped croissants or the time they nail a yoga headstand, not all the failed attempts before and after. But not being immediately good at something is a normal and healthy part of learning. Babies aren't good at anything because they're trying so many things for the first time. But unlike adults, they're not self-conscious, so they can try and fail until they figure it out.
Experts say it's best to put your self-esteem aside and embrace the new hobby, even if you're lousy at it.
[MUSIC FADES IN]
If you enjoy it, that's more than enough, even if you don't become the world's best bread maker. You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app. And if you're already listening in the News app right now, we've queued up an episode of our interview show "In Conversation." It's an episode from our archive that we think is perfect for the start of the New Year. It's all about cracking the code to happiness.
If you're listening in the Podcasts app, just search for "Apple News In Conversation" to find and follow the show. And I'll be back here with the news tomorrow.
[MUSIC FADES OUT]