In Washington these days, Elon Musk seems to be everywhere. In the 15 days Donald Trump has been back in the White House, Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency have been moving to change every corner of the federal government. The billionaire entrepreneur and his team have gained access to a sensitive government payment system in the Treasury Department. They're pushing to drastically reduce the number of federal employees. How did the world's richest man come to have such a big role ...
Feb 04, 2025•10 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Panama Canal has sat at the center of global trade for more than a century, connecting two oceans. The things Americans use every day pass through here, from gas to food. And now, this spot is also at the center of President Trump's global expansionist agenda. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has just wrapped up a trip to Panama where he told the President that if China's influence over the canal isn't curbed the United States will take measures to protect its rights. Trump's threat to take ba...
Feb 03, 2025•12 min•Transcript available on Metacast Most presidents want as much power as they can get. And it's not unusual to see them claim authority that they don't, in the end, actually have. We saw it just last term, when former President Biden tried to unilaterally forgive hundreds of billions of dollars in federal student loans. Or when he announced, days before leaving office that the 28th Amendment, on gender equality, was now the law of the land. So are the opening moves of Trump's presidency just a spicier version of the standard play...
Feb 02, 2025•12 min•Transcript available on Metacast Schools, corporations, even churches, are wrestling with how to approach issues of racial and social justice in a highly polarized U.S. But what happens when people with shared political views disagree on how much is too much? For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for C onsider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org . Email us at considerthis@npr.org . Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Jan 31, 2025•11 min•Transcript available on Metacast What went wrong in the midair collision between a military helicopter and a passenger jet over Reagan National Airport, outside of D.C.? As officials search for clues the country mourns those lost. For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for C onsider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org . Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Jan 30, 2025•12 min•Transcript available on Metacast Robert F. Kennedy Jr. faced senators today in a contentious confirmation hearing to serve as Health and Human Services Secretary under President Trump. He's a former Democrat turned independent presidential candidate turned Trump loyalist. He's also someone who has pushed vaccine misinformation, something he was repeatedly questioned about during his confirmation hearing on Wednesday. HHS is a massive system that oversees everything from the Food and Drug Administration to vaccine funding to the...
Jan 29, 2025•11 min•Transcript available on Metacast Country music singer Charley Crockett was born and raised in Texas, grew up in a single-wide trailer with his mom and says his family lineage traces all the way back to the frontiersman Davy Crockett. This Sunday is the music industry's biggest night the Grammy Awards. And Crockett is up for an award for the first time Best Americana Album for his record "$10 Cowboy." For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for C onsider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org Email us at conside...
Jan 28, 2025•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast Susie Wiles is doing something no woman has done before. She is the first in history to hold the position of White House Chief of Staff. Now, we will find out if she can do something that no one man or woman has ever done before: Impose discipline and order on a Trump White House that was rife with leaks, drama, and by many accounts chaos during his first term. A chief of staff can be the difference between a ground-breaking presidency and chaos. Is Susie Wiles up to the task? For sponsor-free e...
Jan 27, 2025•10 min•Transcript available on Metacast Former President Joe Biden championed DEI programsinitiatives aimed at diversity, equity inclusion and accessibility in recruiting, hiring and retention of federal government employees. In a matter of days and a few pen strokes President Donald Trump brought it all to an end this week. NPR's Pien Huang speaks with Timothy Welbeck, the director of Temple University's Center for Anti-Racism, to understand more about the history of DEI and how it became targeted by President Trump, For sponsor-free...
Jan 26, 2025•10 min•Transcript available on Metacast As evacuation orders are lifted, people in Los Angeles are returning to their homes--if their homes survived. But the disaster doesn't end when the fire stops. A single block and a half separates the Altadena home of Jennifer and Ed Barguiarena from complete destruction. Just down the street lies charred, flattened debris. But for families like the Barguiarenas the seemingly lucky ones, whose houses survived an altogether different ordeal is just beginning. The water still isn't safe to drink, c...
Jan 24, 2025•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast What do Babygirl, Singing in the Rain and Apocalypse Now have in common? They've all been overlooked by Oscar voters. Some Oscar blunders fall into the category of snubs - others show a failure to recognize films that will endure. Now sometimes, these critiques are a matter of movie taste. Sometimes, they're a broader matter of representation raising questions about who the movie industry chooses to celebrate or ignore. The Academy Awards have made some truly epic misses over their long history....
Jan 23, 2025•12 min•Transcript available on Metacast When Donald Trump was sworn in on Monday, he was flanked by billionaires Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg. Also on the dais was Apple CEO Tim Cook, Open AI's CEO Sam Altman, and Bernard Arnault owner of L-V-M-H which owns luxury brands like Dior and Louis Vuitton. An American government closely aligned with money and power is something outgoing President Joe Biden warned about in his farewell address. Oligarchy A word that once more commonly referred to the super wealthy of Eastern Euro...
Jan 22, 2025•11 min•Transcript available on Metacast President Donald J. Trump began taking decisive steps to implement his agenda hours after being sworn in. In the day since he's once again become President, Trump has signed more than 200 executive actions aimed at delivering on campaign promises such as lower energy prices, mass deportations and an end to birthright citizenship. There's been a deluge of actions, orders and pronouncements during the President's first day. From tariffs to immigration to the January 6th pardons we breakdown everyt...
Jan 21, 2025•18 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
