Ranked choice voting is a way of electing candidates that's different from what most Americans are used to. As a voter, you get to rank your preferred candidates. So, you don't just choose one name. You may have a first, second, and third preference for who represents you. When voting is over, a process of elimination takes place. The lowest vote-getter in the first round is eliminated, and their votes are redistributed to higher vote-getters, according to how voters ranked the other candidates....
Aug 26, 2024•32 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Democratic Party gathered in Chicago this week for the party's national convention ahead of November's election to ceremonially confirm their nominee in the 2024 presidential race: Vice President Kamala Harris. Elsewhere and across the aisle, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, the GOP vice presidential nominee, made an appearance in Wisconsin Tuesday, criticizing Democrats over crime in communities like Kenosha. Meanwhile, after further talks between mediators this week, a ceasefire agreement between Israe...
Aug 23, 2024•1 hr 23 min•Transcript available on Metacast Dr. Ruth Westheimer was unassuming – a small woman with a friendly smile and an ever-present German accent. As she would say, she could be someone's mother or grandmother. But a grandmother who told you what you needed to know about sex. She died in July at the age of 96. She spent more than 50 of those years teaching America how to talk about sex, using straightforward medical terms and rejecting a sense of shame around the subject. We look at her legacy, and how she impacted the way Americans ...
Aug 22, 2024•33 min•Transcript available on Metacast As climate change continues to warm the world, the aging systems and outdated infrastructure that help bring us clean water are buckling. Severe weather events like floods and droughts also disrupt our water infrastructure and supply. How are America's communities dealing with water-related challenges like boil advisories and contaminations events? How is it changing the day-to-day lives of the people who live there? Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station and subscribe to th...
Aug 21, 2024•33 min•Transcript available on Metacast President Joe Biden recently unveiled his plan to reform the Supreme Court. The proposals aim to counteract what he sees as a crisis of public confidence caused by decisions like the the overturning of a longstanding precedent in Roe v. Wade and the decision to grant broad immunity to presidents. Polls show most Americans are behind reform. According to a July Fox News national survey, approval of the court dropped to a record low of 38 percent. And according to a poll from earlier this month by...
Aug 20, 2024•32 min•Transcript available on Metacast Disinformation and misinformation are spreading. Like rumors of widespread election fraud even though after dozens of court cases, statewide audits, and innumerable investigations, there's no evidence for it. The stakes are high – for our upcoming election, for our national security, and even for our relationships. How and why are falsehoods spreading this election cycle? And how can we fight back? Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station and subscribe to this podcast. Have qu...
Aug 19, 2024•34 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Trump campaign confirms it's been hacked. July's Consumer Price Index showed that annual inflation dipped below 3 percent for the first time since 2021. Experts say this puts the Federal Reserve firmly on track to cut interest rates at its meeting next month. Meanwhile, two military groups are at war in Sudan, each trying to take control of the country. Ukraine deals a major counterblow when its military launches a surprise attack into Russia. And the World Health Organization declares mpox ...
Aug 16, 2024•1 hr 24 min•Transcript available on Metacast According to 2022 data published by the CDC, birth rates declined for women 24 and under and rose for women ages 25 to 29 and even older from 35 to 49. For many women, having children later in life is made possible through fertility treatment. That phrase encompasses a lengthy journey of testing and treatments. One that has many steps and many a dollar attached to it. Kristen V. Brown is a health reporter. She went through the IVF journey in the U.S. and documented it in the new podcast "Misconc...
Aug 15, 2024•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast Israel and Hamas ceasefire talks were supposed to take place today. But on Sunday, Hamas backed out. The U.S. has been working on a ceasefire deal for months. And this week was a crucial moment in those inner workings, with White House officials ready to travel for what would have been a final day of negotiations per the American-proposed "deadline." The talks – hosted by the U.S., Qatar, and Egypt – were supposed to be the final steps before peace, even if temporary. Now, U.S. intelligence sugg...
Aug 15, 2024•12 min•Transcript available on Metacast It's after midnight in Texas. On a military base tarmac, a plane lands. The door opens and one American after another steps out into the summer night. Their names are Paul Whelan, Evan Gershkovich, and Alsu Kurmasheva. A landmark prisoner exchange with Russia on Aug. 1 released the three Americans, as well as American green card holder Vladimir Kara-Murza. The effort involved multiple countries and months of negotiations. We discuss what we know about how the U.S. brokered this deal with Russia....
Aug 14, 2024•35 min•Transcript available on Metacast Or rather – the tens of millions of editors who have contributed and updated its pages. More than 100,000 so-called "Wikipedians" have done so in the past month alone. Debate often arises among editors. For example, a couple months ago, editors thrashed out where the two words "convicted felon" should appear on Donald Trump's page. In the first few sentences? Or buried further down? What does the future of the site hold? Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station and subscribe t...
Aug 13, 2024•34 min•Transcript available on Metacast Some 67 percent of Republicans say the Bible should influence U.S. laws to some extent, compared to 32 percent of Democrats. That's according to a report this year from the Pew Research Center. In June, Louisiana became the first state to require the Ten Commandments to be posted in classrooms. And earlier this year, Alabama's Supreme Court cited the Bible in a ruling that frozen embryos created through in-vitro fertilization are considered children. What does this mean for U.S. politics? And wh...
Aug 12, 2024•32 min•Transcript available on Metacast It's sitting in your home right now, humming away. If prompted, you might say it's one of the most important appliances you own. But you probably don't give your refrigerator too much thought. The humble fridge has been a staple in American households since it became popular in the 1940s and '50s. Fridges today have more space than ever, and more gadgets to make them "smart." But sometimes, problems arise. Wilting lettuce, a container of strawberries going bad days before you expected. An icemak...
Aug 11, 2024•35 min•Transcript available on Metacast The candidates in the 2024 election are finally clear. Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz will be the Democratic candidates. The stock market tumbled on Monday. The S&P fell over 3 percent in a single day. There has been, however, a slight rebound as the week has continued. Meanwhile, overseas, Israel is bracing for expected retaliation from Iran and its proxies following the assassinations of a senior Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran and a senior Hezbollah leader, F...
Aug 09, 2024•1 hr 27 min•Transcript available on Metacast How do you tie together the stories of ancient Egypt, Robin Hood, Freddy Kreuger, and Hamlet – on a single stage? Well, through time travel, of course. But also with the minds and talent of a group of actors at Sing Sing correctional facility in New York. Such a play – titled "Breakin' the Mummy's Code" – was made possible through a program called RTA: Rehabilitation Through the Arts. It was born in 1996 after a group of incarcerated men at Sing Sing put on a few theater productions. They decide...
Aug 08, 2024•37 min•Transcript available on Metacast It's been a brutal year for wildfires. Nearly 100 are raging right now across the U.S. And the season's peak hasn't even arrived. In California, the Park Fire has gobbled up 400,000 acres since July 24, making it the fourth-largest blaze in state history. Worsening wildfires are a result of climate change, which has created drier, warmer conditions. That's dangerous for those in the path of the flames – but also downwind. Kids' lungs are especially vulnerable to the smoke. Their growing bodies a...
Aug 07, 2024•34 min•Transcript available on Metacast Airfares have gone up 25 percent in the last year. And the average U.S. driver spent 42 hours, or a full work week, in traffic congestion last year. Enter trains. A record number of people are hitting the tracks. While passenger trains have been a common mode of transportation for centuries, the country has never had a dedicated high-speed rail line. That's expected to change in the next few years with two high-speed rail lines currently under construction in the Southwest and several more in pl...
Aug 06, 2024•32 min•Transcript available on Metacast Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is the man of the hour. The Democrat will join Vice President Kamala Harris on the ticket come November as her pick for vice president. He was selected from a group of Democratic officials including Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker. He's expected to appear alongside Vice President Harris at her rally today in Philadelphia. We discuss how Vice President Harris' choice might appeal to Democratic voters nationwide. Want...
Aug 06, 2024•11 min•Transcript available on Metacast Kamala Harris is scheduled to start campaigning with her new running mate tomorrow which means a decision is fast approaching. Two of the three candidates hail from swing states, indicating a desire to appeal to moderate voters. Harris met with Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz yesterday. Moderates are an important group in this election, especially for Democrats. A 2022 Gallup poll suggests the percentage of Americans who hold either moderate o...
Aug 05, 2024•43 min•Transcript available on Metacast The National Association for Black Journalists invited former President Donald Trump for an on-stage interview on Wednesday. Iowa's abortion ban went into effect this week. And, in global news, Israel says two major leaders of Hamas were killed this week. While the U.N. Human Rights Office issued a report saying tens of thousands of Palestinians have been arbitrarily detained by Israeli authorities since Oct. 7. We cover the most important stories in America and around the world in our weekly Ne...
Aug 02, 2024•1 hr 27 min•Transcript available on Metacast In most places in the U.S., if you see a pothole or broken streetlight, you can contact the city to request a repair. But response times vary dramatically. In Memphis, Tennessee, it takes an average of five days for the city to fill a pothole upon a citizen's request. Louisville, Kentucky, and Miami Florida, complete the task within a couple of weeks. But, in New Orleans, citizens wait an average of 355 days for a pothole to be filled. Our "Local Spotlight" series hits the road. We highlight the...
Aug 01, 2024•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast It's been called the largest IT outage in history. A simple security update took down over 8 million machines, affecting industries from airlines to broadcast news to hospitals. The buggy update came from cybersecurity company CrowdStrike and affected systems using Microsoft. Since that outage a couple of weeks ago, CrowdStrike and Microsoft have run their own investigations into what happened. But the federal government is also looking for answers. A House committee is calling on CrowdStrike's ...
Jul 31, 2024•38 min•Transcript available on Metacast James Baldwin is one of the most celebrated American writers of the 20th century. He wrote novels, essays, short stories, poetry, and even a screenplay. He's best known for his affecting prose, his depth of thought, and his clear moral vision for the country. Some 40 years after his death, much of what he had to say about America continues to resonate. This week, Baldwin would have turned 100 years old. In a moment when Democracy is at risk, when wars abroad are being protested at home, when rac...
Jul 30, 2024•33 min•Transcript available on Metacast It's been a week since Vice President Kamala Harris seemingly fell out of a coconut tree... and into her spot as the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination. President Biden's decision to bow out of the race, paired with swift and enthusiastic Harris endorsements from high-ranking Democrats has breathed new energy into the campaign. Another thing that's helping? The endless flood of memes that show the vice president dancing, clapping, giving a thorough Thanksgiving turkey recipe, and of cours...
Jul 29, 2024•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast President Joe Biden addressed the nation from the White House this week, explaining his decision to step down as the Democrats nominee for the 2024 presidential election. The Department of Justice is set to investigate why an Illinois sheriff's deputy killed a Black woman named Sonya Massey in her home, killing her via a fatal gunshot to the head. Amid his country's continuing campaign to devastate Hamas, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed Congress this week, framing his militar...
Jul 27, 2024•1 hr 23 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Paris Olympic games officially begin tomorrow. We've been covering the lead up to the summer games with our series "Rings and Things" and today we're wrapping up the series with a look at what's new. Breaking, or breakdancing, will make its Olympic debut in a couple weeks. Four American breakers qualified for the sport's first ever Olympic competition. Its inclusion comes as other youth-led sports return, including skateboarding, climbing, and surfing. Spectators can expect a number of other...
Jul 25, 2024•33 min•Transcript available on Metacast We've talked about Paris as the host of the 2024 Summer Olympics. But now, it's time to talk about Paris as a place where many, many people live with a culture all its own. What's left to be said about the city of lights? It's the setting of great works of fiction, both on screen and on the page. It's played a pivotal role throughout Western history, serving as a hub for learning, commerce, diplomacy, and more. It's the ideal vacation destination for millions upon millions of people every year. ...
Jul 24, 2024•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week, the fashion capital of the world becomes the sporting capital of the world with the Summer Olympics kicking off in Paris, France. The world's best athletes will be outfitted in premiere designs which not only make them look good, but also help them compete at the highest levels possible. Name brand sponsors dress the Games and the players head to toe. Louis Vuitton designed special trunks to carry the medals. Rihanna's Fenty Beauty created a designated makeup look for volunteers. Even...
Jul 23, 2024•33 min•Transcript available on Metacast Democrats are rallying around Vice President Kamala Harris as their new frontrunner for the nomination. As her campaign takes shape, attention is turning to who she could choose as her running mate. But with less than a month before the Democratic National Convention, she'll have to make her decision quickly. We discuss who she might choose to join her ticket and how that choice could sway voters in key swing states. Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station and subscribe to th...
Jul 23, 2024•23 min•Transcript available on Metacast The 2024 Summer Olympics are nearly here. The host city, Paris, will kick off the Games with an opening ceremony on Friday. A flotilla of boats will make its way down the city's river, the Seine. This is the first in a special 1A series we're bringing you this week about the Summer Olympics, called "Rings and Things. "We'll take part of the show over the next four days to bring you the Olympics from a new angle. A different story embedded in this massive, international competition. We examine ho...
Jul 23, 2024•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
