Episodes

  • The Map Men On Missing Islands And The Meaning Of Mistakes

    The Map Men On Missing Islands And The Meaning Of Mistakes
    Oct 21 2025
    Last year, Americans spent more than 300 billion minutes on navigation apps, like Waze or Google Maps.

    The GPS systems in our pockets have come a long way from the first known map, carved into a mammoth tusk 30,000 years ago.

    But even with satellites tracking us and the ever-changing Earth from the skies – digital maps aren’t fact. Errors can show up and are sometimes as old as maps themselves. The phantom island of Sandy Island appeared on Google Maps until 2012, when Australian scientists sailed to its supposed location and found only open ocean.

    Mistakes on maps were sometimes intentional, sometimes not – but every single one tells a bigger story.

    How and why did it get there? What does it reveal about the creator of the map and the world around them?

    We sit down with Jay Foreman and Mark Cooper-Jones, better known as the Map Men on YouTube, to talk through these questions and more.

    Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.

    Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    NPR Privacy Policy
    Show More Show Less
    33 mins
  • 'If You Can Keep It': Trump Takes Aim At Academic Freedom

    'If You Can Keep It': Trump Takes Aim At Academic Freedom
    Oct 20 2025
    The Trump administration has cut federal funding to colleges and universities it says don’t align with conservative priorities. And now, the White House says it will reward schools that follow in its ideological footsteps.

    Earlier this month, the administration sent a list of demands to nine schools. Officials are calling it the “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education.” Its stipulations include ending considerations of race and sex in admissions and hiring, capping international student enrollment, and limiting what faculty can say about certain issues.

    Five institutions — Brown University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Southern California, the University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Virginia — have rejected the proposal. The others have yet to comment.

    Trump’s compact is the latest chapter in the story of how his administration is trying to exert influence over higher education. In March, the White House canceled $400 million in federal grants and contracts to Columbia University over allegations of antisemitism.

    In this edition of “If You Can Keep It,” our weekly series on the state of democracy, we talk about higher education and what’s at stake if academic freedom is compromised.


    Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ atplus.npr.org/the1a.

    Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    NPR Privacy Policy
    Show More Show Less
    28 mins
  • The News Roundup For October 17, 2025

    The News Roundup For October 17, 2025
    Oct 17 2025
    John Bolton, President Donald Trump’s former national security advisor, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Maryland this week.

    Also, a federal judge in San Francisco halted the mass layoffs of federal workers by the Trump administration.

    The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas is now in its second week, as both sides hand over hostages and return the bodies of those captured during the conflict.

    The United States continues to destroy boats off the coast of Venezuela as part of a supposed campaign against drug cartels.

    Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.

    Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    NPR Privacy Policy
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 25 mins
  • What Department of Education Cuts Mean For Special Education

    What Department of Education Cuts Mean For Special Education
    Oct 16 2025
    The Trump administration has decimated the Department of Education with staffing cuts.

    Now, the latest round of layoffs all but wipes out the Office of Special Education Programs. So, what does that mean for the millions of kids who rely on these services?

    We sit down to talk about how Education Department cuts will affect children with disabilities.

    Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ atplus.npr.org/the1a.

    Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    NPR Privacy Policy
    Show More Show Less
    36 mins
  • Why The Trump Administration Is Blowing Up Venezuelan Boats

    Why The Trump Administration Is Blowing Up Venezuelan Boats
    Oct 15 2025
    Last month, the Trump administration started blowing up boats off the coast of Venezuela, calling it part of an “armed conflict” with drug cartels. The White House’s so-called “war on cartels” is increasingly centered on Venezuela, not Mexico or Haiti, where most of these organizations actually operate.

    The president is linking these cartels to the Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. The South American strong man has indicated he’s ready to declare a state of emergency in his country if things progress much further.

    So, are these actions about drugs, or are they really about regime change?

    Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.

    Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    NPR Privacy Policy
    Show More Show Less
    32 mins
  • The Atlantic Celebrates America’s 250th Birthday

    The Atlantic Celebrates America’s 250th Birthday
    Oct 14 2025
    As part of a special issue this November, The Atlantic tasked writers and historians with looking at the country’s founding era to find out what America’s political thinkers valued at its beginning.

    The goal is to remind people in the U.S. about the abstract ideas enshrined in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and other important revolutionary documents. And, how reconnecting with those ideals might help us as we struggle to keep American democracy together 250 years later.

    We discuss this edition of The Atlantic with two of its contributing writers, hear about why the founding of the country is relevant today, and where we might be going next.

    And we want to hear from you. How would you fill in the blanks for these four statements?

    1. “At the founding of the United States, some of the country’s most important political values were BLANK.”

    2. “After 250 years of U.S. history, I would describe the country’s *track record* of following through on those values and ideals as BLANK.”

    3. “Right now, an outside observer would likely look at our politics and say we value BLANK.”

    4. “When it comes to the United States as a country over the next decade or the next century, I want to see BLANK.”

    Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ atplus.npr.org/the1a.

    Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    NPR Privacy Policy
    Show More Show Less
    33 mins
  • 'If You Can Keep It': ICE Crackdowns In Chicago And Portland

    'If You Can Keep It': ICE Crackdowns In Chicago And Portland
    Oct 13 2025
    President Donald Trump promised to crackdown on immigration in Democratic-led cities using aggressive tactics like detaining people based on their race and deploying the National Guard to support Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

    He deployed the National Guard in Los Angeles and Washington D.C. this summer. He launched an ICE operation in Boston.

    Now, he’s escalating his crackdowns in Chicago and Portland.ICE has made more than 1,000 arrests in Chicago according to the Department of Homeland Security since it began what it’s calling “Operation Midway Blitz” last month.

    Nearly half of the FBI agents working in major U.S. offices have been reassigned to immigration enforcement, according to newly released bureau data. What does this radical shift in law enforcement priorities mean for the cities at the center of the president’s crackdown — and for the country more broadly?

    Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.

    Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    NPR Privacy Policy
    Show More Show Less
    44 mins
  • The News Roundup For October 10, 2025

    The News Roundup For October 10, 2025
    Oct 10 2025
    President Donald Trump threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act this week.

    He continues to clash with state and municipal authorities over the limits of his abilities to send Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents into American cities.

    Meanwhile, Republicans in Congress are eyeing their Democratic counterparts, looking for someone from the opposition to join them in voting for a bill that would reopen the government, more than a week into a shutdown.

    Former FBI Director James Comey was arraigned this week, pleading not guilty on Wednesday to charges that he lied to Congress, and saying he would move to have a court dismiss the case.

    Meanwhile, the first phase of a peace deal between Israel and Hamas was agreed to this week. But questions remain over how both parties will move forward with the details of the agreement.

    Despite a friendly summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Donald Trump in Alaska in August, the Russian government is claiming that any headway made during that meeting has largely been undone.

    And after just 28 days, Sébastien Lecornu’s time as France’s prime minister came to an end this week. He’s President Macron’s fifth government leader to head for the exit in less than two years.

    Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.

    Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    NPR Privacy Policy
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 25 mins