Episodes

  • Misinformation channels to the Oval Office

    Misinformation channels to the Oval Office
    May 25 2025
    President Trump's spreading of the false claim that South Africa is perpetrating a genocide against its white inhabitants is just the latest example of misinformation making its way from corners of the internet into presidential statements or even policy.

    This isn't the first time that a falsehood that began on the fringes of the right-wing made its way to the Trump White House. NPR's Scott Detrow and Lisa Hagen examine how these beliefs have been able to reach the Oval Office.

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    9 mins
  • The Supreme Court's Trump Dilemma

    The Supreme Court's Trump Dilemma
    May 24 2025
    The Supreme Court has become the focal point of the legal battle over President Donald Trump's executive authority – and presidential power more broadly.

    Few reporters are as prepared as NPR's Nina Totenberg to report on this unique moment.

    Over the last fifty years, Totenberg established herself as the preeminent Supreme Court reporter in America. She's broken countless stories – including allegations of sexual harassment by Clarence Thomas during the justice's 1991 confirmation hearings.

    For this week's Reporter's Notebook host Scott Detrow speaks with Totenberg about this crucial moment in the court's history and consequential cases she has covered over the years.

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    13 mins
  • Can Trump suspend habeas corpus?

    Can Trump suspend habeas corpus?
    May 23 2025
    Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem got a pop quiz at a senate hearing this week. The question came from Democratic Senator Maggie Hassan, of New Hampshire.

    Hassan asked Noem to to explain habeas corpus.

    For the record, habeas corpus is the legal principle, enshrined in the Constitution, that protects people from illegal detention.

    The reason that this bit of Latin is under discussion – is because the Trump administration says it's considering suspending habeas corpus.

    This core constitutional protection has been an obstacle to the President's mass deportation plan.

    Habeas corpus is a principle that's hundreds of years older than America itself.

    What would it mean if the President suspended it? And could he, under the Constitution?

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    9 mins
  • Two Israeli embassy staffers killed amid a rise in antisemitism

    Two Israeli embassy staffers killed amid a rise in antisemitism
    May 22 2025
    Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim worked for the Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C.

    This weekend, they were slated to go to Jerusalem — Milgrim was to meet Lischinsky's family for the first time. According to Israeli ambassador Yechiel Leiter, Lischinsky had bought a ring and was planning to propose.

    Instead, they were gunned down outside an event at the Capitol Jewish Museum on Wednesday night.

    The killing comes aside a rise in antisemitic incidents. Daniel Shapiro, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel, reacts to the news.

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    10 mins
  • A Newark air traffic controller on the moment systems went dark

    A Newark air traffic controller on the moment systems went dark
    May 21 2025
    Federal regulators are now limiting the number of flights in and out of Newark Liberty International Airport. This comes after a harrowing month for the air traffic controllers who work the airspace around it.

    On April 28th, communications and radar systems went dark at the air traffic control facility in Philadelphia, where controllers manage the airspace around Newark.

    Since then there have been more outages.

    Hundreds of flights in and out of Newark have been cancelled or delayed since that first outage. Now the Federal Aviation Administration is slowing the pace of arrivals and departures.

    Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy insists that will help.

    Still, these incidents have raised big questions. How did the mess in Newark get as bad as it did? And, What it will take to fix an aging air traffic control system.

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    11 mins
  • Advice for navigating a volatile economy

    Advice for navigating a volatile economy
    May 20 2025
    The U.S. economy is in flux. And for millions of Americans, a new line item in their budget includes repaying federal student loans.

    Making ends meet isn't just tough for student loan borrowers. Groceries cost a lot more now than they did in 2020. Tariff disputes make it difficult to plan future purchases and they can make it harder to find everyday items at affordable prices.

    Housing — whether it's your mortgage or rent — remains expensive.

    And the job market — well that's tough, too.

    Unpredictable inflation, added expenses, a volatile stock market – the health of the U.S. economy is anything but certain right now. How can you manage?

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    12 mins
  • New book alleges Biden aides hid his decline

    New book alleges Biden aides hid his decline
    May 19 2025
    Joe Biden has stage four metastatic prostate cancer.

    The former president made that announcement Sunday afternoon. It came just days before the publication of "Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-up and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again."

    An explosive book by journalists Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson. Original Sin chronicles what the authors say was Biden's steep physical and cognitive decline.

    Joe Biden repeatedly insisted he was capable of serving a second term. "Original Sin" argues his advisors and his family went to great lengths to hide that he wasn't.

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    14 mins
  • Over tea, a deal with Damascus and a possible turning point for Middle East diplomacy

    Over tea, a deal with Damascus and a possible turning point for Middle East diplomacy
    May 18 2025
    On the first major foreign trip of his second term, President Trump met with leaders in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE. His arrival was greeted with fanfare across the region — there were motorcades featuring Teslas, long processions of Arabian horses and camels, and traditional dance and musical performances. According to the White House, Saudi Arabia agreed to invest $600 billion in the United States. Qatar placed a huge order for Boeing Passenger jets.

    But the biggest announcement of Trump's trip was a bit of surprise deal-making: after more than 20 years, Trump said, the U.S. will lift sanctions on Syria. President Trump and interim Syrian President al-Sharaa met for tea and also discussed the possibility that Syria could recognize Israel as a sovereign state.

    NPR's Scott Detrow and Hadeel Al-Shalchi examine how this news was received in Israel, whether this moment be a critical turning point for Middle East peace and ask, can Trump actually deliver on these promises?

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    10 mins