Author: Matt

U.S. forces struck Iranian boats and missile launch sites in southern
Iran on Monday, in what U.S. Central Command spokesperson Capt. Tim Hawkins has called “self-defense strikes … to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces.” 

Iran says it shot down three U.S. drones. 

Despite the violence, neither Iran nor the United States appear to be pulling back on diplomatic efforts to reach an interim deal to end the almost three-month long war. But what does that look like?

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In recent days, the news has been filled with some eyebrow-raising choices by the Trump administration.

Like the disclosure of thousands of stock trades, being granted immunity from IRS audits, and the DOJ’s nearly $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund.

These actions have raised questions from both Democratic and Republican lawmakers. 

Michael Waldman, president and CEO of the Brennan Center for Justice, a non-partisan legal think tank, says these actions amount to “corruption in plain sight.” 

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Throughout the war, the U.S.’ main objectives have fluctuated from regime change, to stopping Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, to reopening the strategic straight of Hormuz. Robert Kagan, a senior fellow with the Brookings Institution, explains why the U.S. will likely come out of the war weaker than before.

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This episode was produced by Daniel Ofman, with audio engineering by Hannah Gluvna.

It was edited by Sarah Robbins.

Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.
 

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Media mogul Byron Allen owns the Weather Channel, a bunch of local TV and cable channels and also recently acquired a majority stake in Buzzfeed.

And on Friday, he’s bringing his show Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen to the CBS time slot long held by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

Host Ailsa Chang spoke with Byron Allen about his plans for Comics Unleashed and why he thinks there’s still more than enough political comedy after the cancellation of Colbert.

This conversation is part of NPR’s Newsmakers video podcast series. For more, follow or subscribe to Newsmakers on Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you watch or listen. You can also find the show in the NPR app.

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This episode was produced by Erika Ryan and Karen Zamora, with audio engineering by Kwesi Lee and Maggie Luthar. It was edited by Christopher Intagliata and Courtney Dorning. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.

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With Trump’s DOJ anti-weaponization fund, Jan. 6 defendants may go from prison to payday. Can the police officers who defended the Capitol stop them?

The new “Anti-Weaponization Fund” from the Trump Department of Justice is a pot of money worth almost $1.8 billion from a settlement between President Trump, and the government he leads. 

Trump officials say anyone who believes they were victims of “weaponized” law enforcement can apply for this taxpayer-funded compensation.

And that includes the hundreds of people who assaulted police at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

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This episode was produced by Monika Evstatieva and Alejandra Marquez Janse, with audio engineering by Tiffany Vera Castro. 

It was edited by Barrie Hardymon and Courtney Dorning. 

Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.

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Special education teachers are using artificial intelligence to manage crushing paperwork. Could it help instructors spend more time with their students?

Millions of students qualify for special education and they need qualified  teachers to help them.

But burnout for these teachers has caused many to leave the profession – one reason –  the paperwork 

Now, a growing number of special educators are using A-I to speed up that paperwork and some research shows that despite the risks – it could help them spend more time with students.

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This episode was produced by Tyler Bartlam. 

It was edited by Steven Drummond, Nirvi Shah and Courtney Dorning. 

Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.

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More than a decade ago, Ron Klain helped orchestrate the U.S. response to the Ebola epidemic in West Africa, as the White House Ebola response coordinator under President Obama. 

Now, with a fast-growing outbreak of a different strain of Ebola, in a different part of Africa, the public health infrastructure to address an outbreak has vastly changed, following the Trump administration’s dismantling of USAID. 

In this episode, Klain talks about the role USAID played in responding to the 2014-2016 Ebola epidemic, and assesses whether today’s outbreak poses more or less of a risk to people in the United States.

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This episode was produced by Christopher Harland-Dunaway, Kathryn Fink and Karen Zamora. 

It was edited by Christopher Intagliata and Gisele Grayson. 

Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.

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Is Kennedy heir Jack Schlossberg ready to lead? We ask him.

Schlossberg seems to be trying to follow the path his grandfather John F. Kennedy took when he was elected to Congress almost eight decades ago.

And his campaign has momentum. Lots of attention, favorable press and the endorsement of Speaker of the House emeritus Nancy Pelosi.

But now after the New York Times article – he’s speaking out – a lot.  

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This episode was produced by Mia Venkat, with audio engineering by Ted Mebane.

It was edited by Courtney Dorning.

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A prayer festival on the National Mall in Washington, DC was partially organized and funded by the federal government. Its evangelical Christian messaging and call for more religion in politics not less, aligns with the Trump administration’s fusion of faith and governance. NPR’s Emily Feng went to the event to understand the audience for this approach, and she spoke with author Eric Metaxas, a speaker at the Rededicate 250 festival.

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This episode was produced by Henry Larson, with audio engineering by 

It was edited by Sarah Robbins and Daniel Burke.

Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.

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NPR senior political editor and correspondent Domenico Montanaro has spent years covering elections and parsing through voter data. With the midterm elections approaching Montanaro talks about how he relies on both polling and stories from voters to report as accurately as possible on the current political moment.

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This episode was produced by Gabriel Sanchez and Michael Levitt. 

It was edited by Adam Raney. 

Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.

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