Episodes

  • The News Roundup For March 27, 2026

    The News Roundup For March 27, 2026
    Mar 27 2026
    The Pentagon is planning on putting boots back on the ground in the Middle East. Some 2,000 soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division have received orders to deploy to the region despite President Donald Trump signaling last week that he was interested in ending his war in Iran via diplomatic means.

    As Democrats and Republicans continue to find themselves in a stand off over DHS funding, security lines at airports around the country continue to grow.

    Tech giants Meta and YouTube were found negligent in a landmark case concerning the companies’ creation of addictive online platforms that harm users’ mental health and wellbeing.

    And, in global news, Iranian officials confirmed this week they received a 15-point plan from the U.S. to end the war that’s killed thousands of Iranians and several American service members. Tehran, however, is signaling its found the demands contained within “extremely maximalist and unreasonable.”

    Meanwhile, Tehran-backed Hezbollah leaders are rejecting any notion that they’re seeking an end to their conflict with Israel.

    And the world’s attention swinging to Iran seems to have emboldened Russia, as Vladimir Putin’s forces gear up for a spring offensive in their campaign against Ukraine.

    We cover the most important stories from around the globe on the News Roundup.
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    1 hr and 25 mins
  • The Environmental Cost Of War

    The Environmental Cost Of War
    Mar 26 2026
    The morning after major airstrikes by Israel on Iran’s oil facilities, black rain fell in Tehran. The city of nearly 10 million people was engulfed in thick black smoke.

    The World Health Organization is warning that “the conflict in the Middle East poses serious threats to public health.” A new report from the Climate and Community Institute finds that the war unleashed over 5 million tons of carbon in just two weeks. That’s more climate pollution than Iceland generates in a year.

    As the death toll grows, so does the environmental cost. We break it down with a panel of experts.
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    43 mins
  • The Plight Of The U.S. Postal Service

    The Plight Of The U.S. Postal Service
    Mar 25 2026
    The United States Postal Service has delivered mail for 250 years, from the busiest cities to the most remote parts of the country. But decades of money troubles have left the USPS billions of dollars in debt.

    Now, the postmaster general warns that the agency could run out of money by October – and is urging Congress to save it.

    We explore the uncertain future of USPS with a panel of experts.

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    44 mins
  • The Evolution Of The American Housing Crisis

    The Evolution Of The American Housing Crisis
    Mar 24 2026
    Owning a house appears further and further out of reach for many people in the U.S. The problem is a national one. The median price for an American home is now just over $400,000. On average, houses cost five years of the median salary for someone working in the U.S. In some cities on the West Coast and in parts of Florida, that ratio is now eight years of salary to buy a home.

    Rents have also gone up significantly. Since 2020, the nation’s average rent is 27 percent higher. Some cities have seen much bigger gains – Miami’s average rent is up 51 percent. Housing policy advocates point to one big cause: the U.S. has not built enough housing for a growing population. But “build more housing” is a complex problem, not a single policy fix.

    Congress recently turned its attention to the problem of housing affordability. The Senate passed a bill with a basket of different policies, aiming to bring down the cost of housing and encourage more building.

    What’s in the bill specifically? And how could those policies make a dent in the housing crisis? And how has the housing crisis evolved in the past few years?

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    43 mins
  • 'If You Can Keep It': How Trump Deals With Foreign Adversaries

    'If You Can Keep It': How Trump Deals With Foreign Adversaries
    Mar 23 2026
    The U.S. has a long history of getting rid of foreign leaders it doesn’t like. But a new pattern has emerged in the Trump administration’s dealings with its foreign adversaries.

    In January, the president ordered a precision military operation that seized Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and brought him to the U.S. The next month, the administration launched a high-powered bombing campaign against Iran, killing the country’s supreme leader and dozens of its top officials.

    In both cases, Trump said the countries’ fates were ultimately up to the citizens — a striking change from the nation building during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

    Now, the commander-in-chief has his eyes set on Cuba, telling its president his time in office is coming to a close.

    Our series, “If You Can Keep It,” continues with a look at what Trump’s military actions in Venezuela and Iran mean for how we fight wars and what comes after.

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    45 mins
  • The News Roundup For March 20, 2026

    The News Roundup For March 20, 2026
    Mar 20 2026
    As Israel and the U.S. continue to fire missiles at targets within Iran, the American military and President Donald Trump are weighing the costs and benefits of putting U.S. boots on the ground in the Middle East once again.

    Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin’s Department of Homeland Security confirmation hearing saw him clash with his fellow congresspeople. Despite the meeting’s testy tone, the committee cleared Mullin by a single vote, sending his confirmation to the full Senate.

    A federal judge ruled this week that Voice of America must reinstate more than 1,000 employees after the Trump administration placed them on leave last year.

    And, in global news, Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araqchi, announced this week that the Strait of Hormuz wasn’t technically closed to all traffic, just to ships controlled by the country’s enemies. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump is leaning on Japan to send warships to the passageway, to counteract Iran’s efforts to control the flow of trade.

    New reporting from The Guardian indicates that before the U.S. began bombing Iran, security officials from U.S. allies judged that, as talks between Washington and Tehran progressed, a peace deal was in reach.

    The U.S. eased sanction on Russia and Venezuela this week to unlock more viable sources of oil as energy prices rise and the war with Iran continues.

    We cover the most important stories from around the world in the News Roundup.

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    1 hr and 27 mins
  • 'In Good Health': Why Is Colorectal Cancer Affecting Generations Differently?

    'In Good Health': Why Is Colorectal Cancer Affecting Generations Differently?
    Mar 19 2026
    Cases of colorectal cancer in young people have risen nearly 60 percent since the early 2000s. That’s according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and the National Cancer Institute. And a new study out this month by the American Cancer Society found that colorectal cancer is now the deadliest kind for those younger than 50.

    But this rise isn’t being felt across all generations in the same way. People born around 1990 are four times more likely to develop rectal cancer than those born around 1950. And for those 65 and older, colorectal cancer rates have actually decreased.

    So, what’s going on? And what can you do to protect yourself and your gut health? For those answers and more, we turn to a panel of experts.

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    44 mins
  • What The Future Holds For FEMA In North Carolina

    What The Future Holds For FEMA In North Carolina
    Mar 18 2026
    Big changes are coming to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

    With Kristi Noem out at the Department of Homeland Security, all eyes are on FEMA to roll out millions of dollars in stalled federal funding for disaster responses. That’s especially true in North Carolina, where the western part of the state is still grappling with the effects of Hurricane Helene.

    We sit down with a panel of experts to find out what the future holds for FEMA in the Tar Heel state.

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    44 mins