1A

The U.S. is facing a steep healthcare worker shortage. A 2025 federal analysis projected that by 2038, 30 out of 35 physician specialties will be hurting for practitioners, with over 140,000 roles left unfilled. And for nurses, that shortage is projected to be over 108,000. And last week, 24 states plus the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit against the Department of Education over new federal student loan limits on graduate degrees. Those caps apply to programs that could graduate workers into these threatened health care fields. But Education Secretary Linda McMahon says these worries are overblown and that these new rules aim to force colleges to lower tuition rates. So, what do these changes really mean for the future of our healthcare workforce in the U.S.? Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy

What does it mean to matter — to loved ones, to your community, at your job? Feeling like we have value and purpose in life is something humans inherently crave. But recent work on the topic takes this a step further – arguing that it is critical to our very existence. As critical as our need for sleep, food, and air. Why does it matter if we matter? We sit down with two experts to try and answer that question. Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy

Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie lost his state’s GOP primary to a Trump-backed candidate this week. The seven-term congressman became a target for the president over the former’s desire to release the files related to late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Thomas Massie and Bill Cassidy are now lame-duck Republicans after losing their primaries to Trump-backed challengers. Where does that leave razor-thin margins in Congress? President Donald Trump’s seemingly doomed lawsuit against the IRS has resolved itself in an unprecedented way this week. A settlement in the case includes a clause that precludes the agency from investigating the president, his family, and his businesses ever again. And Trump allies get a $1.8 billion boost in the form of a new so-called Anti-Weaponization Fund paid for by taxpayers. That money could be giving pardoned January 6 insurrectionists payouts – and is drawing bipartisan ire. And, in global news, Iranian officials are accusing the U.S. of getting ready to start a new war as the American military makes moves in the Middle East. Both parties mull a new proposal, and familiar messaging from the White House. Also this week, Iran formalizes a plan to make money on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu finds himself in a precarious political situation this week as Knesset, votes to dissolve itself ahead of another election. Now, Netanyahu must find a way to keep his right-wing coalition from collapsing amid pressure from his nation’s ultra-orthodox parties. And Russian President Vladimir Putin traveled to China to meet with its president, Xi Jinping, a week after President Donald Trump made the same trip. We cover the most important stories from around the world in the News Roundup. Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy

A war the president promised would last weeks is now in its third month. And the ripple effects are rocking the global economy. The Strait of Hormuz is still closed to most ships. Iran, the U.S., and Israel don’t look ready for a peace deal. Iran’s air force and navy are severely damaged. But recent intelligence reports say the regime has control of more missiles and weapons systems than the Trump administration has acknowledged, and that it’s taking advantage of the ceasefire to rearm. Meanwhile, Iranians are living under a blockade. Gulf states are absorbing the shock of Iranian missiles and of economic uncertainty. What does the Middle East look like now? Who wins, who loses, and what happens to American influence in a region it just turned upside down? Luckily, we know just the man to ask. Gregg Carlstrom’s is a name that might be familiar to listeners of the News Roundup. He’s been The Economist’s Middle East correspondent since 2010. He’s also the author of the book, “How long will Israel survive? The threat from within.” We sit down with him to talk through the latest in the region. Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy

This week, thousands of Americans attended a day-long conservative prayer gathering. The event was billed as a rededication of the U.S. as “One Nation Under God” for our nation’s 250th birthday. The gathering was a private-public partnership backed by the White House. Non-Christian voices of faith were notably absent, apart from one Jewish rabbi. Almost all the speakers featured were Christians and most were Evangelicals. Some were Trump cabinet members and lawmakers. With the separation of church and state and the freedom of religion baked into the founding of our country, what does our nation’s relationship with faith look like today? Does the America of 2026 represent what our founding fathers intended? In this special broadcast of 1A in partnership with Religion News Service, we leave our studio and head to American University in Washington D.C. where we sit down with a panel of experts in front of a live audience. Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy

It’s been more than two weeks since the Supreme Court made the decision to weaken a key provision of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. That piece of the legislation protected minority voters from discrimination in elections. Now, that ruling has invoked a new wave of calls to reform the court. In the last installment of our “If You Can Keep It” series, we discussed what those reforms might look like, from expanding the size of the bench, to restricting the shadow docket. Our listeners had so many thoughts on whether and how to reform the court that we decided to return to that conversation to talk more about what’s possible and answer more questions. So, what happens when the Supreme Court loses credibility among a large swath of the country? And how can the court get it back when partisanship on the bench has become the expectation. Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy

Despite assertions by President Donald Trump to the contrary, reporting from The New York Times indicates that Iran’s military is still in fighting shape, regaining access to 30 of its 33 missile sites near the Strait of Hormuz. The Supreme Court’s decision to strike down a key provision of the Voting Rights Act has paved the way for Alabama to use a controversial GOP-drawn electoral map in the upcoming midterms. And FBI Director Kash Patel appeared on Capitol Hill this week to give testimony before Congress. He clashed with Democrats over reporting from The Atlantic that indicated that the Trump official’s alcohol use was impeding him from completing his duties. We cover the most important stories from around the country in the domestic hour of the News Roundup. And, in global news, President Donald Trump traveled to China this week to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Taiwan, the war in Iran, and trade are all up for discussion between the two leaders of the world’s largest economies. The price tag of the war with Iran has now topped $29 billion. Russian President Vladimir Putin said this week that he believes his country’s invasion of Ukraine is “coming to an end.” We cover the most important stories from around the world in the News Roundup. Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy

Mayors are uniquely aware of what’s needed to make their cities run more efficiently. And when it comes to improving city life — from housing, to public safety, to city services — a lack of resources can be a major obstacle. In February, Bloomberg Philanthropies announced the winners of this year’s mayors’ challenge. A $1 million prize was awarded to 24 winners from 20 countries selected from 630 entries. 1A spoke to some of those winners at Bloomberg’s Citylab conference in Madrid, Spain. The summit was held in April and convened mayors from across the globe to talk about the latest in city planning. We sit down with Vico Sotto, mayor of Pasig in the Philippines; Lauren McLean, the Democratic mayor of Boise, Idaho; and Geordin Hill-Lewis, the Mayor of Cape Town, South Africa, to talk about how they’re navigating the challenges facing them and their neighbors. Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy

In August 2024, 26-year-old Conor Hylton checked into Bridgeport Hospital in Connecticut. Overnight, he was transferred to critical care, where he died. It was only after his passing that his family found out that Conor was treated at what’s known as a “tele-ICU.” His story shines a light on a practice that’s been around for decades despite a lack of substantial research about its outcomes. A tele-ICU is a hospital unit where patient care is handled off-site by remote doctors, nurses, or specialists. Up to a third of ICU beds in the U.S. are in tele-ICUs. That’s according to a study from the American Hospital Association. In Wisconsin, as of May 1, critical care physicians are no longer physically present in the ICUs of a few Ascension satellite hospitals. They remain available via video call to help bedside nurses and on-site hospital medicine doctors, known as hospitalists, who do not specialize in critical care. These facilities do present an opportunity to expand and improve the health care people receive. But what are the risks of replacing in-person care in the most critical, life or death moments? Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy

Last year, when Columbia University found itself embroiled by anti-war protests and fighting with the Trump administration, journalist Jodi Kantor was invited to speak at the school’s commencement. “My friends actually tried to stop me. Like, ‘Don’t do it. Call in sick,'” remembers Kantor. The Pulitzer prize-winner did wind up giving that speech. And that experience led her to write a new book about how young people can find their life’s work. We sit down with Kantor to talk about ‘How to Start.’ Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy

Public trust in the Supreme Court is at a 30-year low, according to Pew Research Center. For some, this month marked a turning point in perceptions of its legitimacy. The court recently ruled in Louisiana v. Callais. Its decision undermined a key provision of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that protected minority voters and sought to prevent racial discrimination in elections. Following the court’s ruling, Tennessee’s GOP-controlled legislature passed a new congressional map, dismantling the state’s majority-Black district. The map gives Republicans a competitive advantage in all nine districts ahead of the state’s midterms. Other red states are now scrambling to redraw their congressional maps as well. Justice Samuel Alito justified the court’s ruling by claiming that Black voter turnout, both nationwide and in Louisiana, exceeded white voter turnout in two of the five recent presidential elections, writing that the kind of discrimination the Voting Rights Act was designed to prevent no longer exists. However, reporting from The Guardian found that Alito’s claim was based on misleading data from the Justice Department. As trust in the Supreme Court continues to remain low, calls for reform grow. In this installment of our weekly politics series, “If You Can Keep It,” we unpack what that reform might actually look like and what’s at stake for our democracy if it doesn’t happen. Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy

President Donald Trump told PBS News this week that his offensive in the Middle East has a “very good chance of ending.” Just days later though, the U.S. traded fire with Iran in the Strait of Hormuz, threatening an already fragile ceasefire. The U.S. is still hoping for a “serious offer” from Iran on a proposal to end the war, according to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, even as the threat of escalation looms. Donald Trump isn’t on the ballot in the upcoming Indiana primary. But his agenda certainly is. In late 2025, GOP state lawmakers resisted efforts by the White House to redraw Indiana’s congressional map. Now, Trump allies are running to unseat them. The Trump administration has opened an investigation into Smith College, a women-only institution of higher education, over its 2015 decision to admit trans women as students. And, in global news, the fragile ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran was tested this week when American forces launched “self-defense strikes” in the Strait of Hormuz after Iranian forces targeted three Navy destroyers, though none were struck. These strikes come as Iran reviews the latest U.S. proposal to end the war which American officials hope will result in a “serious offer” from Iran, according to Secretary of State Marco Rubio. President Donald Trump claimed this week that the U.S. will be taking over Cuba “almost immediately.” The backlash from the island nation was swift, with Cuban leader Miguel Diaz-Canel calling the American administration fascist. On Monday, and despite the ceasefire, Israeli attacks killed 17 people in southern Lebanon. We cover the most important stories from around the world in the News Roundup. Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy

One drug is at the center of the current legal battle over abortion: mifepristone. Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, mifepristone has become the dominant method of abortion in the United States, filling the gap left by clinic closures in states with abortion bans. And the number of abortions has actually risen nationally as a result. That’s a problem for abortion access opponents. Now, they’re taking aim at one of the main ways it’s prescribed – via telehealth. And last week, they scored their first big win. A federal appeals court blocked remote prescription of mifepristone. Louisiana sued the FDA, arguing that mail access undermines the state’s near-total ban on abortion. But two days later, the drug’s manufacturers went to the Supreme Court and it temporarily restored telehealth access while it considers the case. But that stay is set to expire soon. So, what’s next in this legal battle? And what does it mean for patients and reproductive health providers? Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy

Last November, Calvin Duncan won an election to serve as the chief records keeper for the criminal courts of the parish that covers New Orleans. He received 68 percent of the vote, beating out a powerful incumbent. He has some personal experience with Louisiana courts. He was incarcerated for a murder conviction for 28 years. He studied criminal law to advocate for himself, and a judge eventually found him innocent. He was freed in 2011. But now, the Louisiana state legislature has moved to eliminate his position. State officials voted to combine his office with another in a move that state senators said was meant to save money. Duncan is taking legal action and a lawsuit over his role is now making its way through the courts. This situation is part of a larger trend across the nation where state legislatures are more and more often undoing decisions made by local officials. “State preemption” describes steps a state government can take to tell a local city or town council it can’t do something. Legislators in states like Florida, Missouri, California, West Virginia, Michigan, and Louisiana have been using it to influence events and regulations in their communities. What’s leading to more frequent, and public, fights between state legislatures and local governments? And what could defuse these fights? Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy

Power is at the center of Americans’ lives. It lets us cool our homes, keeps them lit, and charges our electronics. But the more things we plug into our aging power grid, the more strained it becomes. And electricity use in the U.S. is rising for the first time in more than a decade. What happens when our grid can’t keep up? We sit down with a panel of experts to find out. Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy

Last week, in a six-to-three ruling along ideological lines, the Supreme Court dealt a major blow to the Voting Rights Act of 1965. That’s the landmark Civil Rights era law designed to prevent racial discrimination in an election. The law was passed to unravel Jim Crow era policies that limited or blocked Black Americans’ access to the ballot. The decision in Louisiana v. Callais struck down Louisiana’s congressional map as an “unconstitutional gerrymander.” But the ruling goes further. It effectively rewrites the rules for how the Voting Rights Act can be used to challenge discriminatory maps, making it much harder to do so going forward. It’s the latest in a string of rulings making the last all but moot. We tackle the race to redistrict across America and we talk about how this hugely consequential ruling changes an election season already in full swing. Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy

The Supreme Court this week struck down a voting map in Louisiana that created a second majority-Black district, ruling it an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. In doing so, the majority also struck an enormous blow to the landmark Voting Rights Act, and fueled GOP redistricting efforts before the midterms. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth headed to Congress, where things got testy as lawmakers grilled him over the war with Iran. Pentagon officials put a price tag on the conflict so far: $25 billion. And gas prices hit a four year high, with a national average of $4.30 a gallon. Federal prosecutors formally charged the alleged gunman at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner with attempting to assassinate the president. He will remain in custody despite an appeal for a pre-trial release. We cover the most important stories from around the country in the domestic hour of the News Roundup. And, in global news, the United States and Iran extend their dueling blockades in the Strait of Hormuz as President Trump rejects the Islamic Republic’s proposal to reopen the critical waterway. Israel ramps up attacks on southern Lebanon, while claiming it did not break a temporary U-S brokered ceasefire. And uncertainty over the global oil supply causes markets to spike once again, the same week energy companies report massive profits. We cover the most important stories from around the world in the News Roundup. Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy

American farmers are being squeezed. Tariffs are raising the cost of equipment and services. And now the war in Iran is driving up the cost of fertilizer and fuel. And the Farm bill — the sweeping, traditionally bipartisan legislation that shapes everything from crop insurance to food aid – hasn’t been reauthorized since 2018. Next week, the House will try again. What’s in the bill and why the coalition that supported it for years seems to be falling apart. Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy

In 2024, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was a presidential hopeful running under the banner of “making America healthy again.” Among his most fervent supporters: vaccine skeptics and cynics, nutrition-focused parents and anti-pesticide activists. After dropping out of the presidential contest and endorsing Donald Trump, Kennedy emerged as the president’s foremost pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. Now, many in the so-called “MAHA coalition” are disappointed with Secretary Kennedy for what they describe as a failure to deliver key reforms to the nation’s health and food systems. And, we discuss what the rise in measles and other infectious diseases means about the state of our public health. Secretary Kennedy has repeatedly downplayed recent measles outbreaks and given deeply mixed messages on vaccination. Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy

Artificial intelligence is revolutionizing how we run cities. It has the potential to make life more affordable, efficient, and safe. But with little oversight and policy, what are the risks to residents? As tech changes our communities, it’s often mayors who are leading the way. More than 500 of them are meeting in Madrid to share their best ideas as part of this year’s Bloomberg CityLab, a global cities summit from Bloomberg Philanthropies in partnership with the Aspen Institute … and 1A is there. The mayors of San Antonio, Texas, Nairobi, Kenya and Bogotá, Colombia join us for a discussion about how local leaders are using artificial intelligence to aid them in running their cities — and how they are balancing residents’ concerns about privacy, the environmental impact, and what an increased use of AI could mean for the job market. They’re among 10 founding mayors of the Mayors AI Forum launched Tuesday in Madrid by Bloomberg Philanthropies and Johns Hopkins University. “Mayors have often been early leaders on global challenges – even as national and international responses lagged,” said Michael R. Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg Philanthropies and Bloomberg L.P., and three-term mayor of New York City. “Now, the Mayors AI Forum will help put them – and the communities they serve – at the forefront of conversations about the future of AI.” Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy