1A

Have you ever fantasized about going back in time to relive a moment — or change it? Maybe you’re more interested in traveling to the future where cars fly and the code to immortality has been cracked.If the idea of time travel resonates with you, you’re far from alone — particularly during a year of political upheaval. Scientists moved one step closer to understanding time travel, at least hypothetically, this year. Two physicists at the University of Queensland in Australia created a model for studying the phenomenon.We’re not there yet. But when it comes to books, movies and TV shows, that’s a different story. We’ve been thinking about hurtling through history for a very, very long time.Why do we return time and time again to stories about time travel? Will it ever become a reality?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/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Headaches are one of the most common neurological conditions in the world. They’re also one of the most debilitating, mysterious, and misunderstood.According to the World Health Organization, 3 billion people worldwide suffer from headache disorders. And one in six Americans suffers from headaches that are so severe they limit their ability to work, sleep, or otherwise function.We discuss headaches as a part of our series “In Good Health,” where we talk about the bodily issues that most affect us. What do we know about headaches and who they affect? What works when it comes to treating headaches?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/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The Democratic party has been plagued by infighting over everything from its aging leadership to the war in Gaza. We talked about those divisions on the program earlier this month.Now, we’re turning our attention to the cracks in the GOP, which over the last few weeks, have only grown wider.Shortly after President Donald Trump won the 2024 election, the Republican party appeared to be in lockstep. Nearly a year later, a lot has changed.Internal divisions within the GOP include backlash over antisemitism and the release of the Epstein files. President Trump finally signed the order to release said files last week.In this installment of our weekly politics series, “If You Can Keep It,” we discuss what these divisions in the Republican party mean for the midterm elections and for its future.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/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Congress voted overwhelmingly to authorize the release of the Epstein files. President Donald Trump welcomed the decision, signing the bill on Wednesday.ICE activity in Charlotte, North Carolina, ramped up this week; authorities reportedly made some 250 arrests.The Bureau of Labor Statistics said the economy added 119,000 jobs in September, while the unemployment rate edged up to 4.4%. It is the only jobs report the BLS will release until December. On Wednesday, the agency canceled the October jobs report for the first time in 77 years.And, in global news, US President Donald Trump said Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman “knew nothing” about the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, in direct contradiction of U.S. intelligence. The president welcomed the kingdom’s de facto ruler to the Oval Office where they announced military and investment deals between the two nations.In Gaza this week, some of the deadliest Israeli airstrikes since the U.S. brokered ceasefire took effect on October 10. On Monday, the UN Security Council endorsed Donald Trump’s plan for Gaza, including the deployment of an international stabilisation force.And the war of words between Trump and Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is heating up. However, both sides have indicated they’d be willing to meet face to face.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.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Groundbreaking. Transformative. A new way to unlock human creativity and productivity.Tech CEOs have promised artificial intelligence will do many things for us. They’ve used these promises to justify billions of dollars of investment in building the language models and data centers needed to power AI.Four of the world’s biggest tech companies – Meta, Amazon, Microsoft, and Google – have promised to collectively spend $380 billion this year in the AI space.That spending has led to huge rallies in these companies’ stock prices. There are now hundreds of private AI companies with values – on paper – of over a billion dollars. And in October, the AI boom created the world’s first company worth $5 trillion – Nvidia.So, is this spending justified? Do these companies’ stock values hint at a financial bubble in AI? Or is this situation different?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/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The typical American supermarket carries more than 30,000 products. There are nearly as many opinions about what items you should buy to maintain a healthy diet.Meanwhile, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says changing how Americans eat is key to improving our public health — but some of his advice has nutritionists scratching their heads.Throw in the influence of a multi trillion-dollar food industry, and the grocery aisles can become a very confusing place.That’s where Marion Nestle comes in. She is one of our country’s foremost nutrition experts — not only on what we should eat, but about the invisible forces that shape our options.Her new book is titled “What to Eat Now: The Indispensable Guide to Good Food, How to Find It, and Why It Matters." We discuss her new book. Why do we have so many choices when it comes to groceries? How can we cut through the noise of fad diets and get the nutrition we need each day?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/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The last two weeks have highlighted fractures within both the Republican and Democratic parties.The fight over releasing the Epstein files has shaken the GOP, causing some of President Donald Trump’s staunchest allies – like Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene – to call him out. And recent incidents of antisemitism within the MAGA movement have prompted infighting about how (and whether) to root it out.Despite that, the party in the country’s crosshairs is on the left.The longest government shutdown in American history ended last week after 43 days. And it ended with eight senators breaking with the Democratic caucus to pass a spending bill – without securing the health insurance provisions they had demanded.Many Democrats across the country — from Washington strategists to local activists — called the move a surrender. They say the defectors gave up a winning hand right when public opinion was on their side. The loudest criticism came from younger Democrats who called for new party leadership.In this latest installment of “If You Can Keep It,” our weekly series on the state of democracy, we look at the fractures the shutdown exposed on the left and how a new generation of lawmakers thinks the party should govern in the years ahead.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/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The longest government shutdown in history is now over after a group of Senate Democrats broke with the party to vote for a bill that funds the federal government.Meanwhile, House Democrats facilitated the release of emails from the Epstein files that reference President Donald Trump and suggest that he knew about former financier Jeffrey Epstein’s sex crimes.Shots were fired at ICE agents in Chicago this week amid chaotic immigration enforcement operations.And, in global news, in the face of the growing U.S. presence around his country, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is mobilizing his army, ordering the deployment of some 200,000 soldiers.Donald Trump sent a letter to Israeli President Isaac Herzog asking him to pardon Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over corruption charges the latter is facing in his country.Following explosions in Islamabad and New Delhi, both India and Pakistan and on edge. It remains unclear who is responsible for the attacks.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/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The civil war in Sudan has claimed the lives of some 150,000 people.From the outside looking in, the story of the war is one of two competing generals, foreign involvement complicating matters, and mass casualties among the innocent.Now, following a massacre in the city of El Fasher, the rebels have agreed to a humanitarian ceasefire proposed by the Quad — a group of group of four countries including the United States, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt. But for how long will it hold?We discuss the latest on the conflict in Sudan and the humanitarian crisis. What is the international community doing to help (or hurt) the situation?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/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

In-home elder care costs are rising more than three times faster than inflation. AARP estimates that caregivers in the U.S. spend an average of $7,242 out of pocket each year.Cuts to federal spending have gutted programs that support them. And amidst the longest government shutdown in history, what little help was left is quickly drying up.Why is the cost of care going up? What can be done to combat those costs?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/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Late Sunday, while most eyes were on the Senate’s shutdown negotiations, the Trump administration was busy rewriting the history of the 2020 election.Just before midnight, a Justice Department lawyer posted a list on X of dozens of the president’s top allies and former aides who’d received pardons related to their efforts to overturn that election.Among them are Trump’s former lawyer, Rudy Giuliani; Trump’s former chief of staff, Mark Meadows; and Sidney Powell, a former federal prosecutor who tried to overturn election results in key swing states and spread false claims of widespread voting machine fraud.What do these pardons do? And how is the president using the Justice Department to shield those closest to him from future legal consequences?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/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

In the first general election since the beginning of Donald Trump’s second term, Democrats won big. But they might also be set to kill a lot of that momentum.Exit polls have found that in major races across the country — in states like Virginia, New Jersey, New York, and California — the economy and affordability were the biggest issues that drove voters to the polls.An NPB News poll from October suggests that 63 percent of registered voters believe the Trump administration has fallen short when it comes to the economy.As part of our weekly series on the state of democracy, If You Can Keep It, we dive into some of the biggest local races and what they tell us about the issues that matter most to you – and what Democrats and Republicans can take away from this year’s results. But first, we dive into a potential deal to end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history that has some critics claiming Senate Democrats are caving to President Trump.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/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Democrats swept on election night this week, winning several key gubernatorial races, state legislature positions, and the New York City mayoral election.As the government shutdown continues, airports are struggling to run at maximum capacity. The Federal Aviation Administration is looking to cut 10 percent of flights at high traffic airports as they struggle with delays and staffing shortages.The Supreme Court began hearing arguments over whether or not Donald Trump’s tariffs on America’s trading partners are legal.Meanwhile, a top Israeli military lawyer was incarcerated this week after she leaked footage of Israeli soldiers allegedly sexually assaulting a Palestinian prisoner. Now, Benjamin Netanyahu and his government are working to combat what he calls the “most severe public relations attack that the state of Israel has experienced.”U.S. officials are mulling possible regime change in Venezuela. The federal government’s operations in and around Caribbean and South American waters have intensified in recent weeks.Donald Trump is also threatening to take action in Nigeria if the country’s government doesn’t take action to protect Christians within its borders.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/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

It’s open enrollment season. And for the 20 million Americans who buy their own health insurance, prices are through the roof.Rates are up an average of 30 percent for a typical plan in the 30 states where the federal government manages markets. In states that run their own markets, rates are up an average of 17 percent. That’s according to an analysis from the health policy research group KFF.Meanwhile, the longest government shutdown continues in Washington. Lawmakers still can’t agree over whether to extend subsidies that would make health insurance more affordable. Without those subsidies, experts estimate that more than 4 million people could lose access to insurance.How did health insurance get so expensive in the first place? And who stands to benefit from higher costs?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/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Virginia Giuffre’s memoir, “Nobody’s Girl,” is again shining a light on justice for the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.The Department of Justice says Epstein died by suicide in his jail cell while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. Maxwell is serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking. Over the summer, she was moved to a minimum security prison in Texas after meeting privately with Trump administration officials.In the book, Giuffre recounts how she was lured into Epstein’s world after meeting Maxwell at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago spa at the age of 16. She was then subjected to years of abuse where she was sex trafficked, including to England’s former Prince Andrew, whose title was revoked last week in part due to these allegations.Giuffre took her own life earlier this year. Even before her memoir was released posthumously, she was one of Epstein’s most outspoken accusers. We sit down with Giuffre’s brother and sister-in-law about her story and their call for justice. We also speak with Marijke Chartouni, another Epstein survivor who says she was recruited in 2000 and was sexually assaulted by Epstein.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/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Tariffs are getting their day in court.On Wednesday, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in two cases about the legality of President Donald Trump’s favorite policy tool.Shortly after he took office, Trump started signing executive orders imposing tariffs on America’s trading partners. He declared April 2 “Liberation Day,” and enacted a broad package of import duties from Canada to China and way beyond, upending U.S. economic policy and reshaping global trade.He did it all without input from Congress. And that might, or might not, have violated presidential power under the Constitution.So, are the Trump administration’s tariffs legal?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/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Farmers are being hit hard by President Donald Trump’s tariffs. The cost of fertilizer and machinery is up, while the market for certain crops is nearly gone.But last week’s trade deal with China could provide relief. And the administration says it’s readying a $12 billion farm aid package to pay out post-shutdown.What kind of impact have Trump’s economic policies had on the American farmer?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/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

As it’s filled election security roles at the Departments of Homeland Security and Justice, the Trump administration has elevated people who are known election deniers — activists who’ve pushed unproven claims about fraud in the 2020 election or in American election systems more generally.And the administration has asked states to turn over voter roll data that includes private information. It’s even sued eight of them for some of that data in an unprecedented push for federal control of voter information.How are the systems and processes behind the 2026 midterm faring in 2025? Especially as the federal government pushes to have more control over what’s traditionally been the jurisdiction of state and local officials? We hear one of those officials as well as a panel of experts.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/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The government shutdown has gone on for longer than one month. Now, Republicans are considering ending the Senate filibuster to reopen the government.The Supreme Court requested more information as it heard arguments about whether President Donald Trump is within his rights to deploy the National Guard to Chicago.Two prosecutors who went after January 6 rioters were put on leave this week for filing a sentencing memo in the case of a man who showed up armed outside of the Obama residence.Amidst a brutal trade dispute, President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping sat down for a face-to-face meeting in South Korea.Despite recent Israeli strikes killing more than 100 people in Gaza, the Trump Administration says the ceasefire with Hamas is still on.Following a snub by President Trump and a successful nuclear weapons test, intelligence officials say Russian President Vladimir Putin is showing no signs of seeking a compromise to end the war Ukraine.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/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Bruce Springsteen is an American music legend. Songs like “Born to Run” and “Born in the USA” have echoed through ballparks, dive bars, TV shows, and politics for decades.That’s why his new biopic, “Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere,” is unique. Instead of reckoning with The Boss’ glittering legacy, it focuses on a darker period of his career starting in 1981.Played by Jeremy Allen White, Springsteen finishes touring his album “The River,” rents a house in New Jersey by himself, and turns his focus inward to grapple with his past and write a new album, “Nebraska.”The 1A Movie Club convenes to talk about the film.What has audience reception been to the movie? And what did "The Boss" have to say?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/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy