A bill to protect journalists in their work has long had strong bipartisan support.
The "Protect Reporters from Exploitative State Spying Act," or PRESS Act, would shield journalists from government surveillance and from being forced to reveal confidential sources. It was first introduced in June 2021 and was reintroduced in 2023. It's passed the House twice but languished in the Senate.
President-elect Donald Trump has of course had a tumultuous relationship with journalists. Last month, Trump took to his social media platform, Truth Social, writing that, "REPUBLICANS MUST KILL THIS BILL."
Now, the PRESS Act is running out of time to pass before the end of the lame duck session. We discuss why press advocates say this legislation is urgent, and what comes next for the bill.
Today John is under the weather, so the rest of us take on Joe Biden's broad pardon of his son Hunter, what it says about the Biden presidency, and how it complements Donald Trump's pick of Kash Patel for director of the FBI. What do we think of Patel? What do we think of Trump's picking his daughter's father-in-law to be a senior adviser on the Middle East? And, finally, how's the Hezbollah ceasefire holding up and what can we learn from the reignited civil war in Syria? Give a listen.
US President Biden is in Angola for what is likely to be the final foreign trip of his presidency. It’s his first visit to Sub- Saharan Africa and it's part of a promise the president made, during the US-Africa Leaders Summit in 2022, to travel to the continent. But, it comes almost at the end of his tenure, so what does the president's trip to Angola say about the US Africa policy?
Also, we'll hear hearing from the Mozambican opposition leader, Venancio Mondlane, as protests continue over election results
And who is Maxim Shugalei and what's he doing in Africa?
Presenter: Audrey Brown
Producers: Frenny Jowi in Nairobi. Rob Wilson and Victor Sylver in London.
Technical producer: Nick Randell
Senior Journalist: Karnie Sharp
Editors: Andre Lombard and Alice Muthengi
If you ever buy or sell a parcel of land or build a home or business, you’ll likely need a land surveyor. They are the first professionals on the scene when people need to find and document property lines, reservation boundaries, utilities, and topography. On a bigger scale, much of the American west was originally mapped and named by explorers like Lewis and Clark and John Wesley Powell in the 1800s. It’s now up to Native American surveyors to include their unique understanding of the land going forward. We’ll hear from Native land surveyors about their work and the need to recruit more Native people to their ranks.
One Curious City listener wrote in and asked, “Why are there so many birds in O'Hare?” So, the Curious City team took to the airport to find out.
Reset checks in with Erin Allen, host and reporter, WBEZ’s Curious City.
For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.
President Biden has issued a full and unconditional pardon of his son, Hunter Biden. President-elect Donald Trump says he'll nominate ally Kash Patel to serve as the next Director of the FBI. And, rebel militias made territorial gains in Syria as the country's 13-year civil war continues.
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Today's episode of Up First was edited by Dana Farringdon, James Hider, Lisa Thomson and Alice Woelfle. It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Nia Dumas and Kaity Kline. We get engineering support from Arthur Laurent. And our technical director is Carleigh Strange.
The country’s civil war never ended—it became a fragile stalemate that fell out of the news. A surprise rebel advance reveals how the war’s international players are busy facing their own challenges. Our correspondent found it so difficult to disappear from the internet that she gave up (10:30). And who were the stockmarket winners as “Trump trades” fired up again (16:54)?
