More than 100 people have been arrested in immigration raids in the city since President Donald Trump took office, according to Chicago officials. So, what do those raids look like? And what are community organizations doing to help immigrants know their rights? Reset checks in with WBEZ immigration reporter, Chicago Sun-Times social justice, immigration and income inequality reporter Elvia Malagón, volunteer with 25th Ward IPO and Pilsen Rapid Response Team Mimi Guiracocha and volunteer with Paso West Suburban Action Project Betty Alzamora.
For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.
The trip that changed Tigran Gambaryan's life forever was supposed to be short — just a few days. When he flew to Nigeria in February of 2024, he didn't even check a bag. Tigran is a former IRS Special Agent. He made his name investigating high-profile dark web and cryptocurrency cases. Some colleagues called him the 'Crypto Wizard' because of his pioneering work tracing crypto transactions for law enforcement. Since 2021, he's worked at the world's largest crypto exchange, Binance.
Tigran was in Nigeria as a sort of envoy. He was supposed to meet with government officials and show them that Binance – and crypto itself – was safe, reliable, and law-abiding.
One of the most important meetings was at the headquarters of the Office of the National Security Advisor. He says officials there made him wait hours. And when officials finally came into the room, they accused Binance of a host of crimes and of tanking the Nigerian economy. They then told Tigran that they weren't going to let him leave Nigeria until they were satisfied that Binance was going to remedy the situation.
On today's show, in a collaboration with Click Here from Recorded Future News, we hear about Tigran's eight month detention in Nigeria. In his first recorded interview after his release, he shares details about his captivity, how he survived one of Nigeria's most infamous prisons, and how he got out.
Jordan's King Abdullah will meet with President Trump in Washington after rejecting Trump's plan to move Palestinians out of Gaza. President Trump announced new tariffs on steel and aluminum, and the Justice Department has asked prosecutors to dismiss corruption charges against NYC Mayor Eric Adams.
Today's episode of Up First was edited by Nishant Dahiya, Roberta Rampton, Gerry Holmes, Janaya Williams and Alice Woelfle. It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Nia Dumas and Christopher Thomas. We get engineering support from David Greenburg. And our technical director is Carleigh Strange.
The winner of Germany’s upcoming election will also play a crucial role in Europe. The Economist’s editor-in-chief speaks to Friedrich Merz, the front-runner for chancellor, on the scale of the problems–and his rather cautious solutions. Taiwan faces Chinese infiltration of its armed forces (14:00). And are backpacks really becoming cool (23:10)?
Simmi Singh grew up in Australia, when her parents migrated from India. She studied law and finance at university, and then went into investment banking during some tumultuous times. Eventually, she got interested in tech, and worked for teams at Intuit, Saavn, and Spotify, during the times of the Anchor acquisition and launching features around video podcasts. Outside of tech, she is married with 2 kids. She loves to travel, watch movies, and to do craft projects, as building is a key theme in her life.
While Simmi was at Spotify, a prior colleague of hers approached her about a product he was building. When she heard the details of what was being built, she felt that it was the culmination of all of our professional experiences and she had to jump on board.
We've been waiting to do a Bob Dylan episode for years and the film A Complete Unknown is just the excuse we were looking for! This week Danny and Tyler discuss the late 60's era of Dylan's career where he became a country crooner. Post-electric and pre-religious, this is a beautiful time in Dylan's eclectic catalog.
"Country Pie" from Nashville Skyline has been added to our Ultimate Country Playlist! Follow the link below to keep up with which songs are being added to our Ultimate Country Playlist on Spotify https://tinyurl.com/takethispodplaylist And on TIDAL! https://t.co/MHEvOz2DOA
Is the Left taking the bait? While many in the legacy media continue to berate Elon Musk for his role in defunding bloated federal programs and agencies, Donald Trump remains largely unscathed. Is this part of a larger strategy by the president, wonders Victor Davis Hanson on today’s edition of “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words.”
“He's more legitimate—or he has more statutory legitimacy—than earlier presidential advisors, like Harry Hopkins, who moved into the White House under the FDR administration, or Bernard Baruch, who basically ran two world wars, in terms of domestic production, under Woodrow Wilson and FDR. So, let's just dispel the idea that he's doing anything unusual. ...
“As far as the executive orders that created the DOGE program and eliminated USAID—that was perfectly legal in itself—USAID was created by John F. Kennedy in 1961 by an executive order. There was a statutory direction for the president to disperse foreign aid into a comprehensive body, but it didn't say USAID—he could do whatever he wanted. ...
"And so, Donald Trump has decided to end an autonomous USAID and fold it into the State Department for disaster relief or poverty relief or famine relief. ...
“All Donald Trump is doing is saying, ‘I don't believe the impoundment act is legal. We'll see what the Supreme Court says—but I'm just following the precedent that Joe Biden did.’ But now, the shoe's on the other foot."
It’s Trump’s third week in office and there is no shortage of news to report. Last week, RFK Jr., Kash Patel, and Tulsi Gabbard advanced in their congressional confirmation hearings for Health and Human Services secretary, FBI director, and Director of National Intelligence, and criticisms of Gabbard resurfaced over her meeting with former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in 2017, and over her defense of Edward Snowden—who she refused to call a traitor.
Meanwhile, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the United States, making him the first foreign leader invited to the new Trump White House. At a press conference with President Trump, he looked like the dog that caught the car when Trump announced that the U.S. would take control of Gaza, and that the 1.7 million people living there would be resettled elsewhere.
Trump also issued an executive order imposing a 90-day pause on foreign aid programs, which totaled around $70 billion in 2023. Meanwhile, Kanye has gone nuts again; Trump backed DOGE’s cost-cutting efforts and said Elon would be heading to the Pentagon next, causing shares of defense stocks like Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman to tumble; and the vibe shift came for the Super Bowl.
To unpack it all today is Newsweek opinion editor Batya Ungar-Sargon and political fundraising powerhouse Brianna Wu.
If you liked what you heard from Honestly, the best way to support us is to go to TheFP.com and become a Free Press subscriber today.
---
Get $10 for free when you trade $100+ with code HONESTLY.
