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Plus: a senior Chinese trade negotiator heads to Washington as talks resume despite simmering tensions. And, President Trump threatens higher tariffs and export curbs on countries that tax or regulate U.S. tech firms. Azhar Sukri hosts.
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President Trump has moved to fire a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve. The President has also taken action to eliminate cashless bail and expand the role of the National Guard as part of his crackdown on crime in Washington, DC. And, Kilmar Abrego Garcia has been taken into custody and faces deportation to Uganda.
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Today’s episode of Up First was edited by Padma Rama, Rafael Nam, Eric Westervelt, Lisa Thomson and HJ Mai.
It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Nia Dumas and Mansee Khurana.
We get engineering support from Stacey Abbott. And our technical director is Carleigh Strange.
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A.M. Edition for Aug 26. President Trump says he’s removing Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook, escalating his campaign against the central bank. The WSJ’s Alex Frangos helps us make sense of whether he actually has the authority to fire Cook, and what this means for the Fed’s independence. Plus, U.S.-China trade talks are set to resume this week. And WSJ correspondent Yaroslav Trofimov reports that Russia faces a fuel crunch, as Ukraine steps up its drone attacks on the country’s refineries. Azhar Sukri hosts.
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Avi Perez has been in the data and analytics space for more than 25 years. He began his career in banking and finance in Australia, but quickly grew tired of crunching numbers for the big wigs, wanting to find a better way to calculate this information. Outside of tech, he enjoys a wide array of music, from classical to modern trance. He's a big science fiction nut, enjoying shows like Aliens and the Matrix, and cooks up some exquisite cuisine on occasion.
Within his prior startup, Avi and his co-founders built out a way to make intelligent decisions for their business using data. After they exited the business, they wanted to continue their data stint, but in particular, commercialize the analytics solution they built.
This is the creation story of Pyramid Analytics.
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Hi Million Bazillionaires. While we’re working on a brand-new season, we’ve got a special treat for you. Today, we’re sharing an episode from our friends over at “The Big Fib.” In this gameshow, a kid contestant will try to spot which adult expert is lying about … the stock market. What do you call the person who buys and sells stocks for a fee? How many stocks get sold in a day? Which stock is less risky to buy? Do you know the true answers to these questions? Play along and see if you can guess who is telling fibs and who’s telling the truth on “The Big Fib” gameshow. For more great shows for kids and families visit GZMshows.com.
Across Europe, postal services are grappling with declining letter volumes, amid a rise in digitalization. In Demark, where the decline has been particularly steep, the publicly-owned national postal service, PostNord, is bringing an end to 400 years of letter deliveries, to focus solely on parcels from 2026. And while a private firm will step into the gap, letters are a shrinking business. So as digitalization grows, do letters have a future? The BBC’s Adrienne Murray reports from the Danish capital with more details.
Israeli airstrikes killed 19 people in Gaza, including five journalists working at Nasser Hospital, underscoring the dangers for media in the nearly two-year war. In the U.S., Kilmar Abrego Garcia has surrendered to ICE and faces possible deportation to Uganda, a move his lawyers call life-threatening. Meanwhile, investigators intensify the search for missing 7-month-old Emmanuel Haro as his parents face murder charges. And in Los Angeles, police announced the arrest of a burglary ring responsible for over 100 break-ins across the city. In business, L.A. short-term rentals continue to decline, while Google unveils its AI-powered Pixel 10 phone.
Seemingly overnight, Americans have become obsessed with pumping as much protein as possible into every drink, snack and meal.
Elizabeth Dunn, a writer and contributor to The Times, explains the origins of this latest nutrition craze.
Guest: Elizabeth Dunn, a writer and contributor to The New York Times.
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For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.
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Five journalists are among the 20 people killed in an Israeli strike on a hospital in Gaza. Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the man who was wrongfully deported to El Salvador, is detained by ICE again. And the family of one of Jeffrey Epstein’s accusers speaks out after the government releases audio of an interview with Ghislaine Maxwell.
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Ever travel to Europe in the summer and suddenly feel very “ra ra ra” about America?
It’s not because of American culture, or food, or architecture. The thing people miss first and foremost is AC. Yes, air-conditioning.
It’s an American treasure and of course, fodder for many dad jokes.
But beyond the jokes, this invention has been politically and culturally transformational.
AC allowed factories to operate through the summer—creating more productivity, prosperity, wealth, and American dynamism.
It’s allowed Americans to live in the most uninviting places in the country—ever been to Arizona or Texas in the summer?
And this very flexibility to live in places like Phoenix and Austin has shifted migration, demographics, and even our political map.
So today we want to bring you podcasts from another show in The Free Press podcast network—Breaking History.
Eli Lake and his producer Poppy Damon speak with Salvatore Basile, the author of Cool: How Air Conditioning Changed Everything, about how air-conditioning—once called “comfort cooling” and “refrigeration systems”—evolved from a bespoke invention to a household status symbol and a political force.
The episode is so interesting because it highlights inflection points that propelled this technology.
If you’re listening with your AC on high, you won’t want to miss it.
If you want to hear more from Eli Lake on Breaking History, follow here.
Header 6: The Free Press earns a commission from any purchases made through all book links in this article.
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