A.M. Edition for Mar. 16. President Trump says he and his team have approached seven countries about policing the Strait of Hormuz – the vital waterway for global energy supplies. WSJ Brussels bureau chief Daniel Michaels discusses the options facing some of America’s allies as they weigh their response. Plus, airline executives call on lawmakers to end the partial government shutdown causing long lines at airports. And Europe’s far left has its moment. Luke Vargas hosts.
Israeli officials say the man who attacked a Michigan synagogue last week had family killed in an airstrike in Lebanon, Israel says they targeted a Hezbollah commander in the home. President Trump is repeating one message as the war enters its third week 'the U.S. is winning', even as gas prices soar and Americans grow more skeptical of the Middle East war. And Senate Republicans are pushing a bill to require proof of citizenship to register to vote, but it may not have the votes to clear the Senate.
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Today’s episode of Up First was edited by Hannah Block, Dana Farrington, Ben Swasey, Mohamad ElBardicy and HJ Mai.
It was produced by Iman Maani and Nia Dumas.
Our Director is Christopher Thomas.
We get engineering support from Neisha Heiniss. Our technical director is Stacy Abbott.
(0:00) Introduction (1:52) Middle East War Week 3 (5:53) Trump's Message of Winning (9:37) Voting Act in Senate
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What makes us who we are? In Radio 4's discussion programme to start off the week, Tom Sutcliffe and guests explore consciousness and identity, and whether the face reveals our inner thoughts and character.
American science writer Michael Pollan is celebrated for his work on food and psychedelic drugs. His new book A World Appears, is a sweeping investigation into consciousness - examining where our sense of self comes from, how it is experienced across species, and what new theories from neuroscience, philosophy and plant biology reveal about awareness.
Cultural historian Fay Bound-Alberti traces the long, complex history of the human face, showing how it has been used to define identity, moral character and social status, and how new technologies – from photography to facial recognition – shape our understanding of selfhood in the modern world.
Mary Costello’s latest novel A Beautiful Loan, focuses on the life of Anna Hughes, a woman looking back across decades of love, loss and betrayal as she tries to understand the choices that shaped her and the deeper self she learns, slowly, to claim.
Here at Marketplace, we often report on a monthly economic indicator from the University of Michigan called the consumer sentiment index. It basically looks how people are feeling about the economy. Now, a team of academics at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School have used that index as a model to create something similar though much more niche: how people feel about cryptocurrency. It's called the Consumer Cryptocurrency Confidence Index, a monthly survey now in its third year. Marketplace’s Stephanie Hughes spoke with Wharton marketing professor Dave Reibstein, one of the creators of the index, about what he hopes to accomplish with it.
The U.S. military announced the death of six service members, who lost their lives when a refueling aircraft crashed in western Iraq, bringing the total to at least 13 U.S. troops killed in the Iran War. At least 1,300 Iranian civilians have been killed. Meanwhile, the Senate on Thursday passed the most significant housing bill in about 35 years to address the nation's housing crisis. New data shows U.S. economic growth slowed at the end of 2025 after the record-long government shutdown. Hundreds of Los Angeles residents are wearing body cameras to record their daily chores, providing data to help train AI. And, California gas prices have reached an average of $5.20 per gallon, sparking renewed interest in electric vehicles, despite the elimination of federal tax credits and production cutbacks by major automakers. Read more at https://LATimes.com.
San Francisco's Golden Gate Park is at the heart of city life. Created in 1870 when the land was mostly sand dunes, the park is now one of the crown jewels of the city by the bay and is a must-visit for anyone traveling here. World famous institutions like the Conservatory of Flowers, De Young Museum, California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco Botanical Gardens and Japanese Tea Gardens are located in the park, but there are just as many hidden trails, magical dells and places to get lost. We explore some of the hidden delights of Golden Gate Park that even devoted locals might not know about. And, we'll tell the epic story of how this park got built in the first place.
Bay Curious is made by Katrina Schwartz, Christopher Beale and Olivia Allen-Price. Additional support from Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Maha Sanad, Ethan Toven-Lindsey and everyone on Team KQED.
With the world’s attention on the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, a second front in the conflict has opened in Lebanon.
Israel has pummeled an area in the southern outskirts of Beirut where Hezbollah holds sway, as well as southern Lebanon, with airstrikes, displacing almost one million people. Israel has also expanded its assault into other parts of Beirut, the capital.
Christina Goldbaum, The New York Times’s bureau chief in Beirut, explains how the crisis in Lebanon connects to the broader war, what Israel hopes to achieve and what people in Lebanon fear might come next.
President Trump calls on other countries to help re-open the Strait of Hormuz. The Pentagon identifies the six servicemembers who died in a refueling plane crash. And airline executives beg Congress to end its shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security.
OA1244 - More election news updates. What the heck happened in Dallas? How is hunting for fraud in Georgia still a thing? Why is the DOJ trying to get non-public voter data from the states? There’s smoke. There’s fire. But it might not be coming from the places everyone is looking. Jenessa helps us focus our concerns in the right direction, and maybe calms our nerves just a bit.
If no other explanations for the Iran War seem satisfying, have you considered that the point is to bring about the end of the world and the return of Jesus Christ? The people in power have.
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Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, and Rob Gunther.
