In President Donald Trump's telling, tariffs are the political equivalent of duct tape: you can use them to fix anything.
For example, they're a negotiating tool — he used the threat of tariffs to pressure Canada and Mexico to implement border policies he liked. He also sees tariffs as a revenue source that might help offset his proposed $4.5 trillion in tax cuts and as a shield to protect American manufacturing jobs from overseas competition.
With all of these potentially conflicting aims, and with another major round of tariffs expected to be announced on Wednesday, what is the strategy behind them?
Rana Foroohar, a Financial Times columnist and the author of Homecoming: The Path to Prosperity in a Post-Global World, says they're an "experiment" that could lead to a big change in the way the global economy works.
For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.
Email us at considerthis@npr.org.
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NPR Privacy Policy
Consider This from NPR - Trump is betting the economy on his tariff theory
In President Donald Trump's telling, tariffs are the political equivalent of duct tape: you can use them to fix anything.
For example, they're a negotiating tool — he used the threat of tariffs to pressure Canada and Mexico to implement border policies he liked. He also sees tariffs as a revenue source that might help offset his proposed $4.5 trillion in tax cuts and as a shield to protect American manufacturing jobs from overseas competition.
With all of these potentially conflicting aims, and with another major round of tariffs expected to be announced on Wednesday, what is the strategy behind them?
Rana Foroohar, a Financial Times columnist and the author of Homecoming: The Path to Prosperity in a Post-Global World, says they're an "experiment" that could lead to a big change in the way the global economy works.
For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.
Email us at considerthis@npr.org.
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NPR Privacy Policy
For example, they're a negotiating tool — he used the threat of tariffs to pressure Canada and Mexico to implement border policies he liked. He also sees tariffs as a revenue source that might help offset his proposed $4.5 trillion in tax cuts and as a shield to protect American manufacturing jobs from overseas competition.
With all of these potentially conflicting aims, and with another major round of tariffs expected to be announced on Wednesday, what is the strategy behind them?
Rana Foroohar, a Financial Times columnist and the author of Homecoming: The Path to Prosperity in a Post-Global World, says they're an "experiment" that could lead to a big change in the way the global economy works.
For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.
Email us at considerthis@npr.org.
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NPR Privacy Policy
State of the World from NPR - China’s Global Electric Vehicle Boom
Sales of electric vehicles worldwide have been growing and the largest manufacturer of EVs is China's BYD. Their global revenue was over $100 billion in 2024, beating Tesla. To keep up that growth and to try to stave off the pain of U.S. tariffs, BYD is expanding in emerging markets. One of the markets where their cars are selling big is Brazil, where BYD is investing nearly a billion dollars in a factory. But as our Brazil correspondent tells us there have been some difficulties along the way.
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NPR Privacy Policy
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NPR Privacy Policy
1A - Birding To Help Revitalize Conservation Efforts
Some of the best songs you can hear this spring aren't on the radio.
Hundreds of millions of birds make their annual migration back into North America in early March. Despite their return to our neighborhoods and backyards to wake us up bright and early, a new report reveals they're numbering fewer and fewer.
The 2025 State of the Birds report is a joint effort spearheaded by a coalition of science and conservation organizations. It found widespread population decline across nearly all habitats and that over one third of species require conservation help.
But it's not all bad news. The report also finds that an increased interest in birding has led to more volunteer data that helped shaped the report.
We discuss what we can learn about our feathered friends and our environment while birding.
Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station and subscribe to this podcast. Have questions? Connect with us. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NPR Privacy Policy
Hundreds of millions of birds make their annual migration back into North America in early March. Despite their return to our neighborhoods and backyards to wake us up bright and early, a new report reveals they're numbering fewer and fewer.
The 2025 State of the Birds report is a joint effort spearheaded by a coalition of science and conservation organizations. It found widespread population decline across nearly all habitats and that over one third of species require conservation help.
But it's not all bad news. The report also finds that an increased interest in birding has led to more volunteer data that helped shaped the report.
We discuss what we can learn about our feathered friends and our environment while birding.
Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station and subscribe to this podcast. Have questions? Connect with us. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NPR Privacy Policy
1A - ICYMI: Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ Tariffs Are Almost Here
President Donald Trump's "Liberation Day" of reciprocal tariffs is almost here.
On April 2, Trump is rolling out a plan that would charge a blanket dollar for dollar tax on goods coming into the U.S. Trump clarified Sunday that this policy would apply to all countries instead of a more focused list.
The uncertainty around and scope of these tariffs (and a potential trade war) has spooked Wall Street and raised fears of inflation.
We discuss America's financial future.
Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station and subscribe to this podcast. Have questions? Connect with us. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NPR Privacy Policy
On April 2, Trump is rolling out a plan that would charge a blanket dollar for dollar tax on goods coming into the U.S. Trump clarified Sunday that this policy would apply to all countries instead of a more focused list.
The uncertainty around and scope of these tariffs (and a potential trade war) has spooked Wall Street and raised fears of inflation.
We discuss America's financial future.
Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station and subscribe to this podcast. Have questions? Connect with us. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NPR Privacy Policy
Up First from NPR - Wisconsin Supreme Court Race, Florida’s Special Elections, Trump’s Trade War
A Wisconsin Supreme Court election has become the most expensive judicial race in American history. Democrats are vying to pick up Congressional seats held by Republicans in two Florida special elections. And, investors are bracing for more turbulence, as President Trump prepares to unveil the next phase in his trade war.
Want more comprehensive analysis of the most important news of the day, plus a little fun? Subscribe to the Up First newsletter.
Today's episode of Up First was edited by Acacia Squires, Russell Lewis, Rafael Nam, Lisa Thomson and Alice Woelfle.
It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Nia Dumas and Christopher Thomas.
We get engineering support from Neisha Heinis and our technical director is Carleigh Strange.
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NPR Privacy Policy
Want more comprehensive analysis of the most important news of the day, plus a little fun? Subscribe to the Up First newsletter.
Today's episode of Up First was edited by Acacia Squires, Russell Lewis, Rafael Nam, Lisa Thomson and Alice Woelfle.
It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Nia Dumas and Christopher Thomas.
We get engineering support from Neisha Heinis and our technical director is Carleigh Strange.
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NPR Privacy Policy
NPR's Book of the Day - In ‘Long Island,’ one woman returns to Ireland after discovering her husband’s affair
At the beginning of Long Island, an Irish-American woman named Eilis opens the front door of her New York home and is greeted by news of her husband's affair. The other woman is pregnant – and Eilis must decide what to do next. Author Colm Tóibín says this scene convinced him to write the novel, an unplanned sequel to Brooklyn. Long Island picks up 25 years after Brooklyn left off, following Eilis as she returns to the Irish town where she grew up. In today's episode, Tóibín talks with NPR's Mary Louise Kelly about his decision to write the sequel, his own hometown in Ireland, and his characters' views of what makes someone a foreigner.
To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookoftheday
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NPR Privacy Policy
To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookoftheday
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NPR Privacy Policy
The Indicator from Planet Money - Should we vote for all judges?
Mexico is gearing up to directly elect federal and state judges for the first time this June. President Claudia Sheinbaum says the new system will combat nepotism and increase the integrity of the courts. But critics see it as a naked attempt to dilute the court's independence. Today on the show, how Mexico's judicial reforms are creating angst for businesses at home and abroad.
Related episodes:
SCOTUS: De-facto pro-business?
For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.
Fact-checking by Cooper Katz-McKim. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NPR Privacy Policy
Related episodes:
SCOTUS: De-facto pro-business?
For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.
Fact-checking by Cooper Katz-McKim. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NPR Privacy Policy
Short Wave - The Iguanas That Rafted To Fiji
Most iguanas are indigenous to the Americas. So how did the Fijian species end up on the island, nearly 5000 miles away in the South Pacific? According to a new study in the journal PNAS, it was probably via raft ... that is, on clump of floating trees.
And this rafting hypothesis isn't entirely unprecedented. After hurricanes Luis and Marilyn hit the Caribbean in the 1990s, researchers found that a group of iguanas had floated over 180 miles away from Guadeloupe to the territory of Anguilla.
Want to hear more about iguanas? Or rafts? Or evolutionary biology? Email us at shortwave@npr.org.
Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave.
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NPR Privacy Policy
And this rafting hypothesis isn't entirely unprecedented. After hurricanes Luis and Marilyn hit the Caribbean in the 1990s, researchers found that a group of iguanas had floated over 180 miles away from Guadeloupe to the territory of Anguilla.
Want to hear more about iguanas? Or rafts? Or evolutionary biology? Email us at shortwave@npr.org.
Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave.
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NPR Privacy Policy
Consider This from NPR - South Korea admits to widespread adoption fraud. Here’s one story
Last week, South Korea's Truth and Reconciliation Commission found that Korean adoption agencies were responsible for widespread fraud, malpractice and even human rights violations.
More than 140,000 South Korean children were adopted by families living abroad in the decades after the Korean war. The report documented cases in which agencies fabricated records and others in which abandoned children were sent abroad after only perfunctory efforts to find living guardians.
Documentarian Deann Borshay Liem was an adult when she first learned the story she'd been told about her identity was a lie. She was adopted by an American family from California in 1966, when she was eight years old. Her adoption records said she was an orphan, but she eventually discovered her birth mother was alive, and she had a large extended family in South Korea.
She shares her adoption story, her reaction to the commission's report, and her thoughts on what justice looks like for adoptees.
For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.
Email us at considerthis@npr.org.
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NPR Privacy Policy
More than 140,000 South Korean children were adopted by families living abroad in the decades after the Korean war. The report documented cases in which agencies fabricated records and others in which abandoned children were sent abroad after only perfunctory efforts to find living guardians.
Documentarian Deann Borshay Liem was an adult when she first learned the story she'd been told about her identity was a lie. She was adopted by an American family from California in 1966, when she was eight years old. Her adoption records said she was an orphan, but she eventually discovered her birth mother was alive, and she had a large extended family in South Korea.
She shares her adoption story, her reaction to the commission's report, and her thoughts on what justice looks like for adoptees.
For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.
Email us at considerthis@npr.org.
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NPR Privacy Policy