Americans' most loved Italian food staple could soon double in price or disappear from U.S. supermarket shelves following tariffs imposed by the Trump administration that could go into force from January. Our reporter in Rome explores why the tariffs are being applied and what it could mean for Italian producers and U.S. consumers.
President Trump leans into a familiar political strategy of attacking immigrant communities as he intensifies racist comments about Minnesota’s Somali population and Congresswoman Ilhan Omar. A Pentagon watchdog report finds Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth endangered U.S. troops by sharing classified strike plans over Signal, directly undercutting the White House’s claim that no harm was done. And a CDC advisory panel appointed by the Trump administration prepares to revisit long-standing vaccine recommendations, including whether to scale back protections for newborns and young children.
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Today’s episode of Up First was edited by Rebekah Metzler, Andrew Sussman, Scott Hensley, Mohamad ElBardicy 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 Stacey Abbott.
It is a special edition of the Beigies Awards where one regional Federal Reserve Bank will receive lifetime achievement recognition. Today on the show, we speak to its President about the value of economic anecdotes.
Rev. Jesse Jackson is well-known as an icon of the American Civil Rights Movement, a protégé of Martin Luther King Jr., and a steadfast activist — but he has quite a past in electoral politics, too. A Dream Deferred charts Jackson’s rise to political prominence during his 1984 and 1988 presidential campaigns, as the first major Black candidate for U.S. president. In today’s episode, author and CNN anchor Abby Phillip talks with NPR’s Ayesha Rascoe about her debut biography, and how Jackson himself approached politics and activism with separate mindsets.
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Roughly 80,000 people of Somali descent now live in Minnesota. The vast majority of them are American citizens.
This week, President Trump attacked Somali immigrants in racist and xenophobic terms.
“I don't want 'em in our country,” he said at the end of a cabinet meeting. “Their country is no good for a reason. Their country stinks."
The mayors of Minneapolis and St. Paul defended their Somali community – and responded to reports that the Trump administration is targeting that community with extra immigration enforcement.
Minnesota Public Radio’s Matt Sepic has the latest from St. Paul.
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This episode was produced by Vincent Acovino, with audio engineering by Ted Mebane and Kwesi Lee. It was edited by Patrick Jarenwattananon. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.
U.S. envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff visited Moscow this week to present the revised Ukraine peace proposal. We’ll hear how they were received. And Marco Rubio won’t attend a NATO meeting of foreign ministers about Ukraine, the first time in more than 20 years the U.S. Secretary of State won’t be at such a meeting. We’ll get reaction from Europe. And we’ll hear from a former U.S. ambassador to NATO on what the alliance’s role in a Ukraine peace deal should be.
No matter where you live in the U.S., you’ve probably heard stories — or have your own — about not being able to afford to live. The couple in their 30s that can’t buy a home. The 20-something who can’t afford rent without living with several roommates. The family of five who feel pinched every time they visit the grocery store. The retiree struggling to pay their health insurance premium.
A five-hour meeting between Vladimir Putin and U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff ends without a breakthrough, as the Kremlin rejects key parts of the updated Ukraine peace plan. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shifts his account of the U.S. strike on an alleged drug boat, saying he didn’t order the second, lethal attack as lawmakers press for answers. And a special House election in deep-red Tennessee district tightened far more than expected, offering both parties clues about voter energy heading into the 2026 midterms.
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Today’s episode of Up First was edited by Rebecca Rossman, Jason Breslow, Megan Pratz, Mohamad ElBardicy and Alice Woelfle.
It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Nia Dumas and Christopher Thomas.
We get engineering support from Stacey Abbott. And our technical director is Carleigh Strange.
Electricity bills are on track to rise an average of 8 percent nationwide by 2030 according to a June analysis from Carnegie Mellon University and North Carolina State University. The culprits? Data centers and cryptocurrency mining. Bills could rise as much as 25 percent in places like Virginia. Science writer Dan Charles explains why electric utilities are adding the cost of data center buildings to their customers’ bills while the data companies pay nothing upfront.