Cuba is in economic crisis. Its ally, Venezuela, is no longer sending oil, and the Trump administration is applying pressure. Life for Cubans is hard, but if they express their opinions they can get in a lot of trouble. So they’ve found other ways to tell you what they think, and a single phrase is doing a lot of the work. Our correspondent in Havana tells us what it is.
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Up First from NPR - Guthrie Investigation, Ghislaine Maxwell Deposition, Seahawks Win Super Bowl LX
The search for Nancy Guthrie, the mother of Today show co-host Savannah Guthrie, enters a second week as her family says they’ve received a message from the people who took her and investigators continue to look for suspects.
Ghislaine Maxwell is set to be questioned by members of Congress about Jeffrey Epstein, his crimes, and the powerful figures connected to him, even as she continues to challenge her own conviction.
And the Seattle Seahawks win Super Bowl 60, beating the New England Patriots 29-13, using a dominant defense to secure the franchise’s second championship.
Want more analysis of the most important news of the day, plus a little fun? Subscribe to the Up First newsletter.
Ghislaine Maxwell is set to be questioned by members of Congress about Jeffrey Epstein, his crimes, and the powerful figures connected to him, even as she continues to challenge her own conviction.
And the Seattle Seahawks win Super Bowl 60, beating the New England Patriots 29-13, using a dominant defense to secure the franchise’s second championship.
Want more 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 James Doubek, Megan Pratz, Russell Lewis, Mohamad ElBardicy, and Adriana Gallardo.
It was produced by Ziad Buchh and Ava Pukatch.
Our director is Christopher Thomas.
We get engineering support from Neisha Heinis. Our technical director is Carleigh Strange.
(0:00) Introduction
(01:58) Guthrie Investigation
(05:37) Ghislaine Maxwell Deposition
(09:20) Seahawks Win Super Bowl LX
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The Indicator from Planet Money - Are we in an economic ‘doom loop’?
Trade wars. Financial panics. Inflation. How come it feels like it’s all bad news in the global economy these days? Economist Eswar Prasad’s answer: something he calls the ‘doom loop.’ That’s where massive geopolitical and economic forces feed off each other and send us careening into disorder. Sounds dire. But it’s not hopeless.
On today’s show, are we in a doom loop? And if we are … how do we get out of one?
Eswar Prasad’s new book is called “The Doom Loop: Why the World Economic Order Is Spiraling into Disorder”.
Related episodes:
Is the financial media making us miserable about the economy?
Why are some nations richer?
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 Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.
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On today’s show, are we in a doom loop? And if we are … how do we get out of one?
Eswar Prasad’s new book is called “The Doom Loop: Why the World Economic Order Is Spiraling into Disorder”.
Related episodes:
Is the financial media making us miserable about the economy?
Why are some nations richer?
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 Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.
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NPR's Book of the Day - In ‘Room 706,’ a woman confronts her extramarital affair during a hostage crisis
Kate loves her husband and their family, but she’s also involved in a long-standing affair with a married lover. Ellie Levenson opens her novel Room 706 with the secret lovers in their London hotel room. There, they soon find themselves trapped during a hostage crisis. In today’s episode, the author talks with NPR’s Scott Simon about why she chose to tell a story about modern womanhood and motherhood through such extreme circumstances.
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
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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
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Short Wave - These bacteria may be key to the fight against antibiotic resistance
In 1928, a chance contaminant in Scottish physician Alexander Fleming’s lab experiment led to a discovery that would change the field of medicine forever: penicillin. Since then, penicillin and other antibiotics have saved millions of lives. With one problem: the growing threat of antibiotic resistance. Today on Short Wave, host Regina G. Barber talks to biophysicist Nathalie Balaban about the conundrum — and a discovery her lab has made in bacteria that could turn the tides.
Check out our episodes on extreme bacteria in Yellowstone and the last universal common ancestor.
Interested in more science behind our medicines? Email us your question 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.
This episode was produced by Berly McCoy, edited by our showrunner Rebecca Ramirez and fact checked by Tyler Jones. Jimmy Keeley was the audio engineer.
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Check out our episodes on extreme bacteria in Yellowstone and the last universal common ancestor.
Interested in more science behind our medicines? Email us your question 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.
This episode was produced by Berly McCoy, edited by our showrunner Rebecca Ramirez and fact checked by Tyler Jones. Jimmy Keeley was the audio engineer.
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Consider This from NPR - What does it mean when the president urges Republicans to “nationalize the voting”?
The power to regulate federal elections rests with states and Congress, according to the Constitution. Yet President Trump repeatedly questioned the integrity of election systems, despite no evidence of widespread voter fraud, and in recent days has urged Republicans to take over voting operations in a number of states. Wendy Weiser, the vice president for democracy at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law School, a think tank and voting rights advocacy group, examines the administration’s actions ahead of the midterm elections.
This episode was produced by Henry Larson and Kai McNamee, with audio engineering by Damian Herring.
It was edited by Sarah Robbins and Ahmad Damen. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.
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.
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Up First from NPR - How the Presidency is Making Trump Richer
Before President Donald Trump’s first term, he was in a “tight spot” financially, according to New Yorker writer David Kirkpatrick. At the start of his second term, Kirkpatrick says, Trump was in an “even tighter” spot. But six months later, Trump’s financial situation had substantially improved.
Kirkpatrick has done a full accounting of the money, that’s flowed into the Trump family coffers. Kirkpatrick says even using the most conservative estimates, the Trumps have made almost $4 billion dollars “off of the presidency,” in just about a year.
Today on The Sunday Story, we turn to our friends at NPR’s Planet Money to help us understand how President Trump and his family have found ways to profit from the presidency.
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Kirkpatrick has done a full accounting of the money, that’s flowed into the Trump family coffers. Kirkpatrick says even using the most conservative estimates, the Trumps have made almost $4 billion dollars “off of the presidency,” in just about a year.
Today on The Sunday Story, we turn to our friends at NPR’s Planet Money to help us understand how President Trump and his family have found ways to profit from the presidency.
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Consider This from NPR - Covering the ICE surge in Minneapolis
Reporting on the ICE surge in Minneapolis
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Up First from NPR - U.S.-Iran Talks Continue, Texas Politics, 2026 Winter Olympics Begin
U.S. and Iranian envoys have held talks aimed at averting possible U.S. strikes on Iran. Debates over immigration enforcement are front and center in a Texas primary contest. Plus, it’s a busy weekend for sports fans with the 2026 Winter Olympic Games and the Super Bowl.
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Planet Money - Iran, protests, and sanctions
Book tour tickets and details here.
The recent protests in Iran are about so many things. Human rights, corruption, freedom. But this time – they are also motivated by economic hardship. Hardship caused, in part, by US sanctions.
The US has been sanctioning Iran in one way or another for 47 years. But sanctions, as a tool, only work some of the time, and US sanctions on Iran have not always conformed to what experts consider best practices.
On today’s episode: What did US sanctions do to Iran's economy? How did they feed into the latest protests and crackdown in Iran? Sanctions are supposed to avert war, but how different from war are they?
Listen free: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.
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This episode was hosted by Mary Childs and Nick Fountain. It was produced by James Sneed with help from Willa Rubin. It was edited by Marianne McCune, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Cena Loffredo and Jimmy Keeley. Planet Money’s executive producer is Alex Goldmark.
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