Ever since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, experts say Russia has stepped up its hybrid war on Western Europe. Attacks on critical infrastructure or using drones to shutdown airports are meant to undermine support for Ukraine. We go to Poland to see one such attack.
And in Kyiv, Ukrainians are getting through Russian attacks that have shut down the power grid in the coldest months by holding dance parties on ice.
It’s a strategy immigration lawyers call a conveyor belt. The number of children in ICE detention has also grown sixfold under the Trump administration – with most being held in Texas.
The ICE detention budget grew by billions last year. What’s the effect on refugees?
Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.
White House Border Czar Tom Homan says 700 federal agents will be leaving Minnesota after months of aggressive immigration enforcement, protests, and the killing of two U.S. citizens by federal agents. A new NPR/PBS/Marist poll finds most Americans now say ICE has gone too far, as the Trump administration shifts its tone on immigration enforcement. And the last remaining nuclear arms control treaty between the United States and Russia, the New START Treaty, is set to expire, raising new fears about unconstrained nuclear competition.
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 Eric Westervelt, Dana Farrington, Robbie Griffiths, Mohamad ElBardicy, and Alice Woelfle.
It was produced by Ziad Buchh and Nia Dumas
Our Director is Christopher Thomas.
We get engineering support from Neisha Heinis. Our technical director is Carleigh Strange.
Our deputy Executive Producer is Kelley Dickens.
(0:00) Introduction (01:58) Partial Drawdown in Minnesota (05:36) NPR Poll: Trump and ICE (09:18) Nuclear Treaty Expires
How did the U.S. become the Olympic powerhouse it is today? Cold War competition. The Soviet Union sponsored their athletes. But America wanted its athletes to pull themselves up by their bootstraps. It birthed an unexpected accelerator of Olympic development: College football. Stay with us now.
On today’s show, how college football became an Olympic development engine. And how that engine might not be running as smoothly as it once did.
Dating apps are full of small lies, but Rosie Storey’s debut novel imagines a relationship built on a much bigger one. What if you take over the profile of someone who’s no longer alive? In Dandelion is Dead, a grieving woman named Poppy gets into her dead older sister’s phone and logs into her dating app. There, a particular message catches her eye. In today’s episode, Storey talks with NPR’s Juana Summers about online dating, writing from a male perspective, and the author’s own friend who died at a young age.
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
Some people who say AI chatbots upended their lives and the lives of their loved ones, are now turning to each other for support.
Around the world, people are talking to AI chatbots, and these chats can sometimes lead to unhealthy emotional attachments or even breaks with reality.
OpenAI, which makes ChatGPT, is facing several lawsuits alleging the chatbot contributed to mental health crises and even multiple suicides.
An OpenAI spokesperson told NPR that they are “continuing to improve” ChatGPT’s training to quote “recognize and respond to signs of mental or emotional distress, de-escalate conversations, and guide people toward real-world support.”
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.
This episode was produced by Audrey Nguyen and Karen Zamora.
It was edited by Brett Neely and Courtney Dorning.
The United States has been conducting military operations in Syria for more than a decade. Their mission has been to attack ISIS militants and to protect Syrian oil fields. With ISIS weakened and a new government in Syria, the U.S. may pull out the troops it has stationed in Syria. But doing so might hurt some U.S. allies. We hear from NPR reporters who cover the Pentagon and the Middle East about what the move could mean.
That’s after the Trump administration announced it would end Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, for Haitians on Feb. 3. After a federal court order on Monday, the program remains in place for now, but could still be undone. The administration says it will appeal the ruling, potentially to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Congress ended the shutdown but now faces a tight deadline to fund the Department of Homeland Security, with Democrats and Republicans far apart over immigration enforcement reforms after two U.S. citizens were killed by federal agents in Minnesota. Russia has resumed heavy strikes on Ukraine’s power grid during extreme cold, despite President Trump saying Vladimir Putin agreed to pause attacks, putting new strain on fragile diplomatic efforts. And President Trump is calling for the federal government to “take over” elections in some states, escalating concerns among election officials about interference ahead of the midterms.
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 Anna Yukhananov, Miguel Macias, Ben Swasey, Mohamad ElBardicy, and Alice Woelfle.
It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Nia Dumas, and Christopher Thomas.
We get engineering support from Neisha Heinis. Our technical director is Carleigh Strange.
People wanting to purchase heat pumps might soon face sticker shock. Many consumers have sought out energy credits to find a greener and more affordable alternative to heating oil, but the tax credit to help make them cheaper has expired. Today on the show: how homeowners, the renewables industry, and its critics all feel about it.
