Consider This from NPR - Why Fetterman still thinks his party is wrong on Israel, shutdown & the working class

When John Fetterman won Pennsylvania's senate seat in 2022, Democrats across the country treated him as a hero and an example of a path forward for the party in the populist Trump era. 

Three years later, he often finds himself at odds with his party – most recently, on the government shutdown, Israel, and working class voters.

He delves deeper into his political views and experiences in a new memoir out this week, titled Unfettered. In the book, he’s also deeply honest about his struggles with mental health.

“Honestly, I know millions of Americans suffer,” Fetterman told NPR. “And to really understand what [...] true deep depression is like [...] that's part of the conversation in the book.”

This episode was produced by Tyler Bartlam with audio engineering from Andie Huether. It was edited by Ashley Brown and Nadia Lancy. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.

You can also watch the full conversation between NPR’s Scott Detrow and Fetterman here.

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1A - ICYMI: Trump Pardons Top Jan. 6 Conspirators

Late Sunday, while most eyes were on the Senate’s shutdown negotiations, the Trump administration was busy rewriting the history of the 2020 election.

Just before midnight, a Justice Department lawyer posted a list on X of dozens of the president’s top allies and former aides who’d received pardons related to their efforts to overturn that election.

Among them are Trump’s former lawyer, Rudy Giuliani; Trump’s former chief of staff, Mark Meadows; and Sidney Powell, a former federal prosecutor who tried to overturn election results in key swing states and spread false claims of widespread voting machine fraud.

What do these pardons do? And how is the president using the Justice Department to shield those closest to him from future legal consequences?

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Up First from NPR - House Votes on Funding Bill, Shutdown Deal Dissent, COP30 Global Emissions

The House returns to vote on a bipartisan bill that could end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history and send thousands of federal workers back to their jobs. Democrats face internal backlash after several senators broke ranks to support the deal, raising questions about the impact ahead of next year's midterm elections. And COP30 opens in Brazil with a stark warning on global emissions, new data shows fossil fuels are at record highs, and the world is still far from meeting its climate goals.

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 Kelsey Snell, Megan Pratz, Neela Banerjee, Mohamad ElBardicy, and Alice Woelfle.

It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Nia Dumas and Lindsay Totty.

We get engineering support from Stacey Abbott. And our technical director is Carleigh Strange.

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NPR's Book of the Day - Tochi Onyebuchi’s ‘Racebook’ is a ‘personal history’ of a less serious time online

Tochi Onyebuchi remembers when the internet was fun. The science fiction and fantasy author says he initially existed online as a “skinless, raceless entity” until he experienced a shift around 2012. His new memoir Racebook traces this shift to the shooting death of Trayvon Martin and subsequent acquittal of the man who killed him. In today’s episode, Onyebuchi speaks with NPR’s Juana Summers about online forums, early Twitter, and the other communities that made the early internet so satisfying.


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The Indicator from Planet Money - Who is the World Cup for anymore?

The World Cup is coming up, and it’s going to cost a pretty penny if you are hoping to attend. Today on the show, we talk to NPR Senior Business editor and World Cup superfan about why the 2026 World Cup will likely be the most expensive in history and why even finding a ticket is more difficult. 

Related episodes: 

Peacock, potassium and other Paris Olympics Indicators

Why the Olympics cost so much

You can't spell Olympics without IP

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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Short Wave - What Space Dust Reveals About Earth’s Ice Age

Cosmic dust can tell scientists about how ice covered Earth during the last ice age. This dust is leftover debris from asteroids and comets colliding in space and this dust constantly rains down on our planet. Researcher Frankie Pavia from the University of Washington recently used a brand new method for estimating climate conditions 30,000 years ago, by looking at the cosmic dust amounts in ancient arctic ocean soil. He and a team found new clues to what melted arctic ice at the end of the ice age. These results may be able to better inform ice melt in the future.


Interested in more space science? Email us your question at shortwave@npr.org.


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Consider This from NPR - FDA reverses decades of guidance on hormone therapy for menopause

The FDA is removing the black box warning on estrogen therapy after two decades. Should it?



Women who want to use estrogen to treat menopause symptoms often face a difficult choice.

That’s because those hormone treatments contain a “black-box warning.”

The Food and Drug Administration uses black box warnings to indicate a medication has potentially life threatening side effects.

In the case of estrogen for menopause symptoms, an increased risk of endometrial cancer, cardiovascular disorders, dementia and breast cancer.

Well those warnings are going away.  

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 Mia Venkat and Erika Ryan. It was edited by Courtney Dorning and Scott Hensley.

Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.

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1A - ‘If You Can Keep It’: The Results Of The 2025 Election

In the first general election since the beginning of Donald Trump’s second term, Democrats won big. But they might also be set to kill a lot of that momentum.

Exit polls have found that in major races across the country — in states like Virginia, New Jersey, New York, and California — the economy and affordability were the biggest issues that drove voters to the polls.

An NPB News poll from October suggests that 63 percent of registered voters believe the Trump administration has fallen short when it comes to the economy.

As part of our weekly series on the state of democracy, If You Can Keep It, we dive into some of the biggest local races and what they tell us about the issues that matter most to you – and what Democrats and Republicans can take away from this year’s results. 

But first, we dive into a potential deal to end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history that has some critics claiming Senate Democrats are caving to President Trump.

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Up First from NPR - Senate Shutdown Breakthrough, SNAP Legal Battle, COP30 Climate Summit Starts

Senate Democrats break ranks to join Republicans in backing a deal to reopen the government after 41 days, a move that could finally end the longest shutdown in U.S. history. SNAP benefits remain tangled in court battles, as a late ruling orders the Trump administration to fully restore payments while states face threats of federal penalties. And world leaders gather in Brazil for a major climate conference, but the Trump administration says the U.S. won't be at the table.

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 Anna Yukhananov, Kevin Drew, Neela Banerjee, Mohamad ElBardicy and Martha Ann Overland.

It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Nia Dumas and Lindsay Totty

We get engineering support from Stacey Abbott. And our technical director is Carleigh Strange.

Join us again tomorrow

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