A recent series of studies suggests that the brains of birds, reptiles and mammals all evolved independently — even though they share a common ancestor. That means evolution has found more than one way to make a complex brain, and human brains may not be quite as special as we think. To learn more about this, we talk to Fernando García-Moreno about this series of studies he co-authored that came out in Science in February.
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Planet Money - OIRA: The tiny office that’s about to remake the federal government
OIRA — the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs — is an obscure, but powerful federal office around the corner from the White House. President Trump has decided that it should get even more powerful.
For the last 45 years, OIRA has overseen most federal agencies by reviewing proposed regulations to make sure they agree with the President's policies and don't conflict with the work of other agencies. But one set of federal agencies has always been exempt from this review process — independent federal agencies like the SEC, FTC, FCC, and Federal Reserve. Until now.
According to a new executive order, those independent agencies are about to get a lot less independent. We take a look at what this change could mean for financial markets...and the future of American democracy.
This episode was produced by James Sneed and Willa Rubin. It was edited by Jess Jiang and engineered by Jimmy Keeley. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.
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Music: Universal Music Production - "Tanga," "The Jump Back," and "Kumbatia."
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For the last 45 years, OIRA has overseen most federal agencies by reviewing proposed regulations to make sure they agree with the President's policies and don't conflict with the work of other agencies. But one set of federal agencies has always been exempt from this review process — independent federal agencies like the SEC, FTC, FCC, and Federal Reserve. Until now.
According to a new executive order, those independent agencies are about to get a lot less independent. We take a look at what this change could mean for financial markets...and the future of American democracy.
This episode was produced by James Sneed and Willa Rubin. It was edited by Jess Jiang and engineered by Jimmy Keeley. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.
Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.
Listen free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.
Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.
Music: Universal Music Production - "Tanga," "The Jump Back," and "Kumbatia."
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The Indicator from Planet Money - Did Trump enable insider trading?
On the morning of April 9, President Trump posted on Truth Social "THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!! DJT." Around four hours later, he announced a pause on some new tariffs, causing a stock market spike. Now, Democrats are demanding an investigation into possible insider trading. But were Trump's posts actually insider trading?
Related episodes:
Morally questionable, economically efficient (Apple / Spotify)
An insider trader tells all
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Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.
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Related episodes:
Morally questionable, economically efficient (Apple / Spotify)
An insider trader tells all
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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Consider This from NPR - Did DOGE take sensitive labor data?
President Trump's Department of Government Efficiency team, or DOGE, appears to be grabbing sensitive data from all over the government.
A whistleblower has come forward by filing an official disclosure to Congress about concerning activity on the systems at one independent federal agency, the National Labor Relations Board.
Elon Musk says DOGE is searching for savings throughout the government. But is the data being accessed valuable?
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A whistleblower has come forward by filing an official disclosure to Congress about concerning activity on the systems at one independent federal agency, the National Labor Relations Board.
Elon Musk says DOGE is searching for savings throughout the government. But is the data being accessed valuable?
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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Consider This from NPR - Did DOGE take sensitive labor data?
President Trump's Department of Government Efficiency team, or DOGE, appears to be grabbing sensitive data from all over the government.
A whistleblower has come forward by filing an official disclosure to Congress about concerning activity on the systems at one independent federal agency, the National Labor Relations Board.
Elon Musk says DOGE is searching for savings throughout the government. But is the data being accessed valuable?
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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A whistleblower has come forward by filing an official disclosure to Congress about concerning activity on the systems at one independent federal agency, the National Labor Relations Board.
Elon Musk says DOGE is searching for savings throughout the government. But is the data being accessed valuable?
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 - Did DOGE take sensitive labor data?
President Trump's Department of Government Efficiency team, or DOGE, appears to be grabbing sensitive data from all over the government.
A whistleblower has come forward by filing an official disclosure to Congress about concerning activity on the systems at one independent federal agency, the National Labor Relations Board.
Elon Musk says DOGE is searching for savings throughout the government. But is the data being accessed valuable?
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
A whistleblower has come forward by filing an official disclosure to Congress about concerning activity on the systems at one independent federal agency, the National Labor Relations Board.
Elon Musk says DOGE is searching for savings throughout the government. But is the data being accessed valuable?
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
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1A - Tax Day: Checking In On The IRS
Frustration with the Internal Revenue Service is nothing new. A Pew Research survey found it's the least popular federal agency among Americans.
But that should come as no surprise. After all, the IRS is responsible for collecting what we owe the government.
During fiscal year 2024, the IRS collected more than $5 trillion in tax revenue.
But this year, Tax Day arrives amid upheaval at the agency. Just last week, the head of the IRS resigned – the third to do so since President Trump's inauguration. And his administration announced plans to lay off up to a quarter of the agency's workforce.
We discuss the latest at the IRS and the impact changes at the agency could have for the 2025 tax season.
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.
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But that should come as no surprise. After all, the IRS is responsible for collecting what we owe the government.
During fiscal year 2024, the IRS collected more than $5 trillion in tax revenue.
But this year, Tax Day arrives amid upheaval at the agency. Just last week, the head of the IRS resigned – the third to do so since President Trump's inauguration. And his administration announced plans to lay off up to a quarter of the agency's workforce.
We discuss the latest at the IRS and the impact changes at the agency could have for the 2025 tax season.
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
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State of the World from NPR - Dismantling Democracy in Hungary
In his fifteen years as prime minister of Hungary, Viktor Orban has steadily chipped away at his country's democratic freedoms. We go to Budapest to see what the erosion of democracy looks like and we find that many of Orban's strategies are being studied by politicians elsewhere.
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1A - ICYMI: The Upcoming Budget Cuts At NOAA
What's the weather like in your area? Chances are you took a look at your preferred weather app on your phone before heading outside.
We can find that information easily because of weather data that comes from the National Weather Service. It's a part of the federal agency NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The Trump Administration plans to cut billions of dollars from NOAA in its upcoming 2026 budget plans.
The cuts could result in a remaking of the agency and eliminate much of the research it conducts that Americans use every day.
We discuss how the loss of NOAA could affect our day to day.
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.
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We can find that information easily because of weather data that comes from the National Weather Service. It's a part of the federal agency NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The Trump Administration plans to cut billions of dollars from NOAA in its upcoming 2026 budget plans.
The cuts could result in a remaking of the agency and eliminate much of the research it conducts that Americans use every day.
We discuss how the loss of NOAA could affect our day to day.
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
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Up First from NPR - Wrongly Deported, DOGE And Agency Data, Harvard Defies The White House
Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele says he has no plans to return a Maryland man mistakenly deported to El Salvador, an NPR report details unusual data events at the National Labor Relations Board, and Harvard University says that it won't comply with a list of demands from the Trump administration.
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 Roberta Rampton, Brett Neely, Steven Drummond, Mohamad ElBardicy, and Janaya Williams. It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Carla Esteves, Ashley Montgomery, Nia Dumas and Christopher Thomas. We get engineering support from Arthur Laurent. And our technical director is David Greenburg.
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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 Roberta Rampton, Brett Neely, Steven Drummond, Mohamad ElBardicy, and Janaya Williams. It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Carla Esteves, Ashley Montgomery, Nia Dumas and Christopher Thomas. We get engineering support from Arthur Laurent. And our technical director is David Greenburg.
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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