What A Day - SCOTUS Takes On Birthright Citizenship

The Supreme Court tackled a question Wednesday that most Americans probably thought was settled: are the American-born children of immigrants American citizens? The Constitution seems pretty clear -- Section 1 of the 14th Amendment reads in part, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside.” But an executive order issued on President Donald Trump’s first day back in the White House argued, “The Fourteenth Amendment has never been interpreted to extend citizenship universally to everyone born within the United States.” That order was quickly met by a number of lawsuits. During oral arguments on Wednesday, most of the Supreme Court justices seemed skeptical that the 14th Amendment means something other than what it says. Melissa Murray, professor at the New York University School of Law and co-host of Crooked Media’s Strict Scrutiny, joins the show to break down the birthright citizenship question.

And in headlines, Trump threatens to withdraw the U.S. from NATO even though he'd need Congressional approval to do so, Republicans say they finally have a plan to fund DHS, and statues mocking the president keep popping up across the nation’s capital.

Show Notes:

What Next | Daily News and Analysis - Trump Went to Court—But Left Early

Even with Trump in attendance, it didn’t look like the Supreme Court was buying his administration’s attack on the 14th amendment and birthright citizenship. But how the justices decide the case could leave the door open for another, savvier attempt to overturn birthright citizenship in the future.


Guest: Jamelle Bouie, opinion columnist at The New York Times. 


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Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, and Rob Gunther.


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The Indicator from Planet Money - Greetings from: Our favorite public goods

Freedom of the Seas. GPS. The Large Hadron Collider. These are all public goods that make our world more prosperous, accurate, and knowledgeable. But we don’t always give them the attention they deserve. 

Today on the show, the Planet Money book’s main author Alex Mayyasi joins us to take an audio world tour of spectacular public goods, one whimsical postcard at a time. 

These postcards are gorgeously illustrated in the Planet Money book

Come see Planet Money live on stage in April! 12 cities. Details and tix here: https://tix.to/pm-book-tour

Related episodes: 
Lighthouses, Autopsies And The Federal Budget 
The highs and lows of US rents 

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What A Day - USPS Needs Congress’ Stamp Of Approval

Last month, Postmaster General David Steiner told Congress that the U.S. Postal Service is in danger of running out of money by the end of the year. One big reason for this: there’s just less mail being sent. Between 2008 and 2025, first-class mail volume declined by more than 50 percent. And the Postal Service reported losing roughly $9 billion dollars in each of the past two fiscal years. So what needs to happen to keep the agency running, especially with the midterm elections coming up and the issue of mail-in voting sitting before the Supreme Court? Hansi Lo Wang, an NPR correspondent covering the U.S. Postal Service, joins the show to talk about the state of the Postal Service and what Congress needs to do to save the popular federal institution.

And in headlines, President Donald Trump scrambles for a solution to the war he started in Iran, the Supreme Court strikes down a ban on conversion therapy in Colorado, and a federal judge orders the Trump administration to pause construction of its $400 million White House ballroom.

Show Notes:

The Indicator from Planet Money - Why Pokémon cards are growing faster than your retirement account

Pokémon cards are scorching hot right now. An index tracking the thousands of rare cards shows that valuations have increased 170% in the last year alone. Growth like that really makes you wish you hadn’t given away all your childhood cards years ago.

Today on the show, we cover three things that are contributing to the rapid growth of shiny cards produced by the world’s highest-grossing media franchise.

Come see Planet Money live on stage in April! 12 cities. Details and tix here: https://tix.to/pm-book-tour

Related episodes: 
The secret to Nintendo's success
The curious rise of novelty popcorn buckets

The Curse Of The Black Lotus (Update)
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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What Next | Daily News and Analysis - We’re in an Oil Crisis. Will Renewables Save Us?

The Iran war’s disruption to global oil supplies demonstrates another upside to switching to renewable energy sources. Instead, Europe is considering rolling back carbon regulations.


Guest:  Catherine Rampell, economics editor at The Bulwark and anchor at MS NOW.


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Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, and Rob Gunther.


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What A Day - Conservatism’s Biggest Conference Was Missing Its Star

Over the past decade or so, the Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, has become a massive gathering of right-wing power brokers — but this year, President Trump didn’t go. Neither did Vice President JD Vance nor Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The lackluster convention seemed to mirror a MAGA movement that’s looking increasingly unmoored. Ben Jacobs is a Washington-based political reporter who has been going to CPAC for years. We talked about his trip to the 2026 convention and what made this year so different from the others.

And in headlines, Trump makes yet another threat against Iran, Transportation Security Administration workers start receiving some backpay, and TMZ is giving members of Congress the tabloid treatment.

Show Notes:

What Next | Daily News and Analysis - Where Insider Trading Becomes Treason

A flurry of activity in the oil-futures market, minutes before Donald Trump made a big announcement about not striking at Iranian infrastructure, has all the appearance of someone using classified national security information to turn a profit. 


Guest:  Paul Krugman, Nobel-Prize winning economist and author of paulkrugman.substack.com.


Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.


Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, and Rob Gunther.


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.