What Next | Daily News and Analysis - TBD | TikTok: Somehow Also Affected by the Tariffs

TikTok was on the verge of being sold to a non-Chinese company when Trump rolled out his new tariff plans. Now everything is thrown into uncertainty and the company has until mid-June to find another buyer—or be banned in the United States.


Guest: Sapna Maheshwari, New York Times reporter covering TikTok, technology and emerging media companies.


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More or Less: Behind the Stats - How much is a human life worth?

What is the cash value of a human life?

That?s the question at the heart of The Price of Life, a book by journalist Jenny Kleeman. It turns out that there?s not just one price, there are many - depending on exactly how that life is being created, traded or destroyed. Tim Harford talks to Jenny about what she discovered.

Presenter: Tim Harford Producer: Tom Colls Production co-ordinator: Brenda Brown Sound mix: Neil Churchill Editor: Richard Vadon

What A Day - House Republicans Pass Big Beautiful Bill feat. Rep. Ro Khanna

If you’re not feeling better after President Donald Trump paused the largest of his previously planned tariffs on 75 countries on Wednesday, you’re not alone. The stock market is just as confused as you are. Wednesday’s historic gains were essentially wiped out by huge losses on Thursday. And nobody knows what Trump is going to do next on tariffs, if they’ll go into effect, when they’ll go into effect, or how high they’ll be. And with millions of Americans scared about rising prices and losing their jobs, the House GOP adopted a budget that could result in massive cuts to the social safety net, including Medicaid. California Democratic Representative Ro Khanna joins the show to discuss the tariff debate and the House GOP’s budget.

And in headlines: The State Department continues to revoke student visas over students’ political beliefs, egg prices reach (another) record high, the Social Security Administration rolls back plans to restrict phone services, and the CEO of UFC…gets credit for a prisoner exchange with Russia?

Show Notes:

What Next | Daily News and Analysis - TBD | Trump Tariffs Hit Mushroom Kingdom

The same day  Nintendo was officially introducing its latest console, Donald Trump was announcing his new global tariff plan. As a result, gamers were treated to an early preview of what a world bound up in tariffs would look like. Spoiler: It’ll probably cost you a lot more.


Guest: Jason Koebler, a co-founder of 404 Media


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Podcast production by Evan Campbell and Patrick Fort.

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What A Day - Trump: Now You Tariff… Now You Don’t

When most of us woke up Wednesday morning, President Donald Trump was still very excited about the tariffs he imposed on dozens of countries that had gone into effect just after midnight eastern time. At the National Republican Congressional Committee dinner the night before, he even claimed the scheme would be ‘legendary in a positive way’ and bragged, ‘These countries are calling us up. Kissing my ass.’ But by Wednesday afternoon, Trump had blinked, announcing a 90-day pause on nearly all of the ‘reciprocal’ tariffs he unveiled last week (China was the exception; he boosted tariffs to 125 percent after Beijing retaliated with it’s own reciprocal tariffs). Alex Jacquez, chief of policy and advocacy at the progressive think tank Groundwork Collaborative and a member of former President Biden’s White House National Economic Council, explains why all this volatility leaves America worse off economically.

And in headlines: Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer made an uncomfortable guest appearance in the Oval Office, The White House said it’s freezing hundreds of millions in federal funding for Cornell and Northwestern universities, and two federal judges put limits on the Trump administration’s use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport alleged foreign gang members.

Show Notes:

What Next | Daily News and Analysis - Impeachment From the Bottom Up

Thousands of “Hands Off!” protestors took to the street over the weekend. While it’s clear they were marching against the actions of Elon Musk and President Donald Trump, what would “hands off” look like? If it’s removing these guys from office, why not tell the people with the power to do it?


Guest: Gabe Garbowit, former Senate staffer, current organizer at citizensimpeachment.com



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

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More or Less: Behind the Stats - The mistake in Trump?s tariff formula

What is the error in the calculation Donald Trump used to work out his new tariffs?

What happened when the government ordered a recount of bobbies on the beat?

When is a tax freeze not a tax freeze?

And do redheads really have a 25% higher tolerance to pain?

Tim Harford investigates some of the numbers in the news.

This episode was originally broadcast on the 9th April.

Presenter: Tim Harford Reporter: Charlotte McDonald Producers: Nathan Gower and Lizzy McNeill Series producer: Tom Colls Production co-ordinator: Brenda Brown Sound mix: James Beard Editor: Richard Vadon