Category: 3-DailySometimeCommentary

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What A Day - The Miseducation Of Donald Trump feat. Former Sec. Arne Duncan

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday to officially start shutting down the Department of Education. The thing is... he can't do that, at least not unilaterally. Shutting down the Education Department will require an act of Congress. But the Trump administration has already done a pretty thorough job of gutting the department from the inside, cutting the DOE's staff in half earlier this month. Arne Duncan, who served as education secretary under President Barack Obama, talks about the potential catastrophes on the horizon.

And in headlines: Maryland Congressman Glenn Ivey became the first sitting Democrat to call on Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to step down, a federal judge blocked the Department of Government Efficiency from accessing personal information on the Social Security Administration's data systems, and the United Kingdom and Germany issued travel warnings for the U.S.

Show Notes:

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What Next | Daily News and Analysis - TBD | Trump’s War on Scientific Research

The National Institutes of Health is the primary engine of biomedical research around the world, which makes the Trump administration's dramatic cuts to its grant program both confusing and potentially incredibly harmful.


Guest: Katherine J. Wu, staff writer for the Atlantic.


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What A Day - The Trump Administration’s All-Out Assault On Judges

Are we in a constitutional crisis? That’s the big question on the minds of legal experts across the country right now, as President Donald Trump and his allies ramp up attacks on federal judges who rule against him. The president’s latest beef is with the federal judge who tried to block his administration from deporting more than 250 migrants, mostly from Venezuela. A swath of the American Right, including billionaire Elon Musk, has now decided that if federal judges won’t back Trump at every legal turn, they should be impeached and removed from the bench. Leah Litman, co-host of Crooked’s legal podcast ‘Strict Scrutiny,’ stops by to talk about this moment and its legal significance.

Later in the show, Crooked Climate Correspondent Anya Zoledziowski breaks down the craziness happening at the Environmental Protection Agency.

And in headlines: The Federal Reserve kept interest rates flat and warned Trump’s tariffs have thrown the economy's health into question, Trump said he had a ‘very good telephone call' with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about a ceasefire with Russia, and Attorney General Pam Bondi called a recent string of vandalism attacks on Tesla dealerships ‘nothing short of domestic terrorism.’

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What Next | Daily News and Analysis - Trump’s Animal-Spirit Economy

The economy that Donald Trump inherited from Joe Biden had low unemployment, slowing inflation, and a growing GDP. So what is he trying to achieve by imposing heavy tariffs on our allies and trading partners? 


Guest: Stephanie Ruhle, NBC business analyst and the host of MSNBC's The 11th Hour with Stephanie Ruhle.


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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 - Why are more people claiming disability benefits?

More working age people are claiming disability benefits. What's driving the trend?

Is it true that the UK imprisons more people for their social media posts than Russia does?

One of the country?s most important data sources has been falling apart. We find out why.

Tim Harford investigates some of the numbers in the news.

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

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What A Day - Trump Sows Chaos Abroad

Tuesday was a big day in foreign policy news. Israel launched a barrage of airstrikes on Gaza Monday night, its first attack since a ceasefire with Hamas took hold in January. Officials in Gaza say more than 400 people were killed. And President Donald Trump held a 90-minute phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin about the war in Ukraine. Putin ostensibly agreed to a 30-day limited ceasefire on energy and infrastructure targets — far short of the unconditional ceasefire proposal Ukraine and the U.S. negotiated earlier this month. Oh, and Trump threatened ‘dire consequences’ for Iran over attacks from Houthi rebels in Yemen. Crooked’s own Tommy Vietor, co-host of ‘Pod Save the World,’ breaks down all the big international headlines and what they say about Trump’s approach to foreign policy.

And in headlines: Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts rebuked Trump over his calls to impeach federal judges, the Pentagon continued its purge of website pages honoring minority groups, and two stranded U.S. astronauts returned to Earth.

Show Notes:

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What Next | Daily News and Analysis - A “Made for TV” Deportation Policy

Mass deportations were a big part of Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign and now in office, he’s making good on the wide-sweeping aspects of his policy, though the numbers aren’t yet massive. Most recently, he’s justified these actions through the 1798 Alien Enemies Act which only applies during wartime. When a judge attempted to halt the deportations to evaluate this use of the rarely-utilized law, Trump called for him to be impeached. 


Guest: Michelle Hackman, U.S. immigration policy reporter in The Wall Street Journal's Washington bureau. 


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


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