Plus: Sysco nears a deal to buy family-owned Restaurant Depot for roughly $29 billion. And Chinese EV leader BYD posts its first annual profit decline in four years amid fierce competition and soft domestic demand. Luke Vargas hosts.
A.M. Edition for Mar. 30. President Trump is considering using U.S. troops to extract uranium from Iran. WSJ national security correspondent Shelby Holliday discusses the expanding list of military options available to the president now that the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit is in the region. Plus, with its energy links to the Gulf disrupted, Europe looks for new sources of gas with questions over whether the U.S. can be a reliable supplier. And why airports may take time to return to normal even as TSA workers begin receiving delayed paychecks. Luke Vargas hosts.
In baseball, calling balls and strikes is a kind of art form. Now, a little more science is being added to the artistry. Major League Baseball has introduced the automated ball-strike, or ABS, challenge system. If a batter, catcher, or pitcher disagrees with the human umpire's call, he can tap his hat. Then, the ABS system uses cameras to say whether the pitch was indeed in the batter's strike zone. Marketplace’s Stephanie Hughes spoke with Nola Agha, professor of sports management at the University of San Francisco, to learn more.
Tucked away on a wooded hillside in the middle of San Francisco sits a big concrete cross. When it was built, it could be seen from miles around. Now, a thick grove of trees partially shields it from view. Over the years, Bay Curious has gotten several questions about the cross that we answer in today's episode, which first aired in 2021.
This story was reported by Suzie Racho. Bay Curious is made by Katrina Schwartz, Christopher Beale and Olivia Allen-Price. Additional support from Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Maha Sanad, Ethan Toven-Lindsey and everyone on Team KQED.
Israeli airstrikes killed three journalists in southern Lebanon this weekend, as Netanyahu orders the military to expand its offensive as millions are displaced by the war. Iran agreed to let 20 Pakistani-flagged ships through the Strait of Hormuz as a diplomatic gesture, but thousands more U.S. troops are arriving in the region, raising questions about whether a deal is close or the war is widening. And TSA workers are now past 40 days without pay, as President Trump says he has a plan to pay them but it is not clear how it will work.
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Today’s episode of Up First was edited by Gerry Holmes, Andrew Sussman, Alfredo Carbajal, Mohamad ElBardicy, and Adriana Gallardo.
It was produced by Ziad Buchh and Ava Pukatch.
Our director is Christopher Thomas.
We get engineering support from Stacey Abbott. Our technical director is Carleigh Strange.
(0:00) Introduction (01:55) Lebanese Warfront (05:37) U.S. Troops Deployed To Middle East (09:54) TSA and Travel
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Despite his threats of escalation, President Trump seems increasingly determined to end the war in Iran through negotiations. The Iranian government doesn’t appear to be on the same page.
David E. Sanger, a national security correspondent for The New York Times, discusses the standoff over turning from war to diplomacy.
Guest: David E. Sanger, the White House and national security correspondent for The New York Times.
Background reading:
The United States is said to have circulated a peace plan. It has also sent more troops to the Middle East.
As more troops arrive in the Middle East, American officials refuse to rule out the potential for a ground operation in Iran. An executive order promises to pay TSA officers, but Congress can’t agree on funding the rest of the Department of Homeland Security. And a record number of Republican members of Congress are retiring before the midterms, complicating GOP efforts to retain control.
What can past and present struggles over work and power tell us about the future of labour? Tom Sutcliffe and guests examine tensions between workers, employers and the state, from the upheavals of the early twentieth century to today’s shifting workplace.
Constitutional specialist David Torrance explores the economic, political and social forces that shaped the General Strike of 1926. His new book The Edge of Revolution explains how Britain came to the brink of constitutional crisis and what the confrontation reveals about national identity, political authority and collective action.
Professor Jane Holgate, a long time trade unionist and community organiser, reflects on the dynamics of solidarity. She is the co-author of Changemakers, a study of radical strategies for social movement organising, the evolving role of unions, and what effective action looks like in a fragmented modern economy.
The Financial Times journalist and editor of the Working It brand Isabel Berwick looks ahead to the future of work, assessing how technology, demographic change and shifting employee expectations are reshaping the workplace.
OpenAI is shutting down its video generator Sora less than six months after it launched, and just three months since it signed a deal with Disney. Is this an A.I. company fine tuning its offerings, or the long-awaited popping of the A.I. bubble?
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Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, and Rob Gunther.