It's Groundhog Day, and Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow, meaning his prediction is six more weeks of winter weather. Meanwhile in Washington, D.C., the House Rules Committee is meeting on Monday in an effort to fully reopen the government. And Americans are living longer than ever; in 2024, U.S. life expectancy reached 79 years old, the highest mark in country history. In business, the modern day space race is taking over California's Central Coast, raising environmental concerns, and a Palo Alto company is selling flying vehicles that customers can fly within limited airspace and without a pilot's license. Read more at LATimes.com.
WSJ What’s News - Behind SpaceX’s Surprise Deal to Buy xAI
A.M. Edition for Feb. 3. Elon Musk’s well-established rocket business and AI startup are joining forces to form a $1.25 trillion company. WSJ’s Berber Jin says the move was unexpected as industry observers had thought xAI would merge with Tesla instead. Plus, the Clinton's offer to give depositions, as the Epstein scandal sends shockwaves across the Atlantic. And Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem says that officers in Minneapolis will receive body cameras "effective immediately". Luke Vargas hosts.
Sign up for the WSJ’s free What’s News newsletter.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Daily - The F.B.I.’s Extraordinary Seizure of Voting Records
Last week, F.B.I. agents searched an election center in Fulton County, Ga., seizing truckloads of ballots from 2020. The move escalated the investigation into President Trump’s claims of voter fraud in the state after his 2020 defeat in the state.
It has since been learned that Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, was present during the search.
Devlin Barrett, a Times reporter who covers the F.B.I., discusses the presence of the nation’s top intelligence official and the stunning phone call that shows how personally involved Mr. Trump has become in the investigation.
Guest: Devlin Barrett, a New York Times reporter covering the Justice Department and the F.B.I.
Background reading:
- Mr. Trump had an unusual call with F.B.I. agents after the election center search.
- The move to seize ballots has thrust the F.B.I. into Mr. Trump’s election conspiracy claim.
Photo: Nicole Craine for The New York Times
For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.
Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Up First from NPR - Government Shutdown Day 4, US-Iran Nuclear Talks, Guthrie Investigation
A partial government shutdown enters its fourth day as House Republicans weigh whether to back a Senate deal that would reopen most agencies while giving Congress two weeks to negotiate changes to immigration enforcement.
The U.S. is set to reopen nuclear talks with Iran, as regional powers push diplomacy even while President Trump warns military action remains on the table.
And investigators in Arizona say 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie, the mother of Today show host Savannah Guthrie, may have been abducted from her home as an urgent search continues.
Want more analysis of the most important news of the day, plus a little fun? Subscribe to the Up First newsletter.
The U.S. is set to reopen nuclear talks with Iran, as regional powers push diplomacy even while President Trump warns military action remains on the table.
And investigators in Arizona say 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie, the mother of Today show host Savannah Guthrie, may have been abducted from her home as an urgent search continues.
Want more 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 Jason Breslow, James Hider, Miguel Macias, Martha Ann Overland, Mohamad ElBardicy, and Alice Woelfle.
It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Nia Dumas and Christopher Thomas.
We get engineering support from Neisha Heinis. Our technical director is Carleigh Strange.
Our Supervising Senior Producer is Vince Pearson.
(0:00) Introduction
(01:54) Government Shutdown Day 4
(05:31) US-Iran Nuclear Talks
(09:06) Guthrie Investigation
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NPR Privacy Policy
Start Here - Trump: GOP Should ‘Take Over the Voting’
As President Trump calls for Republicans to “nationalize” voting processes, sources say the president was actively involved in an FBI raid on election offices. The Rafah border crossing opens to some Gazans desperate to flee. And inside a Las Vegas home, authorities discover what they say might be a dangerous biological lab.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The Daily Detail - The Daily Detail for 2.3.26
Alabama
- Governor Ivey supports two companion bills that address public safety
- The ALGOP steering committee rejects residency challenges against Tommy Tuberville and John Wahl as they run for state offices
- A lawsuit is filed against 3 employees at Trinity child center re: recent sex abuse arrest
- Tuskegee basketball coach hires lawyers after he was cuffed at Atlanta game
- Major General Terry Grisham to lead Program Management at SpaceCOM
National
- Federal judge seeks to stop DHS from ending Temporary Status for Haitians
- President Trump and India Prime Minister reach trade deal to end tariffs
- SAVE Act to be brought to a vote on Senate floor according to John Thune
- WSJ to publish hit pieces against DNI's Gabbard after FBI raid in GA
- The Clintons say they are NOW willing tobe deposed by House Oversight committee to avoid contempt charges
- Ben Swann says the latest Jeffrey Epstein doc release completely vindicates his report on "Pizza Gate" from 10 years ago
The Ezra Klein Show - Is Your Social Life Missing Something? This Is For You.
My motivation for this episode is personal. One of my resolutions this year is to spend more time hosting and to make those gatherings more meaningful.
I think a lot of us wish we had better social lives and a stronger feeling of community around us. But it’s hard. We’re busy, we’re tired, and social planning and hosting can feel like just more work. So I asked Priya Parker on the show to help.
Parker is the author of “The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters” and a wonderful Substack, Group Life. She’s also a conflict resolution facilitator. And she just thinks about gathering and hosting in a different way from anyone else I’ve ever met. For her, it’s about more than just throwing a great dinner party; it’s about how we build community across differences, all the way up to how gathering can help create a better politics. The way Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral campaign thought about community and built community among its volunteers was partly based on her work and advice.
This episode is a bit of a break from politics — but also not. Because pulling the people we love closer and spending more time together rather than alone are as essential as any political or civic discipline could be right now.
This conversation contains strong language.
Mentioned:
In Defense of Politics by Bernard Crick
I And Thou by Martin Buber
The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai
“Adorable Little Detonators” by Allison P. Davis
“The Accused” by Katie J.M. Baker
“The Black Thought Project” by Alicia Walters
“Zohran’s Smile” by Anand Giridharadas
Book Recommendations:
The Politics of Ritual by Molly Farneth
On Repentance and Repair by Danya Ruttenberg
BoyMom by Ruth Whippman
Talk to Your Boys by Christopher Pepper and Joanna Schroeder
Thoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at ezrakleinshow@nytimes.com.
You can find transcripts (posted midday) and more episodes of “The Ezra Klein Show” at nytimes.com/ezra-klein-podcast, and you can find Ezra on Twitter @ezraklein. Book recommendations from all our guests are listed at https://www.nytimes.com/article/ezra-klein-show-book-recs.
This episode of “The Ezra Klein Show” was produced by Annie Galvin. Fact-checking by Michelle Harris with Mary Marge Locker and Kate Sinclair. Our senior engineer is Jeff Geld, with additional mixing by Aman Sahota. Our executive producer is Claire Gordon. The show’s production team also includes Marie Cascione, Rollin Hu, Kristin Lin, Emma Kehlbeck, Jack McCordick, Marina King and Jan Kobal. Original music by Pat McCusker. Audience strategy by Kristina Samulewski and Shannon Busta. The director of New York Times Opinion Audio is Annie-Rose Strasser.
Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.
What Next | Daily News and Analysis - Meh-lania
Melania, the documentary about the First Lady, is a lot like its subject: extremely expensive and fundamentally inscrutable.
Guest: Heather Schwedel, staff writer at Slate, author of “Unfortunately, I Have to Recommend You See Melania”.
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.
New Books in Indigenous Studies - Samuel Holley-Kline, “In the Shadow of El Tajín: The Political Economy of Archaeology in Modern Mexico” (U Nebraska Press, 2025)
Located in the Papantla municipality of the Mexican state of Veracruz, El Tajín is a UNESCO World Heritage site but a lesser-known tourist destination and national symbol. The Indigenous Totonac residents of the region know well that the site’s relative absence from discussions of global archaeology and heritage belies a century of wide-ranging labor, extractive industries, and commodity exchange.
In the Shadow of El Tajín: The Political Economy of Archaeology in Modern Mexico (U Nebraska Press, 2025) tells the story of how a landscape of ancient mounds and ruins became an archaeological site, brings to light the network of actors who made it happen, and reveals the Indigenous histories silenced in the process. By drawing on the insights of Indigenous Totonac peoples who have lived and worked in El Tajín for more than a century, Sam Holley-Kline explores historical processes that made both the archaeological site and regional historical memory. In the Shadow of El Tajín decenters discussions of the state and tourism industry by focusing on the industries and workers who are integral to the functioning of the site but who have historically been overlooked by studies of the ancient past. Holley-Kline recovers local Indigenous histories in dialogue with broader trends in scholarship to demonstrate the rich recent past of El Tajín, a place better known for its ancient history.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/native-american-studies
Pod Save America - 1116: Epstein Files: Worse Than You Thought
The Justice Department releases more than three million more files related to Jeffrey Epstein, and the list of powerful people involved with the notorious pedophile is ... long. Jon, Tommy, and Lovett react to the most notable revelations from the new batch, including the many mentions of Trump, and then check in on the president’s corrupt dealings, including a half-billion bribe from the United Arab Emirates and an attempt to steal $10 billion in taxpayer money in the form of a lawsuit against his own IRS, the release of 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father from ICE custody and the arrest of journalist Don Lemon, and Democrats’ incredible 31-point legislative flip in Texas. Then, Tejano artist and Latin Grammy winner Bobby Pulido stops by the studio to talk to Tommy about his race for Congress and Trump's weakening support among Texas's Latino community.