Little Simz is a rapper from England who put out her first album in 2015. She’s won the Mercury Prize, a Brit Award, and three MOBO awards. She also starred in the Netflix series Top Boy. Her most recent album is called Lotus. It came out in June 2025, and it followed a pretty tumultuous time in her career. For this episode, I got to talk to Little Simz about one of the songs from that album, called "Free," along with Miles Clinton James, who produced the track.
Thanks to Sonos for their support of the podcast. Check out sonos.com.
A new bout of intercommunal violence in Chad, has left more than 40 people dead, according to the Chadian Government. This includes women and children. What's behind the recent rise in violence?
Also, the border town of Zalambesa re-opened after years of tensions between Ethiopia and Eritrea. Will it stay that way?
And we discuss the mixed reviews of Tyler Perry's latest movie, Straw.
Presenter: Audrey Brown
Producers: Joseph Keen, Nyasha Michelle, Alfonso Daniels and Yvette Twagiramariya
Technical Producer: Chris Kouzaris
Senior Journalist: Karnie Sharp
Editors: Andre Lombard and Alice Muthengi
An illegal voting case in Alaska highlights lingering confusion over the rights extended to the citizens of American Samoa, a U.S. territory. Eleven Samoans from Whittier, Alaska are charged with felonies for alleged voter fraud by participating in their local election. All have U.S. passports, were born on U.S. soil, and can even participate in the presidential primary process. The territory has been under heavy colonial pressure for centuries and has been under U.S. oversight for more than 125 years. But Congress never granted its citizens the right to vote in national elections.
In another case, tribes in North Dakota were dealt a serious blow in their ongoing fight against redistricting that reduces their collective power in state elections.
President Trump insists that Iran's nuclear program has been obliterated. Another day of record heat for much of the nation. And an Axiom space mission is under way. CBS News Correspondent Steve Kathan has those stories and more on the World News Roundup podcast.
Two sounds across much of the country this morning: the AC grinding away and the ticking up of your electric bill. With hotter temperatures and AI-driven data centers drawing so much power, investors are putting money into the power industry. Global investments in electricity could reach 50% more than what’s spent on bringing coal, natural gas, and oil to market. Plus, Fed Chair Jerome Powell testified before the House yesterday, and FIFA’s Club World Cup isn’t generating as much hype as hoped for.
From the BBC World Service: We start today's show in the Netherlands, where President Donald Trump is for the NATO Summit. Most European countries have agreed to up their defense spending to 5% of GDP, though Spain has been less forthcoming. Then, India's dark stores deliver to online shoppers in just 10 minutes. What's the impact on retailers? And, demonstrators protest the lavish wedding of Jeff Bezos in Venice by throwing inflatable alligators into some of the city's iconic canals.
The Chicago based show, It’s Ok To Ask Questions which streams on Peacock showcases in-depth conversations with movers and shakers in the LGBTQ+ community about their lives, how the twists and turns of life affect their relationships and what motivates their work. Reset learns more about how these stories can create dialogue with Matthew Rodrigues, host of It’s Ok To Ask Questions.
For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.
Plus: A federal judge has ruled that Anthropic’s use of books to train its artificial-intelligence models was legal under U.S. copyright law. And FedEx shares are down after the company said tariffs are weighing on its international business. Kate Bullivant hosts.
New intelligence suggests U.S. strikes only set Iran's nuclear back by months, contrary to claims by President Trump, the President meets today with NATO members, and the nomination of a current Justice Department official to an appellate judgeship is drawing fresh attention to controversies inside the department.
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Today's episode of Up First was edited by Kevin Drew, Andrew Sussman, Anna Yukhananov, Janaya Williams and Alice Woelfle. It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Nia Dumas and Christopher Thomas. We get engineering support from Zac Coleman. And our technical director is Carleigh Strange.
