A.M. Edition for Jan. 05. Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is slated to appear in a federal court Monday, facing charges related to cocaine trafficking. This as President Trump reiterates that the U.S. is calling the shots in Venezuela as a new landscape of power players in the country emerges. That said, any profits stemming from Venezuelan oil are likely years away, according to Energy Aspect founder Amrita Sen. And we look at a potential market-first diabetes treatment for children as young as one. Luke Vargas hosts.
Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela was brought to New York with his wife over the weekend to face criminal charges.
Charlie Savage, who covers national security and legal policy, discusses the legality of Mr. Maduro’s capture and whether the operation could undermine the legal case against him.
Guest: Charlie Savage, who covers national security and legal policy for The New York Times.
Background reading:
Can the United States legally “run” Venezuela after Mr. Maduro’s capture? Here’s what to know.
The U.S. indictment of Mr. Maduro cites cocaine smuggling. Venezuela’s role in the trade is believed to be modest.
For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.
With Nicolas Maduro in an American jail cell, Trump Administration officials oscillate on what it would mean to “run” Venezuela. Anti-Maduro activists consider whether to support the American operation. And we’ll get you caught up on the stories you missed over the holidays.
CrowdScience listener Limbikani in Zambia is always being told he has his Dad’s laugh, so he set us the challenge of trying to find out whether a laugh can be passed down in our genes or if it’s something we learn from our environment.
Presenter Caroline Steel steps into the world of one of the world’s greatest laughter experts, Professor Sophie Scott, neuroscientist at University College London. In her office stuffed with memorabilia of a life filled with fun, they discuss how the shape of our bodies could play a role in how we laugh.
Also joining the fun is Dr Gil Greengross, evolutionary psychologist at Aberystwyth University in Wales, UK. Gil tells us how Charles Darwin was the first person to question how laughter evolved.
Caroline also speaks to Dr Nancy Segal, Professor of Developmental Psychology and Director of the Twin Studies Center at California State University, Fullerton. Nancy is an expert in studies that demonstrate the role of nature vs nurture in how who we are and how we behave. She tells the story of the ‘Giggle Twins’, who were separated at birth but found they laughed identically when they met three decades later.
So does that mean that we really do inherit our laughs from our parents?
Presenter: Caroline Steel
Producer: Tom Bonnett
Editor: Ben Motley
Credit: The sound of rats laughing (slowed down so that our ears can detect the ultrasound) is courtesy of Dr. Jaak Panksepp
(Photo: Father and son on yellow background- stock photo Credit: Georgijevic via Getty Images)
OA1222 - Actual sane coverage of Trump's kidnapping of a foreign leader PART 1
OA NYC correspondent Liz Skeen joins Thomas and Matt for this emergency episode recorded the day after the US bombed Caracas in a truly unprecedented military operation to kidnap Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro and his wife and transport them to Brooklyn to stand trial on federal narco-terrorism charges. We field dozens of patron questions as we try to understand how any of this could possibly be legal. How does this situation compare to the charges against former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega and former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernandez, and how is Trump’s record on narcotrafficking these days anyway? What is in this indictment, and what kinds of defenses might Maduro have? Is the federal government going to let this defendant pay his lawyer? Should a federal court be able to consider that this defendant was illegally abducted from his country by the US military while acting as the head of state of a sovereign nation? What kinds of consequences could there be for Venezuelans in the U.S.? And what can we--and the world--do to stop Trump from doing anything like this again?
What kind of state does the UK find itself in as we start 2026? That’s the question Tim Harford and the More or Less team is trying to answer in a series of five special programmes.
In the first episode, we’re starting the week by asking some interesting questions about the economy:
Is the cost-of-living crisis over?
The economy is expected to have grown by 1.5% in 2025. Is that a big number?
When taxes are at record highs, why does it feel as if everything is such hard work for public services?
Do the majority of people in Scotland pay less tax than they would in the rest of the UK?
Does the UK have a more progressive tax system than Scandinavian countries?
Get in touch if you’ve seen a number in the news you think we should take a look at: moreorless@bbc.co.uk
Contributors:
Ruth Curtice, Chief Executive of the Resolution Foundation
Helen Miller, Director of Institute for Fiscal Studies
Mairi Spowage, Professor and Director of the Fraser of Allander Institute at the University of Strathclyde
John Burn-Murdoch, chief data reporter for the Financial Times
Credits:
Presenter: Tim Harford
Quiz contestant: Lizzy McNeill
Producers: Nathan Gower, Katie Solleveld and Charlotte McDonald
Series producer: Tom Colls
Production co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele
Sound mix: Sarah Hockley and James Beard
Editor: Richard Vadon
Late Friday evening, President Donald Trump ordered the U.S. military operation that led to the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. After his capture, Maduro was taken by warship to the United States and then flown to New York, where he will face federal drug trafficking and weapons charges. There are a ton of questions around how this operation happened and what, if any, legal authority the United States had to capture Maduro in the first place. But most importantly: what happens to Venezuela now? To talk more about Venezuela, the prosecution of Maduro, and what the hell is going to happen now, we spoke to Juan Sebastian Gonzalez, former National Security Council Senior Director for the Western Hemisphere under the Biden administration.
And in headlines, most Republicans are defending Trump's decision to topple Maduro, Marjorie Taylor Greene continues to criticize the president on her way out of Congress, and world leaders are meeting in Paris to discuss the Russia-Ukraine peace process.
Show Notes:
Call Congress – 202-224-3121
Subscribe to the What A Day Newsletter – https://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8
What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcast
Follow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/
For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Leah kicks off the episode with repeat guest Rebecca Ingber of Cardozo Law to discuss the wild illegality–both domestic and international–of Trump’s regime change operation in Venezuela. Then, Kate, Melissa, and Leah welcome Princeton professor and expert on the rise of modern autocracies, Kim Lane Scheppele to break down how Trump is consolidating power over the executive branch and the courts. Leah next catches up with president and CEO of Democracy Forward Skye Perryman on some of the legal developments over the holidays, including challenges to Department of Education funding cuts, the freezing of childcare payments to Minnesota, and a near-total abortion ban for veterans. Finally, the hosts speak with Demand Justice's Josh Orton about the worrying trends his organization is seeing among Trump 2.0’s judicial nominees.
Japan’s new prime minister Sanae Takaichi made waves last fall after saying her country might intervene if China invaded Taiwan. In response, China launched state-organized boycotts against Japan — canceling concerts, restricting seafood imports, and even recalling pandas. Today on the show, what does it look like for a state to organize a boycott, and does it work?
