The NewsWorthy - CDC Chaos, Acts of Heroism & Labor Day Weekend – Friday, August 29, 2025

The news to know for Friday, August 29, 2025!

We’ll tell you how other staffers at the CDC are now responding to the firing of the CDC director, and why even some Republicans in Congress are alarmed.

Also, the latest in the investigation into the Minneapolis school shooting.

And why firefighters on the job in Washington were arrested.

Plus, an egg recall to tell you about, some heated moments at the U.S. Open, and what to know ahead of Labor Day weekend.

Those stories and even more news to know in about 10 minutes! 

 

Join us every Mon-Fri for more daily news roundups! 

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What A Day - Cash Bail Keeps People In Jail

This week, President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at ending cash bail in Washington D.C. and other jurisdictions around the country. He summarized the largely successful criminal justice reform policy like this: "They kill people and they get out." Well, it may come as a surprise (to no one) that this statement is… not accurate. All it means is that a person's release, before they stand trial, is NOT determined by how much money is in their wallet. But despite the data showing the policy works, Trump and his MAGA buddies want to end it. To gain a better understanding of all this, we spoke with Rena Karefa-Johnson, Vice President of National Initiatives at FWD.U.S.

And in headlines: the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is undergoing a major staffing shake-up, National Guard members are picking up trash in D.C., and President Donald Trump proposes military funeral honors for the January 6th rioter who was killed by an officer at the insurrection…. four and a half years later.

 

Show Notes:

Serious Inquiries Only - SIO488: She Filmed Her Harassment and It Went Viral on TikTok

Lydia and I invite one of our good friends, Holly, to share her recent viral story of harassment at a public park in Glendale, California. We discuss what happened that day, the spread and impact of the video, as well as the broader issue at hand and how it has shifted with a new Trump administration coming into office.

After the main show, Holly sticks around for a special discussion for patrons only because Lydia has A LOT to talk about after recently seeing Thunder From Down Under in Las Vegas (with Holly)! How exactly did a male exotic dance show lead to Lydia feeling so much girl power and sisterhood? What lessons can be learned from that experience?

Note: As Holly mentions in the episode, her TikTok account was stolen and the original video is unfortunately gone. However, here's the reply from Danesh which includes the video in full: https://www.tiktok.com/@thatdaneshguy/video/7524505778430971150?lang=en

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Pod Save America - RFK Jr. Decapitates the CDC

Donald Trump and RFK Jr. team up to fire the CDC director after she voices concerns over Kennedy's dangerous policies—including his announcement that the FDA will limit access to this year's COVID vaccines and his promise to release a report on the "causes" of autism. Dan and Jon sort through the dismantling of America's gold-standard research apparatus and check in on the craziest comments from Trump's three-hour cabinet meeting. Then they discuss the latest polling on Trump's D.C. deployment, what happened a the DNC's summer meeting, and Charlie Kirk's unsolicited advice for Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce.

Get tickets to CROOKED CON November 6-7 in Washington, D.C at http://crookedcon.com

Native America Calling - Monday, September 1, 2025 – The fight for Shinnecock Nation fishing rights

The Shinnecock Nation in New York is in an ongoing legal battle to have their fishing rights recognized. A lawsuit brought forward by a Shinnecock tribal citizen argues the tribe has never ceded their right to fish in any treaty or agreement. The tribe has no treaty with the federal government, but instead with British colonists from the 1600s. This case could possibly affirm the tribe’s unended aboriginal claim to fish in the Hamptons. We’ll talk with Shinnecock citizens about what’s at stake with the case as it moves forward in federal district court.

GUESTS

Taobi Silva (Shinnecock), fisherman

Riley Plumer (Red Lake Nation), attorney

Randy King (Shinnecock), former chairman of the Shinnecock Nation Board of Trustees

Ashley Dawn Anderson (Cherokee Nation), Tribal Water Institute Fellow at the Native American Rights Fund

 

Break 1 Music: C.R.E.A.M. [Instrumental] (song) Wu-Tang Clan (artist) Enter the Wu-Tang: 36 Chambers [Instrumentals] (album)

Break 2 Music: Bounty (song) Deerlady (band) Greatest Hits (album)

WSJ Tech News Briefing - Why Google Wants You to Know the Environmental Cost of AI Queries

If a regular web search isn’t doing it for you, and even a generative artificial intelligence chatbot response leaves you wanting more — you could try “deep research.” Our personal tech columnist tried it out and breaks down how it works. But those queries come at an environmental cost. In a new report Google is detailing how much energy a single query uses. Julie Chang hosts.


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Native America Calling - Friday, August 29, 2025 — The Menu: ‘Seeds’ and the ‘Legendary Frybread Drive-In’

In the comedy thriller “Seeds”, social media influencer Ziggy is offered a lucrative sponsorship contract with a corporate seed and fertilizer company, but she’s also called back to her Mohawk reservation to help out her cousin, which gets her tangled in an all-out battle to save her tribe’s ancestral seeds. Kanienʼkehá:ka Mohawk actor Kaniehtiio Horn is Ziggy. She is also the screenwriter and director for the film.

And a new collection of stories by Indigenous authors, “Legendary Frybread Drive-In”, serves up more than just Native comfort food. Each of the stories geared toward young adult readers finds its way to Sandy June’s Legendary Frybread Drive-in, a place with a helping of elder wisdom about love, grief, culture, and healing. Editor Cynthia Leitich Smith (Muscogee) calls it “a hug of a book”. Horn and Smith both join Andi Murphy for “The Menu“, our special feature on Indigenous food sovereignty.

 

Break 1 Music: Heartbites (song) Kristi Lane Sinclair (artist) Super Blood Wolf Moon (album)

Break 2 Music: Bounty (song) Deerlady (band) Greatest Hits (album)

The Indicator from Planet Money - AI creeps in, KATSEYE milkshakes, and China says “Zaijian!” to US soybeans

It’s … Indicators of the Week! Our weekly look at some of the most fascinating economic numbers from the news. 

On today’s episode: AI shuts out youth from the grind, China leaves U.S. soybeans behind, Gap has the then-and-now in marketing mind. 

Related episodes: 
AI creates, transforms and destroys... jobs 
What do farmers do in a trade war? 

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez and Julia Ritchey. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.  

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What Next | Daily News and Analysis - TBD | The Great Celebrity Spotify Playlist Hack

The playlists of dozens of high-level government officials and tech executives were suddenly broadcast to the world on a website called “the Panama Playlists.” But the information wasn’t taken by sophisticated hackers infiltrating any mainframes—it was all already publicly available.


Guest: Mike Isaac, New York Times Silicon Valley correspondent. 


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What Could Go Right? - The Progress Report: Clean Energy Is Crushing It

On this week’s Progress Report, Emma covers a whopping five reports of optimism from around the world. Poverty is declining in Iraq and Indonesia, and risk of child poverty is down across Europe. China reports a dip in its emissions that may continue, and Africa has invested heavily in solar energy over the past year. There are positive developments since the release of the U.S.’s first over-the-counter birth control, and NASA has discovered a new moon orbiting Uranus.

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