The Gist - Veteran Diplomat Charles Kupchan Holds Out Hope For a Peace Deal in Ukraine

Charles Kupchan, former European affairs specialist in Obama’s White House joins us to discuss whether a viable security agreement could be brokered that meets Ukraine’s needs without granting them everything they want. Kupchan isn’t entirely pessimistic—but he’s also not holding his breath.

Plus, Trump’s address to Congress was filled with signature moments: a ripped-up protest sign, a joke about annexing Greenland, and a reading of what he deemed an appropriately deferential letter from Zelensky. But in The Spiel, we break down a different highlight—the section where Trump rattled off supposed cost-saving measures, taking aim at everything from Burmese scholarships to circumcision programs in Mozambique.


Produced by Corey Wara

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Amarica's Constitution - Sinking the Unitary Executive – Special Guest Steven G. Calabresi

President Trump continues to wield the ax in a manner consistent with Unitary Executive theory.  The question is, is it also consistent with the Constitution, and with the various statutes on the books that are at odds with that theory?  Professor Calabresi returns for more discussion of this crucial question; in this episode, Akhil is pressing a number of challenges to the theory.  Among these is an important example from the early Republic, which indeed followed soon after the Decision of 1789, which is so heavily relied upon by proponents of the unitary executive.  History, text, structure  - all come together in a lively debate.

Consider This from NPR - Can democrats find their way out of the wilderness?

A hundred minutes — that's how long President Trump had the floor — literally — last night.

A hundred minutes he used to lay out his agenda, his grievances and what he argued are the accomplishments of his first six weeks in office.

This all came during his "joint address" to Congress — the State of the Union that's not a State of the Union.

Since Trump returned to office in January, there's been little room left for democrats to make their case to the American people.

Democratic moderates think they have an answer for Trump 2.0. What does their playbook look like?

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Consider This from NPR - Can democrats find their way out of the wilderness?

A hundred minutes — that's how long President Trump had the floor — literally — last night.

A hundred minutes he used to lay out his agenda, his grievances and what he argued are the accomplishments of his first six weeks in office.

This all came during his "joint address" to Congress — the State of the Union that's not a State of the Union.

Since Trump returned to office in January, there's been little room left for democrats to make their case to the American people.

Democratic moderates think they have an answer for Trump 2.0. What does their playbook look like?

For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

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NPR Privacy Policy

Consider This from NPR - Can democrats find their way out of the wilderness?

A hundred minutes — that's how long President Trump had the floor — literally — last night.

A hundred minutes he used to lay out his agenda, his grievances and what he argued are the accomplishments of his first six weeks in office.

This all came during his "joint address" to Congress — the State of the Union that's not a State of the Union.

Since Trump returned to office in January, there's been little room left for democrats to make their case to the American people.

Democratic moderates think they have an answer for Trump 2.0. What does their playbook look like?

For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

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Reset with Sasha-Ann Simons - What It’s Like To Be Fired By The Trump Administration

The U.S. Forest Service recently fired over 3,000 employees across the country. Twelve come from Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie, a preserved grassland in Will County, Illinois. Reset sits down with Abbey Hays, Siobhan Solkowski-Peacy and Erick “Iggy” Ignaczak, three terminated employees to unpack how they’re feeling, how Midewin’s programs have to adapt and how this is harming conservation efforts in Illinois. For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.

The Daily Signal - Victor Davis Hanson: Pentagon’s Partisan Letter Against Trump, Hegseth DEBUNKED

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Air Force General C.Q. Brown, was fired from his post last month, along with several other high ranking military officials.

Many of the Left rushed to say that President Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth were “politicizing” the Pentagon. However, “This is not the politicalization of the Pentagon. It's the depoliticalization”, argues Victor Davis Hanson on today’s edition of “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words.”

“ They said, ‘This is reckless, it hurts morale, and it will depress recruitment.’ Let's analyze that just for a second. Recruitment reached near-record levels after the election of Donald Trump. It's on the way up. It was depressed prior to that. Why would it be depressed? If you go through the Pentagon data, it's very hard to decipher.

“ More importantly, Leon Panetta signed this letter. He was one, also, of the 51 intelligence authorities that said, right on the eve of the election and on a few days before the 2020 debate, that Hunter [Biden's] laptop, which was in the hands of the FBI and authenticated, had all the hallmarks of a Russian information, which meant disinformation, campaign.

“ Bottom line: We don't need any more letters from so-called experts. They're always partisan. And they're to no effect.”


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Stuff They Don't Want You To Know - The Mysterious Star-Shaped Towers of Sichuan Province

True story: throughout China's Sichuan province right along the border with Tibet, the land is riddled with ancient towers of unknown origin. No one knows who built them, nor why. In tonight's episode, Ben and Noel explore the fascinating hidden history of architecture that withstood millennia of chaos -- and how an ancient series of towers survived the rise and fall of empires into the modern day.

They don't want you to read our book.: https://static.macmillan.com/static/fib/stuff-you-should-read/

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State of the World from NPR - Going Back in Time to Soviet Central Asia’s Boogie Nights

Today we take a break from the serious and often depressing international news beat to bring you the sound's of Soviet Central Asia in the 1970's and 80's. Our Moscow correspondent introduces us to an anthology of songs that came out of a record factory in Tashkent documenting a wide variety of music from the silk road in that time period.

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