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Chapter 1: Why is NPR's 'Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me' unique?
Imagine, if you will, a show from NPR that's not like NPR. A show that focuses not on the important, but the stupid. Which features stories about people smuggling animals in their pants and competent criminals in ridiculous science studies. And call it Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me because the good names were taken. Listen to NPR's Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. Yes, that is what it is called.
Wherever you get your podcasts.
Chapter 2: What executive order did President Trump sign?
Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Jack Spear. President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to begin dismantling the Department of Education. On the campaign trail, Trump continually derided the department as wasteful and influenced by liberal ideology. He's proposed turning over at least some of the agency's responsibilities to the states.
He reiterated that point at today's White House signing ceremony.
We're going to be returning education very simply back to the states where it belongs. And this is a very popular thing to do. But much more importantly, it's a common sense thing to do. And it's going to work.
Chapter 3: What challenges does Trump's education policy face?
Not entirely clear, though, is how it would work. Also not clear is whether Trump has the authority to actually dismantle the Department of Education created by Congress in 1979. We take an act of Congress to shutter it. The White House says the department won't completely close right away, continuing to oversee things like federal student loans and Pell Grants.
Chapter 4: How is the Alien Enemies Act case unfolding?
A federal judge says the government provided a woefully insufficient response to his prior orders in a case over the Alien Enemies Act. Judge James Boasberg had earlier asked the Trump administration to provide more detail about weekend flights that deported hundreds of alleged Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador. despite his order to turn the planes around.
He asked the government to provide details of its claims the deportations fall under the state secrets doctrine. The judge reset a deadline to 10 a.m. tomorrow for the administration to justify invoking the privilege of state secrets and decide whether to invoke the privilege by March 25th. Recent cutbacks at the IRS are raising concerns about potential delays in tax return processing and refunds.
NPR's Windsor Johnston reports the Trump administration slashed the agency by roughly 7 percent as part of a broader effort to reduce the federal workforce.
Chapter 5: What are the consequences of IRS cutbacks?
Experts are advising taxpayers to file their returns as soon as possible to prevent delays. While the IRS aims to issue most refunds within 21 days of filing electronically... Processing times can vary, especially if returns require additional review. Accountants and other tax professionals say they so far haven't seen unusual or significant delays relating to the cutbacks in staff.
The IRS began accepting and processing returns for early filers on January 27 and says it's remained on track even after the first round of layoffs hit the agency late last month. Windsor-Johnston NPR News, Washington.
U.S. regulators have announced a recall involving nearly all of Tesla's Cybertrucks. It is the eighth recall involving the shiny stainless steel vehicles since they were introduced just over a year ago.
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, issuing the recall of around 46,000 Cybertrucks, ordered an exterior panel running along the left and right side of the windshield can detach while driving, creating a road hazard for other drivers. On Wall Street, the Dow fell 11 points. You're listening to NPR.
An executive at a private equity firm is set to buy the Boston Celtics in what is reported to be the biggest deal ever for U.S. professional sports team. William Chisholm, the managing partner of California-based Symphony Technology Group, has agreed to acquire the Celtics in a $6.1 billion deal.
If approved by the NBA's board of governors, it would top the $6.05 billion paid for the NFL's Washington Commanders in 2023. We don't remember anything from when we were babies, but is that because we don't make memories when we're infants? Science reporter Ari Daniels says new research may hold the answer.
One of the hardest parts of this study was getting the babies into the fMRI machine.
Infants in many ways are the worst possible subject population.
That's Yale cognitive neuroscientist Nick Turk-Brown. His team showed infants a series of images they'd never seen before while snapping photos of their brains, including the hippocampus.
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