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Chapter 1: What is NPR's Throughline podcast about?
When Malcolm Gladwell presented NPR's Throughline podcast with a Peabody Award, he praised it for its historical and moral clarity. On Throughline, we take you back in time to the origins of what's in the news, like presidential power, aging, and evangelicalism. Time travel with us every week on the Throughline podcast from NPR.
Chapter 2: What are the key points in the new federal budget blueprint?
Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Corva Coleman. The House is now voting on a budget blueprint for the federal government. House Speaker Mike Johnson has been working to win support from fiscal conservatives. They've said they're worried the measure doesn't do enough to cut the deficit. Johnson says the GOP will identify $1.5 trillion in savings.
He says it will protect essential programs such as Medicaid. Democrats say that's not possible under the GOP plan. They say Americans who need these benefits could lose them. Markets continue to fall on Wall Street a day after President Trump paused some of his tariffs on dozens of nations. In reaction, the European Union says it will pause some of its tariffs for the same amount of time.
Chapter 3: How do tariffs impact the global economy?
But Trump increased tariffs on China to at least 125 percent. White House Trade Advisor Peter Navarro continues to insist tariffs are key to American prosperity.
We're in a beautiful position for the next 90 days. We've got over 75 countries that are going to come in and negotiate with us. And what they're going to have to do without fail is they're going to have to lower their non-tariff barriers because those are the bigger ones than the tariff barriers. And we're going to get a great deal for America and a great deal for the world.
Meanwhile, economists say the escalating trade war between the U.S. and China is likely to keep prices higher. NPR Scott Newman reports consumers are likely to see some of those prices stay higher for good.
Chapter 4: What is price stickiness and how does it affect consumers?
Something known as price stickiness is an economic concept describing how prices that go up quickly come down slowly, or not at all. Kenneth Louie is director of the Economic Research Institute of Erie at Penn State University.
When we have policies like tariffs, that's going to lead to an upward ratcheting of prices if we look at the historical evidence.
One factor could be manufacturers eventually shifting their supply chains away from the U.S. at a cost they would likely pass on to consumers. Scott Newman, NPR News, Washington.
The Trump administration has halted work on the National Climate Assessment. As NPR's Rebecca Herscher reports, it's the most comprehensive source of information on how climate change affects the U.S.
Chapter 5: Why has the National Climate Assessment been halted?
The National Climate Assessment is required by Congress, and the next one was expected in 2027. The report includes the latest information about sea level rise, changing weather patterns, and other climate change effects. It's written in plain language, so everyone from farmers and fishermen to teachers and judges can use it.
A small staff of about 25 people helps coordinate the hundreds of scientists who write the report. Now the federal government has canceled the contract that paid for those staff, according to two government officials with direct knowledge of the cuts. They agreed to speak to NPR on the condition of anonymity because they fear professional retaliation. Rebecca Herscher, NPR News.
On Wall Street, the Dow is down more than 1,000 points. The Nasdaq is down more than 600. This is NPR. The United States and Russia have exchanged prisoners. Russia has released Ksenia Karolina. She was jailed in Russia after giving less than $100 to a charity that sent relief aid to Ukraine. Russia says the U.S. has released Russian-German citizen Arthur Petrov. He was accused in the U.S.
of illegally exporting military-grade electronics. Scientists have replicated a pathway that senses pain using human nerve cells grown in a dish. NPR's John Hamilton reports on a study in the journal Nature.
Pain signals start at a nerve ending, then travel to the spinal cord, to an area deep in the brain, and finally to the brain's outer layer, the cortex. A team at Stanford recreated this pathway using clusters of human neurons designed to mimic each stop along the way. Dr. Sergio Pashka says then they exposed the nerve endings on one cluster to a chemical found in chili peppers.
The neurons that sense the signals get activated and they transmit that information to the next station and the next station all the way to the cortex.
Pashka says this sensory pathway in a dish could be used to test drugs meant to block pain. John Hamilton, NPR News.
There are flood warnings up in several states this morning from Ohio to the Gulf Coast. This follows several days of storms that started a week ago. The exceptionally heavy rain from the storm has surged into rivers, pushing them to major flood stage. Officials in Cincinnati say the Ohio River crested there yesterday at levels not seen in decades. Parts of downtown Cincinnati are flooded.
This is NPR.
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