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Chapter 1: Who is Ira Glass and what does he say about the current political climate?
This is Ira Glass, the host of This American Life. So much is changing so rapidly right now with President Trump in office. It feels good to pause for a moment sometimes and look around at what's what.
To try and do that, we've been finding these incredible stories about right now that are funny and have feeling and you get to see people everywhere making sense of this new America that we find ourselves in. This American Life, wherever you get your podcasts.
Chapter 2: What are the latest updates on the Israeli-American hostage release?
Live from NPR News, I'm Dale Willman. Israeli-American hostage Idan Alexander is expected to be released by Hamas today. The exchange could come within the next hour. Hamas has offered the release in hopes of establishing a ceasefire in the fighting in Gaza. The U.S. and China both say trade talks in Geneva over the weekend that were related to high tariffs have been constructive.
But as Terry Schultz reports, the two sides say they'll hold off on sharing details until later today.
Chapter 3: What progress has been made in US-China trade talks?
Treasury Secretary Scott Besant delivered an upbeat assessment after the meetings with his Chinese counterparts.
Chapter 4: What were Treasury Secretary Scott Besant's comments on the trade negotiations?
I'm happy to report that we've made substantial progress between the United States and China in the very important trade talks.
Chapter 5: How have tariffs affected trade between the US and China?
Besant did not detail to reporters what that progress is, but said it would be revealed on Monday. Similarly, Chinese Vice Commerce Minister Li Qinggang said the talks achieved what he called good news for the world. The U.S. has put tariffs of 145 percent on Chinese goods, and China's reacted by enacting 125 percent on U.S. imports.
The taxes have effectively stalled trade between the world's two largest economies. For NPR News, I'm Terry Schultz.
Chapter 6: What issues are affecting flights at Newark Airport and what solutions are proposed?
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says he'll reduce the number of flights in and out of Newark Airport for the next several weeks. New Jersey's largest airport has struggled for more than a week with radar outages and numerous flight delays. The problem in part is a shortage of air traffic controllers. William McGee is an aviation expert for the American Economic Liberties Project.
He says he's concerned with the administration's upgrade plans.
President Trump joined Duffy by phone at one point, and he said something that really set off alarm bells for me. He said, we're going to give, in his words, President Trump, a big, beautiful contract to one company. Well, this is complex work. It involves hundreds and hundreds of facilities all across the country, airports all across the country.
Chapter 7: What concerns does aviation expert William McGee express about airport upgrades?
And there isn't one company that you sign a contract with that can fix this overnight. They're talking about an initial investment of $12.5 billion. That won't be even nearly enough.
President Trump says he'll sign an executive order sometime today to reduce drug prices. He made that announcement on social media on Sunday. NPR's Luke Garrett has more on our story.
President Trump is promising to reduce drug prices by 30 to 80 percent, quote, almost immediately. Posting on social media, Trump says his executive order will lower pharmaceutical costs to, quote, the same price as the nation that pays the lowest price, end quote. He's calling it a most favored nation policy.
In 2020, Trump signed an executive order of the same name and general principle, but it was blocked by the courts and then killed by President Joe Biden a year later. The driving idea is that Medicare would refuse to pay more for certain drugs than the lowest price paid by other developed nations. Drug companies criticized the idea as unworkable and irresponsible in 2020.
It's unclear what payments or drugs this new order would apply to. Luke Garrett, NPR News, Washington.
Forty-nine years after her death, the writer known as the Queen of Crime has been brought back to life through artificial intelligence. Vicki Barker reports from London.
I must confess that this is all rather new to me. Agatha Christie recreated using AI for the online masterclass series BBC Maestro. Her great-grandson, James Pritchard, told BBC promotional video.
At the heart of this was my father, who knew Agatha Christie better than any person alive. At times, he was astounded by how similar to his grandmother this version was.
The crime writer's family set a condition that all the words used be Christie's own. Christie scholars combed her published and unpublished works and private letters to assemble this masterclass. For NPR News, I'm Vicki Barker in London.
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