Author: rpnadmin

The government shutdown goes on and House Speaker Mike Johnson refuses to swear in a Democratic representative-elect. President Trump thinks he has momentum to get a Russia-Ukraine peace deal done. SCOTT SIMON, HOST: Senior political contributor Ron Elving joins us. Ron, thanks so much for being with us.RON ELVING, BYLINE: Good to be with you, Scott.SIMON: Of course, there were big protests during the first Trump administration, women’s marches among them, many demonstrations against his immigration policies. How do these No Kings protests compare?ELVING: The day after Trump’s first inauguration in 2017, close to half a million people – most…

Society / October 15, 2025 Asad Dandia sued the NYPD after it spied on his family and community. Now he uses people’s history to reclaim the streets from the systems that surveilled him. Ad Policy Asad Dandia.(Lara-Nour Walton) In winter 2012, Asad Dandia, 19, discovered that his friend who crashed at his house in Brighton Beach and dined at his family table was a New York Police Department plant. The department’s Intelligence Division was dispatching spies and plainclothes officers to compile dossiers on Muslim “hot spots.” They infiltrated local bookstores, restaurants, and mosques, eavesdropping on casual conversations and befriending unwitting…

The Trump administration has adopted an aggressive approach to foreign policy in Latin America. NPR’s Scott Simon speaks with Ivan Briscoe at the International Crisis Group about the shift. SCOTT SIMON, HOST: When it comes to foreign policy in Latin America, the Trump administration has favored a more muscular approach, demanding control of the Panama Canal, a bailout for Argentina with strings attached and opposing tariffs on Brazil to influence the trial of a former president – and as we just heard, killing alleged drug smugglers on boats in the Caribbean – all part of an escalating pressure campaign against…

Politics / October 16, 2025 The ruling, when it comes, will be disastrous for Black voters and for Democrats. Ad Policy A woman held a US flag outside the Supreme Court as the court weighed the future of the Voting Rights Act on October 15, 2025.(Eric Lee / Bloomberg via Getty Images) The Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Wednesday in Louisiana v. Callais, a case about whether Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act prevents white people from overrepresenting themselves in Congress. Oral arguments can sometimes sound like the justices are deliberating great and technical points of law, but…

The admiral overseeing U.S. Southern Command is leaving as the Pentagon continues its attacks on small boats in the waters off Venezuela, claiming they are being used by drug traffickers. SCOTT SIMON, HOST: The head of U.S. Southern Command, who oversees all military activity in the Caribbean and South America, is stepping down after just a year in the post. His retirement was announced by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth this week on social media. NPR’s Quil Lawrence reports.QUIL LAWRENCE, BYLINE: Secretary Hegseth announced that Admiral Alvin Holsey would retire after 37 years in the military and praised what he…

Activism / October 16, 2025 The unconstitutional targeting of constituencies Trump dislikes calls for coordinated acts of resistance. Ad Policy Protesters march against the Trump administration in downtown Chicago following an ICE raid on an apartment building.(Scott Olson/Getty Images) Shortly after the first government shutdown since 2019 began earlier this month, Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought announced that he was freezing $8 billion in infrastructure projects exclusively in states that voted for Kamala Harris. The projects that Vought consigned to funding purgatory included a multibillion-dollar renovation and expansion of the Hudson Tunnel from New Jersey to New…

Thousands gather to protest the Missouri legislature’s efforts to redraw congressional maps to favor the GOP and amend the initiative petition process on Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025, at the state Capitol in Jefferson City. Brian Munoz/St. Louis Public Radio hide caption toggle caption Brian Munoz/St. Louis Public Radio KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Lately, on any given day, you’ll find Leann Villaluz knocking on doors around Kansas City to get people to sign a petition that would let voters decide the fate of the state’s new congressional map. “There’s a sense of resentment, even to regular voters who aren’t as involved,”…

Activism / October 17, 2025 More millions will show up for this and future demonstrations if collective joy, humor, satire, and nonviolent action prevail. Ad Policy Demonstrators at a “No Kings” Trump protest at the Vermont State House in Montpelier, Vermont, as part of nationwide No Kings protest day on June 14, 2025.(John Lazenby / Getty Images) Saturday’s No Kings! demonstrations are tomorrow and I will be at the San Francisco march, screaming my head off. As Barbara Ehrenreich said, it feels good to get together with other people and yell! So c’mon, everybody, show up, and do the same—if…

Members of the Texas National Guard stand guard at an army reserve training facility on October 7, 2025 in Elwood, Illinois. Scott Olson/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Scott Olson/Getty Images The Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court to allow it to deploy National Guard troops in Illinois after lower courts blocked the deployment. As legal challenges to President Trump’s push to send military troops to Democratic-led cities make their way through several courts, the administration’s appeal to the high court marks the first time the justices have been asked to weigh in on the issue. In the appeal filed…

Politics / October 17, 2025 In a post-shame era, racist slurs and Nazism can be shrugged off. Ad Policy Donald Trump speaks with JD Vance in the Cabinet Room at the White House on October 14, 2025.(Kevin Dietsch / Getty Images) If Donald Trump is a transformative president, it is due to his behavior more than his ideology. In policy terms, Trump has governed like a typical right-wing Republican, and the component parts of MAGA-ism all have deep roots in American history: racism, nativism, nationalism, unchained capitalism, military adventurism, and even authoritarianism. What makes Trump distinct, and increasingly has reshaped…