Congress Avoids a Government Shutdown 

Congress has been racing to avoid a government shutdown. Thursday was the final day for lawmakers to pass a funding bill to prevent the government from that fate, and luckily, the House and Senate passed a stopgap measure before the midnight deadline. Also on Thursday, President Joe Biden’s massive trillion dollar infrastructure bill got its final vote in the House. Plus, Democrats and Republicans are still split on whether or not to raise the debt ceiling. Nicholas Wu, Congressional reporter for POLITICO, and Pablo Manriquez, Capitol Hill correspondent for Latino Rebels, explained the latest in politics. 

Climate Change Influences Voters' Urgency in German Election

On Monday, Germans cast the largest share of votes for the Social Democrats, led by Olaf Scholz instead of supporting Armin Laschet, the successor in Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic party. So why did the German people opt for change? We get answers and analysis from Yasmeen Serhan, staff writer for The Atlantic.

Dangerous Smoke from West Coast Wildfires is Affecting the Whole Country

A recent analysis of federal satellite imagery by NPR’s California Newsroom and Stanford University’s Environmental Change and Human Outcomes Lab found that dangerous smoke from West Coast wildfires is being carried thousands of miles across the country, and the number of days that some communities are exposed to this toxic smoke is increasing. A reality that could impact all of our health. The Takeaway spoke with Alison Saldanha, an investigative data reporter for NPR’s California Newsroom.

For transcripts, see full segment pages.