Republicans have been talking about cutting the size of the government down for decades. Now that the Trump administration is following through on those plans, the process is laying bare just how much pain this budget hacking is going to inflict on Americans and people across the globe.

Guest:

Jeffrey Okoro, executive director for CFK Africa, a non-profit focusing on public health and financial opportunities based in Nairobi, Kenya.

Hannah Smith-Brubaker, farmer in central Pennsylvania and executive director of Pasa, a non-profit working with farmers on sustainability.

Vincent Pinti, law and public-policy graduate student at the University of Michigan.

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Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, Ethan Oberman, and Rob Gunther.

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Congressional Republicans are trying to extend Trump’s first-term tax cuts, appease GOP budget hawks and increase defense spending—all in a single budget. Can it be done?

Guest: Jim Newell, senior politics writer at Slate.

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Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, Ethan Oberman, and Rob Gunther.

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A survey of people incarcerated in California found that 20 percent of women in for homicide had killed their abusive partners. How have self-defense laws failed women in abusive relationships—and how can they be reformed to save lives?

Guest: Rachel Louise Snyder, journalist, author of No Visible Bruises: What We Don’t Know About Domestic Violence Can Kill Us, and professor at American University.

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Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme and Rob Gunther.

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Everyone’s talking about the price of eggs—so why are they so expensive? And when can we expect—if ever—the price to come back down?

Guests: 

Dr. Jada Thompson, associate professor at the University of Arkansas

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Federal workers in the U.S. Digital Service resigned in protest over what they viewed as indiscriminate, irresponsible firings coming from the DOGE office. While lawsuits are entering the courts and protests are taking to the streets, will any of this make a difference to the chainsaw-minded leaders of DOGE? 

Guest: Ryan Mac, tech reporter at the New York Times and co-author of “Character Limit: How Elon Musk Destroyed Twitter.”

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Podcast production by Evan Campbell and Patrick Fort.

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The ceasefire between Hamas and Israel has held since January 19. Now, the second phase—negotiating Gaza’s future—is supposed to begin. But anger over the deaths of hostages and intrusions into the West Bank aren’t going to make it easy.

Guest: Yair Rosenberg, staff writer at The Atlantic and author of Deep Shtetl, a newsletter about the intersection of politics, culture, and religion. 

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Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, Ethan Oberman, and Rob Gunther.

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In town halls from Oregon to Georgia, people are letting Republicans know just how angry they are about the dramatic cuts to the federal government. And their displeasure is starting to sink Trump’s approval rating.

Guest:

Greg Bluestein, political reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 

Ben Mathis-Lilley, senior writer for Slate.

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Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, Ethan Oberman, and Rob Gunther.

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Barron Trump, the president’s youngest son, isn’t on the public speaking circuit and has no social media presence. But he’s nevertheless become a Gen-Z-aged avatar of Trump masculinity for the MAGA faithful. Where does reality end and speculation begin?

Guest: Dan Adler, staff writer for Vanity Fair.

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Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, Ethan Oberman, and Rob Gunther.

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In 2011, a Republican majority in the Wisconsin State House faced massive protests to their plans to strip power from public sector workers. State Democrats fled across the border and the possibility of a general strike loomed. 

But the strike fizzled out and the legislation ultimately passed. 

And now the situation in the federal government is shaping up in a similar way. Do the workers need to break the glass and do what Wisconsin stopped short of?

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Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, Ethan Oberman, and Rob Gunther.

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The crypto industry threw its weight and money behind Donald Trump, in hopes of legitimizing the industry. Before his Inauguration Day was over, Donald Trump was already enriching himself via a memecoin, one of the scammier, least legitimate-looking uses of crypto.

Guest: David Yaffe-Bellany, reporter covering cryptocurrency for the New York Times.

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