NPR Podcasts

President Donald Trump swore to tackle illegal immigration in his first moments in office. His administration says he's living up to his word, but his actions over the last 100 days have raised big questions about treatment of immigrants under U.S. law. This includes ramping up pressure on immigrants – those here legally and without legal status – to leave the United States of their own volition, or "self deport." For many immigrants, self-deporting means leaving the only country, culture, and community they have ever known. We sit down with one woman who made the grueling decision to leave the United States. We talk about current U.S. immigration policy. Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station and subscribe to this podcast. Have questions? Connect with us. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.

Yesterday, Canadians went to the polls to decide whether Prime Minister Mark Carney's Liberal Party maintained the reins, or whether the Conservatives returned to power for the first time in nearly a decade. The voters have spoken, and the Liberal Party will continue to lead Canada. Carney was chosen by his party to take over leadership after former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stepped down earlier this year. These results will have major ramifications on Canada's shaky relations with the U.S., President Donald Trump, and his tariffs. We discuss what the election means for the country. Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station and subscribe to this podcast. Have questions? Connect with us. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio released a plan to reorganize the State Department that would eliminate human-rights-focused bureaus and reduce U.S. staff. Jessica Stern, former U.S. special envoy for the human rights of LGBTQ+ persons, joins us. Then, concern is growing that extremism and white supremacism in the military may now be going unchecked. The Trump administration did away with a program to track and combat the issue. Heidi Beirich, co-founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, tells us more. And, author Chris Whipple talks about the role that President Trump's chief of staff Susie Wiles has played in Trump's action-packed second-term honeymoon period.

Since Russia's large scale invasion began in 2022, the U.S. has provided significant military aid to Ukraine. But Republicans, led by President Trump, are increasingly skeptical of providing more support. What will happen next, and can Ukraine continue fighting if the U.S. removes its assistance? This episode: political correspondents Sarah McCammon and Susan Davis, and national security correspondent Greg Myre. The podcast is produced by Bria Suggs & Kelli Wessinger and edited by Casey Morell. Our executive producer is Muthoni Muturi.Listen to every episode of the NPR Politics Podcast sponsor-free, unlock access to bonus episodes with more from the NPR Politics team, and support public media when you sign up for The NPR Politics Podcast+ at plus.npr.org/politics.

Big news is happening at a breakneck pace these days. But on the cusp of the 100th day of President Donald Trump's second administration, let's take a pause to go back in time to Sept. 30, 1962. On that day, President John F. Kennedy sent U.S. military forces to protect James Meredith on the campus of the University of Mississippi. Meredith was the first Black student admitted to the school. That night, JFK addressed the nation from the White House. In his address JFK describes a moment when the word of the Constitution no longer prevails, is by most definitions a "constitutional crisis." Some of you think that moment is here. As part of our weekly series on the state of our democracy, "If You Can Keep It," we're posing a big question: Are we in a constitutional crisis? Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station and subscribe to this podcast. Have questions? Connect with us. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.

About one in 31 children in the U.S. has been identified with autism spectrum disorder, according to CDC data released this month. When Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. discussed these findings, he declared that autism is a rapidly growing "epidemic" in the U.S. and vowed to identify the "environmental toxin" he says is to blame. Which of Kennedy's remarks rang true to those in the autism community? Jill Escher is the president of the National Council on Severe Autism, and had both gratitude and criticism for the new initiative. For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

In a Manhattan restaurant, the narrator of Audition meets a young man for lunch. Everyone has a different understanding of the pair's relationship, including the narrator herself. Katie Kitamura says she got the idea for the story after coming across a headline that said, "a stranger told me he was my son." That headline turned into the premise for her latest novel, which experiments with the idea of contradictions to destabilizing effect. In today's episode, Kitamura joins NPR's Ari Shapiro for a conversation about her decision to cut the book in half. They also discuss other media that's split into two parts – like the films Vertigo and Shoplifters – and Shapiro shares his interpretation of the novel. To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookoftheday

Scott has an ex-aerospace industry relative who's affectionately referred to as 'Uncle Know-it-all' and has been telling Scott that he's driving his car all wrong. Can Click and Clack land this one safely? Find out on this episode of the Best of Car Talk. Get access to hundreds of episodes in the Car Talk archive when you sign up for Car Talk+ at plus.npr.org/cartalk

Writer, director and showrunner Tony Gilroy joins us to talk about the new season of Andor and what makes the show so different than any other Star Wars program. He also shares what his plans are after the series concludes, and tells us about how he almost entered a career in music instead of film.

Weddings make great fodder for TV writers. It's wedding season, so today we're breaking down the different types of TV weddings featured on Friends, General Hospital, A Different World, Grey's Anatomy, Cheers, Schitt's Creek and more.