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The last few weeks have had many of us thinking long and hard about the things we buy, the price of those goods, and the potential for those prices to jump. This episode is part of our series, "How Did This Get Here?", where we follow goods as they make their way through the global supply chain, and explore what the president's announced tariffs may mean for your pocketbook. Today, we continue our series with.a product some of you may be sipping on right now. It's coffee. Coffee is everywhere. The average person in the U-S drinks a bit more than 3 cups a day. And Americans spend almost 100 and 10 billion dollars every year on the drink. And that amount is going up. Perhaps you've noticed the price for your favorite brand jumped in recent months? The average price of ground coffee in the supermarket hit an all-time high in March, at 7 dollars 38 cents a pound. That's up 84 percent since just before the pandemic. We discuss what's behind the jump. And what tariffs...and the warming climate...mean for your favorite cup of joe. 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. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Frustration with the Internal Revenue Service is nothing new. A Pew Research survey found it's the least popular federal agency among Americans. But that should come as no surprise. After all, the IRS is responsible for collecting what we owe the government. During fiscal year 2024, the IRS collected more than $5 trillion in tax revenue. But this year, Tax Day arrives amid upheaval at the agency. Just last week, the head of the IRS resigned – the third to do so since President Trump's inauguration. And his administration announced plans to lay off up to a quarter of the agency's workforce. We discuss the latest at the IRS and the impact changes at the agency could have for the 2025 tax season. 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. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

What's the weather like in your area? Chances are you took a look at your preferred weather app on your phone before heading outside. We can find that information easily because of weather data that comes from the National Weather Service. It's a part of the federal agency NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The Trump Administration plans to cut billions of dollars from NOAA in its upcoming 2026 budget plans. The cuts could result in a remaking of the agency and eliminate much of the research it conducts that Americans use every day. We discuss how the loss of NOAA could affect our day to day. 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. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

The Trump administration is threatening to pull billions of dollars in funding from top universities across the country. Last week, it froze $1 billion meant for Cornell University and $750 million meant for Northwestern University. The two schools are currently being investigated for alleged antisemitism on campus. And last month, the administration canceled $400 million in grants and contracts for Columbia University also over allegations of antisemitism on campus. President Trump has since targeted other universities including Brown, Harvard, and Princeton. We continue our "If You Can Keep It" series with a look at the higher education funding under the Trump administration. 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. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

This week the Supreme Court told the Trump administration Thursday that it must "facilitate" the release and retrieval of a Maryland man who was wrongly deported to a prison in El Salvador. After announcing tariffs on almost every country in the world last week, President Donald Trump announced this week that he was pausing reciprocal tariffs for 90 days. Except for those on China. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. traveled to Texas after a second death linked to a measles outbreak in the state was reported. Meanwhile, Ukraine says Chinese soldiers are now waging war alongside Russian soldiers. China denies the accusation. And on Tuesday, Japan signaled that it would be interested in joining NATO's support of Ukraine as it continues to fight off the Russian invasion. Our all-star panels help guide us through the most important headlines this week. 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. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

It's safe to say there's been a lot of confusion and even panic in the wake of President Donald Trump's tariff announcement last week — investors are confused, the markets are confused, even the president's Republican colleagues are confused. But what do these tariffs mean for working people? Especially as many have seen their personal wealth take a sizable hit and their budgets likely be blown to bits. We discuss what the tariffs could mean for America's finances in the near and far futures with The Washington Post's Michelle Singletary. We also hear from Martha Gimbel of the Budget Lab at Yale about the bigger economic picture. 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. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

The auto industry is already reeling from President Donald Trump's new tariffs. They've only been in effect for about six days, but the response was immediate. On the same day those tariffs went live, Stellantis temporarily paused production at plants in Canada and Mexico. The company also temporarily laid off 900 U.S. workers. And Volkswagen said it's planning to add an import fee to its sticker price. According to financial analytics firm S&P Global, about half of car sales could be affected by these tariffs. Trump says auto tariffs will bring manufacturing and jobs back to the U.S. We discuss how these new trade rules actually affect American production and your pocketbook, as part of our "How Did This Get Here?" series. 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. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

People visited U.S. National Park sites a record 331 million times last year. Were you one of them? If you were, and plan to visit any National Parks this year though, staff cuts might mean a different kind of experience. At the direction of Elon Musk's DOGE entity, the Department of the Interior fired around 1,000 probationary National Park Service employees in February. That has current and former NPS employees feeling pessimistic about the future. We discuss how these cuts will impact the future of America's National Parks. 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. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

President Donald Trump's escalating trade war sent markets lurching between hope and panic yesterday. But overall, stocks have been tumbling since last Wednesday. That's when President Trump announced a universal 10 percent tariff on all goods coming into the U.S. He also announced additional import taxes on 185 countries. Those tariffs are set to kick in Wednesday. In response, the global economy is in a tailspin. We discuss the latest. 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. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

The nation's health administration is the latest target of the Trump administration's effort to dismantle the federal bureaucracy. That's after Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. slashed 10,000 jobs at the Department of Health and Human Services early last week. Entire offices were eliminated during the layoffs. Some of those positions, Kennedy says, will need to be reinstated. Experts warn that these sweeping job cuts at the HHS will affect drug approvals, disease tracking, and vital biomedical research. We continue our series "If You Can Keep It" with a look at what these actions mean for our public health - and the health of U.S. democracy. We discuss the latest on the dismantling of the HHS and how staff cuts at the department might change the way the U.S. delivers health services. 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. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Donald Trump unveiled his so-called "Liberation Day" plans this week. On Wednesday he announced a slew of tariffs that will affect goods being imported into the U.S. Elon Musk took a hit in Wisconsin. Liberal candidate Susan Crawford emerged victorious in the special election to the state's Supreme Court. Meanwhile, the White House is working to find countries that will take migrants deported from the U.S. Reporting this week found that the Trump Administration has contacted governments in South America, Africa, and Eastern Europe. The war in Gaza is the deadliest for journalists in history. French politician and far-right leader Marine le Pen was barred from running for public office for half a decade as she was found guilty of embezzlement by a court in Paris. 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. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

The arrest and detainment of Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil by Immigration and Customs Enforcement garnered national attention. Last week, the video of the arrest of a Turkish PhD student at Tufts University, Rumeysa Ozturk, by masked federal agents received similar attention. In addition to Ozturk and Khalil, nearly a dozen international students and faculty at universities across the country have been detained for possible deportation as part of President Donald Trump's crackdown on those who've voiced pro-Palestinian views. The arrests have raised questions — not just about the rights of immigrants with legal status in the U.S. — but about the right to dissent, regardless of citizenship, under the Trump administration. 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. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

The Trump administration's cutbacks to the federal workforce continued this week at the Department of Health and Human Services. Thousands of staffers were fired at agencies like the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced the layoffs last week, an additional "reduction in force" of 10,000 people on top of the 10,000 who've already left the department this year. This amounts to one of the largest government departments losing a quarter of its workforce. One of the agencies affected is the National Institutes of Health. The network of research centers funds much of the country's biomedical research. We discuss what the layoffs at the NIH mean for the country's ability to research and develop medical treatments. 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. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Your new iPhone goes through a lot before you peel the plastic off and finally boot it up. Further Apple purchases might have to go through more thanks to the Trump administration's tariffs. From its assembly, to its packaging, to its shipping, to stocking, to purchase, it's a long process. So, what does it actually look like? Why is this the way we do it? And what could be done to make things better? This is our new series,"How Did This Get Here." We explore how goods make their way to us from overseas to our hands. This week we discuss iPhones. 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. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Some of the best songs you can hear this spring aren't on the radio. Hundreds of millions of birds make their annual migration back into North America in early March. Despite their return to our neighborhoods and backyards to wake us up bright and early, a new report reveals they're numbering fewer and fewer. The 2025 State of the Birds report is a joint effort spearheaded by a coalition of science and conservation organizations. It found widespread population decline across nearly all habitats and that over one third of species require conservation help. But it's not all bad news. The report also finds that an increased interest in birding has led to more volunteer data that helped shaped the report. We discuss what we can learn about our feathered friends and our environment while birding. 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. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

President Donald Trump's "Liberation Day" of reciprocal tariffs is almost here. On April 2, Trump is rolling out a plan that would charge a blanket dollar for dollar tax on goods coming into the U.S. Trump clarified Sunday that this policy would apply to all countries instead of a more focused list. The uncertainty around and scope of these tariffs (and a potential trade war) has spooked Wall Street and raised fears of inflation. We discuss America's financial future. 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. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

President Trump is known for going after his political opponents. And for the past month or so, one target has been certain powerful lawyers and law firms. But why is he going after these lawyers and firms? Will courts let him get away with intimidating law firms he doesn't like with threats and executive orders? And how does it all fit into Trump's broader efforts to tilt the legal system to his advantage? Today we hear from one of the lawyers named in the recent flurry of White House orders and memos that aim to limit law firm's ability to represent clients. 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. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Florida holds a special election tomorrow for a House seat that has long been solidly red. Now? Maybe a bit less so. Former Congressman Mike Waltz gave up his seat in the 6th Congressional District – the area around Daytona Beach – to accept the post of President Donald Trump's national security advisor. In line to win his vacant seat tomorrow is Trump-backed Randy Fine, a state senator. But in recent days polls have been too close for comfort for many Republicans. Fine's Democratic opponent, math teacher Josh Weil, has raised $10 million for his campaign. Fine has brought in just $1 million. We discuss what we could learn from tomorrow's results. 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. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

We've spent a lot of time in 2025 talking about the president. The executive orders. The court challenges. The cabinet appointments. Now, the Signal group chats. It's a challenge to report on the administration, full stop. But what if you're not reporting on the administration for an audience directly affected by the U.S. federal government? What kinds of challenges does that present? In a 1A first, we sit down in front of an audience at our home base at WAMU in Washington, DC, to talk to three international journalists about their experiences covering the Trump administration for their audiences back home. 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. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

This week the Atlantic published messages shared between national security officials on a Signal group chat laying out plans for U.S airstrikes in Yemen. It appears that National Security Advisor Mike Waltz added The Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg to the message thread. European leaders have been cautious in their comments on the scandal. President Trump is threatening to suspend security clearances and access to federal buildings of lawyers he does not like. Meanwhile, Israel continues its military campaign in Gaza after breaking the ceasefire agreement with Hamas earlier this month. And five lions rescued from the frontlines of the war in Ukraine have now been resettled in England by the Wild Animals Rescue Center. 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. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy