Taylor Swift dropped her latest album, "The Tortured Poets Department," at midnight on Friday. Like she did with her previous album, "Midnights", she posted a surprise for fans a few hours later: 15 extra tracks on the album. That brings the total track listing to 31 songs. She's released four albums since 2020, plus four re-recorded albums. Her Eras Tour sold out stadiums across the U.S. last year, and it continues through 2024. T he hold Taylor Swift has on much of our popular consciousness defies comparison with other current artists. We discuss Swift's new music and where it fits in he ..read more

Here in the U.S., we can't have a people, a country, and a democracy – without, well: the Earth. Yes, the very large globe that we're sitting on right now. Many of you may be celebrating that today for Earth Day. Throughout this election season, we've asked you what's sending you to the ballot box. So far, your responses suggest that climate- is your third most dominant concern after "Trump" and "Democracy." For this installment of our weekly politics series, 'If You Can Keep It', we look at how each presumptive nominee for the 2024 presidential election is talking about climate and energy ..read more

As Donald Trump's trials continue over the course of the spring, Joe Biden is taking advantage of his rival's absence from the campaign trail. A Boeing whistleblower made headlines this week, telling the Senate that the aircraft manufacturer is "putting out defective airplanes." Meanwhile, Israel, with the help of the U.S., more or less successfully defended itself from a missile and drone attack launched by Iran after the former killed Iranian officials in an attack on an embassy in Syria. As the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues, The BBC has now confirmed that more than 50,000 Russian ..read more

According to the Department of Justice's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, at least 70 percent of firearms found in crime scenes in Mexico can be traced back to the neighbors to the north. Some 250,000 people crossed the southern border into the U.S. in December of last year. The majority of those were people from Mexico. And survey data pulled by Reuters from the Kino Border Initiative, a large migrant shelter in Nogales, Mexico, shows that violence, not economic factors, is forcing many families to leave Mexico. We discuss what work is being done to stop the flow of gun ..read more

Imagine you're at a dinner party and the conversation turns to the latest news. Everyone has a different opinion. People begin raising their voices. You notice the person beside you isn't talking, they're just watching. They turn to you and make a joke and you immediately relax. You hadn't even realized how tense you were. They then ask what you think about the news. When you respond, they're attentive. When they look at you, you feel seen. They ask you another question and another. Before you know it, an hour has passed, and the arguing has died down around you. Your dinner party partner i ..read more

We've never been here before. A former president is being tried in criminal court while he's running for reelection. Donald Trump faces four separate indictments. And only one of them will go to trial before November. That's a case that got underway yesterday in a Manhattan courtroom with jury selection. Trump is charged with falsifying business documents ahead of the 2016 election to cover up payments he made to adult film star Stormy Daniels. We discuss what the treatment of a former president reveal about our legal system more broadly, and what sets the case in New York apart. Want to su ..read more

The Arizona Supreme Court handed down a landmark abortion ruling this week, invoking an 1864 law that forbids abortions except to save a mother's life, and punishes providers with prison time should they choose to facilitate the procedure. In other judicial news, an appeals court judge has rejected former President Donald Trump's effort to delay his hush money trial as he appeals a gag order. Also from the courts, the parents of a Michigan school shooter were sentenced to 10 to 15 years in prison for involuntary manslaughter. In global news, Joe Biden has spoken out about Israeli Prime Mini ..read more

What do you remember about being in your twenties? Maybe it was the best time of your life. Maybe it brought challenges that you had to learn to overcome as you entered adulthood. And if you're in your twenties now, life probably looks a lot different for you than it did for your parents. Meg Jay is a psychologist and author. In her new book, "The Twentysomething Treatment: A Revolutionary Remedy for an Uncertain Age," she explores the way our twenties set up the rest of our lives, and how the uncertainties that come with entering adulthood affect our brain. We sit down with her to talk abo ..read more

Millions of people watched the NCAA women's basketball tournament over the past few weeks. The last three rounds of the tournament sold out and set viewership records, especially games involving the Iowa Hawkeyes and their star point guard, Caitlin Clark. On Sunday, Iowa faced off against the undefeated South Carolina Gamecocks in the most-watched basketball game on ESPN since 2019. South Carolina pulled ahead in the second half to win it all, 87-75. We talk about how the women's March Madness tournament got so big this year and the role Clark and other star players, like Angel Reese of LSU ..read more

With his several divorces, violent rhetoric, and long list of criminal charges, former President Donald Trump may not be your idea of a God-fearing Christian. But that hasn't stopped him from appealing to his Christian base. Roughly 8 out of 10 white Evangelicals supported Trump in the 2016 general presidential election. And a recent Pew Research survey found that among religious groups, white Evangelical Protestants had a more positive opinion of Trump than any other group, whereas the majority of Jewish Americans, Black protestants, and atheists all had an unfavorable opinion of Trump. Des ..read more