Episodes

  • Christmas Attack In Ukraine, Honda-Nissan Merger, Nigeria's Economic Crisis

    Christmas Attack In Ukraine, Honda-Nissan Merger, Nigeria's Economic Crisis
    Dec 26 2024
    A Russian attack on Ukraine's energy infrastructure leaves thousands of people without heat. The auto sector is in the midst of two seismic changes and that means existing companies will need to adapt. And, the holiday season in Nigeria is muted this year against the backdrop of one of the country's worst economic crises in decades.

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    Today's episode of Up First was edited by Peter Granitz, Emily Kopp, Miguel Macias, Lisa Thomson and Alice Woelfle. It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Nia Dumas and Ana Perez. We get engineering support from Josephine Nyounai. And our technical director is Carleigh Strange.

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    13 mins
  • Christmas In Bethlehem, Famine In Sudan, The Year In Space

    Christmas In Bethlehem, Famine In Sudan, The Year In Space
    Dec 25 2024
    For the second year in a row, official celebrations have been cancelled in Bethlehem, the city where Christian tradition says Jesus was born. Famine has spread in Sudan where people are experiencing one of the world's worst starvation crises in modern times. And, a look at the year's biggest stories from space.

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    Today's episode of Up First was edited by Andrew Sussman, Miguel Macias, Gisele Grayson, Lisa Thomson and Ally Schweitzer.It was produced by Ziad Buchh , Nia Dumas, Claire Murashima and Ana Perez. We get engineering support from Nisha Heinis. And our technical director is Andie Huether.

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    14 mins
  • Ukraine's Drone Use, H-1B Visa Uncertainty, New Species In 2024

    Ukraine's Drone Use, H-1B Visa Uncertainty, New Species In 2024
    Dec 24 2024
    Facing a manpower shortage, Ukraine is relying more and more on unmanned flying attack drones. The visas used by foreign-born scientists is an immigration category expected to come under renewed scrutiny under the incoming presidential administration. And, a look at three new species added to the scientific record this year.

    Join the new NPR Plus Bundle to support our work and get perks like sponsor-free listening and bonus episodes across more than 25 NPR podcasts.

    Want more comprehensive analysis of the most important news of the day, plus a little fun? Subscribe to the Up First newsletter.

    Today's episode of Up First was edited by Miguel Macias, Gisele Grayson, Lisa Thomson and Alice Woefle. It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Nia Dumas, Claire Murashima and Ana Perez. We get engineering support from Neisha Heinis. And our technical director is Carleigh Strange.

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    14 mins
  • Biden Death Row Clemency, Long COVID Research, Lebanon Antiquities Damaged

    Biden Death Row Clemency, Long COVID Research, Lebanon Antiquities Damaged
    Dec 23 2024
    President Biden uses his clemency authority to commute the sentences of 37 of the 40 men on federal death row to life without parole. The National Institutes of Health recently announced it's investing $300 million dollars to research treatments for long COVID. Antiquities in Lebanon were destroyed during the Israel-Hezbollah war despite protections for cultural sites under the laws of war.

    Join the new NPR Plus Bundle to support our work and get perks like sponsor-free listening and bonus episodes across more than 25 NPR podcasts.

    Want more comprehensive analysis of the most important news of the day, plus a little fun? Subscribe to the Up First newsletter.

    Today's episode of Up First was edited by Dana Farrington, Carrie Feibel, Denice Rios, Lisa Thomson and Ally Schweitzer. It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Nia Dumas and Ana Perez. We get engineering support from Nisha Heinis. And our technical director is Carleigh Strange.

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    14 mins
  • The Luckiest of the Unlucky

    The Luckiest of the Unlucky
    Dec 22 2024
    In part two of our story about Ben Spencer, a man sentenced to life in prison for a crime he said he didn't commit, former NPR correspondent Barbara Bradley Hagerty begins her own investigation. She returns to the scene of the crime and reinterviews witnesses. Hagerty finds new evidence of Spencer's innocence. And yet, the courts refuse to release him.

    In this episode of The Sunday Story from Up First, a look at what finally happens to a man who pinned his hopes on the idea that the truth would eventually set him free.

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    29 mins
  • The Anatomy of a Wrongful Conviction

    The Anatomy of a Wrongful Conviction
    Dec 22 2024
    In 1987, Ben Spencer, a young black man from Dallas, Texas was convicted in the killing of a white businessman. He was sentenced to life in prison by an all-white jury. There was no physical evidence linking him to the crime and he had an alibi. Over the years, eyewitnesses recanted their testimony and a judge, after reviewing all the prior evidence, declared Spencer to be an innocent man. Nonetheless, Spencer remained in prison for more than three decades. For seven of those years, former NPR correspondent Barbara Bradley Hagerty follows and followed the twists and turns of this case. Her dissection of wrongful convictions and the criminal justice system is at the heart of her new book, Bringing Ben Home: A Murder, A Conviction And The Fight to Redeem American Justice.

    Today on The Sunday Story from Up First, part one of a two-part series looking at why it is so hard to get a conviction overturned even when evidence of innocence is overwhelming. Part two is also available now on the Up First podcast feed.

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    27 mins
  • Government Shutdown Averted, German Christmas Market Attack, Netflix And The NFL

    Government Shutdown Averted, German Christmas Market Attack, Netflix And The NFL
    Dec 21 2024
    Congress approved a short-term spending deal to keep government running until mid-March. A man drove a car into a Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, killing at least five. Netflix again plans to stream major sporting events live, after a rocky first attempt last month.

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    16 mins
  • GOP Stopgap Bill Fails, Battle For Ukrainian Town, Syria's Interim Government

    GOP Stopgap Bill Fails, Battle For Ukrainian Town, Syria's Interim Government
    Dec 20 2024
    Congress has a midnight deadline to fund the federal government. Elon Musk and President-elect Donald Trump instructed Republicans to kill a bipartisan plan. Then the House rejected Trump's preferred alternative. Russia's army has lost thousands of soldiers trying to capture a strategic Ukrainian town, and in Syria, the rebel group that toppled former dictator Bashar al-Assad is now is now tasked with building a new government that includes everyone in a divided country.

    Want more comprehensive analysis of the most important news of the day, plus a little fun? Subscribe to the Up First newsletter.

    Today's episode of Up First was edited by Kelsey Snell, Carrie Kahn, Ryland Barton, HJ Mai and Olivia Hampton. It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Nia Dumas and Kaity Kline. We get engineering support from Stacey Abbott, and our technical director is Carleigh Strange. Our executive producer is Kelley Dickens.

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    14 mins