News in Providence

Lena Dunham on the ‘frustration’ between her and Adam Driver on ‘Girls’
Get your tickets for Wild Card live in Los Angeles with special guest Tracee Ellis Ross on May 7! Lena Dunham tells Rachel that for much of her 20s and 30s, she took a vacation from who she was as a child. These days, though, she says she’s much more in touch with that part of…

Two startlingly different views on long-awaited data on America’s anti-HIV efforts
After a year without data, the State Department released figures on PEPFAR, the program launched by George W. Bush and credited with saving millions of lives. How did Trump's aid cuts affect it?

Sycophantic AI flatters and suggests you are not to blame
The AI models and chatbots that we interact with tend to affirm our feelings and viewpoints — more so than people do, with potentially worrisome consequences.

Democrats dominate midterm fundraising, but Republicans have a huge cash advantage
The latest campaign finance reports show Democratic enthusiasm in key House and Senate races, but national Republican groups have far more in the bank to potentially spend down the road.

How TikTok is driving American expats to Southeast Asia
Americans who moved to Vietnam and Thailand say their lives are now lower-stress and lower-cost. But glamorous videos on TikTok don't tell the whole story.

World Press Photo announces Photo of the Year 2026
The executive director of World Press Photo said this image shows the inconsolable grief of children losing their father in a place built for justice. It is a stark and necessary record of family separation following the U.S. reform policies.

Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders approve $110B merger with Paramount Skydance
Paramount CEO David Ellison must now make his case to regulators and a wary Hollywood that the merger is good for the industry.

The billionaires’ utopia blueprint
Starbase. Prospera. California Forever. Mars. From private cities to interstellar colonies, tech billionaires like Elon Musk and Peter Thiel have backed experiments designed to operate beyond the borders — and laws — most of us live by. So we wondered: has this happened before?…

How to get your tariff cash back
Businesses might finally see some tariff money refunded to them. That’s because this week, the federal government officially rolled out a process that allows businesses to apply for a refund. Today on the show, we speak with three business owners about the unexpected simplicity…

What do we think of Michael Jackson now?
Michael Jackson remains one of the most influential and celebrated musicians in modern history, yet his legacy continues to inspire both intense criticism and fascination. The new film, Michael , is set for release this week, raising the question of whether an estate-approved…

Trump administration flies 10-year-old back from Cuba amid custody fight
President Trump's Department of Justice sent a plane this week to Cuba to return a 10-year-old from Utah who is at the center of a custody fight involving the child's gender identity.

Chemical leak at a W.Va. plant kills 2 people, sends 30 more to hospitals, officials say
The leak occurred at the Catalyst Refiners plant, a silver recovery business. An emergency management official says workers were preparing to shut down at least part of the facility when the leak occurred, causing a chemical gas reaction.