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Aid is trickling into Gaza, where more than 150 people have died of hunger and international pressure is growing to allow further aid to enter the strip. Ukraine passed a national law that restores power to anti-corruption bodies after mass protests. And Donald Trump just can’t seem to shake the story about the Epstein files - mostly because his efforts to not talk about them only seem to make eve...

More than 120 people have died after flash floods in Texas wiped out entire rural towns. The EU reached an agreement with Israel to get aid into Gaza, but the political rhetoric surrounding long term solutions has been troubling. And Trump is starting the tariff machine back up after countries refused to come to the table for new trade deals. Then, in Have You Heard Headlines, Erin & Jake brea...

The war between Israel and Iran seems to be halted after the U.S. dropped bombs on Iranian nuclear sites, with the effectiveness of those attacks unclear. A series of protests broke out in Kenya over a rising cost of living, but also to combat government censorship. And Trump’s big bill passed through congress, enacting medicare cuts for millions.  Then, in Have You Heard Headlines, Erin & Jak...

Trump deployed the military to Los Angeles to quell largely nonviolent protests over the deportation of dozens of residents by ICE, sparking bigger protests in California and nationwide. The aid boat known as the Freedom Flotilla was seized in Gaza, with activists onboard (including Greta Thunberg) being deported as dozens were killed in the Gaza strip trying to get food aid. And a 21 year old sho...

Ukraine launched a massive secret drone strike on Russia and shocked the world with its technical ability. The Trump White House put 50% tariffs on steel and aluminum coming from anywhere outside the U.S. And South Korea elected the Liberal candidate Lee Jae-myung as the country’s next president after ousting Yoon Suk-yeol a little while back. Then, in Have You Heard Headlines, Erin & Jake bre...

Palestinians in Gaza are beginning to starve as Israel continues to block humanitarian aid from coming in, with Israeli-U.S. aid efforts being overrun on the ground. Russia is preparing for a summer offensive in Ukraine while Zelensky shores up support from allies around the world and Trump even starts to get irritated with Putin. And the U.S. economy is taking one on the chin, with more tariff st...

Friedrich Merz had a rough day after losing the first round of what is usually a ceremonial vote to pick a new chancellor before clenching the vote in the second round. Israel is choosing to block aid from getting into Gaza and upend humanitarian organizations in the process. And the Romanian elections, which are happening for a second time after the first ones were cancelled, saw the leader of th...

Pope Francis died on Monday at the age of 88, and his legacy was one of humble modesty and moderation of the church. Harvard takes on the Trump administration in court to challenge executive overreach. And Canada gears up for national elections, with the Liberal party showing up for a tighter race than was expected. Then, in Have You Heard headlines, Erin & Jake break down the rest of the week...

In recent weeks, several men have been sent from the U.S. to El Salvador’s CECOT prison without due process. The prison functions more as a torture facility, with prisoners kept malnourished, isolated, and as far as we can tell, no one has ever come out alive. Among them is Andrys, a gay makeup artist deported after seeking asylum in the U.S. due to tattoos that read “Mom” and “Dad.” The case of K...

Trump imposed taxes on goods sent from basically every other country in the world and the stock market is suffering for it. Hungary pulled out of the International Criminal Court to invite Benjamin Netanyahu for a visit. And South Korea's Constitutional Court approved Yoon Suk-yeol's impeachment, with the government setting new elections. Then, in Have You Heard Headlines, Erin & Jake go throu...

Marine Le Pen, the leader of France's far-right RN party, was convicted of embezzling EU funds and sentenced to two years with an ankle monitor and five years barred from running for the French presidency. Paris held another summit for the "coalition of the willing" to support Ukraine while Trump and Putin had a micro-falling out over the ceasefire talks. And an earthquake in Southea...

Top officials at the White House planned a highly-secret airstrike on Yemen in a group chat, and what's worse is they included a journalist in the group. Türkiye is seeing mass protests after President Erdogan arrested his main opponent ahead of elections. And the Sudanese Army saw modest gains against the RSF rebel forces in the country's civil war. Then, in Have You Heard Headlines, Erin...

Israel renewed the violence in Gaza, launching airstrikes that killed more than 400 people after negotiations with Hamas on a phase two of a ceasefire fell through. The U.S. is deporting Venezuelan migrants to prisons in El Salvador without any legal oversight or due process, abandoning the legal process. And Trump and Putin are calling to talk about a ceasefire in Ukraine while Europe works to bu...

Ukraine launched its largest drone strike yet against Russia, killing three people ahead of negotiations in Saudi Arabia. In Syria, sectarian violence sparked along the coastal regions between supporters of the ousted Assad regime and the new government. Then, Jake sat down with Ishaan Srivastava of the Ishaan S. show to talk U.S. politics, including Musk, the Democrats, and more. You can check ou...

Trump gave his 2025 State of the Union address to Congress, and it was not all that different from just another campaign speech. The U.S.-Ukraine relationship is on the rocks after a tumultuous week, but it’s on the mend (slowly). And Arab leaders proposed an alternate plan for reconstructing Gaza to Trump’s “Riviera of the Middle East” idea.  Then, in Have You Heard headlines, Erin & Jake go...

Germany just got a new chancellor after Sunday’s elections, with the center-right making gains and the far-right doing a little too well. Emmanuel Macron went to Washington to meet with Trump and discuss the situation in Ukraine, and while they had some differences, they seemed like old pals and both were optimistic about peace in Ukraine. And speaking of Washington, Trump fired some top military...

Erin & Jake break down the last week’s chaos surrounding Ukraine, with peace talks in Riyadh that didn’t include Ukraine or the Europeans, and Trump seeming to align more with Russia than the west. Then they talk through the crypto scandal that Argentine President Javier Milei is caught up in, having shared a link to a “rug pull” scam on social media. In the DRC, they discussed the Rwanda-back...

Erin & Jake break down' Donald Trump's plan to revive steel and aluminum tariffs, further stressing U.S.-Canada trade tensions and dealing with retaliation from China. Then they talk through, the Gaza ceasefire negotiations for a second phase agreement being at a standstill as Hamas delays the next hostage release, accusing Israel of failing to uphold its side of the agreement. On the global t...

Erin & Jake break down Donald Trump's tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China, and who these tariffs actually punish in the end. Then they look at the meeting of European leaders in Brussels to iron out some defense spending things before Trump's Tariff Train comes to town. They close out the big stories talking through what it means that military-led Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger just left ECOWAS,...

This week, Erin and Jake talked about the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has escalated with the rebel group M23 capturing the city of Goma. The roots of the conflict are complex, stemming from arbitrarily drawn African national borders by European colonizers. This has led to disputes between tribal and religious groups within the same country and is also a factor in the Rwandan...

Erin and Jake started the show talking about Donald Trump's first day back in office as the 47th President of the United States. His second inauguration had to be held indoors due to an arctic front in DC, keeping the guest list small—just 750 people, including some big names in tech like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg. In his speech, Trump pledged a "golden age" for America, took some jabs at the...

Erin & Jake kicked the week off with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's unexpected resignation announcement on Monday, which he gave amid mounting disapproval within his party and economic roadblocks like rising inflation and tariff threats from U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. Billionaire Elon Musk tweeted about Trudeau, saying, “Girl, you're not the governor of Canada anymore, so doe...

This week, Erin and Jake broke down the aftermath of Cyclone Chido in Mayotte which left more than 20 dead, and another 1,500 injured. They also talked about the complex politics of the island, including ongoing poverty and neglect by the French government, a lack of discussion about the nearby country of Comoro, and the potential link between the storm's intensity and climate change. Next, they t...

This week, Erin and Jake discussed how Syria faced a huge and unexpected shift as the Assad regime collapsed after 13 years of civil war, with a rebel group called Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) having taken control of key cities like Aleppo and Damascus, forcing President Bashar al-Assad to flee to Russia. HTS leader Mohammed Al-Sharaa, known for his past ties to Al-Qaeda, claimed to advocate for inc...

This week, Erin Flanagan and Jake Shropshire run through some updates in US politics, including how President Joe Biden pardoned his son Hunter Biden, and some of Donald Trump’s incoming appointments, some of whom helped write Project 2025. Then they discuss the ongoing situation in Syria with the resparking of the Syrian Civil War and involvement by Russia and Iran to push back opposition forces...