The Excerpt

Music documentaries are a major part of the festival circuit, but this year at Tribeca, they’re becoming something bigger : live events, legacy projects and cinematic extensions of the artists themselves. The festival opened with Questlove’s new Earth, Wind & Fire documentary, followed by a performance from the legendary band and The Roots. Other music films and events this year center on Alic...

Melinda French Gates is one of the biggest donors to women’s health through Pivotal, her foundation. Now she’s investing another $215 million to improve women’s health. This money will help her longtime work on contraceptive access and maternal care while expanding to a new area: midlife and menopause. With 1 in 10 women leaving the workforce because of menopause, and another 1 in 5 considering re...

The United States is marking its 250th anniversary at a moment of deep division over politics, rights, power and who belongs in the nation’s story . Steven Olikara, founder and CEO of Bridge Entertainment Labs, says movies and television can do something politics often can’t: move people beyond caricature and contempt. He joins The Excerpt to discuss whether Hollywood can help Americans build more...

In a surprise move, the Trump administration announced that it was retreating from a $1.776 billion-dollar Anti-Weaponization Fund that would have been established as part of a settlement President Donald Trump made with the IRS over leaked tax returns. The fund was intended to compensate people who believe they had been unjustly targeted by the Biden administration’s Justice department, including...

In the prologue of “All We Say: The Battle for American Identity” author Ben Rhodes asks two questions that get right to the heart of this battle. What does it mean to be an American? And who gets to decide? As we approach our 250th anniversary, these are questions that many Americans are also deeply contemplating. How have 15 speeches shaped and reflected that debate over history? And can they he...

As Democrats turn the page on 2024, a new high-stakes fight is underway over which states will kick off the 2028 presidential primaries . Twelve states made their pitches to the Democratic National Committee, which ranged from racial diversity to electoral history. The coveted early spots can shape the entire race and bring a surge of campaign spending and national media attention. USA TODAY White...

On May 16, the World Health Organization called the Ebola outbreaks in eastern Congo and Uganda a global health emergency. So far, there have been more than 900 suspected cases and over 200 suspected deaths in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, and South Sudan. There is no vaccine. No treatment. Behind it all is a global health funding system at its lowest level since 2009, with the lar...

A significant change to the green card application process announced last week could upend the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in America. The change, released by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services which oversees the program, will require non-citizens to apply for a green card from their host countries. What might this change mean for applicants and their families who are already...

Millions of children in the U.S. live with grandparents, aunts, uncles and other relatives, often after a family crisis. But many kinship families take in children with little help navigating housing, legal rights or financial support. USA TODAY Investigative Reporter Jayme Fraser joins The Excerpt to discuss her three-part series, “Caring for Kin,” what families told her and why the systems inten...

You can’t tell the story of American music without the blues, which means you can’t tell it without Memphis. From Beale Street’s blues bars to the Stax Museum of American Soul Music to Graceland – the city’s influence on nearly every genre of music is immense. But for a city that helped shape the sound of America — why hasn’t it fully shared in the wealth it created? USA TODAY National Corresponde...

A new $1.776 billion Justice Department fund is raising big questions — about who could qualify and how the money might be used. The “anti-weaponization fund” stems from a settlement tied to a $10B lawsuit filed by President Donald Trump against the IRS. The DOJ says it’s meant to compensate people who were unjustly targeted by Justice. But the details leave key questions unresolved. Could some Ja...

Ever since Indiana state Republicans failed to heed Trump’s redistricting demand, President Donald Trump has been on a tear, working to reshape the Republican Party by pushing hard against those who have opposed not only his leadership, but his vision of America and its place on the world stage. The president has been successful in forcing foes within his own party out of office – most recently in...

A deadly cluster of hantavirus cases linked to a cruise ship has raised new questions about how rare diseases spread , and whether another pandemic could be on the horizon. Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, explains what makes the Andes strain different, why experts do not expect this outbreak to become another COVID-like crisis, and w...

America’s debt has crossed a striking threshold: it’s now bigger than the economy itself . Questions about what that means start to take shape when interest enters the picture. As the cost of carrying debt grows, its impact becomes harder to ignore. So, what should we do about the national debt, and just how worried should we really be? Marc Goldwein, senior policy director at the Committee for a...

For decades, late‑night television has provided us with a shared end‑of‑day ritual made up of monologues and jokes that shape our political conversations. And, while Stephen Colbert didn’t invent late-night TV, he sharpened it. Last July, when Colbert announced the end of The Late Show franchise on CBS, many wondered what happens when shows that function as cultural town squares begin to disappear...

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, better known as the ATF, dramatically reduced the number of gun dealers who had their licenses revoked last year , signaling a new approach under President Donald Trump. One of the practices ATF has ended is publicly listing revoked dealers, holding a hearing just yesterday focused on how to protect the privacy of both gun owners and the gun...

From the moment the Trump administration toppled former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela’s longtime ally Cuba has been in the White House’s crosshairs. In the aftermath of that operation, President Donald Trump declared Cuba would be “next.” On April 10th, the U.S. gave Cuban leaders only two weeks to free political prisoners if they wanted to preemptively land a deal with the U.S. C...

Ted Turner, the founder of CNN, passed away last week at the age of 87 . His impact on cable TV and the news industry writ large will endure for generations to come. Michael Socolow, a media scholar and a professor of communication and journalism at the University of Maine, joins The Excerpt to share his insights. Let us know what you think of this episode by sending an email to podcasts@usatoday....

Summer travel season is getting underway. But this year, travelers are facing a perfect storm of new pressures in the airline industry. The budget airline Spirit Airlines has collapsed after years of financial struggles, eliminating one of the country’s biggest low-cost carriers just as millions of Americans prepare to fly for their summer vacation. At the same time, the war in Iran is driving up...

La Niña may be gone, but its impact doesn’t end when the pattern fades, according to a new study from NOAA researchers and the Cooperative Institute. Now, as scientists watch for signs that El Niño could emerge in the Pacific, there are growing concerns about what comes next , including the possible return of an ocean heat wave known as “the Blob.” USA TODAY National Correspondent for Climate and...

Last week, the Supreme Court issued a ruling that will likely impact Black voters for generations. The 6-3 decision, which split along conservative and liberal lines, essentially nullified section 2 of the landmark 1965 Voting Rights Act which prohibited discrimination on the basis of race, color or language minority status. In its wake, Louisiana, Tennessee and other states are redrawing their di...

The story of Murry Gunty is about more than a hockey dad interested in youth sports. It’s about a businessman who saw an opportunity to build a lucrative hockey empire and cashed in on it. Gunty claims that his company, Black Bear, took almost all of its profits and reinvested them back into the business, allowing more kids to play hockey. But a nine‑month USA TODAY investigation found that how Gu...

Gen Z workers are entering the job market , and in some cases, getting fired just as quickly. A recent survey found that many employers say they’ve let Gen Z hires go within months of their hire, citing gaps in communication, professionalism and expectations. But is this really a problem with young workers—or is it something deeper? NYU professor Suzy Welch breaks down what she sees as a fundament...

Hollywood’s summer movie season is here and it’s packed with big names, familiar franchises and high-stakes bets at the box office. From "Spider-Man" to "Star Wars," studios are once again leaning on proven hits to draw audiences in. But this year, one film could break through the noise: Christopher Nolan’s "The Odyssey." With a stacked cast and built-in name recognition, it’s emerging as a potent...

In the aftermath of the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, 254 people were abducted. One of them was 23-year-old Hersh Goldberg-Polin. In his mother Rachel Goldberg-Polin's new book entitled, “When We See You Again,” she writes, “My family is comprised of normal people to whom an ab-normal, quite rare brand of torture happened.” The author warns us early on to strap ourselves in. And you should. B...