Linda McMahon education secretary; Bluesky : NPR

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Right this moment’s prime tales

President-elect Donald Trump introduced he’ll nominate Linda McMahon to guide the U.S. Division of Training. Throughout Trump’s first time period, she was picked to run the U.S. Small Enterprise Administration. She is finest identified for building the professional wrestling company WWE right into a powerhouse alongside her husband.

• 🎧 McMahon is a shock for the position as she wasn’t one of many schooling candidates with actual conservative credentials, NPR’s Cory Turner tells Up First. She served on the Connecticut State Board of Training for a couple of yr. She informed the committee after she was nominated that she had gone to varsity with plans to turn into a instructor. Extra not too long ago she chaired the board for the America First Coverage Institute, which helps college selection. In terms of closing the Training Division, Turner says a bipartisan group knowledgeable him that’s one wrestling match McMahon — or any Education secretary — most likely cannot win. The division was created by Congress and solely Congress can abolish it.

FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell was grilled by Congress yesterday about accusations that the company responded slowly to disasters and discriminated in opposition to some hurricane victims for political causes. In the meantime, the Biden administration needs more money for disaster recovery after this yr’s blitz of hurricanes, flash floods and wildfires.

• 🎧 Criswell was pressed particularly on FEMA’s response to Hurricanes Helene and Milton, which hit the Southeast back-to-back, NPR’s Debbie Elliott says. In a specific incident that precipitated scrutiny, a now-fired FEMA supervisor directed staff to skip houses in Florida with Trump campaign signs in the course of the aftermath of Milton. That former crew lead claimed she was following the usual protocol to keep away from hostility that staff confronted within the discipline after disinformation unfold within the wake of Helene. Criswell denied any wider difficulty in the best way FEMA supplies catastrophe support and stated that the worker’s actions aren’t indicative of any widespread cultural points at FEMA.

A minimum of 100,000 folks have left the social media platform X since Trump received the presidential election in what has turn into often called the X-odus. X is owned by Elon Musk, a vocal Trump supporter and now one in every of his key advisers. The platform has turn into overrun with posts about Musk and Trump. Many on the lookout for another have turned to Bluesky.

• 🎧 “After Trump received, many on X famous an uptick in Trump content material,” NPR’s Bobby Allyn says. Main as much as the election, Musk tinkered with the algorithm to provide his posts a lift. The app has at all times had conservative content material, however customers famous it stopped being a mixture of views. Bluesky continues to be a small social community, however its CEO, Jay Graber, says it has been growing by about a million users a day because the election. Allyn says it’s too early to say if Bluesky would be the new Twitter principally as a result of its infrastructure and workers are restricted proper now.

Looking for widespread floor

Over the previous couple of years and thru this yr’s contentious marketing campaign season, there was a coarsening in the best way folks discuss to one another. Reporters throughout the NPR Community are on the lookout for examples of individuals working through their differences. These tales discover how some individuals are attempting to bridge divides.

As the vacations method, many individuals are making ready to interact in conversations with family members who could maintain differing views. Analysis in neuroscience and psychology signifies that, regardless of our disagreements, there are efficient methods to bridge divides. If you end up in a disagreement the place mutual respect is current and also you’re fascinated about constructive dialogue, science gives a number of tools to help make the conversation extra productive.

Right this moment’s pay attention

Emily Watson, left, and Olivia Williams, proper, play two Harkonnen sisters who kind a sisterhood later often called the Bene Gesserit within the HBO prequel collection Dune: Prophecy.

Marco Postigo Storel for NPR

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Marco Postigo Storel for NPR

Within the new HBO collection Dune: Prophecy, Emily Watson and Olivia Williams play two sisters who kind a strong sisterhood later often called the Bene Gesserit. The present takes place 10,000 years earlier than the rise of the novel’s messianic determine, Paul Atreides. Watson and Williams jokingly consult with the interval as 10,000 years B.C. — earlier than Timothée Chalamet, who performs Atreides within the Dune movies. The sisterhood is working to direct humanity on the appropriate path after an enormous conflict the place people beat machines. The six-episode season premiered Sunday. Morning Version host Michel Martin spoke with Watson and Williams in regards to the collection’ means of tackling how ladies view and wield energy.

3 issues to know earlier than you go

Rep. Nancy Mace (proper) has authored a invoice that might ban trans ladies from ladies’s loos on the U.S. Capitol, simply weeks earlier than Rep.-elect Sarah McBride (left) — the primary brazenly trans individual elected to Congress — is about to be sworn in.

Andrew Harnik, Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Name, by way of Getty Photographs

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Andrew Harnik, Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Name, by way of Getty Photographs

1. Republican Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina has authored a measure that might ban transgender ladies from women’s bathrooms in the U.S. Capitol. This comes weeks earlier than Democratic Rep.-elect Sarah McBride, the primary brazenly trans individual elected to Congress, is anticipated to be sworn in.
2. Alex Jones filed a lawsuit Monday in opposition to satirical information outlet The Onion to stop it from getting control of Infowars and its guardian firm.
3. Rust will get its world premiere in the present day at a Polish movie competition known as Camerimage. It has been more than three years since cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was fatally shot on set.

This article was edited by Suzanne Nuyen.