Journalist Michael Edison Hayden has spent years tracking extremism in America. His new book, āStrange People on the Hill,ā follows what hap
Jun 2, 2026
Journalist Michael Edison Hayden has spent years tracking extremism in America. His new book, āStrange People on the Hill,ā follows what happened when a far-right group moved its headquarters to a small town in rural West Virginia. Amna Nawaz spoke with Hayden about his book and the sharp divisions in American politics right now for our āSettle Inā podcast....
Michael Edison Hayden:
Yes, that I wouldn't talk to him.
And he also said another thing to me which I thought was really interesting, because he's really like -- I mean, he's just a -- he got into Republican -- he's a business guy. You know what I mean? He's not like -- he's not thinking about this stuff like that.
So I forced him to think about it in a totally different way. And he's like, when I was a kid -- when we were kids basically, we used to play little league together some places. Like, the president was just a guy on TV. And that was true. We didn't care. We didn't have to care.
I didn't -- I just -- I knew there were two parties, and that was it. And I was just like -- sort of questions, like, do we really want to live like this? Do we want to have every day like we wake up and there's like a new thing that we have to go to war over?
I just feel like what has happened to our country since extremism became the dominant strain of politics has been so painful and is taking years off of people's lives. And I just -- I can't imagine that people really want to live like this.
Stingās music is known around the world. Over the course of his career, he has sold more than 100 million records, first as the frontman, pr
Jun 2, 2026
Stingās music is known around the world. Over the course of his career, he has sold more than 100 million records, first as the frontman, principal songwriter and bassist for The Police, and later as a solo artist. Now, as he continues to tour internationally, heās also expanding his creative repertoire. Geoff Bennett met up with Sting for our arts and culture series, CANVAS.
For years, researchers and advocates have documented the barriers students from immigrant families face when pursuing higher education. But
Jun 2, 2026
For years, researchers and advocates have documented the barriers students from immigrant families face when pursuing higher education. But the Trump administrationās mass deportation campaign has introduced new challenges and fears, even for many immigrants who are legally in the United States. Special correspondent Fred de Sam Lazaro reports from Minnesota for our series Rethinking College....
Eva Skipwith, Student, Augsburg University:
It's exhausting to have to be on guard all the time, to have to worry about whether or not you're going to be taken from the only home that. Especially students at Augsburg know, like, how much work you put in to get our education.
And, like, you hear the whistles, and my thought is, like, oh, my God, all this work that I have put in, if I'm taken, that's gone. What am I left with?....
Fred de Sam Lazaro:
In recent years, multiple studies have documented the toll of immigration enforcement on college students, especially those from families with mixed immigration status. Researchers have found negative effects on students' ability to focus, their grades, and on enrollment.
Corinne Kentor is with the Presidents' Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration.
Corinne Kentor:
If students are not feeling safe, if they are worried about their families constantly, that has a real impact on their personal well-being, even if they are not the primary subjects of immigration enforcement.
Massive Russian attacks across Ukraine overnight killed at least 22 people nationwide and wounded more than 130. Russia has stepped up the s
Jun 2, 2026
Massive Russian attacks across Ukraine overnight killed at least 22 people nationwide and wounded more than 130. Russia has stepped up the size and pace of its attacks on Ukrainian cities in recent months, but on the battlefront, Ukraine is trying to turn the tide. Nick Shifrin reports on Ukraineās efforts, and speaks with retired U.S. Army Col. Robert Hamilton for more on the war....
Nick Schifrin:
The attacks followed more than a week of Russian threats that diplomats and foreigners should flee Kyiv. And, in recent weeks, Russia has expanded its punishment of Ukraine's cities, unleashing some of the war's largest strikes.
Ukraine does not have enough Western air defense, including American Patriots, to protect its cities and critical infrastructure, leading to a renewed request tonight from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukrainian President (through interpreter):
All partners together and everyone in Europe must continue working to ensure Ukraine receives air defense missiles, the necessary systems, vital intelligence, and other resources that help save lives.....
Col. Robert Hamilton (Ret.):
As probably almost everybody here in Kyiv, I was in the shelter. People were in the shelters here last night from about 1.30 a.m. until around 8:00 or 8:30 a.m.
But awareness is very good, and that's why more people don't die. Because some of these missiles, the flight times are fairly short, and the reaction time is therefore fairly short. But the fact that people have such good awareness of what's coming at them has allowed Ukrainians to -- the casualty numbers to stay lower than they otherwise would be.
In our news wrap Tuesday, Rubio made his first appearance before Congress since the Iran war began, Israeli drone strikes killed at least 11
Jun 2, 2026
In our news wrap Tuesday, Rubio made his first appearance before Congress since the Iran war began, Israeli drone strikes killed at least 11 people in southern Lebanon, a Kenyan court extended its block on a proposed Ebola quarantine facility for Americans, and Trump signed an executive order asking AI companies to give the government early access to its models to assess national security risks.
Acting Attorney General Blanche told lawmakers Tuesday that the Justice Department is scrapping plans to create a $1.8 billion āanti-weaponi
Jun 2, 2026
Acting Attorney General Blanche told lawmakers Tuesday that the Justice Department is scrapping plans to create a $1.8 billion āanti-weaponization fund.ā Itās a setback for Trump, after Republican senators made clear they did not have the votes to advance a Homeland Security funding bill unless the White House either scaled back or eliminated the fund. Lisa Desjardins has more....
Lisa Desjardins:
Now, Senate Republican sources tell me their understanding from the White House is that no money will be disbursed from this.
But, of course, this doesn't really answer all the questions we have. Among them, remember, this comes from a three-part settlement that President Trump personally had with his own administration. So I want to go through that settlement. One, that $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund is out.
What is still in, however, is a retroactive immunity deal with the IRS for President Trump, his sons, and his businesses. Also still in, a formal apology that he expects from the U.S. government. There are still lots of questions, including the -- one, the idea that Mr. Blanche today refused to put in writing that the fund is on hold. He said his word is enough.
In addition, we don't know if any money is changing hands, if there have been any other changes to this settlement. We're waiting to hear from the Trump Organization. Finally, remember, Enrique Tarrio, that January 6 man who's convicted for helping plan it, told our Liz Landers he thinks there will be other options, other ways that the Trump administration finds money for people like him.
Trump on Tuesday named Bill Pulte, head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, as acting director of national intelligence, replacing Tulsi
Jun 2, 2026
Trump on Tuesday named Bill Pulte, head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, as acting director of national intelligence, replacing Tulsi Gabbard. Pulte, a loyal Trump ally who has frequently targeted the presidentās opponents, has no background in intelligence. The selection drew swift criticism from Democrats, while the Senateās top Republican also raised concerns. Liz Landers has the latest....
Liz Landers:
He comes from this homebuilding empire, the Pulte Group. He's a Floridian by birth. He's relatively young at 38 years old. And, as you mentioned, he's currently the head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency and the chairman of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
It's not clear what his intelligence background is. And, today, Dr. Mehmet Oz, the CMS administrator, briefed reporters in the White House Briefing Room today, and myself and three other reporters asked about his qualifications. Here is our exchange.
Congressional statute says any appointee for the position of the director of national intelligence shall have extensive national security expertise. What extensive national security expertise does he have?
As a society we have benefited so much from successful public health measures that we now have the privilege of declaring that we must not need them anymore
Bitch before enriched flour, neural tube defects like spina bifida were far more common. Even now, spina bifida clinicians and researchers are begging to have salt and maize fortified to reach groups that donāt use as much flour. Before iodized salt, the United States had a fucking GOITER BELT. Eleven years after the introduction of fluoridated water, a city in Michigan found the rate of dental caries among school children dropped a staggering 60%ā in an era where tooth decay regularly fucking killed people
Iām literally not even going to start on vaccines, which are among the most successful and robustly studied public health measures in world history
You might say āoh well today we all have access to vitamins and toothpastes and dentists so we donāt need those things in our food suppliesā and boy do white people on social media loooove to fucking say that. But hereās the thing: no, people donāt all have easy access to those things. Thatās privilege talking yet again
I think Iāve been reading too much about early modern Europe because I just heard someone go āof course Christians donāt think the communion wafer is actually the body of Christ, itās a metaphorā and I said out loud āgirl no they started wars about this.ā
Which is kind of a pedantic thing to say! because absolutely thatās a benign and perfectly reasonable statement in the year 2026 but for a second I felt like there was an absolutely gobsmacked 17th century Austrian priest watching over my shoulder
thereās absolutely something to be said about ābooktokā books being largely wattpad quality written erotica iām certainly not reading them however having seen a guy on tiktok make a video like āall the women in your life are READING PORNā about a book he picked up and read in his FEMALE FRIENDāS HOUSE in a tone of scandalised horror and disgust i actually donāt think men should be making those criticisms. he said he picked it up expecting a romance and was horrified it was GOONER SHIT he said specifically like āwho are you getting your pussy wet FOR??ā in a tone of revulsion. idk man im not sure shes the weird one. i kind of wish you were dead
"a lot of books that are successful on booktok are not very good" and "people can read what they want and we need to stop being so fucking weird about women enjoying erotica" are both correct statements
Martina McBride didn't win Country Music Association Song of the Year for a song about how burning your house down with your abusive husband still inside it is good, noble, and an allegory for the American Revolution for people to act like the genre belongs to bootlicking fucks
how the hell did I leave Morgan Wade off this list. wrote a song about being depressed, alcoholic, and suicidal and how mental illness stigma sucks, saw how much people connected with it, wrote a Part II of that song about how she's doing better now but you're never totally free of the risk of relapse. fucking icon.
I specifically curated this list so people couldn't be like "ah yes but you see here is my simple binary of good and bad country music which always works", I made sure to add different genders, eras, subgenres, etc and y'all are still pulling that shit in the tags!
listen. Alan Jackson, the archetypal mister big hat man sitting on a tractor singing about a pickup truck, wrote a shockingly normal song about 9/11 that was like "yeah I don't know jack shit about politics but my copy of the bible says we're supposed to love everyone" and then went on the radio and explained how he specifically wanted to write a song about that day that "wasn't vengeful". Miranda Lambert took the southern leftist slogan "y'all means all" and made it the title of a corny ass pop-country song for the Queer Eye soundtrack. Kenny Chesney stole a horse from a cop and Tim McGraw put the cop in a chokehold defending him, and I know that's not about their music but it is, and this is very important, fucking sick as hell
it's fine if you only listen to female country artists or pre-1990 country artists or whatever the fuck you want but stop acting like you've cracked the secret code to dividing a whole genre of art into good pure anti-establishment folk songs vs bad corrupted right-wing sellout pulp
Luke Combs covering Fast Car and keeping the line "I work in the market as a checkout girl" and doing an interview about how he couldn't change a single word because it's not his story. king shit
Morgan Wallen doing I Had Some Help, literally the first song that spoke to me as a male survivor of domestic abuse. also shoutout to the guy for getting caught saying a racial slur and responding by specifically telling his fans not to defend him and raising a bunch of money for the Black Music Action Coalition. bro had an engraved invitation to the culture war and said "nah I'd rather be normal"
Shaboozey just absolutely obliterating the drunk roadhouse anthem glass ceiling
Maren Morris and Brothers Osborne with a song that okay, released in 2019 but I didn't hear until recently, about how good friends mind their own business and let you love whoever you want and also get high with you when you're broke
Kimberley Perry! If I Die Young Part 2!! "actually I'm glad I lived, bitch" ass song that I bet is gonna mean a LOT to kids fighting depression
Kelsea Ballerini and Noah Kahan with Cowboys Cry Too. okay it's shallow and corny but genuinely a shallow and corny song about how men shouldn't be afraid to have feelings is what a lot of men need
when i was a tiny baby queer (aka a 24-year-old), i went to my first pride festival probably three months after i kicked ex-gay therapy to the curb and came out to my parents. being the people they are, my parents came with me. they werenāt really sure about this whole gay thing, but they loved me and wanted me to be safe and happy and wanted to be involved in what was important to me, so they came along. (i also think my mother still might have thought i might get drugged or murdered or beaten by a protester of which there were plenty.)
anyway i wanted a memento of my first pride, you know, and this one vendor was selling keyrings, and i liked it, so i bought one. do you remember those italian charm bracelets that were all the rage like 10-15 years ago? it was a keychain like that, and it had a rainbow rooster, a rainbow cat, and then just a rainbow, and so I bought it.
i run into my mom a couple of vendors over and she goes oh you bought something? whatād you get? so i showed her, and i was like,Ā āIām not sure why itās a rooster and a cat. Seems kind of random. But I liked the rainbows.ā
and my mom, who was some form of ministerās wife for most of my childhood and teenagerhood, stares at me like she thinks iām joking.
āWhat?ā i say.
āā¦itās a cock and a pussy, Jules,ā she says flatly, and that is the story of how i died at the age of 24 while attending my first pride festival.
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