Anastasia Tsioulkas

The Met told NPR that these cutbacks and attempts to generate new revenue come as the opera company awaits an infusion of cash in a pending, still tentative deal with Saudi Arabia worth some $200 million.

In the meantime, the Met has cut 22 administrative jobs, instituted temporary salary reductions, and postponed the run of one opera previously announced for next season.

The Met is also looking at possibly selling two iconic murals by artist Marc Chagall that frame its entryway.

The Chagall murals are valued at some $55 million.

If they're sold, the Met expects them to remain in place at the theater, displayed on permanent loan.

Anastasia Tsilhikas, NPR News, New York.

And I'm Corva Coleman, NPR News, in Washington.

In a letter posted online in December, the White House said that today is the deadline for eight Smithsonian museums to submit thousands of documents for review to comply with an executive order issued by President Trump last March.

The museums under current review include the National Museum of American History and the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

The White House says that federal funds for the Smithsonian's $1 billion budget depend on the institution fulfilling these terms.

The Smithsonian declined to comment to NPR.

According to the Smithsonian's charter, all of its museums and research centers are meant to be run independently of the federal government.

Anastasia Tsoulkas, NPR News, New York.

Nearly a third of all Americans now listen to or watch podcasts every week.

But more often than not, it's men's voices that they're hearing.

Researchers at the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative have found that in the 100 most popular podcasts of 2024, nearly two-thirds were hosted by men and nearly three-quarters of all guests were male, too.

The researchers say that's a far greater gender inequity than in similar research they've done in the movie, TV, and music industries.

Women are particularly underrepresented in business, tech, sports, fitness, and comedy podcasts.

The researchers also found that over 77% of the top 100 hosts were white, leaving a lot of communities out of the conversation.

Anastasia Tsoukas, NPR News, New York.