Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
This is Ira Glass. On This American Life, we look for stories that are surprising, that you won't hear anywhere else. Like, for example, this one astronaut who went to the moon. You know what he's not into? Space. Was it cool to float around weightless? No, no, no. This American Life, unexpected stories, wherever you get your podcasts.
Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Ryland Barton. Vice President J.D. Vance says the Trump administration is pausing some Medicaid funding to Minnesota because of fraud concerns.
The providers on the ground in Minnesota have actually already been paid. The state has paid those providers the money. What we're doing is we are stopping the federal payments that will go to the state government until the state government takes its obligations seriously and to stop the fraud that's being perpetrated against the American taxpayers.
It's part of what Vance says is an aggressive crackdown on misuse of public funds for the healthcare safety net for low-income Americans. As of late 2025, nearly 70 million people were enrolled in Medicaid nationwide. Allegations of fraud involving daycare centers run by Somali residents in Minneapolis. prompted the Trump administration's immigration crackdown in the Twin Cities.
ICE officers will not be patrolling voting locations during this year's midterms. That's according to a senior official with the Department of Homeland Security. who made the promise today while speaking with some of the nation's top election officials. NPR's Miles Parks reports.
Federal law prohibits troops or law enforcement from interfering with voting.
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Chapter 2: What recent Medicaid funding changes did the Trump administration announce?
But President Trump has spent his entire second term pushing the boundaries on federal involvement in elections. And earlier this month, his former strategist Steve Bannon said this on his War Room podcast.
We're gonna have ICE surround the polls come November. We're not gonna sit here and allow you to steal the country again.
The top Trump-appointed election official at the Department of Homeland Security, however, says that's not true. The official, Heather Honey, told the country's top state voting officials that, quote, any suggestion that ICE is going to be present at polling places is simply disinformation. She followed up by saying, quote, there will be no ICE presence at polling locations.
Miles Parks, NPR News, Washington.
Nominations for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame are out. From member station WKSU, Kabir Bhatia says the list runs from 80s R&B to British metal.
Luther Vandross has been eligible since 2006, the year after he died. He's now on the ballot for the first time. Acts can be nominated 25 years after the release of their first record. The new ballot also has an international flavor with Colombian singer Shakira, Nigerian-born Sade, British heavy metal pioneers Iron Maiden, and Australian hitmakers in excess.
Fans can vote online, and the final inductees are announced in April.
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Chapter 3: How is the Trump administration addressing fraud in Minnesota's Medicaid program?
For NPR News, I'm Kabir Bhatia in Cleveland.
NASA's Mike Fink has identified himself as the astronaut whose medical condition prompted the space agency's first medical evacuation. In a written statement, the 50-year-old says he was the ailing crew member... He did not say what was wrong, but explained that his condition quickly stabilized thanks to his crewmates and flight surgeons on the ground. U.S.
stocks rose today and erased their losses for the week so far. This is NPR News from Washington. Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers will resign from teaching at Harvard University amid a campus review of his ties to Jeffrey Epstein. Summers has been on leave since November. His name appeared hundreds of times in newly released Epstein files. Venezuela's attorney general has stepped down.
The high-ranking resignation in the interim government comes nearly two months after President Nicolas Maduro was removed by U.S. forces. The country's top prosecutor has been accused of overseeing Venezuela's notorious judicial system that human rights advocates charge is rife with corruption and abuses. NPR's Kerry Kahn reports.
Venezuela's National Assembly announced the resignation of Tariq William Saab, who has run the top prosecutor's office for nine years and was a key ally of Maduro. Saab, who says he is a poet, is known for his long speeches and vehement denials that Venezuela has political prisoners.
Multiple human rights groups accuse Maduro's government of illegal imprisonments and violent crackdowns on opponents. The International Criminal Court is investigating Venezuela for crimes against humanity. Saab's resignation is the latest shakeup isolating Maduro loyalists since the former vice president, Delcy Rodriguez, now working closely with U.S. oversight, took over as interim leader.
Carrie Khan, NPR News, Rio de Janeiro.
Bad Bunny has turned a jacket worn by soccer legend Pele at the 1966 World Cup into a pop culture hit after using it at concerts in Sao Paulo. He borrowed it from a collector's soccer shop. Pele's Instagram account said when someone like Bad Bunny honors the king on Brazilian soil, it means the crown is still shining. This is NPR.
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