NPR News: 09-16-2026 4PM EDT
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Why did the Federal Reserve raise interest rates and what does it mean for the economy?
Live from NPR News, I'm Lakshmi Singh. The cost of borrowing is going up. At the end of today's meeting, the Federal Reserve said it was raising its benchmark interest rate a quarter percentage point. His first time in more than three years at the Fed's hike rates. Фед Шер Кевен Варш defended the central bank's strategy for bringing down inflation despite President Trump's repeated calls to reduce interest rates.
Economic activity is expanding at a solid pace. While uncertainty remains elevated, owing in part to geopolitical developments, domestic spending has been resilient.
This at a time when national polls show low public approval ratings for President Trump's handling of the economy, rising energy prices and the US war with Iran. This also comes on the heels of Trump's latest legal setback to restrict mail in voting in this year's midterm elections.
How is President Trump influencing the North Carolina Senate race and the midterms?
Trump is visiting North Carolina today to support a Republican Senate candidate. More from NPR's Tamar Keith.
Polls have consistently shown Michael Watley, the Republican nominee for US Senate in North Carolina, trailing the state's former governor, Roy Cooper, a Democrat. Watley was chairman of the Republican National Committee in 2024, and Trump partially credits him with his win that year. Democrats haven't won a U.S. Senate seat or presidential contest in North Carolina since 2008, but Republicans are now playing defense in a state Trump won by three points just two years ago. The theory is that Trump, though broadly unpopular, can excite the Republican base, specifically those who otherwise might sit out the midterms. Tamar Keith, NPR News.
A federal judge has rule that a New York man who wrote a critical email to the former head of ICE cannot be threatened with prosecution.
What legal precedent was set by the New York man’s case against ICE?
And Pierce Jude Jaffee Block reports.
NPR previously reported how in June, ICE agents tried to track down Rochester resident David Strever at his home, an airport, and a hotel. The reason? The agents were trying to confront him about a scathing email he sent the former head of ICE. They left him a warning notice that said his email may have violated the law and told him to stop. He sued, arguing the federal agents had violated his First Amendment rights. And caused him to censor his speech. A federal judge in Washington, D.C. barred the government from acting on the warning notice or continuing to threaten Streaver over the email while the case continues. Jude Jaffey Block, NPR News.
How did White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles announce her cancer‑free status?
White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles says she is cancer free. The sixty nine year old disclosed in mid March that she'd been diagnosed with breast cancer. Today, Wiles wrote on X she had a medical appointment at the Mayo Clinic this week and And her pathology results came back clear. US stocks have ended the day sharply lower. The Dow closed down seven hundred seventy nine points or one and a half percent. It's NPR News. Scientists have created a new model for studying brain diseases. As NPR Sping Wong tells us, it involves putting human brain cells into mice.
Researchers have struggled to understand and treat brain disorders because on a biological level, they can't really study them in living humans.
What new mouse‑human brain model did scientists create and why is it important?
Sergio Paschka is a neuroscientist at Stanford.
There's been this quest of trying to build models of the human brain outside of the human body. And then deploy them very systematically towards studying this devastating disorders of the brain.
Pashka and his colleagues have created a new model in which about fifty percent of a mouse's brain by volume is replaced with lab grown human neurons. They offer better models for studying early developmental diseases like cerebral palsy. The research is published in the journal Nature. Outside researchers say this work was done with strong ethical oversight, but it could raise serious ethical questions if it's replicated in larger animals like pigs or primates, Ping Huang and PR News.
Marion Webster is introducing what it calls a glow up to its dictionary in a blog post. It heralds the inclusion of fourteen hundred new words and definitions that it says offer a window into the world today.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
Why did the Federal Reserve raise interest rates and what does it mean for the economy?
0:01–0:53
2
How is President Trump influencing the North Carolina Senate race and the midterms?
0:53–1:50
3
What legal precedent was set by the New York man’s case against ICE?
1:50–2:32
4
How did White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles announce her cancer‑free status?
2:32–3:19
5
What new mouse‑human brain model did scientists create and why is it important?
3:19–4:20
6
Why did Merriam‑Webster add 1,400 new words and which terms are sparking interest?
4:20–4:53