September 15, 2026

Brittney Melton

up first newsletter writer

Good morning. Virginia City, Nev., wrapped up its extraordinary camel race this week. The tradition began as a fake newspaper story about a camel race, printed as a joke in the 1950s. Here’s the news we’re following today:

Today’s top stories

A split-screen collage photo showing from the shoulders up Bernie Sanders (left) and Steve Bannon (right).

Sanders credit: Sarah Rice/Getty Images and Bannon credit: Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images

Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Trump strategist Steve Bannon are joining forces across their political poles today at the "Pro-Human Assembly" in Washington, D.C., to address concerns about artificial intelligence. They aim to urge Congress to act quickly to curb AI's impact. President Trump disagrees with the criticism of AI and data centers, calling the pushback a “sick conspiracy” that would benefit China, an AI competitor.

🎧 There is a debate in the global AI industry over whether Chinese companies can surpass the United States, NPR’s Emily Feng tells Up First. Part of the debate also includes concerns over whether Beijing would even want to develop a super-powerful AI, as Feng points out that it is arguably not in its best interest to develop a technology that might threaten humanity. The current discussion about AI highlights the conflicting assumptions behind Trump's pro-tech, pro-business approach, Feng adds. Just last year, the president let Chinese companies buy a key semiconductor chip, even though there were warnings that the country needed it to meet its AI goals.

The Supreme Court has blocked Trump's efforts to impose new mail-in voting restrictions before the midterm elections. The high court ruling ensures that the U.S. Postal Service will continue delivering ballots as usual. Voting by mail has already started in states like Alabama, North Carolina and Wisconsin, and more states are set to follow soon. Voters who are eligible to vote by mail may have their ballots on the way to them now. Voters who need to request one should check their state’s deadline to do so, as election officials suggest sending completed ballots back as soon as possible.

The Kennedy Center's board says that the arts institution faces bankruptcy and might close as soon as today. NPR obtained a document outlining this plan ahead of a board meeting set for today. It is slated for the same day as a status hearing set by Judge Christopher Cooper, who is overseeing a lawsuit from Rep. Joyce Beatty seeking to halt the center's renaming to honor Trump.

🎧 The Kennedy Center says Trump is the only one who can raise enough funds to help with its financial issues, which is why the board thinks he deserves to have his name on the building, NPR's Anastasia Tsioulcas says. Big nonprofit institutions like the Kennedy Center usually rely on earned revenue from ticket sales, donations and some government grants. Both artists and audiences have been leaving the arts center over the past year, saying they believe it has become too politicized under Trump. Its live events calendar is a fraction of what it used to be, and donations have also dried up. Tsioulcas says it seems likely that there is a real and dire financial crisis at the Kennedy Center, and the question now is how to manage it and whether adding the president's name will help solve it.

linda holmes

pop culture happy hour host

The Emmys were yesterday. Here are our takeaways from the evening:

Widow's Bay was the hot comedy property, while recognition for drama series was more widely shared. The Pitt, Pluribus, The Diplomat, Task, and Slow Horses all took home awards.
Matthew Rhys pulls off the double play. He won lead actor in the limited series category (The Beast in Me) and in the comedy series category (Widow's Bay). This makes him the first actor to ever win lead performance awards in two different categories in the same year.
Rhea Seehorn wins an Emmy at last, while Jean Smart wins her last Hacks Emmy. In Pluribus, Seehorn plays a widowed novelist dealing with the end of humanity as she knows it. Meanwhile, Smart won lead comedy actress for the fifth time — meaning she won every year she was eligible for the now-concluded Hacks.
Host Mariska Hargitay had the time of her life. The opening number was corny and cringe, but over the course of the evening, the Law & Order: SVU star participated in skits and showed her chops with her delivery of standard awards banter. She is not a comedian by profession, but she was impressively game.

Check out photos from the red carpet and see the full list of winners.

Stay pop culture savvy by subscribing to the Pop Culture Happy Hour newsletter. Once a week, you'll get NPR's guide to movies, TV, music and more.

Local stories from WAMU 88.5 (edit station)

Ward 8 Councilmember Trayion White's jury selection continues today, his federal bribery trial should start this week.

WAMU/Tyrone Turner

WAMU's Week Ahead: Trayon White's trial begins, a Loudoun data center vote, one chef's special memoir and theater season kicks-off

This week WAMU will be checking in on the start of Trayon White's bribery trial, a key vote on data centers in the "data center alley" of the U.S., the new memoir by Chef Patrick O'Connell and the start of the fall theater season.

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Today's listen

The silhouette of a man blowing a shofar, or ram's horn. Behind him is the sun setting.

Ariel Schalit/AP

Jewish people around the world celebrated Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, over the weekend. The two-day holiday began at sunset on Friday and was filled with prayer, reflection and celebration. A standout moment for many is the powerful blast of the shofar, an animal's horn played like a trumpet at various points during the Rosh Hashanah service. A shofar can be large or small, and blown by one person or anyone who brings their own. The horn's sound marks moments of heightened experience and emotion, according to Daniel Picus, an associate professor at Western Washington University who researches religious practices and rituals. Listen to the unmistakably profound and electrifying sound of the shofar and read more about how it became the spiritual soundtrack of Rosh Hashanah.

Deep dive

A woman wearing a red dress sits in front of a large gray home.

Candace Dane Chambers for NPR

The Trump administration's Justice Department is investigating Evanston, Ill., accusing it of racial discrimination. Evanston is the first U.S. city to implement a reparations program to compensate Black residents for historical discrimination. The program has provided more than 300 individuals with $25,000 grants to compensate for past housing segregation. The Justice Department is joining a lawsuit filed by a conservative group that alleges the city's program is racially discriminatory, as it only qualifies Black people for assistance. Here's what we know about what is happening:

🏠 In 2019, a councilmember researching the decline of the city's Black population discovered a link between affordability issues faced by Black families and a 1921 zoning law that confined them to a single neighborhood. This law allowed local banks to deny mortgages, hindering wealth-building for generations.
🏠 The City Council recognized the harm, apologized and committed $20 million from the city's tax on cannabis sales and real estate transfers to pay reparations.
🏠 Applicants were required to be Black and demonstrate that they or an ancestor had lived in Evanston from 1919 to 1969, during the height of housing segregation.
🏠 The Justice Department claims that Evanston is infringing upon the Constitution's equal protection clause, which prohibits government discrimination based on race.

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