by Brittney Melton

November 21, 2025

Good morning. Do you have some long, uninterrupted travel time ahead for Thanksgiving? Check out these 10 binge-worthy podcasts, from true crime to tips on how to navigate tense conversations. Here’s the news we’re following today:

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website now says a link between vaccines and autism cannot be ruled out. This is a reversal from the agency’s longstanding position that there is no link. This message aligns with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s opinion that vaccines are dangerous.

The outside of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention building. The sign for the CDC is visible in front of the building.

Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images

🎧 CDC scientists say they didn’t change their website, and the Department of Health and Human Services wouldn’t divulge who ordered the adjustment to the wording, NPR’s Pien Huang tells Up First. There is no new scientific evidence to support the claim of a link between vaccines and autism. Huang notes that it is interesting that a headline on the CDC’s webpage still states that vaccines don’t cause autism. However, there is an asterisk next to this statement, which explains that the agency will not remove it due to an agreement with Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who provided a key confirmation vote for Kennedy to become the HHS secretary.

President Trump’s chief negotiator has presented a new 28-point plan for peace to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. International observers are encouraged that Trump has not given up on peace between Ukraine and Russia, but the proposal requires major territorial concessions from Ukraine, which the country has repeatedly rejected.

🎧 The Trump administration continues to suggest these concessions because the president is focused on getting a yes to his plan, says NPR’s Franco Ordoñez. Russian analyst Sam Charap notes that for Trump, the details don’t matter as much. He simply wants the fighting to come to an end, unlike the leaders of Russia and Ukraine, who are more focused on the details. Russia desires more strategic territory, while Ukraine has been adamant on security guarantees from Washington and its Western allies to ensure this type of invasion doesn’t happen again.

Trump will meet with New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani at the White House’s Oval Office today. This will mark the first time the two will meet face-to-face. Mamdani, a 34-year-old Democratic socialist, emerged as a national figure after his primary win earlier this year. The president has called Mamdani a “communist” on social media and repeatedly sought to paint him as too radical for the city that elected him mayor.

🎧 The meeting is a reminder of the shift Mamdani has to make as he steps into the new role, says NPR’s Elena Moore. The mayor-elect has a background as an activist, but today will be a test for him in balancing his policy priorities and maintaining political diplomacy. As a reminder, Moore says, the president vowed to cut New York’s federal funding if Mamdani won the election, so the meeting comes with real stakes.

State and local voting officials from both major political parties are actively preparing for the possibility of the Trump administration's interference in the midterm elections, which are less than a year away. The president has consistently spread false claims about voting in the U.S. In the spring, he issued an executive order aimed at imposing significant changes to election systems. Although courts have largely blocked the order, he has hinted at the possibility of taking other executive action as well. The election community is concerned that Trump plans to have a heavy hand in their processes next year. Here are a few things voting officials are watching for.

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A large iceberg in Ilulissat, Greenland. On the water that surrounds the iceberg, a small boat is seen.

Ryan Kellman/NPR

The planet has warmed about 1.3 degrees Celsius, according to the World Meteorological Organization. Communities are already experiencing more severe storms, flooding, and heatwaves. Scientists warn that when the planet heats up beyond 1.5 degrees, there could be massive, self-reinforcing changes that could have devastating impacts worldwide. These changes are sometimes referred to as climate tipping points. They can unfold over decades or centuries and may be partially reversible. But they all have enormous and lasting implications for life on Earth. Here are some of the most important and well-studied changes:

💧 Coral reefs have been dying around the globe. They are very sensitive to heat, and their loss would destabilize many countries. Numerous people rely on them for food, income and livelihoods. Marine life that can only be found on these reefs would be at risk of extinction.
💧 Ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica could melt and result in the rise of sea levels around the world.
💧 Permanently frozen ground in the Arctic is thawing, which can cause the land to sink, resulting in cracks in the foundations of buildings, buckling of roads and the kinking of pipelines.

Stay up-to-date with the latest news from the COP30, the United Nations climate meeting in Brazil, with this app-exclusive playlist of stories.

Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande in Wicked: For Good.

Giles Keyte/Universal Pictures

Check out what NPR is watching, reading and listening to this weekend:

🍿 Movies: Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo are back on the big screen this weekend in Wicked: For Good. The sequel features more songs, magic, and extravagant production design. But does it live up to the hype of the first film? Here's NPR's Aisha Harris' verdict.

📺 TV: In The Beast In Me, a writer struggles to find her next book topic until a nefarious real estate tycoon moves in next door. He is suspected of murdering his first wife, though the incident was deemed a suicide. As they get acquainted, she seeks to uncover the truth.

📚 Books: Three new poetry collections explore identity, suffering, and hope, reflecting a form of shared experience and the inner life of a country in deep pain and uncertainty.

🎵 Music: Cabin In The Sky is the hip-hop group De La Soul’s first full-length release since founding member Trugoy the Dove died in 2023. It features 20 songs with guest appearances by Black Thought, Killer Mike, Q-Tip, and Nas.

🎮 Gaming: Kirby is back in the racing game Kirby Air Riders, which rivals Mario Kart World, NPR’s James Perkins Mastromarino says. The game has simple controls and deep customization.

🍗 Food: Thanksgiving is less than a week away, but there's still time to prepare the perfect meal. Check out this recipe for a roast turkey and a guide to TikTok chef Tini’s viral mac and cheese.

❓ Quiz: I got a "decent" score of seven out of 10. I will do better next time. In the meantime, how about you take a crack at it?

Quick question: Do you have a list of old books that you’ve always been meaning to get around to? You know — the sort of book that a friend recommended a hundred years ago, or maybe one that a teacher assigned (and you ignored), or a classic that everyone’s - allegedly - already read? Yep, us too.

Thankfully, we’ve just launched Books We’ve Loved, a brand-new, limited series from our Book of the Day podcast, with new episodes dropping on Saturdays throughout the fall. This is where we’ll be wrangling some of the most compelling lit nerds out there to make the case for picking up a book from the past.

We’re inviting a cast of literary luminaries – authors, critics, and familiar NPR voices – to argue why their book pick is worth your time. We’re asking our guests questions like — why can’t they get this book out of their head? How did this book shift a paradigm, shake the culture, or change their life? And, most importantly, why should you read it now?

Listen Now

A person holds a container of ByHeart infant formula.

Cheyanne Mumphrey/AP

Health officials warn that the recalled ByHeart Whole Nutrition formula, linked to a botulism outbreak in over two dozen infants across 15 states, may still be on some store shelves.

An overdue report from the Labor Department showed that U.S. employers added 119,000 jobs in September, while the unemployment rate increased to 4.4%.

A new study in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences quantifies how little plastic a marine animal has to ingest for it to be lethal. For an Atlantic puffin, it takes less than three sugar cubes’ worth of plastic.

Correction: Yesterday's newsletter incorrectly stated that Nvidia generated $32 billion in revenue. The company announced it generated $32 billion in profit.

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This newsletter was edited by Suzanne Nuyen.

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