Make Me Smart

Senate votes to cut funds for public media, foreign aid

Jul 17, 2025 · 15 min · Episode 1428 · 15.2 MB
0:00-15:36

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The Senate approved the Trump administration’s rescission package today, which proposes taking back $9 billion in federal funding already allocated for programs such as public media and foreign aid. We’ll get into the implications for the bipartisan nature of the budgeting process. Plus, we explain the latest development of a lawsuit against Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and company leaders, which stems back to the 2018 privacy scandal involving Cambridge Analytica. Then, we’ll smile at a piece of new technology that claims to shoot mosquitoes using lasers. And, do you believe in supernatural forces?


Here’s everything we talked about today:




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