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Episode Date: January 8, 2025

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What's in store for the music, TV, and film industries for 2025? We don't know, but we're making some fun, bold predictions for the new year. Listen now to the Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast from NPR. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Shea Stevens. Members of Congress and the Biden administration joined members of the Carter family at the U.S. Capitol retunda today to honor late former president Jimmy Carter. NPR's Barbara Sprunt reports. Vice President Kamala Harris,

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, and House Speaker Mike Johnson delivered eulogies that emphasized Carter's values of service and citizenship. Here's Johnson. President Carter's life, his selfless service, his fight against cancer, and his lasting contributions to his fellow man are all truly remarkable. Whether he was in the White House or in his post-presidential years. Harris detailed Carter's creation of the Departments of Education and Energy and his efforts to

put people of color on the federal bench. Members of the public can pay their respects through midnight and again on Wednesday. Barbara Sprint and PR News, the Capital. California Governor Gavin Newsom has declared a state of emergency in the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles County, where a windstorm is fueling a massive wildfire. More than 30,000 residents are under evacuation orders, including Megan Garman and her daughter. Well, the smoke just got really bad, so I just started packing up all of our stuff

and we got in the car to go. And then all the cars were abandoned, so I had nowhere to go, so I just had to get out of my car and start walking. The smoke is so bad. I have no idea where we're going. Evacuees encounter traffic jams as heavy smoke blanket at the area. The Palisades Fire has consumed nearly 3,000 acres. It is 0% contained. President-elect Donald Trump is not ruling

out the use of military force to acquire Greenland. As NPR's Franco Ordonez reports, Trump has repeatedly expressed his desire to acquire the island territory, which is strategically located and is home to a U.S. military base. During a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort, Trump was asked if he would rule out economic or military coercion to gain control of Greenland. He said he would not, calling it a necessity for American security. You don't even need binoculars. You look outside, you have China ships all over the place.

You have Russian ships all over the place. We're not letting that happen. We're not letting it happen. He questioned whether Denmark, which has long controlled Greenland, has a, quote, legal right to the territory. Franco Ordonez and PR News Palm Beach. The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has announced a new rule that will remove some $49 billion in medical debt from credit reports. CFPB says the rule bans lenders from

using medical information, a move it says will raise credit scores by an average 20 points. The agency says the change will take effect 60 days after being published in the Federal Register. This is NPR News. A surge continues for survivors of a magnitude 7.1 earthquake in southern Tibet, a semi-autonomous region of Western China. At least 126 deaths have been confirmed, with another 188 people reported injured. A massive search is underway for quake survivors, as temperatures are forecast to plunge into the single digits.

Chinese broadcaster CTTV reports the quake destroyed more than a thousand homes. Folk singer Peter Yarrow has died after a four-year battle with bladder cancer. Best known as a member of the trio Peter, Paul and Mary, Yarrow was 86 years old. From New York, Jeff London has this look back at his career. The son of Ukrainian Jewish immigrants, Peter Yarrow grew up in New York City and began performing folk music at Cornell. He met Mary Travers and Paul Stuckey in the Greenwich Village folk scene and the three teamed up as Peter, Paul and Mary. The trio was an enormous

success in the early 1960s and Yarrow co-wrote his top 40 hit. YARROW was a political activist throughout his life but his The magic dragon lived by the sea. Yarrow was a political activist throughout his life, but his reputation was tarnished because of a sexual assault conviction against a minor in 1970. He served three months in prison and was ultimately pardoned by President Jimmy Carter. For NPR News, I'm Jeff London in New York. Wall Street stocks closed lower today with the Dow losing 178 points, the NASDAQ tumbled 375 points.

I'm Shea Stevens. This is NPR News. The Indicator is a podcast where daily economic news is about what matters to you. Workers have been feeling the sting of inflation. So as a new administration promises action on the cost of living, taxes and home prices, the S&P 500 biggest post-election day spike ever, follow all the big changes and what they mean for you. Make America affordable again.

Listen to The Indicator, the daily economics podcast from NPR.