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Episode Date: February 4, 2025

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Our long national nightmare is over. Beyonce has finally won the Grammy for Album of the Year. How and why did it take so long for Beyonce to win the top prize at Music's Biggest Night? We're talking about her big wins and breaking down the Grammys for Kendrick Lamar, Chappell Rhone, and Sabrina Carpenter. Listen to the Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast from NPR. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Windsor Johnston. The Senate Finance Committee has voted to advance the controversial nomination of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to be the next Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.

During his confirmation hearings, lawmakers questioned Kennedy extensively about his stance on vaccines, Medicaid, and whether he would indirectly benefit from pending litigation against a vaccine maker that he would regulate as secretary. His nomination now goes to the full Senate. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will hold talks with President Trump at the White House today. NPR's Deepa Shiveram reports the two leaders are expected to discuss the next phase of the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.

Netanyahu will be in town as Trump signs a new executive order that will pull the U.S. out of the United Nations Human Rights Council and cut funding to the United Nations Relief Works Agency that provides aid to Palestinians. That's according to a White House official who was not authorized to speak publicly ahead of the announcement. The Biden administration had also paused aid to Palestinians coming from that UN agency. This is the second time Trump has pulled the U S out of the UN human rights council, an organization that democratic and Republican U S leaders

have said is biased against Israel. Deepa Shivaram, NPR News. Sources tell NPR that President Trump is preparing to take executive action to make major cuts at the U.S. Department of Education. NPR's Corey Turner reports. Multiple sources have told me, folks who are not allowed to speak publicly, the Trump administration is eager to close the department. And so in the near term, it plans to use this executive action to try to move quickly to cut programs and staff that were not created by Congress.

So they're not protected by law. The idea being these will be the programs that are the easiest to cut, essentially the low hanging fruit. That's NPR's Corey Turner reporting. A federal judge has issued a temporary restraining order against a Trump administration effort to freeze funding for federal grants and other programs. NPR's Elena Moore reports the court put a temporary stay on a funding memo issued and then rescinded by the Office of Management and Budget last week.

The order from federal judge Lauren Ali- Ali Khan says that the administration is blocked from implementing the memo or quote, reinstating under a different name. It also directs the OMB, which is part of the executive branch, to provide the court with a status report on its compliance by Friday. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the latest federal court order. But after rescinding the OMB memo last week, White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt stressed that it would not deter the administration from doing its work. Alaina Moore, NPR News, Washington. On Wall Street, the Dow was up 43 points. This is NPR. State Farm is seeking an emergency rate hike in California in the wake of devastating wildfires

in Los Angeles County. The insurance company says it has so far paid out more than a billion dollars on thousands of claims. State Farm has asked to raise the average homeowner's policy by more than 20 percent, starting in May. Jury selection begins today in the trial of the New Jersey man accused of violently attacking American novelist Salman Rushdie in 2022. NPR's Giles Snyder reports. 27-year-old Hadi Matar is facing charges of attempted murder and assault in the attack as Rushdie was preparing to deliver a lecture at the Chautauqua Institution in southwestern New York.

The attack was caught on video. Rushdie, who is now 77, was stabbed multiple times. He lost sight in one eye and a hand is permanently damaged. Prosecutors say Rushdie will be among more than a dozen witnesses who will testify. Bataris pleaded not guilty to the state charges. He faces separate federal terrorism charges linked to the edict issued by Iran on Rushdie's life following the 1988 publication of his novel, The Satanic Verses. Rushdie spent years in hiding. Trial Snyder, NPR News. A violin will become the most expensive musical

instrument ever sold when it goes up for auction this week at Sotheby's in New York. The instrument was made in 1714 by Italian craftsman Antonio Stradivari. It was gifted to the New England Conservatory in Boston by the estate of its last owner. This is NPR.