NPR News Now - NPR News: 05-03-2025 8PM EDT

Episode Date: May 4, 2025

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Look, we get it. When it comes to new music, there is a lot of it, and it all comes really fast. But on All Songs Considered, NPR's music recommendation podcast, we'll handpick what we think is the greatest music happening right now and give you your next great listen. So kick back, settle in, get those eardrums wide open, and get your dose of new music from All Songs Considered, only from NPR. JANENE HIRST. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janene Hurst. The Trump administration has started canceling National Endowment for the Arts grants. Empress Chloe Velbin reports this hours after President Trump proposed eliminating the agency

entirely from the federal budget. JANENE HIRST. Hundreds of arts groups received emails either withdrawing or terminating their grants. Among those affected are the Berkeley Repertory Theatre and the Chicago Arts Education Nonprofit Open Studio Project. The email says the agency is updating its priorities to focus on projects that quote reflect the nation's rich artistic heritage and creativity as prioritized by the president. Julie Baker is the CEO of the arts advocacy group California for the Arts. It just means that we've got to continue to

mobilize and activate and try and convince the leadership to reverse these types of cuts. The NEA did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Chloe Valtman, NPR News. This week President Trump removed Mike Walz as his national security adviser saying he plans to nominate him to be the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. In the meantime, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been tapped to fill in as national security adviser temporarily while continuing his duties at state. NPR's Greg Myrie, though, says that might be hard to do.

Greg Myrie The Secretary of State is in constant motion traveling from one foreign capital to the next. In contrast, the national security advisor is usually quite close to the president. His natural habitat is the White House and the Situation Room in particular. His job is to work with various agencies, the Pentagon, the CIA, the State Department, and help the president sort through policy options. So it's not a natural fit to do both jobs simultaneously. And here's Greg Myhre. Well, after six decades running Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett is planning to step down as CEO. And here's Maria Aspin has more.

At age 94, Buffett is one of the most powerful investors on Wall Street and beyond. The billionaire bought Berkshire Hathaway 60 years ago when it was a struggling textile mill. He's turned it into one of the largest companies in the world. Now the Oracle of Omaha says he's about ready to step back. Buffett spent four and a half hours answering shareholder questions on Saturday during his company's annual investor meeting. But he saved his big news for the very end, as broadcast by CNBC.

The time has arrived where Greg should become the chief executive officer of the company at year end. Buffett designated Greg Abel as his successor years ago. Maria Aspin, NPR News, Omaha. On a muddy track, but under dry skies, Sovereignty won the 151st running of the Kentucky Derby, the run for the roses at Churchill Downs today. The horse had 9 to 1 odds entering the race. In second place, journalism. You're listening to NPR News. The Trump administration is suing Denver and the state of Colorado, accusing the city and

state and their leaders of interfering with federal efforts to enforce immigration laws in what are known as sanctuary cities. The Justice Department suit names the governor and the mayor as defendants in the latest attempt by the White House to get local governments to cooperate with President Trump's immigration agenda. The suit argues Colorado's sanctuary policies allowed a prison gang from Venezuela to take over an apartment complex near Denver. Local officials say that claim is exaggerated. The suit is similar to ones the administration filed against Illinois and Chicago and also

Rochester, New York. Minecraft is a popular video game and now movie. It's also helping science. And here's Regina Barber explains. In the past, psychologists studied two modes of learning separately. You were either learning on your own or from another person.

But cognitive scientist Charlie Wu and his team wanted to look at how these modes of learning interacted with each other. Wu and his team wanted to look at how these modes of learning interacted with each other. Wu and his team created scenarios with the video game Minecraft for over 100 participants. These scenarios had rewards clustered or randomly distributed, and this distribution altered how much players had to interact with others. This study found that the most successful players were the most adaptive, switching between individual mining and using social learning when the situation called for it.

The findings were a new way to look at learning and using Minecraft to do so was also unique. Wu and his team published this study in the journal Nature Communications. Regina Barber, NPR News. And I'm Janine Herbst, and you're listening to NPR News from Washington. This message comes from NPR News from Washington.