NPR News Now - NPR News: 05-15-2025 5PM EDT

Episode Date: May 15, 2025

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When Malcolm Gladwell presented NPR's Throughline podcast with a Peabody Award, he praised it for its historical and moral clarity. On Throughline, we take you back in time to the origins of what's in the news, like presidential power, aging, and evangelicalism. Time travel with us every week on the Throughline podcast from NPR. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Jack Spear. The Supreme Court heard arguments today on the issue of birthright citizenship and President Trump's executive order seeking to do away with the guarantee of citizenship

for those born in the U.S. Currently, that's blocked by lower courts. Solicitor General DeJohn Sauer was questioned by a skeptical justice Brett Kavanaugh, asking how the government would categorize children born in the US. On the day after it goes into effect, it's just a very practical question of how it's gonna work. What do hospitals do with a newborn?

What do states do with a newborn? I don't think they do anything different. What the executive order says in section two is that federal officials do not accept documents that have the wrong designation of citizenship from people who are subject to the executive order. How are they going to know that? Granting automatic citizenship to babies born in the U.S. is enshrined in the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. Justices are expected to issue a decision this summer. Israel's military has intensified airstrikes in Gaza over the past 48 hours, with nearly 200 people killed, including dozens of children.

That's according to Gaza health officials. Several medical facilities have been struck this week as well. More from MPR's Kerry Kahn. Israeli airstrikes pounded Gaza south and struck several homes in a complex that included a mosque in the north around the city of Jabalia. Panicked patients and wounded tried to find help wherever they can, says NPR's producer, Anas Baba. Patients do not know where to go as the hospitals are threatened, already out of service. Overnight I can hear and even through the day I can hear the air strikes north

from me in Jabbelia City." Israeli military officials say they are targeting Hamas and that numerous steps are taken to mitigate civilian harm. With Anas Baba in Gaza City, Keri Kahn, NPR News, Tel Aviv. High housing costs along with high mortgage rates are keeping home ownership out of reach for many middle-class families. NPR's Scott Hortesley reports on the latest findings from the National Association of Realtors. A typical family with income of about $75,000 a year can only afford about one out of five

homes on the market. That's actually a slight improvement from a year ago, but it's still a much tougher housing market than before the pandemic, when the same family would have been able to afford nearly half the homes for sale. Although the number of for-sale signs has been growing, there's still a significant housing shortage keeping prices high. And with mortgage rates hovering around six and three-quarters percent, the typical monthly payment remains a budget buster for many would-be buyers.

Scott Horsley in Pear News, Washington. Consumers up their spending last month at retail stores. The government says the one-tenth of a percent rise in retail spending follows a much stronger bump up the previous month, where that increase was primarily driven by a big uptick in car sales as buyers sought to get ahead of new tariffs on autos that took effect this month. On Wall Street, the Dow is up 271 points today. You're listening to NPR News in Washington. Dick's Sporting Goods announced today it's buying rival Footlocker in a roughly $2.4

billion deal. It is the second buyout of a major footwear company this year. As apparel makers struggle with the Trump administration's tariffs and effect on costs, Dick says it expects to keep the Footlocker name and run the stores as a stand-alone unit. Earlier this month, leisure shoemaker Skechers said it's agreed to be taken private in a deal worth more than $9 billion. Doctors say perimenopause is getting a lot more attention these days, in part because it has a long list of symptoms and is difficult to diagnose, appears Katie Riddle reports. Some clinicians caution women who are in their late 30s through early 50s, don't assume all

maladies are related to paraminopause. There's a lot of other health conditions that can show up in midlife. Nanette Santoro is a gynecologist in Colorado. Maybe it isn't your hormones. Let's try these other things first. And that's a little tricky. So sometimes that involves judgment on the part of the clinician. It also involves some possibly a need for the doctor or the patient to be more assertive. Centaur says testing for hormone levels can be inconclusive

and is not always that helpful. Katie Riddle, NPR News. A 55 year old man who says he wants to educate the public about sharks hopes to be the first person ever to swim around Martha's Vineyard. Athlete Lewis Pugh will make his attempt to complete the 62 milemile swim in 47-degree water over a dozen days. He says he's timing the swim at the start of the Great White Shark

migration season and to correspond with the 50th anniversary of the movie Jaws. Pugh says sharks were maligned in a 1975 movie and he's calling for more protection for the animals. I'm Jack Spear, NPR News in Washington.