NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-11-2025 5PM EST

Episode Date: November 11, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Rylan Barton. House Speaker Mike Johnson is calling lawmakers back into session after the Senate passed a bill to temporarily fund the government. A vote could take place tomorrow. Meanwhile, congressional Democrats are facing backlash from the left. The deal to end the shutdown came after some moderate Senate Democrats compromised with Republicans. NPR's Domenico Montanaro suggests that long term, Democrats may not be hurt by this politically.

Democrats are going to have a lot of work to do to heal. this divide within their base, but they're banking on voters having short-term memories and that the issue landscape is going to continue to benefit them. We saw Democrats win sweeping victories last week, and voters said affordability was their top issue. That's likely to carry through to next year's midterm elections, and during this shutdown, Democrats were able to elevate health care as an important issue, too. As part of the deal to reopen the government, Senate moderates say they were promised to vote on extending health care subsidies sometime next month, and if Republicans block those subsidies, the GOP will own higher health care costs.

Domenico Montanaro, NPR News, Washington. It's also likely that air travel disruptions will drag out, perhaps long after federal agencies are back in business. NPR's Windsor Johnston reports. Transportation officials say it won't be as simple as flipping a switch. Thousands of FAA workers still have to clear weeks of inspections and safety backlogs before things run smoothly again. The longer the shutdown drags on, the more the work pile. up, forcing airlines to cancel or delay flights even after funding is restored.

And it's not just passengers feeling the impact. Cargo carriers like FedEx, UPS, and Amazon are warning of delays during the busiest shopping season of the year. Industry analysts say once freight piles up, it can take weeks to untangle supply chains, leaving retailers and consumers feeling the strain. Windsor Johnston, NPR News, Washington. Menopause experts say women considering hormone therapy should be aware of both the benefits and risks. NPR's Alison Aubrey reports more doctors will likely prescribe it with the FDA's removal of warning labels. Menopause experts say there are safe combinations and doses of hormone therapy, and Dr. Joanne Pinkerton of the University of Virginia says age is one important factor on when to start.

If you're underage 60 or within 10 years of menopause onset, when you start hormone therapy, you're going to see improvements in hospital. flushes, sweats, fewer sleep disruptions. As well as protections against bone loss and fractures and potential benefits for heart health. But she says not all women can take hormone therapy. Those who have estrogen-sensitive breast or uterine cancer and those who've had heart attack, strokes, or blood clots can look for alternatives. The FDA has approved two non-hormonal medicines to treat hot flashes. Alice Norbury, NPR News. The SMP 500 added two-tenths of a percent. This is NPR News from Washington. A Utah judge has rejected a new congressional map drawn by Republican lawmakers. Judge Deanna Gibson adopted an alternate proposal giving Democrats a strong shot at flipping a seat

in the 26 midterm elections. She ruled that the map approved by the legislature unduly favors Republicans and disfavors Democrats. Who's doing most of the talking on podcasts? According to a new study, it's mostly men. NPR's Anastasia Zulkis reports. a third of all Americans now listen to or watch podcasts every week, but more often than not, it's men's voices that they're hearing. Researchers at the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative have found that in the 100 most popular podcasts of 2024, nearly two-thirds were hosted by men, and nearly three-quarters of all guests were male, too. The researchers say that's a far greater gender inequity than in similar research they've done in the movie, TV, and music industry.

Women are particularly underrepresented in business, tech, sports, fitness, and comedy podcasts. The researchers also found that over 77% of the top 100 hosts were white, leaving a lot of communities out of the conversation. Anastasia Zilkus and P.R. News, New York. Space weather forecasters have issued an alert for incoming severe solar storms that could trigger colorful auroras. The vibrant displays could be visible across much of. of the northern U.S. and as far south as Alabama and northern California, the sun's at its

maximum phase of an 11-year activity cycle. This is NPR News from Washington.