NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-18-2024 9PM EST

Episode Date: November 19, 2024

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Support for this podcast and the following message come from Autograph Collection Hotels, with over 300 independent hotels around the world, each exactly like nothing else. Autograph Collection is part of the Marriott Bonvoy portfolio of hotel brands. Find the unforgettable at autografecollection.com. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Jack Spear. President-elect Donald Trump is tapping another Fox News contributor for his cabinet. NPR's Joel Rose reports he's chosen former GOP Congressman Sean Duffy to head the Department of Transportation. Trump announced the pick in a post on Truth Social, praising Sean Duffy as a respected voice and communicator. Duffy represented a district in his native Wisconsin in the House of Representatives

for eight years. He's worked as a contributor at Fox News since 2020 and hosted the bottom line on the Fox Business Network since 2023. Duffy's roots in the television business run deep. He appeared on MTV's The Real World in 1997 before going on to serve as a district attorney in northern Wisconsin and then in Congress where he sat on the House Financial Services Committee and chaired the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. This is the second time in as many weeks

that President-elect Trump has chosen a Fox host to serve in his Cabinet. Joel Rose, NPR News, Washington. In the past week, online abortion pill orders have spiked. Many patients say they're worried about what a Trump presidency could mean for abortion access. Here's NPR's Alyson Admore. The majority of abortions in the U.S. use medication. And telehealth has been a big reason

the number of abortions in the U.S. has increased since the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade two years ago. Online providers, including Aid Access, Hey Jane, and WISP, all tell NPR they've seen surges in orders for abortion pills since the presidential election. Orders for birth control and emergency contraception are also up. President-elect Donald Trump has promised to veto any federal abortion ban, but he can still try to use executive powers to limit access to the medications. That's what many anti-abortion groups hope for. Alyson Adwerney, NPR News.

According to the Surgeon General, parents in the U.S. are experiencing record levels of loneliness and isolation. NPR's Katie Riddle has been looking at places where people are beating the trend. One example, co-housing. Co-housing, where families live in separate units but share responsibilities and purposely build community. There are close to 200 of these kinds of arrangements across the US. Chris Damgen lives in one in Portland, Oregon. He and his wife share a two-bedroom unit with their three kids. He admits that part's not ideal. But the trade-offs, the ability for our kids to go out the door and play on the grass knowing that there's 20 or 30 other sets of eyes out there that care about them and look after them.

You know, that has certain lovely nostalgia that we all as parents, I think, aspire to have for our kids. And a community for themselves as they navigate modern-day parenting. Katie Ariddle in PR News, Portland, Oregon. Mixed close on Wall Street today we're covering somewhat after a sharp slide last week the Dow was down 55 points, the NASDAQ rose 111 points, the S&P 500 gained 23 points. You're listening to NPR. The Associated Press is the latest big

journalism organization to announce a major downsizing. The AP says it will do away with about 8% of its workforce, primarily through buyouts. Employees would be eligible to accept the offers and will be notified. It marks another grim end of the season note for the news industry in general, which has been hit by both long-term financial woes and the end of a presidential news cycle. Once billed as the world's largest news organization, the AP does not reveal the size of its staff. Agents excited to need to accelerate

to a digital first news outlet as the reason for the cuts. Federal agency tasked with protecting the right to organize this facing legal challenges from companies who say its structure is unconstitutional. A panel of judges at the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments in two cases today. NPR's Andrea Schrewe reports. The cases were brought by SpaceX and Amazon.

Both companies argue that the structure of the National Labor Relations Board violates the separation of powers established in the Constitution. The independent agency was created by Congress in 1935 to protect the rights of workers to organize and collectively bargain for better wages and working conditions. The lawsuits were filed after agency investigations found that SpaceX and Amazon had illegally interfered with those rights. A ruling in favor of the companies could make it much harder for workers to unionize and take collective action against their employers. More than

two dozen similar cases are making their way through the courts. Andrea Hsu, NPR News. Crude old futures prices moved higher today, oiled up more than $2 a barrel, settled at $69.16 a barrel in New York. I'm Jack Spear, NPR News in Washington.