The Headlines - Harvard’s Face-Off With the White House, and a Disturbing Pattern in Organ Donations

Episode Date: July 21, 2025

Plus, pop music and sign language.  On Today’s Episode:Trump Administration and Harvard Face Crucial Court Test, by Alan BlinderA Push for More Organ Transplants Is Putting Donors at Risk, by Brian M. Rosenthal and Julie TateIsraeli Troops Kill Dozens Seeking Food Near Border, Gazan Officials Say, by Aaron Boxerman, Isabel Kershner and Ameera HaroudaJapan’s Long-Dominant Party Suffers Election Defeat as Voters Swing Right, by Martin Fackler, Hisako Ueno and Kiuko NotoyaThis K-Pop Band Is Making Waves With Sign Language, by Ephrat Livni Tune in every weekday morning. To get our full audio journalism and storytelling experience, download the New York Times Audio app — available to Times news subscribers on iOS — and sign up for our weekly newsletter.Tell us what you think at: [e-mail].  

From the New York Times, it's the headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford. Today's Monday, July 21st. Here's what we're covering. Today in federal court, Harvard will face off with the Trump administration in one of the biggest tests of the administration's crackdown on colleges and universities. Since the spring, the White House has targeted Harvard, accusing it of allowing anti-Semitism to spread on campus. It sent the university an extraordinary list of demands, including shutting down all DEI efforts and mandating oversight over its academic programs. Those demands on the whole were just unacceptable to Harvard. They were non-starters with the

university. So they refused the demands. The government started cutting off billions in research funding, and Harvard went to court and sued. Allen Blinder covers higher education for the Times. He says funding cuts have been the go-to tool for the administration to wield influence over elite schools, which Trump and his allies claim have become too liberal. Inside Harvard, the university's leaders worry that a long fight with the government could be extremely expensive and damaging,

threatening jobs and academic freedom. So, Allen says, even as it's going to court today, the university is still negotiating with the administration to see if it can find an off-ramp from the legal battle. Adam O'Neill There hasn't been a deal yet, but with each side looking for leverage, the government has really just kept pelting Harvard. In the last few weeks alone, we've seen the administration formally accuse the University of Civil Rights violations. We've seen immigration and customs enforcement serve really sprawling subpoenas

on the university. This is all important because if Harvard, with all of its clout and financial firepower, loses to the administration in court or is seen as capitulating in a deal with the White House, there's a theory that other schools that don't have as much clout and firepower might do the same if the administration knocks on their doors. But if Harvard wins or comes out with a deal that is seen as robust and fully embracing of academic independence, other schools might feel emboldened to challenge the White House. A new Times investigation has revealed a disturbing trend in organ donations. There's been intense pressure to procure more organs for the more than 100,000 Americans

waiting for them. And amid that push, there have been rushed or premature attempts to remove the organs of patients who still showed signs of life or even consciousness. Most donated organs come from people who have been pronounced brain dead. But there's another kind of donation that can happen after what's called circulatory death, where there is some brain activity but doctors have determined the patient is near death and won't recover. In those cases, if relatives agree, doctors pull them off of life support and wait for their hearts to stop beating before they go in to collect the organs.

But dozens of medical workers told the Times they'd seen that process go wrong. In one case, an organ donor in Alabama still appeared to be breathing, and her heart was beating when surgeons cut her open. And in another example in Colorado, a patient was crying and looking around before she was removed from her ventilator. Medical workers told the Times they were left haunted by what they'd seen, as some of the organizations that coordinate transplants blew past safeguards.

One said the system was sickening. Another told the Times, quote, I felt like I was part of killing someone. The healthcare workers said some of the pressure to boost donations was coming from the federal government, which has threatened to cut contracts with groups coordinating donations if their transplant numbers are low. In response to questions, leaders of the donor system have defended the circulatory death transplant process, saying it saves thousands of lives each year, and that focusing

on cases with bad outcomes creates a frightening and unbalanced picture of a crucial system. You can read the full investigation at nytimes.com. Every time there's rumors that aid trucks are coming in, massive crowds of people head to the border, hoping to grab the aid as soon as they can, because they're obviously afraid that if they don't make it there early, then there might be none left well before they have the opportunity to receive aid in any kind of orderly fashion. My colleague Erin Boxerman has been reporting on how in Gaza, trying to get food

has become increasingly dangerous. On Saturday, Gazan health officials said at least 32 people were shot by Israeli forces near an aid distribution center. And yesterday, dozens more were killed as they approached aid trucks at the border. The convoy was carrying aid from the United Nations World Food Program. And WFP officials say that Israeli tanks and snipers opened fire on the crowd.

Despite what it said were assurances from Israeli authorities, the troops would stay away from the aid routes. It was just the latest incident where crowds of people in Gaza desperate for food are coming under gunfire. The Israeli military has described their soldiers as firing warning shots, and they've expressed skepticism about the number of casualties that are reported in Gaza. But other sources, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross, have described huge numbers of casualties, people wounded with gunfire arriving at their field hospital.

Palestinian witnesses we've spoken to have said that the gunfires come from Israeli military lines. Often it's taken place in areas that are under Israeli military control. And people that we've spoken to describe having to make a horrific choice. I spoke to one person who described to me how he survived a shooting near an aid site in southern Gaza. And I asked him, you know, are you going to go back? I mean, what are you going to do?

And he basically said, I'm not sure what other choice I have. You know, at the end of the day, many people feel they have no choice but to really risk their lives by going on these very dangerous trips as they try to seek food. In Japan yesterday, two new right-wing populist parties made huge gains in the country's parliamentary elections, signaling a major shift in the country's politics. For nearly seven decades, the Liberal Democratic Party has led Japan. But last year, it lost control of one house of parliament, and now it's lost the other. Among the rising parties is one called Sanseito, a populist movement led by a politician who styled himself after Donald Trump.

He's opposed the use of some vaccines, railed against shadowy global elites, and pushed for limits on foreign workers. The party's slogan is, Japanese first. While many voters that Times reporters in Japan talked to called the populist rhetoric extreme, they said they voted for change in large part because of frustration over food prices. Most Japanese households eat rice daily, and as of May, rice prices had more than doubled

from a year earlier, in part because of extreme heat that hurt harvests. The government was even forced to tap into its strategic rice stockpiles. Ahead of the election, a poll from Japan's national broadcaster found that the price of rice was a top concern for voters, even above other issues like foreign affairs and immigration.

And finally... The K-pop band Big Ocean is about to start their first ever US tour this month, after building up an international fan base for how they mix singing with sign language. The members of the boy band are all deaf or hard of hearing, but they've relied on the latest audio technology to help them make their music, including an incredibly catchy song about a bucket hat. Got me singing like bass, iPhone make their music, including an incredibly catchy song about a bucket hat. On stage, they use flashing metronomes and watches that vibrate on their wrists to keep

time with the choreography. And they've worked Korean sign language into their music videos. They've also been studying American Sign Language and International Sign as they prep for their tour. Some in the deaf community, though, are concerned that the band's growing success might end up being framed as a story of overcoming a disability instead of as a celebration of deaf culture in its own right. One deaf author and journalist told the Times, Big Ocean deserves credit for debunking what he called the quote, frustrating misconception that deaf and hard of hearing people can't make or enjoy music. Those are the headlines.

Today on The Daily, what the ongoing uproar from President Trump's base over the Epstein case shows about the limits of Trump's power. That's next in the New York Times audio app, where you can listen wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Tracy Mumford, we'll be back tomorrow.