--:-- Ryland Barton: On NPR's Wildcard podcast, actor Matthew McConaughey says it's important not to overcommit creatively. What can happen and where ambition is letting me stray is you end up with a bunch of freaking campfires and no bonfires.
--:-- [Pause for a moment]
--:-- Ryland Barton: Listen or watch that Wildcard conversation on YouTube, the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.
--:-- [Pause for a moment]
--:-- Ryland Barton: Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Ryland Barton.
--:-- Ryland Barton: On the first day of the government shutdown, Senate Republicans tried to pass a bill that would fund federal agencies through November 21st.
--:-- [Pause for a moment]
--:-- Deirdre Walsh: NPR's Deirdre Walsh reports the measure failed.
--:-- Deirdre Walsh: On the first day of the shutdown, Senate Majority Leader John Thune called on Democrats to back a stopgap funding bill.
--:-- Deirdre Walsh: We are one, just one Senate roll call vote away from ending the shutdown.
--:-- Deirdre Walsh: The top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer insisted any deal had to extend health care subsidies that are expiring at the end of the year.
--:-- Deirdre Walsh: It's clear that the way out of this shutdown is to sit down and negotiate with Democrats to address the looming health care crisis that faces tens of millions of American families.
--:-- Deirdre Walsh: Top leaders aren't talking, but there is a bipartisan Senate group trying to find a path to reopening the government and keeping tax credits to keep health care affordable for middle and working class people.
--:-- Deirdre Walsh: It's unclear how much progress they are making.
--:-- Ryland Barton: The price of gold hit a new record as uncertainty deepens during the government shutdown.
--:-- Deirdre Walsh: Gold sales can jump when anxious investors seek safe havens for their money.
--:-- Deirdre Walsh: Earlier this year, gold and other metals saw gains as President Trump's tariffs plunged the world into economic uncertainty.
--:-- Deirdre Walsh: And the Trump administration's government efficiency effort, DOGE, hasn't delivered on its promises.
--:-- Deirdre Walsh: That's according to an NPR analysis of federal data, as NPR's Stephen Fowler reports.
--:-- Stephen Fowler: Agencies ordered by Doge to drastically slash their workforce over the last eight months are now hiring back hundreds of workers.
--:-- Stephen Fowler: Despite Doge's promise that cutting contracts and terminating leases would shrink the federal budget, Treasury data shows spending has increased by hundreds of billions of dollars.
--:-- Stephen Fowler: When it first launched this year, Doge's savings and efficiency tracker was full of errors, overstatements, and unverifiable claims.
--:-- Stephen Fowler: That remains true today.
--:-- Stephen Fowler: The White House declined to answer NPR's questions about these shortcomings, but said President Trump was, quote, given a clear mandate to reduce waste, fraud, and abuse, and he is delivering on that commitment.
--:-- Ryland Barton: Jane Goodall has died. The legendary primatologist transformed our understanding of apes.
--:-- Nell Greenfield-Boyce: She was 91.
--:-- Nell Greenfield-Boyce: Jane Goodall became fascinated with Africa and its animals as a child.
--:-- Nell Greenfield-Boyce: After going to secretarial school, she visited a friend in Kenya and introduced herself to the famous paleontologist Louis Leakey.
--:-- Nell Greenfield-Boyce: He hired her as his secretary, then later sent her off to Tanzania to study humanity's closest living relative, the chimpanzee.
--:-- Nell Greenfield-Boyce: Goodall was the first researcher to live among wild chimps and learn their ways.
--:-- Nell Greenfield-Boyce: Within months, she made a startling discovery: like humans, they could make and use tools.
--:-- Nell Greenfield-Boyce: Her observations of chimp families were featured in numerous books and popular magazines like National Geographic.
--:-- Nell Greenfield-Boyce: Later in life, she founded the Jane Goodall Institute and became a passionate advocate for the protection of wildlife and the environment.
--:-- Ryland Barton: This is NPR.
--:-- Ryland Barton: New Mexico lawmakers are trying to shore up safety net spending in a state with one of the highest rates of Medicaid and federal food assistance enrollment.
--:-- Ryland Barton: The effort comes in response to cuts made in President Trump's signature spending package.
--:-- Ryland Barton: New Mexico legislators want more money for food assistance, while Democratic Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham is calling for a quick response to federal Medicaid and tax cuts signed by Trump.
--:-- Ryland Barton: She wants to provide the state grants to stabilize health care in rural areas.
--:-- Ryland Barton: With the government shut down, some students and parents are worried about what that means for college financial aid.
--:-- Sequoia Carrillo: More from NPR's Sequoia Carrillo.
--:-- Sequoia Carrillo: It's October 1st, and normally that means the Education Department would publish this year's Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA.
--:-- Sequoia Carrillo: The form is mandatory for students to get financial aid packages from colleges, and sending it in early is helpful to schools.
--:-- Sequoia Carrillo: This year, however, the administration released the FAFSA one week early, avoiding any complications from the shutdown and getting students the form in a prompt manner.
--:-- Sequoia Carrillo: Any student, regardless of income, who wants to be considered for federal, state, and school financial aid programs can fill out the FAFSA now on studentaid.gov.
--:-- Ryland Barton: Coffee brand Maxwell House is downsizing to Maxwell Apartment for a limited one-year lease.
--:-- Ryland Barton: The company says it's rebranding to meet the needs of the everyday consumer in America, where more than a third of people rent their homes instead of own.
--:-- Ryland Barton: Customers will still buy the coffee under its original name, Maxwell Apartment, as part of a limited-time marketing campaign.
--:-- Ryland Barton: From Washington, this is NPR News.
--:-- Ryland Barton: These days, with all the information coming at you, it can be hard to know what's accurate, what's not, and what's worth your time.
--:-- Ryland Barton: Here to help you navigate it all is 1A.
--:-- Ryland Barton: Five days a week, the 1A podcast provides a forum for curious minds to explore different angles on the biggest headlines and give you a more balanced take on what's happening.
--:-- Ryland Barton: Listen to the 1A podcast from NPR and WAMU.
