Amna Nawaz

To discuss the implications of Robert Prevost’s election as pope, for both for the church and for the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, Amna Nawaz spoke with Kim Daniels, the director of the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life at Georgetown University, and Father Tom Reese, the senior analyst for Religion News Service and author of "Inside the Vatican."

Billionaire Bill Gates announced a major change to his philanthropic Gates Foundation. There will be a doubling of its giving, to more than $200 billion over the next 20 years, when the foundation will close permanently. The move comes at a moment of significant cuts to foreign aid from the U.S. and other nations. Amna Nawaz discussed more with Gates and foundation CEO Mark Suzman.

The final living American hostage held by Hamas is free. Edan Alexander entered Israel from Gaza in a deal made directly between Hamas and the United States. His release came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu went further than before on his plans for Gaza, calling for its reoccupation. Nick Schifrin reports.

During his visit to the Middle East, President Trump announced the lifting of U.S. sanctions on Syria, arms sales and U.S.-Saudi business agreements. For additional perspective on this, Amna Nawaz spoke with Vali Nasr, an adviser in the State Department during the Obama administration, and Bernard Haykel, professor of Near Eastern studies at Princeton and a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute.

A report from the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism found threats and calls for impeachment against judges have risen by 327 percent between May 2024 and March 2025. One federal judge knows how real the violence can be. Judge Esther Salas’s son was killed by a disgruntled lawyer posing as a delivery driver at her home, according to police. Salas joined Amna Nawaz to discuss the threats.

General Stanley McChrystal was the top commander of American and international forces in Afghanistan in 2009 when his career was cut short. McChrystal resigned after an article in Rolling Stone quoted him and his aides making candid yet disparaging remarks about President Obama and Vice President Biden. He joined Amna Nawaz to discuss his new book, “On Character: Choices that Define a Life.”

New York Times columnist David Brooks and Washington Post associate editor Jonathan Capehart join Amna Nawaz to discuss the week in politics, including President Trump's trip to the Middle East and his policy shifts in the region, Qatar’s luxury plane gift, the Supreme Court's birthright citizenship hearing, talks of an immigration reality show and the administration investigating James Comey.

In highly anticipated peace talks, Russian and Ukrainian officials agreed to exchange 1,000 prisoners, the war’s largest swap. While they agreed to keep talking, there was no breakthrough for peace and the two sides seemed even further apart. Nick Schifrin reports and Amna Nawaz speaks with former State Department official Andrew Weiss for perspective on the state of negotiations.

The growing size of the U.S. debt, and the concerns over how much more it will increase, is very much on the minds of investors, markets and lawmakers. The developments were tied in part to Moody’s announcement that it was downgrading the U.S. credit rating over concerns about large annual deficits, debt and rising interest costs. Amna Nawaz discussed more with David Wessel.

NPR’s Tamara Keith and Amy Walter of the Cook Political Report with Amy Walter join Amna Nawaz to discuss the latest political news, including former President Biden’s cancer diagnosis has led to an outpouring of sympathy but comes at a time of renewed questions about the full picture of his health during his presidency and the battle on Capitol Hill over President Trump's budget plan.