Shoshana Dubnow

March Madness is underway and underlying the excitement of brackets and potential upsets is a conversation around athletes' efforts to unionize. It is the latest challenge to the student-athlete model that has defined college sports. John Yang discussed what could happen next with Gabe Feldman, director of Tulane’s sports law program and the school’s associate provost for NCAA compliance.

Gambling and theft allegations are swirling around baseball star Shohei Ohtani as his former interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, is under criminal investigation accused of using millions of dollars of Ohtani's money to pay off gambling debts. Ohtani hasn’t been accused of any wrongdoing and denies any involvement in gambling. William Brangham discussed more with Andy McCullough of The Athletic.

Buying and selling a home could get cheaper after the National Association of Realtors agreed to resolve a lawsuit and rewrite several rules that regulate how commissions are set, advertised and paid. Currently, a person selling their house pays a commission of 5 or 6 percent of the purchase price to agents. John Yang discussed more with New York Times real estate reporter Debra Kami.

Electricity and transportation each contribute about a quarter of America’s carbon emissions. Thanks to the growth of renewable energy and electric cars, those sectors are starting to get cleaner. Heavy industry is also a major source of pollution. The White House pledged billions for projects to spur a green revolution in those industries. William Brangham discussed more with Rebecca Dell.

Over the weekend, one of the largest floating cranes on the East Coast arrived in Baltimore to start clearing debris at the site of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge. But before it can start removing steel and concrete, officials must remove a section of the bridge draped over the cargo ship. Geoff Bennett discussed the efforts with Lt. Gen. Scott Spellmon of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Inflation came in higher than expected last month, raising concerns once again about its persistence. Some experts also worry that it could delay or prevent a series of interest rate cuts expected from the Federal Reserve later this year. Geoff Bennett discussed the latest with Neel Kashkari, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.

When presidents of several top Ivy League schools testified about antisemitism on their campuses during a tough hearing this winter, the president of Columbia University was traveling. Wednesday, it was her turn to appear before a House Committee. She strongly denounced antisemitism and hate speech, but some members of the committee felt she had not done nearly enough. Laura Barrón-López reports.

The FDA says samples of milk taken from grocery stores have tested positive for remnants of the bird flu virus that has infected dairy cows. But the agency says it's confident the milk in stores is safe. It suggests the virus is spreading more prevalently among dairy herds than previously thought. Geoff Bennett discussed more with Dr. Jennifer Nuzzo of the Pandemic Center at Brown University.

New York's highest court overturned Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction, a stunning reversal in the landmark case of the #MeToo movement. The court said the judge's decision to allow witnesses to claim Weinstein assaulted them, but not include those allegations in the charges, precluded Weinstein from having a fair trial. Amna Nawaz discussed more with Jodi Kantor of The New York Times.

As protests of Israel’s war in Gaza spread to campuses across the country, some see parallels between today’s demonstrations and college protests of the past. Amna Nawaz discussed that with University of Texas history professor Steven Mintz and professor and historian at the City University of New York, Angus Johnston.