KOSU-FM (Stillwater, Oklahoma)

Good morning. You're reading the Up First newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox, and listen to the Up First podcast for all the news you need to start your day. The U.S. and Iran have missed a deadline this week to begin peace talks. The conflict has lasted nearly six months and depleted military resources, including warships and interceptor missiles. This shortage has strained U.S. military capabilities in other regions, notably including Asia.

A marathon meeting between President Trump's envoy Jared Kushner and Israel's prime minister ended without firm commitment to the latest U.S. plan for a Gaza ceasefire.

President Trump's envoy Jared Kushner met with Israel's prime minister in an effort to revive the stalled Gaza agreement. NPR's Michel Martin talks to former U.S. ambassador to Israel Daniel Shapiro. Copyright 2026 NPR

The music industry is becoming a test case for an economy transformed by generative AI. For most of the last century, the music business operated under a surprisingly simple idea: If you want to use someone else's work, you ask permission and pay them money. Want to sample a song? There's a licensing process. Want to use a song in a movie, advertisement or television show? The people who own the song get paid.

NPR's Michel Martin speaks with Tyler Austin Harper, a former professor who writes for The Atlantic, about the allegations British academic Jason Arday faced before he was found dead Aug. 14.

Gravity is an inescapable force. It's why Earth has its atmosphere and orbits the sun. It can bring us to our knees. And it makes the race known as the soap box derby possible. This gravity-powered American tradition is usually a speed race for kids. But not in Portland, Oregon – home of the Portland Adult Soap Box Derby, which just celebrated its 27th annual run. The use of aerodynamic, gravity-driven cars has been around for a long time – though it wasn't always known as a soap box derby.

Dangerously high temperatures aren’t going anywhere. In Central Oklahoma, an extreme heat warning is in effect Tuesday until 8 p.m., and Tulsa has an extreme heat warning starting Tuesday afternoon into Wednesday night. Highs and heat index values are expected to reach triple digits for the rest of the week. “It's a little bit of a summer on steroids,” State Climatologist Gary McManus said.

For the first time, China has established a scheduled shipping route through the Arctic. NPR's Michel Martin asks Marc Lanteigne of the Arctic University of Norway why that matters.

NPR's Michel Martin speaks with Michael Fuchs, director at the Open Society Foundation and a former State Department official, about President Trump's threat to bomb Oman, an ally of the U.S.

FORT MYERS, Fla. — The race to replace Republican Rep. Byron Donalds, who's running for governor, has drawn a unique cast of characters. The cast includes former members of Congress and pardon recipients from President Trump. And many of them have only recent ties to the district, which includes parts of Cape Coral, Naples and Fort Myers, and the state. One of the candidates running for this southwest Florida U.S. House seat is John Strand, a former model and actor, and a convicted and pardoned Jan.