Kevin McCarthy's downfall; how 'mommy bloggers' inspired today's influencers

Plus, some wonderful, wild and joyful ways we've made progress fighting climate change.

View this email online by Suzanne Nuyen October 4, 2023 Good morning and happy Fat Bear Week! Voting begins today to pick Alaska’s Katmai National Park's plumpest bear. I'm thrilled this wasn't postponed by a government shutdown 🐻 Here's what else we're following today.  Kevin McCarthy was taken down from both sides of the aisle yesterday after all House Democrats joined eight Republicans in a vote to remove him as House Speaker. McCarthy says he won't seek reelection. Here are four takeaways from his ousting.  J. Scott Applewhite/AP 🎧 NPR's Claudia Grisales says on Up First that this is "uncharted territory." A House speaker has never been removed in this way before. Now, the House floor is frozen, and Congress is still facing a government shutdown on Nov. 17. Republicans plan to hold a candidate forum next Tuesday and vote on a new speaker next Wednesday.  🎧 On Morning Edition, Republican strategist Brendan Buck tells A Martinez that the problems McCarthy faced still exist and will continue for House Republicans. He adds they'll now need to elect someone who wants the job and can unite quarreling factions.  China is celebrating the Mid-Autumn festival, an eight-day nationwide holiday. Many tourists have traveled there for the holiday. The Chinese government hopes it will give a boost to the post-COVID economy, which hasn’t recovered as expected. 🎧 Nearly 900 million domestic trips are expected to be made this week, generating more than $100 billion of revenue, NPR's John Ruwitch says. But a vendor he spoke to said people aren't spending like they used to and are mostly there for the experience.  🥮 Intricate mooncakes are often eaten and shared during this holiday as a symbol of prosperity. Read about how they connect a global community of Asians and listen to how they helped my family bond during the pandemic.  Support for President Biden and former President Donald Trump is neck and neck among registered voters, according to NPR's latest poll. Trump's voters are more enthusiastic — 43% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents said they'd be "very satisfied" if Trump were nominated compared to 30% of Democrats and Democrat-leaning independents who would be "very satisfied" with Biden. But a conviction could shake things up, as independent voters say they aren't interested in voting for Trump if he's convicted of a crime.  The manufacturers of 10 medications have reluctantly agreed to negotiate with Medicare about their prices more than a month after Biden announced the first ten drugs selected for price negotiations. More than a third of the companies that make drugs on the list have sued the federal government, but all the companies have signed agreements saying they will negotiate. Newsletter continues after sponsor message Alfredo Estrella/AFP via Getty Images NPR is dedicating this entire week to stories and conversations about the search for climate solutions. Solving the global climate crisis is such a daunting task that it can be easy to forget how much progress has been made, small and large. All over the NPR Network, efforts to mitigate climate change are paying off in new and unexpected ways. Check out a few of them and read more here:  🐟 Puget Sound has had one of its largest pink salmon runs in the last decade.  🥑 Researchers in California have developed a new variety of avocado that's more resistant to extreme climates. 🪸 A handful of baby coral spawned near a Miami lab after it was rescued. 👵🏽 “Old ladies” in Cape Cod are diving into ponds to remove trash. 🌎 Check out all of NPR's Climate Solutions Week stories, including how you can make any job a climate solutions job. Enlighten me Leon Bennett/Getty Images Enlighten Me is a special series with NPR's Rachel Martin about what it takes to build a life of meaning. When comedian Rob Delaney was between seasons 2 and 3 of his TV show Catastrophe, his youngest son was diagnosed with brain cancer. He knew the only way his family could get through it was if they stuck together. Though Delaney — who was raised Catholic — moved away from organized religion, he believes ‘something similar to faith’ entered their lives and helped them do just that.  🎧 Listen to Delaney and Martin talk about the limit words have when the unthinkable happens, or read the interview. Support Independent Journalism and NPR's Climate Solutions Week In the face of the climate crisis, inaction is a privilege humanity can't afford. Reporting teams across the NPR Network have been searching for solutions and the innovators behind them. Your donation to the NPR Network is crucial to this process: your dollars power our reporting, including on topics like climate solutions. And your gift ensures we're freely available to the millions of people who want to be informed about what we find.   Please join us with a donation today. Donate Now Michael Reaves/Getty Images Kim Ng, general manager for the Miami Marlins, has become the first woman to lead an MLB team to the playoffs.  Elon Musk is being sued for libel by a college grad who says Musk falsely accused him of being affiliated with a neo-Nazi group on X, formerly known as Twitter.  Gen Z is often seen as "extremely online." But the first influencers are older than we think. Journalist Taylor Lorenz argues in her new book that Gen X "mommy bloggers" laid the foundation for the $16.4 billion influencer industry we know today.  Listen to your local NPR station. Visit NPR.org to hear live radio from WUFT 89.1 (edit station). This newsletter was edited by Majd Al-Waheidi. Enjoying this newsletter? Forward to a friend! They can sign up here. Looking for more great content? Check out all of our newsletter offerings — including Music, Politics, Health and more! You received this message because you're subscribed to Up First emails. 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