by Brittney Melton

October 2, 2025

Good morning. Interested in taking part in Sober October? Life Kit has created a free, limited newsletter series offering expert strategies to help you stay alcohol-free for a month. Here’s the news we’re following today:

The White House budget director, Russ Vought, announced yesterday the cancellation of $8 billion for energy projects in 16 states, all of which are considered blue states. This move marks the latest funding cut by the Trump administration following the federal government shutdown. Vice President JD Vance has warned that federal workforce layoffs will happen if the shutdown continues.

A sign on the entrance to the U.S. National Arboretum is seen as it is closed due to the federal government shutdown on Oct. 1 in Washington, D.C.

Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

🎧 The White House is putting pressure on Democrats to negotiate. However, based on Vought’s past statements, he appears more focused on implementing cuts than collaborating with Democrats, NPR’s Franco Ordoñez tells Up First. The government typically decides which employees are considered essential for a temporary shutdown. In this instance, the White House might be attempting to apply this concept to enforce permanent cuts. Multiple federal employee unions say the White House doesn’t have the authority to do so.
🎧 Many vital government services, like Social Security payments and Medicaid, are expected to be unaffected by the shutdown. However, staffing shortages may lead to delays for some services if the shutdown continues, says NPR’s Greg Allen. Among the things most at risk are federal food assistance programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Carlos Hernandez, a 75-year-old, visited a SNAP office in Maryland yesterday to renew his benefits, only to find the office closed. Hernandez said he worries about what the shutdown could mean for his benefits.
➡️ Multiweek shutdowns are relatively rare, but have become more common in recent decades. Here’s how long past shutdowns have lasted.
➡️ A shortage of air traffic controllers may have helped end the last government shutdown in 2019. Now, U.S. airlines are once again bracing for possible delays in commercial flights.

Israel has instructed all residents of Gaza City to evacuate to allow for an expanded ground operation. Israel’s defense minister stated that anyone remaining in Gaza City will be considered “militants and supporters of terror.” According to the United Nations director for Gaza operations, on average, about 100 Palestinians are being killed daily as a result of Israel’s attacks.

🎧 This is all happening as President Trump’s 20-point peace proposal remains on the table, awaiting a response from Hamas, says NPR’s Emily Feng. The proposal has run into challenges, including far-right ministers in Israel being infuriated that the plan would let Palestinians stay in Gaza and not forcibly displaced. Qatar is helping mediate the ceasefire negotiations, but trust is thin, especially after Israel tried to kill Hamas negotiators in Qatar in September. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu apologized for that action this week.

Democratic Gov. of Kentucky Andy Beshear is considering running for president. He has won the election for governor twice, excelling in a state that voted for Trump three times. The feat is something Kentucky Republicans have dismissed as a quirk. Beshear discusses changes he believes Democrats need to make in an NPR interview with Morning Edition host Steve Inskeep. Watch the video of the sit-down conversation and read highlights here, or listen to the interview.

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An illustration shows a man in an orange pajama set tangled up like a pretzel in the middle of his large bed. His limbs are askew, clutching pillows, and his face is in a grimace, illustrating the concept of neck pain arising from poor sleep posture. His bed and room are rendered in cool tones, purple, blue, and green. And he is surrounded by lush plants, geometric art, and striped pillows. Nightstands flank his bed, and a cat tower sits to the right of his bed.

Meredith Miotke for NPR

Waking up with muscle pain along your spine is often caused by inadequate support while sleeping. When you sleep in an awkward position, gaps can form between your body and your pillow or mattress. This can lead your soft tissues to sag into those gaps, causing your muscles to tense up in compensation. Whether you’re a back, side or stomach sleeper, experts share advice with Life Kit on how to position your body to guard against neck cricks, shoulder aches and other body pain and soreness.

😴 Sleeping in a position similar to standing can reduce muscle strain. Your body should lie flat, forming a straight line.
😴 Avoid sleeping on your stomach. While in that position, it can be easy to overextend your neck.
😴 Elevate the quality of your mattress. If your mattress is too soft, the heavier parts of your body will sink, and if it’s too firm, it can cause the pain-inducing gaps.
😴 To make up for any gaps between your body and mattress, use pillows or rolled-up blankets underneath those areas.

Get more guidance on better sleep from Life Kit here. Subscribe to the Life Kit newsletter for expert advice on love, money, relationships and more.

(Left) Mothman masks and other cryptid-related items are on sale at vendors' kiosks along Main Street at the Mothman Festival in Point Pleasant, W.Va. (Right) Selah Miller, of Charleston, W.Va., poses for a portrait along the Ohio River while attending the festival.

Rich-Joseph Facun for NPR

In the 1960s, two couples told a story about being chased by a large flying creature on a rural road, and since then, the legend of the Mothman has grown. In the 2000s, the Mothman Festival in Point Pleasant, W.Va., started. Now, 20,000 people gather to celebrate Mothman, with many donning costumes as they walk beneath giant inflatables ranging from Mothman to the Ghostbusters Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man. For an event celebrating a dark and mysterious being, the vibe is surprisingly uplifting. Take a look inside the festival with these photos.

Come All Ye Faithful… and Faithless

Some of the biggest questions we wrestle with in life aren’t about politics or money, they’re about meaning. What do we believe? Why do we believe it? And how do those beliefs shape the way we live?

That’s where YE GODS comes in. Each week, host Scott Carter sits down with comics, musicians, writers, and thinkers for conversations of biblical proportions. Together, they explore beliefs both sacred and profane, serious and silly, personal and universal.

It’s a podcast for the faithful and the faithless, the dreamers and doubters, the dogmatic and the pragmatic. In other words: for anyone trying to make sense of how we make sense of life.

Listen every week and see where the conversation takes you.

Listen Now ➔

A shoulders-up photo of Jane Goodall. Her hair is pulled back, and she is smiling.

Bertrand Guay/AFP/Getty Images

British primatologist and conservationist Jane Goodall has died at the age of 91. Her decades of research on wild chimpanzees and their similarity to humans made her a household name.

Attention, college students! It's your time to shine. NPR’s College Podcast Challenge is back for its fifth year, featuring a cash prize of $5,000. Here’s how it works.

With Halloween less than a month away, NPR's Word of the Week series explores the intriguing and magical backstory of the term “hoax.” The word first appeared as both a verb and a noun around circa 1800.

Stream your local NPR station.

Visit NPR.org to find your local station stream.

This newsletter was edited by Yvonne Dennis.

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