PAM: I’m going to read it: Ryan and Pam, I am a HUGE fan of the podcast! I listen to it daily and have learned so much thanks to y’all. And I really hope that this review can get on the Ten News Snaps, I would love that! –Also, I am very interested in the political episodes that you do, please do more! (If y’all have time of course.) That was from a Ten’er named, Laziest Tweet. <SFX: Send email>

RYAN: Well we have gotten a bunch of messages asking us to explore more politics…

PAM: And for the Ten’ers, we will always make time.

RYAN: Given that this is our last 10 Things of the season, and the news cycle has been SO crowded, maybe we should do a catchup about the biggest news stories, right now?

PAM: You know I’m always down to get down. Cause I’m Pamela Kirkland.

RYAN: And I’m Ryan Willard, it’s Thursday, June 12th.

PAM: And these are 10 things you need to know about the biggest news stories, right now.

PAM: Ok, let’s get ready to jump in.

RYAN: To give you a preview, I’m going to say the 10 things we are going to cover in 10 seconds. Ready? Go! <SFX timer starts> Trump and Musk. Big Beautiful Bill. PBS and NPR. Pride and DEI. META AI. ICE in LA. Ukraine & Russia. Gaza and Israel. Video games and movies! <SFX DING!>

PAM: Wow. That…was impressive.

RYAN: Well, its a lot to cover and I needed to warm up. We’re going to count things off today.

Number One: <SFX DING or voice effect> Let’s look at the rise and fall of the bromance between President Trump and Elon Musk, aka the richest man in the world and owner of Tesla and SpaceX… <SFX: awe> In 2024, Elon Musk endorsed Trump on the campaign trail and would eventually become the top individual Republican donor of 2023 to 2024, contributing a whopping $291.5 million dollars, with the majority of his donations going toward President Trump. <SFX: cashier register ding>

PAM: Musk was all over the campaign trail with Trump and would eventually be hired to co-lead DOGE, which is also known as the Department of Government Efficiency. Musk was also brought on as a presidential advisor with a special government employee status.

PAM: The initial savings goal for government spending was set at $2 trillion but was eventually reduced to $150 billion. In the president’s first 100 days, his administration claims that DOGE uncovered ‘hundreds of billions of dollars of waste, fraud, and abuse,’ but there isn’t much evidence proving substantial savings or improved government efficiency. And, as a result of DOGE, government employees experienced mass layoffs and the dismantling of government agencies like USAID, the IRS, the Department of Education, and more.

RYAN: Protests against Elon Musk broke out, particularly against his car company, Tesla, where Tesla cars were vandalized and boycotted. Tesla stock prices dropped by a LOT, and recently Musk announced that he was leaving his government role to focus on his business. <SFX: bye bye>

PAM: Things seemed to be okay between the two until the “Big Beautiful Bill” came about, which we will get to shortly…when Musk publicly expressed his unhappiness with the bill on social media, which then triggered a social media fight between the two. <SFX: Social media ding>

RYAN: It’s unclear whether the two will bounce back from this bromantic fallout, but at this time, President Trump isn’t interested in a make-up call with Musk.

PAM: Number Two: <SFX DING! or voice effect> The Big Beautiful Bill — let’s breakdown of what it is, what it cuts, where it is and where it’s going. “Big Beautiful Bill,” named by the Trump’s administration, Is around 1,000 pages and includes lots of program cuts and tax cuts. The administration has been making big pushes to change the way the government spends taxpayers’ money and tax cuts are changes in tax law that reduce the amount of tax an individual or business must pay to the government.

PAM: There are a number of concerning cuts in the bill and a really big one is to Medicaid. Medicaid is a government health insurance program that provides free or low-cost medical coverage to low-income individuals and families. The bill looks to change the requirements around who qualifies for Medicaid to generate more savings, but Democrats warn that millions of Americans will lose coverage with the proposed changes.

RYAN: Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill was sent to Congress and passed by the House of Representatives on May 22, 2025, with a vote of 215 votes to 214, with two Republicans joining Democrats to oppose the bill. The bill is currently in the Senate, where they will have the chance to approve or change provisions of the bill. If the bill receives a majority of 51 votes in the Senate, it will head to President Trump’s desk to be signed or vetoed by July 4th. <SFX: gavel bang>

PAM: Alright let’s talk about some other government money…

RYAN: I love money! Gimme gimme gimme!

PAM: I’m talking about number three: <SFX DING! or voice effect> money for children’s media…Earlier this year, President Trump signed an executive order to cut funding for PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) and NPR (National Public Radio). PBS and NPR both provide news and educational entertainment and programs that anyone can watch, without having to pay. Public broadcasting relies on donations from their audiences and funding by the US government.

RYAN: As part of the cuts, The Corporation for Public Broadcasting has announced that the Department of Education canceled a grant called Ready to Learn. That grant would have provided $23 million toward children’s games and educational shows, like Reading Rainbow, Work It Out Wombats!, and more.

PAM: This all leaves NPR and PBS in a tough spot and the organizations are looking for public support to keep their funding. If your family would like to help support PBS or NPR, you can check out ProtectMyPublicMedia.org or contact your representative to let them know how you feel about this. <SFX DING! or voice effect>

RYAN: One win for kids’ media that just happened is that Sesame Street signed a historic deal with Netflix. Seasons 56-58 will debut on Netflix AND PBS at the same time. Older episodes of Sesame Street will also be available on the platform and Netflix will also have the rights to develop video games for Sesame Street and its spinoff series, Mecha Builders. <SFX: cheers!>

PAM: I still can’t believe it’s already June! Time for Number four: <SFX DING! or voice effect> Pride Month! <SFX: parade noise> Which is a month-long event that combines celebrations, activism and reflection on the history and ongoing struggle for equality for the LGBTQ+ community. Pride Month is celebrated every June, allowing everyone to embrace who they are and express themselves in a style that’s uniquely their own. But, that’s proving to be a bit difficult this year as major brands are pulling back on their support for Pride Month celebrations.

RYAN: According to a survey from Gravity Research’s Pride Pulse Poll, 39% of companies say they plan to scale back public Pride Month engagements this year. This includes sponsoring Pride events, posting supportive social media messages of LGBTQ+ rights, and selling Pride-themed merchandise. This stems from federal agencies threatening to investigate companies with DEI programs(DEI stands for Diversity Equity and Inclusion), and brands are trying to avoid rattling right-wing customers and activists, as well as staying off of President Trump’s radar.

PAM: Two cool things about Pride Month this year is that…it is the 10th anniversary of same sex marriage legalized US, and that cities and towns all across the country are moving forward with their planned events even though funding is down. For many members of the LGBTQ+ community it is even more important to be visible when faced with challenges.

RYAN: And I happened to meet one of our favorite LGBTQ+ celebrities, who I learned is also a GAMER… but we’ll get to that later. First… Number five: AI <SFX Tech Yourself Before You Wreck Yourself> META, the company behind Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp, is preparing to unveil a new artificial intelligence research lab dedicated to pursuing “superintelligence” - a hypothetical AI system that exceeds the power of the human brain. Meta has tapped 28 year old Alexander Wang to lead it, who most recently founded Scale AI. Meta has been recruiting AI researchers at Google and Open AI to join the Meta team, and has offered them deals ranging from $1 million to more than $100 million to join the Meta team. <SFX: tech noise>

PAM: AI is also a major point of Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill, which proposes that AI regulation should not be controlled by the cities and states, but instead be controlled on the federal level. There has been severe backlash to the proposed transfer of power and the Senate is currently working on a compromise.

PAM: Whew! That was a lot. Let’s take a quick break before jumping in to the rest…

RYAN: Hey Ten’ers! We’re planning an episode where we sit down with a member of congress and ask them YOUR questions…but the member of Congress we’re going to have on the show isn’t available until September…so we’re STILL taking your questions, and will take them all Summer. So if you could ask a member of congress anything, what would you ask them? Send us your questions at hello@thetennews.com or leave us a voice note 877-TEN-NEWS and we might have you on the show! Speaking of, back to it!

PAM: Aaaand, we’re back. Time for Number 6: <SFX DING! or voice effect> ICE Unfortunately not the ICE that you put in your drink, we’re talking about Immigration and Customs officials. In mid-May, Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff, allegedly threatened to fire senior ICE officials if they did not begin detaining 3000 migrants per day. This launched the Trump administration’s biggest crackdown on illegal immigration so far. ICE agents have been conducting raids in cities all over the country. It’s been pretty scary, to be honest, to hear about undocumented immigrants are being apprehended by agents with guns and sometimes in masks... and scary for families who worry about being arrested by ICE.

RYAN: Communities have been coming together to protest these actions and things escalated significantly last week in Los Angeles when ICE carried out raids in prominent Latino areas of the city. Residents protested peacefully but President Trump responded by sending in 2,000 members of the National Guard.

PAM: The National Guard are a military force typically activated by the governor of the state to help during natural disasters or times when additional force might be needed, and are usually requested by the Governor of the state. This is the first time they’ve been activated without the request of a state’s governor since 1965. California Governor Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass condemned deploying the National Guard, and said they believed local police could handle the situation. Newsom also called Trump’s actions “illegal” and has sued the Trump administration to stop the action. And since then, President Trump has ordered another 2,000 members of the National Guard and 700 marines to assist them. We aren’t sure where this will all lead and we hope that everyone in LA stays safe.

PAM: Ok, on to Number seven: <SFX DING! or voice effect> Ukraine and Russia. The war in Ukraine continues on and tension is at an all time high… A couple of weeks ago Ukraine launched a surprise drone attack that targeted Russian planes and airbases. The drone attack was a big success for Ukraine, damaging a large number of the Russian airfleet. Russia responded this week by launching their own attack, with 315 drones, one of the biggest attacks of the entire war, on the Ukraine capital, Kyiv. 7 of the capital’s 10 districts were hit, with at least 4 people injured and 1 dead. Further south, the port city of Odessa was also hit with more injuries and deaths. And a little good news…Despite the attacks on both sides, Russia and Ukraine recently completed a swap for Prisoners of War, under the age of 25.

RYAN: Number Eight: <SFX DING! or voice effect> over to the middle east to Israel and Gaza. The conflict between Israel and Gaza continues, with ceasefire talks between Hamas and Israel unfortunately falling through. Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that there had been “significant progress” in efforts to secure the release of the remaining hostages in Gaza, but that it was “too soon” to raise hopes that a deal would be reached.

PAM: Aid into Gaza for the Palestinian people has begun, after Israel’s blockade was partially lifted and a US backed plan to deliver the aid was set. But restrictions imposed by the Israeli military on aid routes, ongoing airstrikes and lack of security are making it difficult for the aid to be delivered to the Palestinians, according to the UN and other aid agencies.

PAM: The impact of this war has been devastating to the Palestinians in Gaza, who have suffered in Israel’s war against the terrorist organization, Hamas, and for the people who lost loved ones when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7th. The war has also caused a rise in anti-semitism, across the world, and especially here in the United States.

RYAN: This is a sidenote reminder, Ten’ers: <SFX: music bed> multiple things can be true at the same time. For instance, I want the Palestinians to be safe and I want the hostages being held in Gaza to come home. And it isn’t ok to blame all Jewish people for the actions of the Israeli government, just like how all Palestinians are not responsible for the actions of Hamas. So as always Ten’ers, please, try to be kind to your fellow humans.

PAM: Alright, this episode has been INCREDIBLY heavy…we need to change it up for the end, Ry, let’s have some fun. <SFX: fun music>

RYAN: Alright, number nine: my favorite topic, gaming! <SFX GGs!> <SFX One up sound!> So as you know, the Nintendo Switch 2 came out last week, which is a huge deal because new consoles only come out every 7-8 years. And I got to go to the midnight launch of the Switch 2 at the Nintendo Store in New York…more on that in a bonus ep coming soon. AND, we’ve been teasing this, I met one of our favorite AAPI AND LGBTQ+ celebrities… BOWEN YANG and asked him a question for all of our Ten’ers: <BOWEN YANG CLIP>

PAM: He is so great! You can catch Bowen Yang in Wicked: For Good on November 21st. And that brings us to number 10: Summer movies! The Summer movie season is in full swing and is looking to be a big one. The live action Lilo and Stitch has been a huge hit so far, and then on June 20th Elio from Disney/Pixar is coming…

RYAN: And then on July 11th we have James Gunn’s Superman, which is the first live action entry into the new DC Cinematic Universe. And then on July 18th a new Smurfs movie and on July 25th we’ve got Marvel’s Fantastic 4!

PAM: And on August 1st, there’s the Bad Guys 2, which looks hilarious, and Freakier Friday on August 8th. Wow, I think this is going to be an epic Summer and I’m looking forward to spending some time in a movie theater with friends.

RYAN: Let’s go to our Trivia Master, Owen, to see if we missed any…

OWEN: Thanks Pam and Ryan! You did in fact miss one…Today’s trivia is about an old animated movie I love, that was recently made into a live action film… The original How to Train Your Dragon was released in 2010 and would go on to launch a franchise of animated films, a children’s book series and the live action remake that comes out on June 13th.

But in the original How to Train Your Dragon film… what was the name main character and his dragon? Was it…

Burps and Fangs
Toot Toot and Winky
Hiccup and Toothless
Sneezy and Molar

OWEN: The answer is… C! The main character is a young viking named Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third. In the film the vikings are fighting and hunting dragons, until Hiccup befriends a young dragon, who he names Toothless, for his retractable teeth. Hiccup eventually designs a harness and prosthetic fin that allows Toothless to fly and for Hiccup to ride on his back. I don’t want to give anything else away, but I highly recommend the original animated film. And if you like it, the live action remake comes out in theaters tomorrow June 13th!

RYAN: And that…was the last thing you needed to know from Season Five… I’m not gonna lie Pam, this ended up being a pretty hefty episode.

PAM: Yeah. There have been a lot of things happening this year, and we don’t want to constantly overload you Ten’ers! But we do our best to keep you informed.

RYAN: Speaking of… I’m excited to drop a BONUS episode tomorrow. That has NOTHING to do with politics and EVERYTHING to do with VIDEO GAMES.

PAM: Are you going to do a little Deep Dive into the Switch 2?

RYAN: THAT IS CORRECT. So if you want to hear all about the Switch 2 and my adventures at the Midnight Launch, tune in tomorrow! There will be no other news in the episode, JUST VIDEO GAME GOODNESS!

PAM: Before you start your Summer of Gaming, we gotta give Ten News Snaps to some of our listeners!

RYAN: And before that, here’s a quick note for the grownups.

RYAN: Time for Ten News Snaps!

PAM: A Ten’er named Fire Fog called this, “the best kids podcast and said, I enjoy listening to your podcast at night.” Thank you so much Fire Fog, I hope you have a good sleep tonight! And Buffkid55 said, “READ SLOWER. Don’t get me wrong, I love the show, but they could definitely talk a little slower. Thx.”

RYAN: (talks slowly) I will work on talking more slowly over the Summer, thanks buffkid55. In the meantime, Superkid100 said, Ten News is Amazing, I love the Ten News and I learned so much from it!!! Thank you Superkid100, you are Supercool1000.

RYAN: ALSO, I stopped by Hamilton Park Montessori School in Jersey City and my friends there wanted to say… <HI HELLO SUPERCUT!> Congrats on completing your podcast unit and thanks for listening to our show.

PAM: And two extra notes for the grown-ups, you can now get ad-free versions of our episodes when you join the Ten’ers Club on our website.

RYAN: And if you want to help support the Ten News, you can make a tax-deductible donation at the link in our show notes. The whole team thanks you for your support!

PAM: “The Ten News” is a co-production of Small But Mighty Media and Next Chapter Podcasts, and part of the Airwave Podcast Network.

RYAN: The Ten News creative team is getting ready for the Summer Break and includes Tracey Not a Crooks, Adam the Great Bambino Bernard, Brian Not Ryan Douglas and Carson Not So Harry Potter. Big thanks to Owen, Not Slowin Down for Anybody.

PAM: Our Production Director is Jeremiah Tittle, and our Executive Producers are Donald Albright, Albright, Albright! and show creator Tracy Takes the Leeds Kaplan. I’m Pamela Kirkland.

RYAN: And I’m Ryan Willard, thanks for listening to the Ten News.

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