🎙️ What a show tells
Up First (NPR)
- CENTERour grouping of the show
- 25claims in our motif index
- 33motifs they came up in
⚠️ Stories told, not claims that they're true.
What the show's hosts, guests, callers and the clips they play said, as claims in our words, filed by the shape of the story. "Came up on" the show: told, reported or argued against. We don't yet mark which.
✍️ Its signature
the motifs it tells far more than the other shows we follow do
🧩 Proxy warfare 🧩 Midterm curse 🧩 Political party surge
👯 Tells the most alike
the shows whose stories overlap most with its own, whatever their lean
- 🎙️ BBC Global News Podcast 32% alike · center
- 🎙️ Morning Wire 28% alike · right
- 🎙️ 1A (WAMU/NPR) 24% alike · center
- 🎙️ Pod Save America 22% alike · left
- 🎙️ Breaking Points 22% alike · center
🧩 Its repertoire
every motif its claims came up in, the most first
🧩 Political party surge ×3 🧩 Proxy warfare ×2 🧩 Midterm curse ×2 🧩 Rich should pay their fair share ×1 🧩 Betrayal by trusted figure ×1 🧩 Secrets leaked to enemy ×1 🧩 Owned politician ×1 🧩 Retreat ×1 🧩 Climate change costs ×1 🧩 Corporate accountability ×1 🧩 Political realignment ×1 🧩 The spy among us ×1 🧩 Oil market instability ×1 🧩 The war is escalating ×1 🧩 Checks and balances ×1 🧩 Citizen Kane ×1 🧩 Staffing shortage ×1 🧩 The megadeal ×1 🧩 Whose side are you on anyway? ×1 🧩 Electability ×1 🧩 Enthusiasm gap ×1 🧩 Taking credit ×1 🧩 Render unto Caesar ×1 🧩 Targeting civilians ×1 🧩 Playing defense ×1 🧩 Five O'Clock Follies ×1 🧩 Peace in our time ×1 🧩 Voters will remember ×1 🧩 Voting with their feet ×1 🧩 Abandoning an ally ×1 🧩 Shame if something happened to it ×1 🧩 Silent majority ×1 🧩 The face of the party ×1
🎙️ Lately on the show
its latest claims, in our words, with their motifs
- 2026-10-24 “Marine Le Pen is gaining support because scenes of chaos and looting benefit the far right.”
🧩 Political party surge 🧩 Silent majority - 2026-10-23 “Democrats are showing much higher enthusiasm and turnout in early voting compared to Republicans.”
🧩 Enthusiasm gap - 2026-10-23 “The Trump regime is lying about the amount of oil successfully exiting the Strait of Hormuz.”
🧩 Taking credit 🧩 Five O'Clock Follies - 2026-10-22 “Polls show Republicans could lose support in deep red areas like Mississippi in the coming weeks.”
🧩 Political realignment - 2026-10-21 “Ukrainians believe the U.S. is siding with Russia.”
🧩 Whose side are you on anyway? 🧩 Abandoning an ally - 2026-10-21 “Trump is delivering an ultimatum by tying government settlements to election outcomes.”
🧩 Shame if something happened to it - 2026-10-15 “Hasan Piker says he is a Twitch streamer with no office or power, so tying Democratic candidates to him can't work.”
🧩 The face of the party - 2026-10-14 “Russia violated an energy truce by attacking a Ukrainian power plant shortly after it was announced.”
🧩 Peace in our time - 2026-10-08 “Republicans are spending significant amounts of money to defend traditionally safe districts.”
🧩 Playing defense - 2026-10-07 “Germany's former spy chief is suspected of treason for passing secrets to a foreign government.”
🧩 Betrayal by trusted figure 🧩 Secrets leaked to enemy 🧩 The spy among us - 2026-10-07 “The U.S. withdrew long-range bombers from a British air base due to a credible threat of a drone strike linked to Iran.”
🧩 Retreat - 2026-10-07 “Massive protests and clashes with police are occurring in France because of crumbling schools and teacher shortages.”
🧩 Staffing shortage - 2026-10-06 “The Houthis are targeting Saudi oil sites and airports with missiles and drones.”
🧩 Proxy warfare 🧩 Oil market instability - 2026-10-06 “The Houthis have launched attacks on Saudi ships, particularly those transporting crude oil.”
🧩 Proxy warfare - 2026-10-06 “Democrats have a favorable momentum in the midterm elections.”
🧩 Political party surge - 2026-10-06 “The Houthi war is escalating following an attack on a Saudi airport.”
🧩 The war is escalating 🧩 Targeting civilians - 2026-10-06 “The merger of Paramount, Skydance, and Warner Bros. Discovery will create a massive media empire controlled by David Ellison.”
🧩 Citizen Kane 🧩 The megadeal - 2026-10-06 “President Trump has a very low approval rating heading into the midterms.”
🧩 Midterm curse - 2026-10-06 “The president's party typically loses seats during midterm elections.”
🧩 Midterm curse - 2026-10-05 “Climate change is a global issue that should be handled by the federal government rather than state courts.”
🧩 Climate change costs 🧩 Corporate accountability 🧩 Checks and balances - 2026-10-05 “Flavio Bolsonaro outperformed the incumbent Lula in the first round of the Brazilian election.”
🧩 Political party surge - 2026-10-03 “Proposition 40 would impose a one-time 5% tax on the overall assets of billionaires in California.”
🧩 Rich should pay their fair share - 2026-10-03 “Opposing the billionaire tax could be a political risk for Governor Newsom given his potential presidential ambitions.”
🧩 Owned politician 🧩 Electability 🧩 Voters will remember - 2026-10-03 “Colorado's universal preschool program creates a conflict between state non-discrimination pledges and Catholic Church teachings on LGBTQ issues.”
🧩 Render unto Caesar - 2026-10-03 “A billionaire tax could drive wealthy residents out of California and reduce state revenue for schools and police.”
🧩 Voting with their feet