Every day brings a new set of headlines.
Here on Off Script, we’re more interested in the questions they leave behind.
This week, we’re going audio only.
So wherever you’re listening, settle in, we’ve got a lot to talk about.
— The Unbiased Updates Team
In This Episode
- The national debt just hit $40 trillion. It’s such a large number that it almost doesn’t feel real. But does it actually cost you money? We’re breaking it down with our cost of living reporter.
- The Trump Administration wants to change how children are vaccinated, including separating shots that are now given together. But why are those vaccines scheduled the way they are in the first place? We’ll talk to our health reporter, who dug into the science, and discuss what could change if those shots are spaced out.
- We’ve heard a lot about Dolly Parton this week. But now, parents are sharing something Dolly did for their kids that many people never knew about.
What Matters
First, What Matters: a story that caught our attention this week — and why we think it deserves yours.
The national debt just reached $40 trillion. How could it affect your wallet?
The big story for us right now is probably one you don’t need a headline to put into words how you feel. The cost of living. We feel it every time we charge that card.
But developments in the news continue to affect our day-to-day expenses. The national debt just hit $40 trillion. The money we’re spending just to pay the interest on that debt exceeds a trillion dollars a year. That’s more than we spend on our annual defense.
Senior Cost of Living Reporter Lauren Pearle helps us answer a few key questions, namely, whether it affects us personally or whether the government can just keep writing checks.
Conversation highlights:
SIMONE DEL ROSARIO: I did the math just to put this into perspective. $40 trillion works out to roughly $117,000 per person in the United States. What does that level of debt mean for our personal finances, if anything?
LAUREN PEARLE: Sure. It sounds like Monopoly money to most of us, and it certainly is a staggeringly high number.
But it does affect everyday Americans because it’s pushing up borrowing costs. Bond yields have gone up, and investors can become skittish about investing in U.S. government debt. Through a complicated process, those bond yields affect all kinds of borrowing costs, including credit cards, mortgages, car loans and other expenses that hit Americans directly in the pocketbook.
So it does matter to all of us.
And, of course, there could be a breaking point where things really get out of hand. We’ve been warned about that possibility, and there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight to the growth of the debt.
DEL ROSARIO: Yeah, and all of the projections are pretty concerning at this point. I just mentioned that interest payments alone are expected to double over the next 10 years.
When you’re doing your reporting, what’s one thing you often find yourself having to debunk about the national debt?
PEARLE: Two things stand out. One is that debt by itself is not the end of the world. We’ve had debt for a long time. Some level of debt is normal in a growing and complex economy like ours. The issue is that it has become very large. The other thing that surprises a lot of people is that debt growth is bipartisan. No recent president has really solved the problem.
In fact, I recently reported on an economist’s analysis of debt growth relative to GDP across different administrations. The fastest growth occurred under Barack Obama, but Trump is now on track to surpass that pace of debt-to-GDP growth over his administrations.
The fact that this has occurred under presidents from both parties is something many people may not realize.
Now to You
There’s no shortage of opinions online, but what’s hard to find is answers.
This is Now To You, where we take your questions, comments and hot takes — and dig for the facts.
Canada has now hit back “dollar for dollar” after Trump imposed new 50% tariffs on billions of dollars’ worth of Canadian goods. But one viewer says this isn’t an equal fight.
Viewer comment:
STRAIGHT ARROW: So, is that correct? Who’s actually taking the bigger hit?
Let’s start with Canada. Canada is clearly more vulnerable to these tariffs. The U.S. is Canada’s largest export destination, and tariffs have already affected industries like steel, autos and manufacturing. Canadian businesses have cut jobs and reduced orders in the hardest-hit sectors, and the Bank of Canada has stated U.S. tariffs are shrinking the economy.
Still, calling Canada “absolutely crushed” may be an overstatement.
The damage isn’t even across Canada’s economy. For instance, steel exports have fallen by about half, but auto exports have remained only slightly below 2024 levels. And these latest U.S. tariffs cover about 5% of Canada’s exports to the U.S.
But America isn’t escaping the damage, either.
U.S. companies that depend on Canadian imports face higher costs, which they could pass on to consumers. And now, Canada’s next move will be to mirror the U.S. Starting Sept. 8, Ottawa will match the new U.S. tariffs dollar for dollar. Targeting about $20 billion USD in American goods, including steel, dairy, appliances, farm equipment and electronics.
So, is Canada taking more punches?
Relative to its economy size and dependence on the U.S., the evidence suggests yes. But that doesn’t mean Canada is economically devastated or that the U.S. is free of costs.
Inside the Story
Ok, let’s go Inside the Story.
You can read the stories on Straight Arrow, but this is where we go a step further, getting at the details that didn’t fit, the questions that came up and the reporting that shaped the story.
When should children get each vaccine dose? And who gets to decide?
The Trump Administration wants childhood vaccines given separately whenever possible, which could mean more trips to the doctor and changes to the timing of some shots.
That got our health reporter, Jess Craig, thinking, “Why do kids get certain vaccines at 2 months, 6 months or a year old in the first place?”
In her report published this week, Jess looks at three common vaccines — Hepatitis B, D-TAP and MMR — to explore the timing and what could change.
Conversation highlights:
SIMONE DEL ROSARIO: What inspired you to dig into this specific angle in the first place?
JESS CRAIG: The immediate news hook was the recent Trump administration executive order calling on the CDC, pediatricians and other public health providers to look into separating vaccine doses whenever possible.
The Trump administration has long called for changes to the national vaccine schedule, questioning whether all recommended vaccines and doses are necessary. One example is the MMR vaccine, which protects against measles, mumps and rubella. The administration has discussed separating that combined vaccine into three separate shots.
That got me thinking: What do we know about the safety of giving vaccines together versus separately? And why are certain vaccines scheduled at specific ages in the first place?
I wanted to dig into both the science and the logistics behind those decisions.
DEL ROSARIO: Based on what you found, is the current vaccine schedule the way it’s always been done? Is it normal to revisit these recommendations?
CRAIG: The federal government began developing national vaccine guidelines in the 1960s, but it wasn’t until the 1990s that organizations like the CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics came together around a unified national schedule.
Since then, the schedule has been updated periodically as new research emerges, particularly around safety and effectiveness. Public health experts routinely review the evidence to make sure recommendations remain current and aligned with the best available science.
DEL ROSARIO: I’m nearly eight months pregnant, so in a little over a month I’ll be making regular trips to the pediatrician’s office. How often are families typically going now, and what could that look like if these recommendations move forward?
CRAIG: Right now, newborns typically receive the hepatitis B vaccine shortly after birth. After that, many vaccines are given during the two-, four- and six-month visits.
For new parents, that can feel like a lot because several vaccines may be administered during the same appointment. The MMR vaccine is typically first given between 12 and 15 months, with additional doses or boosters later in childhood.
We don’t yet have details about what these proposed changes would look like. But if combination vaccines were separated into individual shots, the number of visits could increase significantly.
For example, if MMR became three separate vaccines, you’ve effectively tripled the number of appointments needed for protection against those diseases. Depending on how extensive the changes are, families could go from a handful of vaccine visits to potentially many more.
DEL ROSARIO: Is there science behind separating MMR, the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine?
CRAIG: I spoke with several experts, and the existing research shows that the combined MMR vaccine is safe and effective.
That said, there are some arguments in favor of separating certain components. For example, immunity to mumps can wane over time, which is one reason outbreaks sometimes occur on college campuses. In theory, having a standalone mumps vaccine could offer some flexibility in those situations.
There’s also evidence that children may only need one dose of rubella protection, even though the current recommendation is two doses of MMR.
But the science has to be balanced with the practical realities of vaccine development. Creating a new vaccine takes years of research, clinical trials, regulatory review and significant investment.
If the United States moves toward separate vaccines, manufacturers would first need to develop and seek approval for those products. That process would take both time and money.
Read Jess Craig’s full story here >
Also Worth Your Time
Want more to read?
Here’s what didn’t make the cut on Unbiased Updates this week — but we think it’s Also Worth Your Time.
US Air Force major faces charges for criticizing Trump
A U.S. Air Force major who has been detained twice in recent weeks for speaking out against President Donald Trump now faces charges in military court.
The Air Force has charged Maj. Jason Watson — first detained last month while protesting on the steps of the U.S. Capitol in full uniform, calling for Trump’s impeachment — with several violations, including three counts under Article 88 for allegedly making “contemptuous” remarks about the president.
He’s also accused of disobeying orders and of conduct unbecoming an officer.
Watson’s lawyer told CNN on Monday that he “stands by the fact that he did this so others wouldn’t have to.”
The Air Force is holding Watson in pretrial confinement.
Former NBA players denied WNBA eligibility
Two former NBA players said they wanted in on the WNBA draft after they declared they’re women. However, league sources called the move a publicity stunt.
A source told The Associated Press that the pair are ineligible to play in the league.
Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White — who was also a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Minnesota — both recently announced plans to enter the 2027 draft.
Their announcements appeared to be aimed at the debate over transgender athletes in women’s sports.
The WNBA’s collective bargaining agreement says the league is restricted to women, but it doesn’t address gender identity or sex assigned at birth. The league hasn’t said why.
Freedom was also escorted out of Sunday’s Indiana Fever vs. Chicago Sky game after a confrontation with Sky Guard Natasha Cloud.
Here’s the Kicker
Feeling overwhelmed by this week’s headlines? We’ve got a good way for you to head into the end of the week.
A lasting legacy: Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library
This week, we’ve discussed Dolly Parton’s music, her career and the life she built beyond East Tennessee. But many people are only now discovering a part of her story.
For years, her name has appeared in mailboxes nationwide on books sent to young children. She launched The Imagination Library in 1995 in her childhood county in Tennessee. The idea originated from her father, who couldn’t read or write.
“Before he passed away, my daddy told me that The Imagination Library was the most important thing I’d ever done. Now I can’t tell you how much that meant to me, because I created The Imagination Library as a tribute to my daddy … he was the smartest man I’ve ever known. But I knew in my heart his inability to read probably kept him from seeing all his dreams come true.”
The program started small, but today it serves one in six American children under five. Kids receive a free book every month from birth until age five, regardless of their family’s income. Since Dolly’s death on Tuesday, parents have shared videos on social media of the books their children have received over the years.
The Imagination Library assures that the books will continue to be delivered. Lastly, we leave you with Dolly’s words on her motivation: “Let’s share this dream that all children should grow up in a home full of books. The first step is always the hardest, but you’ll never know unless you try.”
