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The most important stories for you to know today
  • Some car companies are working with Tesla
    A red and a white Tesla are parked in a Tesla brand electric vehicle charging spot.
    Tesla electrical charging stalls.

    Topline:

    Ford will join Tesla’s vast network of 12,000 Supercharger fast-charging stations. Early next year, it will offer an adapter that will allow Ford drivers to connect Tesla’s charging cables to their cars. Beginning in 2025, the company’s EVs will be manufactured with Tesla’s charging port.

    Why it matters: The growing embrace of Tesla’s network could transform the public charging experience for EV drivers, who will gain access to Supercharger stations throughout North America. It is meant to catalyze EV adoption by providing a simpler, more expansive, and more reliable experience than those offered by notoriously unreliable third-party networks.

    The backstory: Two weeks later, General Motors CEO Mary Barra held her own Twitter Space with Musk to reveal that GM would join the network by offering adapters, to be followed by adopting its ports. Rivian and Volvo recently said the same.

    What's next: The decision by two of the Big Three automakers to adopt Tesla’s standard will essentially double the number of places where customers can fill up. On Tuesday, the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation announced it will collaborate with the Society for Automotive Engineers to conduct an expedited review of NACS as a potential “public standard.”

    Ford CEO Jim Farley was driving his family back from vacation in Lake Tahoe last summer when he recognized something most EV owners know well: Public charging can be a headache.

    On the 300-mile trip to Monterey, California, it wasn’t easy to find places to plug in his Ford Mustang Mach-E. His children had no problem, however, spotting the numerous Tesla Supercharger stations along the way.

    “My kids kept looking at me, ‘Hey Dad, there’s another Supercharger, can we stop there? How about there?’” Farley recounted in a conversation on Twitter Spaces in May. “I’d say, ‘No, we have to go over here, behind this other building.’”

    Farley said that was when he realized Tesla had done far better than any other charging network in creating an easy, dependable, and accessible customer experience. So easy, in fact, that he wanted Ford customers to be able to access it, too.

    Farley was on Twitter to make an unprecedented announcement with Tesla CEO Elon Musk: Ford will join Tesla’s vast network of 12,000 Supercharger fast-charging stations. Early next year, it will offer an adapter that will allow Ford drivers to connect Tesla’s charging cables to their cars. Beginning in 2025, the company’s EVs will be manufactured with Tesla’s charging port.

    “It was shocking,” said Loren McDonald, who runs the analytics firm EVAdoption, adding that Farley was sending a clear message. “He had absolutely no confidence that the charging networks could get their act together. Or why would you join with your competitor?”

    A white Tesla is parked at an electric vehicle Tesla brand stall.
    Beginning next year, Ford EVs like this Mustang Mach-E will be able to connect to Tesla Superchargers using an adapter.
    (
    Courtesy of Ford Motor Company
    )

    The once unimaginable decision set off a cascade of echoing announcements. Two weeks later, General Motors CEO Mary Barra held her own Twitter Space with Musk to reveal that GM would join the network by offering adapters, to be followed by adopting its ports. Rivian and Volvo recently said the same.

    The growing embrace of Tesla’s network could transform the public charging experience for EV drivers, who will gain access to Supercharger stations throughout North America. It is meant to catalyze EV adoption by providing a simpler, more expansive, and more reliable experience than those offered by notoriously unreliable third-party networks. And it suddenly increased the likelihood that the U.S. could one day see a single charging standard rather than the patchwork of systems that frustrate current EV drivers and could scare off potential ones.

    While the announcements surprised many, in some ways they were inevitable. Tesla began building its proprietary global charging network over a decade ago, just as the company introduced its first sedan, the Model S.

    “Tesla understood that in order for them to sell a lot of EVs, they had to take it upon themselves to build out the infrastructure,” said McDonald.

    Perhaps presumptuously, Tesla named its system the North American Charging Standard, or NACS. In actuality, it is far from the standard. There are three EV fast-charging cable configurations in the U.S. CHAdeMO connectors are used almost exclusively by the Nissan Leaf, while most other EVs use the Combined Charging System, or CCS. Each has a different shape, and they are not interchangeable.

    No other automaker built a network like Tesla’s, leaving most EV drivers dependent upon third-party networks like EVgo, Chargepoint, and Electrify America for their public charging needs. Drivers often encounter broken chargers and long wait times, if they can find a fast charger at all.

    In a 2022 survey by the consumer advocacy group Plug In America, one-quarter of non-Tesla EV drivers said broken chargers or sparse locations were a “major difficulty” or “deal breaker” to using some of the biggest fast-charging networks. Only 2-3% of Tesla drivers said that of their network.

    Customer frustration is catching up with legacy automakers and third-party charging networks, said Matt Teske, CEO of Chargeway, a mobile app designed to help users find and utilize charging stations.

    “Everyone else was saying, ‘We build cars in a silo, you build chargers in a silo, but hopefully we make those things connect somehow,’” said Teske. That is, until the automakers saw that the two weren’t connecting. “They finally realized that the business model used by many third-party networks doesn’t truly serve the driver, and that impacted the ownership experience.”

    The decision by two of the Big Three automakers to adopt Tesla’s standard will essentially double the number of places where customers can fill up. It will also simplify the experience. Whereas a typical Electrify America or Chargepoint station may have four to six chargers, Supercharger stations can have as many as 50 to 100, reducing or eliminating wait times. Tesla’s charging cable and connector are smaller and lighter than CCS and CHAdeMO, making them easier to handle, and its chargers don’t have screens, which can break or be difficult to read. Payments are made exclusively through a mobile app.

    Teske said this kind of efficiency is key to getting drivers to abandon internal combustion. “What truly will accelerate electric vehicle adoption is, how do we get average consumers to look at using electricity as their fuel of choice when buying a car and say, ‘That’s easy,’” he said.

    Of course, the Tesla charging network can’t bear the burden of charging all 1.8 million electric vehicles on U.S. roads today, much less the 28.3 million expected by 2030. By one estimate, the country will need 172,000 public fast chargers by then. It currently has about 9,000. As third-party networks scale up, the moves by Ford, GM, and Rivian put pressure on them to do better.

    “It’s forcing everybody else to get their act together,” said McDonald, “because if they don’t, they’re out of business at some point.”

    EVgo and Chargepoint, among others, have announced they will add NACS connectors to their stations. That, of course, does not address issues with spotty reliability or cumbersome user experiences.

    Nor does it solve the problem of customer confusion over which connector is compatible with their car and which charging stalls offer that connection — an impediment to ownership that the adoption of a single universal charging standard could solve.

    Some in the industry publicly support this idea, including General Motors. “We have a real opportunity to drive this to be the unified standard for North America, which will enable even more mass adoption,” Barra said during her conversation with Musk.

    An electric vehicle stall with all white interface and black and blue accent colors.
    An EVgo charging stall in Vienna, Virginia, includes both CCS and CHAdeMO connectors. EVgo has announced it will add NACS connectors to its chargers.
    (
    Saul Loeb
    /
    AFP via Getty Images
    )

    Adopting a single standard would not happen overnight — there are hundreds of thousands of electric vehicles already on the road that don’t use Tesla’s plug, and the world’s two largest automakers, Volkswagen and Toyota, have not indicated they will embrace NACS.

    The Biden administration, which has invested billions in accelerating EV adoption, has not publicly supported a single standard either. On Tuesday, the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation announced it will collaborate with the Society for Automotive Engineers to conduct an expedited review of NACS as a potential “public standard.” Such a designation would make it available to any manufacturer, much like a USB-C cord, which could further NACS adoption by more automakers.

    That said, a $5 billion grant program run by the Joint Office to build 500,000 charging stations by 2030 still requires eligible projects to include at least four CCS connectors. While Texas and Washington recently added requirements that such projects also include NACS connectors, the Joint Office has not followed suit.

    “I think we’re headed down a two standard-connector path for much of the rest of this decade,” said McDonald, who likened the landscape to other widespread technologies with dueling interfaces, like Apple versus Android and Windows versus Mac.

    In the short term, it’s possible that charging could become even more confusing, as networks try to accommodate all three standards in their stations. Drivers may need to rely on adapters that they attach to connector cables to make them compatible with their car, adding a layer of hardware that can break or get lost.

    “This is what happens when you have a Wild West approach to technology and everybody’s trying to prove they have the best mousetrap,” Teske said. “Unless there’s a really strong push for regulation to step in and change the conversation, we’re going to have a very messy landscape for drivers to contend with for years to come.”

    It is already possible to catch a glimpse of what automaker-agnostic Supercharger stations will look like by visiting one of Tesla’s 11 Magic Dock Supercharger locations, which include CCS adapters so other cars can plug in.

    At the Magic Dock in Placerville, California, last week, Dawn Sorrell pulled up to charge a Tesla Model Y that she’d rented for a trip from Virginia to visit her mother in Northern California. It was her first time driving a fully electric car. “It’s a completely different mindset, I’m just figuring it out as I go,” she said.

    Sorrell supported the idea of outside automakers accessing the Tesla network. “Anything where you’re opening it up more is going to be better,” she said, “because it’s stressful, making sure you have a charge.”

  • How Californians can prepare
    An election worker prepares mail ballots at the Clark County Election Department on Nov. 8, 2022, in Las Vegas. The Republican National Committee and the Trump campaign have filed a federal lawsuit seeking to prevent Nevada from counting mail ballots received after Election Day, as state law permits.
    An election worker prepares mail-in ballots.

    Topline:

    Ballots are going out in less than a month, and California remains locked in a legal battle with the Trump administration over the president’s push to rein in universal mail-in voting.

    Why it matters: The back-and-forth has some California voters likely wondering whether they’ll be able to vote by mail in this upcoming election. And if so, should they?

    Read on for the state of play.

    Ballots are going out in less than a month, and California remains locked in a legal battle with the Trump administration over the president’s push to rein in universal mail-in voting.

    The back-and-forth has some California voters likely wondering whether they’ll be able to vote by mail in this upcoming election. And if so, should they?

    In short — yes, mail-in voting will still be an option this year. And yes, it’s still safe and generally reliable, although county election officials are urging voters to send in their ballots as early as possible ahead of the Nov. 3 election.

    In case you missed it, the U.S. Supreme Court is poised to issue a ruling that will determine, at least for now, whether President Donald Trump can force the U.S. Postal Service to restrict vote-by-mail ballots in time for the midterm election. Trump wants to create a federal database of registered voters that the postal service would then cross-reference to ensure mail-in ballots are only delivered to eligible voters — in other words, U.S. citizens. His plan would have the postal service refuse to deliver ballots in states that withhold the data.

    The dizzying, monthslong legal saga has baffled voters and even some election officials, which some voting rights advocates argue is probably the point.

    But California election officials say the state is well-equipped to administer the election, regardless of how the Supreme Court rules. Although county registrars are monitoring the court rulings, they’re also preparing to mail ballots as usual by the state’s Oct. 5 deadline. Local and state officials are urging voters to make a plan to vote early and to use the state’s various non-mail voting options, such as drop-boxes and in-person voting sites, if they’re worried about the postal service.

    “Like we do for all of our elections, we have contingency plans or disaster plans put into place,” said Tricia Webber, clerk and registrar of voters for Santa Cruz County and president of the California Association of County Election Officials.

    Some counties, including Santa Cruz and Los Angeles, are exploring options for pop-up stations where voters could request and submit ballots. In Santa Cruz County, Webber said her team is strategizing how to deploy their votemobile around the county to add yet another option for voters.

    “Until there’s an answer,” Webber said, speaking of the pending court ruling, “California counties are doing business as usual.”

    What does Trump want USPS to do?

    Trump issued an executive order in March that sought to give the federal government control over who receives mail-in ballots. Almost immediately, more than 20 Democratic attorneys general, including California’s Rob Bonta, sued the Trump administration on the grounds that the Constitution allows only Congress and state governments to administer elections.

    Federal district and appellate courts sided with the Democratic states and upheld a temporary injunction preventing the postal service from implementing any part of its plan while litigation continues.

    The central questions in the case remain unresolved. The Supreme Court last month allowed the Trump administration to continue planning for how it would implement the president’s order. Democratic states promptly sued again to contest the postal service’s plans.

    The postal service’s proposal, the final version of which was published in August, would create a system to track each voter’s ballot with a unique barcode and cross-reference it with a database of eligible registered voters.

    While some states fear they’ll need to reprint envelopes if the postal service’s rule is upheld, the vast majority of California counties already use compliant ballot envelopes, Webber said.

    The federal government does not have a comprehensive list of every eligible registered voter and would need to rely on states to submit voter information to a “federal ballot mail portal” that does not yet exist.

    It seems unlikely that the postal service’s portal would even be functional in time for the 2026 midterm elections. A postal service whistleblower asserted that the process to develop and deploy the portal was “rushed,” “risky and haphazard” due to the “impossible timeframe,” according to Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal’s office, which received the whistleblower complaint.

    “In an effort to meet impossible deadlines, USPS has eliminated standard and needed testing, thereby creating substantial risk of a ‘catastrophic failure’ of the system that could ‘derail the midterm elections,’” wrote Blumenthal, of Connecticut, in a late August letter to Postmaster General David Steiner.

    The postmaster in June told a congressional committee that the postal service would withhold ballots in states that refuse to share basic voter information, including name, address and the unique ballot barcode.

    Secretary of State Shirley Weber, California’s chief elections administrator, has not said whether California would comply with the proposed voter information requirement.

    “California’s elections officials will continue to do everything within our power to ensure that every eligible California voter has the right to cast a mail ballot and have that vote count.”

    Last year, the U.S. Justice Department sued Weber and five other Democratic secretaries of state for refusing to turn over their unredacted voter files, which contain far more sensitive personal information than the postal service rule would require. A federal judge in Southern California dismissed that case in January.

    Uncertainty could fuel more early voting

    Ironically, concerns about the postal service’s reliability could facilitate what election officials and voting advocates have struggled to do for years — get people to vote earlier.

    Unlike the lead-up to the June primary, where nervous Democrats urged fellow voters to wait until the last minute to pick a candidate for governor, social media is now awash with posts urging people to vote early and use ballot drop-boxes rather than rely on the mail.

    “This whole play may backfire,” said Kim Alexander, president of the California Voter Foundation. “What you’re seeing now on social media in response to this court drama and this confusion are lots of people urging their friends to vote early — and that’s exactly what we’ve been saying.”

    Voting earlier helps county election officials tabulate results more quickly on election night, which helps race callers like The Associated Press declare winners faster. And since ballots in envelopes take the longest to process, dropping them off several days before the deadline is the best way to help election officials count faster, since they can remove ballots from envelopes and prepare them for counting before Election Day.

    “Fortunately, we give voters lots of options, and that’s really going to work to California’s benefit,” Alexander said. “Other states do not have the kind of robust process that creates lots of redundancies and avenues for voters to vote.”

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  • How the instrument became a holiday's soundtrack

    Topline:

    It's Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year. For many Jews around the world, a highlight of the holiday will be hearing the shofar: an animal's horn blown like a trumpet.

    What is a shofar? It can be the small, curved horn of a ram or the dramatic spiral of an African antelope. The sound it creates is unmistakable.

    Read on to find out how this instrument became a holiday's spiritual soundtrack.

    It can be the small, curved horn of a ram or the dramatic spiral of an African antelope. The sound it creates is unmistakable.

    Creating that sound is not difficult, but it does take some practice, said Rabbi Alicia Jo Rabins, a musician based in Portland, Oregon.

    You take a deep breath and purse your lips, like you are playing a brass instrument.

    Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year, begins at sunset Friday. Across the world, Jews will spend the two-day holiday in prayer, reflection and celebration. And for many, a highlight will be hearing the shofar: an animal's horn blown like a trumpet.

    How did this primal instrument become a holiday's spiritual soundtrack?

    " The most basic answer is that it makes noise, right? It calls people to attention," said Daniel Picus, an associate professor at Western Washington University in Bellingham who researches religious practices and rituals. "All of the instances in which a shofar is used in the Hebrew Bible, that is what it's doing."

    A man blows a shofar, a musical instrument used in Jewish religious ceremonies made from the horn of a ram.
    Abraham Ribak , an Israeli, blows a shofar, a musical instrument used in Jewish religious ceremonies made from the horn of a ram.
    (
    Ariel Schalit
    /
    AP
    )

    Shofar blasts marked the revelation of the Torah at Mt. Sinai and the start of the Jubilee year, Picus said. Priests blew shofars when they circled the walls of Jericho to bring down the walls. The shofar marks moments of heightened experience and emotion — and Rosh Hashanah.

    "In the Hebrew Bible, Rosh Hashanah is the day of trumpeting and the day of remembrance," Picus said. "The association of the shofar with Rosh Hashanah is right there in the Biblical text."

    Centuries later, the Mishnah, the earliest rabbinic codification of law, drilled down into greater detail in the tractate Rosh Hashanah, laying out exactly how a shofar should be prepared (hollowed out), repaired (it depends), blown (a complex series of blasts at several times during the service, thanks to debate over linguistic interpretation), and whether or not it can be blown when Rosh Hashanah falls on Shabbat (no, although some modern synagogues have changed course).

    And within the Talmud and for centuries thereafter, people have debated the meaning of the shofar.

    A bunch of dried ram horns.
    Shofars are on display for sale at the Barsheshet-Ribak Shofarot company, in Tel Aviv, Israel.
    (
    Ariel Schalit
    /
    AP
    )

    Rabbi Micha'el Rosenberg, who teaches at the Hadar Institute, a center for Jewish learning based in New York City, pointed to several sources that compare the sound of the shofar to the cry of a mother in pain — the mother of the slain biblical military commander Sisera, and the cries of a woman in labor.

    Rosenberg said you can hear that in the sound — especially the broken staccato blasts, known as "teruah."

    "You can really imagine someone so caught up that they can't get the full sound out even, that they're gasping with their cries," he said.

    Another interpretation comes from Maimonides, the medieval Jewish rabbi and scholar known as the Rambam, who wrote "The Laws of Repentance." He describes the blast of the shofar as a sort of spiritual wake-up call to become your best self.

    "In Jewish law, we have this expression of daled amos, my four cubits: I focus on the 6 feet around me, as it were," he said. "It's easy to do that — and there's value in doing that sometimes. But the shofar, per the Rambam, wakes us up and says, 'No, there's more beyond what I can immediately see around me.'"

    Rosenberg also pointed to Hasidic theories that the blowing of the shofar reenacts the breathing of life into the world. But he said one of the most powerful things about the shofar is that it doesn't say anything at all. "It transcends my words, it transcends my rational thoughts, and it really is just a feeling that I can hope to hold onto," he said.

    Rabins, the Portland rabbi and musician, said the shofar can call across time to speak to those wordless places inside us. "It really brings you into the moment, and you also feel connected to your ancestors, who have been hearing this sound and making this sound for thousands of years," she said.

    It's a sound, Rabin said, that can wake you up to all the joy and sadness of life, whether it be a birthday horn or a mother's cry. And it makes you pay attention — both to this moment, and to the year to come.


    This story was created through a partnership between NPR and Religion News Service.
    Copyright 2026 NPR

  • Our picks and how to watch

    Topline:

    The Pitt, Hacks, Widow's Bay and Pluribus are leading the Emmy nominations pack this year.

    So: Here's who we'll have our fingers crossed for during the ceremony on Monday night.

    How to watch the show: The 2026 Emmys will air live on NBC and stream on Peacock on Monday, Sept. 14, 2026, beginning at 5 p.m. PT.

    TV critics care a lot about the people who bring us the shows we love, so of course we each have folks we're pulling for this Emmy season. The Pitt, Hacks, Widow's Bay and Pluribus are leading the Emmy nominations pack this year. Here's who we'll have our fingers crossed for during the ceremony on Monday night.

    How to watch

    The 2026 Emmys will air live on NBC and stream on Peacock on Monday, Sept. 14, 2026, beginning at 5 p.m. PT.

    Outstanding drama series: Pluribus 

    A photo still from a TV show.
    Rhea Seehorn in "Pluribus."
    (
    Apple TV
    )

    HBO Max hit The Pitt likely wins here. But Apple TV's Pluribus triumphs as a revolutionary sci-fi story; a virus, created with instructions sent from the stars, unites humanity in a giant hive mind, creating paradise or the largest cult in history. — Eric Deggans

    Outstanding lead actor, drama: Noah Wyle, The Pitt 

    A photo still from a TV show featuring a white man in a hospital setting.
    Noah Wyle in "The Pitt."
    (
    Warrick Page
    /
    MAX
    )

    It's easy to overlook the massive feat star Noah Wyle achieved on The Pitt's second season; pushing a beloved character to the brink of unlikability. Wyle plays struggling Dr. "Robby" Rabinovich as a good guy in serious crisis, finding new depths. — Eric Deggans 

    Outstanding lead actress, drama: Rhea Seehorn, Pluribus 

    A photo still from a TV show with a white woman standing somewhere outside.
    Rhea Seehorn in "Pluribus."
    (
    <i>Apple TV</i>
    )

    At least half of this show is just watching Rhea Seehorn's Carol all by herself, parsing out the rules of a new post-apocalyptic world while mourning her wife. Yet it's always compelling, because Seehorn is a talent who should already have an Emmy! — Aisha Harris

    Outstanding supporting actress, drama: Karolina Wydra, Pluribus 

    A photo from a TV show featuring a woman in a peacoat.
    Karolina Wydra in "Pluribus."
    (
    Apple TV
    )

    Hoping Emmy voters look past the four actresses nominated from The Pitt to honor a performer who brought empathy and depth to a thankless role: Karolina Wydra as Zosia, the voice of the global hive mind, talking to Rhea Seehorn's Carol in Pluribus. — Eric Deggans 

    Outstanding comedy series: Margo's Got Money Troubles  

    A photo from a TV show featuring a young woman in a club-like setting.
    Elle Fanning in "Margo's Got Money Troubles."
    (
    <i>Apple TV</i>
    )

    Apple TV's Margo's Got Money Troubles is a comedy nominee that doesn't seem like one. But the story of a young woman leaning into problematic choices to build a life with her baby and quirky family was the year's most surprising, energizing show. — Eric Deggans 

    Outstanding lead actor, comedy: Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Wonder Man  

    A photo from a TV show of a black man in front of a ring light.
    Yahya Adbul-Mateen II in "Wonder Man."
    (
    Suzanne Tenner
    /
    Marvel/Disney+
    )

    This nomination was a surprise after Marvel cancelled its creative, quirky superhero series, Wonder Man. But star Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is spellbinding as a superpowered guy who just wants to be a successful actor, blending comedy, pathos and drama. — Eric Deggans 

    Outstanding lead actress, comedy: Lisa Kudrow, The Comeback   

    A still from a TV show of a woman smiling big.
    Lisa Kudrow in "The Comeback."
    (
    Emma Simkin
    /
    HBO
    )

    The category's stacked, but Lisa Kudrow's Valerie Cherish threads many needles beautifully: self-absorbed yet caring, oft-humiliated yet resilient, wacky but grounded when necessary. As a character in Season 3 says to her: "To me, you're it." Indeed. — Aisha Harris  

    Outstanding supporting actress, comedy: Kate O'Flynn, Widow's Bay  

    A photo from a TV show of a woman staring quizzingly at someone offscreen.
    Kate O'Flynn in "Widow's Bay."
    (
    Apple TV
    )

    It's all there in Episode 4, the one in which Patricia's desperate play to improve her social status — a cocktail party — goes awry. Kate O'Flynn knows this character, what drives her and what makes her so cringe (to us). It's utterly mesmerizing. — Aisha Harris 

    Outstanding supporting actor, comedy: Nick Offerman, Margo's Got Money Troubles  

    A still from a TV show of a man with a beard and in a tank top.
    Nick Offerman in "Margo's Got Money Troubles."
    (
    <i>Apple TV</i>
    )

    Nick Offerman excels playing macho guys who are more sensitive than anyone expects. But he scales new heights as Jinx, an ex-wrestler/once-estranged dad, struggling with addiction while trying to support his daughter in Margo's Got Money Troubles. — Eric Deggans 

    Outstanding writing for a comedy series: The Comeback 

    A photo still from a TV show of a white people with orange ginger hair on a soundstage.
    Lisa Kudrow in "The Comeback."
    (
    Erin Simkin
    /
    HBO
    )

    A new season comes around every 10 years (like the census!) to provide us a clear-eyed accounting (like the census!). This show was right about reality TV and streaming services; we ignore this season's dire, hilarious warnings about AI at our peril. — Glen Weldon 

    Outstanding limited or anthology series: DTF St. Louis  

    A photo from a TV show featuring two people doing yoga.
    Jason Bateman and David Harbour in "DTF St. Louis."
    (
    Tina Rowden
    /
    HBO
    )

    It's tough to explain how a show about the mysterious death of a schlubby guy stuck in a love triangle became the year's most creatively quirky limited series. Somehow, star David Harbour turns this tale of middle-aged desperation into poignant, dark comedy. — Eric Deggans 

    And already announced

    I'm happy to report that two of my picks already took home their Emmys in a ceremony last weekend formerly known as the Creative Arts Emmys. So congratulations to Betty Gilpin, who won outstanding guest actress in a comedy for Widow's Bay, and to The Muppet Show for outstanding writing for a variety special. (A third pick — Connor Storrie's game, goofball turn as SNL host — didn't end up winning outstanding guest actor in a comedy, but seeing as that award went to the late Rob Reiner for The Bear, I'm not complaining.) — Glen Weldon
    Copyright 2026 NPR

  • Glendale resident in finals for singing contest
    A female presenting person wears a dark hat and holds a microphone to her mouth.
    Glendale, Calif., resident Tiffany Galaviz is one of seven finalists for the binational "México Canta" contest. The finals take place Sept. 13 in Mexico City

    Topline:

    Tiffany Galaviz, from Glendale, is in the finals of México Canta, a singing competition in Mexico with contestants from both sides of the border.

    Why it matters: The program has a social mission: to strengthen the bonds between those with Mexican heritage in the U.S. and Mexico.

    The backstory: The contest was created last year by Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum’s Culture Secretary to counter the proliferation of songs that glorify drug dealing and violence.

    What's next: The Sept. 13 México Canta finals will take place three days before Mexican Independence. The three winners will receive recording contracts.

    Read on… about Galaviz and her road to the finals.

    A Spanish-language TV singing competition from Mexico is doing something that mega-popular shows like The Voice are not. México Canta brings contestants from the U.S. and Mexico together to share the stage — and cultural ties.

    “I am very connected to my Mexican side and those roots, [but] I've never really gotten to perform for such a big Mexican audience,” said Tiffany Galaviz, who performed on the show last month. She was born and raised in L.A. County and lives in Glendale.

    The semifinals were held in L.A.’s Orpheum Theater on Aug. 23, and the winners were chosen by hundreds of thousands of people who cast votes online. Galaviz made it through, which means she’ll be one of seven finalists who will perform in the competition on Sunday, Sept. 13 at Mexico City’s prestigious Auditorio Nacional.

    Three will be named winners and will receive recording contracts.

    “It's a huge, huge venue [that’s]  very important to the Mexican culture,” Galaviz said. “More than anything, I just feel really proud, especially making my family proud. Most of my family is from Sinaloa, and I spent a lot of summers there growing up."

    A female presenting person wears a blue, floral top. She plays the violin. She is standing in front of a white office building with dozens of windows.
    Tiffany Galaviz is a mariachi musician in Southern California.
    (
    Screenshot from México Canta video
    )

    Studying mariachi since she was 8

    The U.S. semi-finalists included performers from Arizona, Illinois and New York, while finalists from Mexico came from Morelos and Mexico City, among other places.

    Galaviz is 24 and first started learning to play violin and sing in mariachi bands when she was 8. She plays violin and sings in mariachis across Southern California now and makes a living from it.

    “I signed up for México Canta because I feel like I have everything that I need except the connections, the resources, the producers, the studios,” she said.

    Created as an alternative to songs that glorify violence

    The Voice and its Spanish-language counterpart La Voz create a platform for celebrity and the potential for stardom. But that’s less so for México Canta. The competition was created by Mexico’s Secretary of Culture to bring together people of Mexican heritage from both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border around songwriting that’s an alternative to music that glorifies violence.

    “We’ve strengthened fraternal ties between people in Mexico and the U.S.,” said Claudia Curiel de Icaza, Mexico’s culture secretary, when she presented the seven U.S. semi-finalists at a morning press conference on July 23. The seven semi-finalists from Mexico were presented a week later.

    “Youth are front and center in the transformation of culture. [The contest has shown] that music has no borders, and it is furthering fellowship between Mexicans and Mexican Americans,” Curiel said.

    Galaviz said that’s another important reason she signed up for México Canta.

    She picked the corrido musical genre for the song she performed at the Orpheum. She’s had a love-hate relationship with corridos, she said, because many contemporary songs in the genre glorify drug dealing and violence.

    Female presenting person sings passionately into a microphone.
    Tiffany Galaviz performed at the México Canta semifinals at the Orpheum Theater in downtown L.A. on August 23, 2026.
    (
    Screenshot from México Canta video.
    )

    “I felt like I could make a positive impact, not just me but the rest of the contestants [too] by doing songs that are a little bit more positive in nature in their lyrics,” she said.

    The song is about a breakup and begins with a description of a photo torn in two. It’s about a woman’s heartbreak, she said, “ but then it kind of shifts to an empowerment, you know, of being able to be by yourself as a woman.”

    How to watch

    México Canta's finale is tonight, Sept. 12, at 6 p.m. PDT

    You can watch it here.

    Galaviz began to get teary after finishing the song and talking to the presenter on stage.

    “[I'm] proud of being able to represent Mexico and my roots. … It means a lot to have my family here, who’ve always supported me,” she said.

    Days after making it past the semifinals, Galaviz had not picked the song she’d sing for the Sept. 13 finals. The performance carries weight for all contestants because it’ll be three days before Mexican Independence Day. Held in Mexico’s capital, the finals will take place in front of thousands of people, with an audience on TV, radio and online on both sides of the border.