Scott Simon

I'm Ayesha Rascoe.

And I'm Scott Simon, and this is Up First from NPR News.

[gentle music] The sector that added the most jobs last month? Healthcare.

Californians consider a one-time tax for billionaires.

People who are doing well are still doing well, and any kind of worker who's struggling to get their foot in the door, keep their foot in the door, get a promotion to the next thing, those are the people who are really struggling right now, and I think that's why we're seeing this real increasing anger over the labor market because there's no openings and breaks for people to get.

I mean, obviously there's still job openings, but what we've seen is a decline in the availability of opportunities, which has led fewer people to quit jobs.

If you're afraid to quit your job, Scott, because you think you'll never find another one, then you can't create another opening for someone else.

And that has the effect of depressing wages, which doesn't keep up with inflation.

The signal of your intrinsic worth bounces right off of you because it doesn't match the exhausted story you already carry about yourself.

Scott Simon and Gregory Stock gave us the question that cuts straight through the armor.

What is the lie you tell yourself to feel safe that is really holding you back? In a world governed by algorithms, the safest lie you can tell yourself is that if you just work a little harder, optimize your schedule, and say yes to one more project, you'll finally cross the finish line in peace.

You won't.

We really are.

We're using Neil deGrasse Tyson's latest book, Take Me to Your Leader: Perspectives on Your First Alien Encounter, which just came out in May 2026, along with his really revealing NPR Weekend Edition interview with Scott Simon to ask a deeply uncomfortable question: What if aliens just don't care about us at all?

And to set the stage for you, if you came into this deep dive expecting, like, a late-night radio conspiracy hour about hidden saucers or some dry textbook reading, you'll definitely need to adjust your parameters.

Yeah, this isn't that kind of show.

It totally has, which brings us to the immediate practical reality of what to do if an alien actually lands in your backyard.

We have to move from the childhood dream of a kid in the Bronx to the very adult problem of interstellar etiquette.

Right, because the very first practical protocol Tyson laid out on NPR with Scott Simon addresses our most basic, hardwired, polite reflex.

Yes.

Eleanor, help us understand the excitement, because France, as we said, is a very secular country where the open display of religion can be discouraged.

You're right, Scott.

You know, France is known historically as the eldest daughter of the Catholic Church, but strict separation of the church and state since 1905 means religion is really considered a private matter.

Well, I think one reason is this is the first official pope visit since 2008, and observers say there's a hunger for a papal visit.

I'd be literally

talking to the New York Times, and I would get a text from someone saying, I am a producer for NPR.

I was in the Times, I was in the Washington Post, I was in the Free Press.

One man is doing a fundraiser for the suspect's family.

I mean, several of them said we called the other Dave Butler first.

Including us, actually.

Our producer had a whole confusing text exchange with the other Dave Butler before realizing our mistake.

I've been getting this for years.

I'm Ayesha Rascoe.

And I'm Scott Simon, and this is Up First from NPR News.

[intro music] So what can we expect from these two sets of storms? We'll have the latest.

Also, the US Supreme Court rejects Missouri's congressional maps again.

[soft upbeat music]

And that's Up First for Saturday, September twenty-sixth, twenty twenty-six.

I'm Scott Simon.

And I'm Ayesha Rascoe.

Doppelgangers play a role here.

But in this interview with NPR's Scott Simon, she says something interesting, especially considering many people turn to fiction as a form of escapism from the horrors and stress of everyday living.

Mandel says it's everyday things that help her stay grounded when writing about a bleak and dystopian world.

Getting dinner on the table, picking up your kid from school.

And that brings us to our next conversation.

What if one of the biggest things holding you back itself isn't fear itself, but a story you've been telling yourself to stay safe? On Thursday, I'm joined by Scott Simon and Dr.

Gregory Stock, the co-authors of The Book of Questions, Courage.

Scott is the founder of the Scare Your Soul Courage Movement, and Gregory is the author of the best-selling book, The Book of Questions.

He's so into the Roman Empire that his new book is about an overlooked figure from that era, Agrippa, a famous general who shows up as a side character in a lot of narratives, but we don't know much about him.

After the break, Harris talks to NPR's Scott Simon about why that actually makes Agrippa the perfect subject for a historical fiction novel, and also why Americans love to see themselves reflected in the Roman Empire.

That's ahead.

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