The World and Everything in It: June 25, 2025

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LINDSAY MAST, HOST: Good morning!

Some say Immigration and Customs Enforcement doesn’t play by the rules. But what does the rule book say?

KOH: The law has characterized deportation as civil and not criminal

NICK EICHER, HOST: That’s ahead on Washington Wednesday.

Also WORLD Tour.

And later, cleaning up the streets one little bit at a time.

ROBBO: You can’t save the world, but you can save a part of your little world. So if you see some rubbish on the road, just pick it up.

And WORLD commentator Janie B. Cheaney on bruises, philosophy, and why we shouldn’t just live in our own heads.

MAST: It’s Wednesday, June 25th. This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Lindsay Mast.

EICHER: And I’m Nick Eicher. Good morning!

MAST: Up next, Kent Covington with today’s news.

KENT COVINGTON, NEWS ANCHOR: Ceasefire latest  » Will the ceasefire between Israel and Iran continue to hold?

That is the question on the minds of many world leaders, but President Trump says he's optimistic that both countries want the conflict to end.

TRUMP: I think they are both tired of it. I think they don't want it to happen again. And Iran is not going to have a nuclear weapon, by the way. I think it's the last thing on their mind right now.

The truce got off to a shaky start though:

SOUND: [BOOM]

That was the sound of explosions in Tehran after Israel launched a blitz of airstrikes early Tuesday morning BEFORE the truce took effect. Iran responded with an onslaught of missiles that killed at least four people in Israel.

Two hours AFTER the truce took effect, Israel accused Iran of firing two more missiles, which Iran denies doing.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu halted Israeli airstrikes after a reportedly tense phone call with Trump Tuesday morning.

Washington debate continues over airstrikes  » Meanwhile in Washington, lawmakers continue to clash over President Trump's decision to order the weekend airstrikes against nuclear facilities in Iran.

Democratic Congressman Ted Lieu said Iran had to be stopped, but argued that the president may have exceeded his authority.

LIEU: We have to make sure this regime never acquires a nuclear weapon. At the same time, I believe the constitution means what it says: only Congress has the power to declare war.

But almost all Republicans argue the president did not declare war with those limited airstrikes and that he was acting well within his authority under the War Powers Act.

And GOP Senator Lindsey Graham says President Trump made the right call.

GRAHAM: This operation was flawless, it was effective more than anything else. It did obliterate these three sites. The pilots did a fantastic job, but so did President Trump making a bold decision.

Iran says it will restart nuclear program  » Questions remain, though, about the condition of Iran’s nuclear facilities and materials after those U.S. airstrike.

Vice President J.D. Vance suggested that recent strikes may have effectively destroyed Tehran’s nuclear program.

But the Pentagon says it’s way too early to assess that. And Raphael Grossi, the head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog agency, adds:

GROSSI:  Iran officially told me we are going to be taking protective measures, which may or may not include moving around this material.

He said independent inspectors need to be given access to nuclear sites across Iran to determine if key facilities were truly destroyed.

And what about stockpiles of enriched uranium? Grossi said inspectors need to know:

GROSSI:  Whether there is a possibility that this could have been moved, and where is it?

Some analysts believe Iran’s nuclear program was likely set back by many years.

But others fear that it may be possible that Iran could still be less than a year away from a nuclear weapon.

Iranian nationals arrested  » The Department of Homeland Security says U.S. authorities have arrested nearly a dozen Iranian nationals amid heightened concerns about potential terrorist attacks. WORLD’s Benjamin Eicher reports.

BENJAMIN EICHER:  DHS says authorities arrested a total of 11 Iranian nationals in the US illegally, across eight states.

Nearly all are accused of crimes beyond immigration violations.

One of them admitted to having ties to the Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah.

Another was described as a suspected terrorist, and a former sniper for the Iranian army.

The arrests came amid concerns about possible so-called ‘sleeper cells’ in the United States.

Officials say they are being proactive in locating high-risk illegal immigrants.

But Homeland Security officials say there are currently no known credible threats to the US homeland.

For WORLD, I’m Benjamin Eicher.

NATO summit  » President Trump is in the Netherlands this morning for day-two of the NATO summit at The Hague.

Member nations formally voted yesterday to set a new target for defense spending. Trump addressed that hours earlier.

Previously, members were expected to spend just 2% of their GDP on defense. But now:

TRUMP:  They're gonna be lifting it to 5%. That's good. It gives them much more power.

That will be 3.5% on core military capabilities, like tanks, weapons, and forces, and another 1.5% on related areas like infrastructure and cybersecurity.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte praised President Trump for his efforts in getting other member nations to step up their defense contributions. Those efforts date back to the start of Trump’s first term. And Russia’s invasion of Ukraine lit a fire under many European nations to ramp up defense.

Jerome Powell testimony » Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell says holding interest rates where they are is the right call for now.

He defended the central bank’s cautious approach in testimony Tuesday before a House committee.

POWELL:  Inflation has come down a great deal, but has been running somewhat above our 2% longer run objective.

He said dropping rates too soon could fuel inflation and that he still believes tariffs are likely to drive consumer prices higher in the months ahead.

Powell added that the economy and labor market remain solid. And that means the Fed feels no urgency to lower interest rates right now.

I'm Kent Covington. 

Straight ahead: understanding U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement guidelines. Plus, one man’s quiet service to his neighborhood.

This is The World and Everything in It.

NICK EICHER, HOST: It’s Wednesday, the 25th of June.

Glad to have you along for today’s edition of The World and Everything in It. Good morning, I’m Nick Eicher.

LINDSAY MAST, HOST: And I’m Lindsay Mast.

Time now for Washington Wednesday.

Today, a look at the authority Immigration and Customs Enforcement possesses to detain and deport illegal aliens.

EICHER: But first, members of Congress weigh in on Israel’s 12-day war with Iran, but more specifically the U-S attack over the weekend on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure.

Lawmakers were supposed to receive a classified briefing on Tuesday on the operation. That meeting has been postponed.

So for now, members of Congress have unanswered questions about just how effective the strikes were and where that leaves the U.S.’s role in the region.

House Speaker Mike Johnson.

JOHNSON: Peace in the Middle East has never been closer within our grasp.

MAST: Texas Democrat Al Green sees it differently. He’s the member of Congress who filed three separate, unsuccessful articles of impeachment in the first Trump term, one, so far, in the second term, but it does look like he’s on the brink of filing another.

GREEN: I believe that the President of the United States has committed an impeachable act.

EICHER: Other Democrats are waiting for more information before drawing conclusions.

Here’s Congressman George Latimer of New York, a Democrat. Last year, he ousted a vocally anti-Israel incumbent.

LATIMER: Do we have an accurate report about how much damage the bombs did? It was asserted when they were dropped that night that we had obliterated their program. They won’t be able to do this. Well, we don’t know that yet.

MAST: Others believe Iran’s relatively weak response and its quick embrace of a cease-fire speaks volumes about the effectiveness of the strikes. Here’s Republican Congressman Mike Lawler of New York. He’s chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East.

LAWLER: You see how Iran has responded with a symbolic strike. And you see how quickly they are seeking a ceasefire. That wouldn’t have happened if we didn’t take action.

EICHER: Congressional leadership expects to be briefed more on the Iran strikes later this week.

Turning now to immigration enforcement, here’s Washington Bureau reporter Leo Briceno.

​​LEO BRICENO: A few weeks ago, Democratic lawmakers in the House of Representatives held a news conference to express alarm over the same issue sparking unrest and leaving cars ablaze in downtown Los Angeles: ICE’s detention and apprehension practices.

CARTER: We met with Wendy Brito, a New Orleans area mother of three from my district…

That’s Louisiana Congressman Troy Carter.

CARTER: She is married to an American citizen. All of her children were born in the state of Louisianna… She was going in for her regular checkup when she was detained, she was not told why she was being detained. She was not afforded the ability to have counsel; she was not given due process. How could this possibly be right in America?

Brito’s story is one data point. Democrats also pointed to ICE apprehending children, using zip ties to restrain people, and holding detainees for months without explanation, and say the agency is out of control.

WORLD wasn’t able to independently verify those accounts. But in speaking with lawmakers and experts, what is clear is that the agency has a unique structure and that it sometimes appears to play by a different set of rules. In part, that’s because the agency’s mandate is different from that of other law enforcement, and because it has more discretion in how to carry out operations. With ICE amping up its enforcement under President Trump, lawmakers are divided on what’s appropriate for the nation’s chief immigration enforcement agency.

KNOTT: I do not submit to the premise that we owe due process to the people that are here illegally.

Congressman Brad Knott is a Republican out of North Carolina. Before his election to Congress in 2024, Knott worked as an attorney, helping prosecute organized crime, drug cartels, and human trafficking.

He says ICE isn’t interested in securing criminal convictions. Instead, it makes arrests with the end goal of deportations.

KNOTT: It is a civil matter. The deportation is a civil enforcement mechanism. Due process attaches to criminal measures. The only thing we owe an illegal immigrant is a humane trip home.

That means some of the processes and protections built into the criminal justice system don’t apply. That concerns some experts in immigration law.

KOH: The law has characterized deportation as civil and not criminal for a really long time.

Jennifer Koh is a professor of law at Pepperdine University. She studies the intersection between illegal immigration and criminal law, and says this approach to immigration enforcement means noncitizens do not enjoy the same due process rights as they would in a criminal process.

KOH: Like, for example, if you’re accused of a crime, you know you’re appointed like a government-appointed lawyer in your defense, you have certain rights, a right to a jury trial, a right against double jeopardy that are all associated with the criminal process. Many of those rights do not apply in deportation because it’s a civil process.

That means ICE has flexibility to do things in the field that other agencies can’t. ICE isn’t concerned that evidence might get thrown out because of the way it is collected or that a conviction won’t happen because of an improper arrest. The Supreme Court affirmed this in the 1984 case: INS v. Lopez-Mendoza. Quoting the majority opinion:

“The mere fact of an illegal arrest has no bearing on a subsequent deportation hearing. The deportation hearing looks prospectively to the respondent’s right to remain in this country in the future.”

Congressman Clay Higgins of Louisiana says that’s why ICE agents can go in looking for one person and come out with others in tow.

HIGGINs: They may come into contact with seven or eight other guys that have had formal orders of removal. …Their warrant and information might not have been exactly for that person but that person was part of the, came into contact with ICE during that operation. So, they arrest them too.

Many Democrats believe there should be more of a process and more protections. Here’s New York Congressman Adriano Espaillat, Chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

ESPAILLAT: Anybody that steps foot on soil in the United States is already protected and guarded by the U.S. constitution and there should be due process extended to that person.

The courts have a variety of cases before them that have the potential to clarify to what extent ICE needs to respect due process.

In the meantime, another area of confusion centers on how ICE operates region to region.

Some ICE agents operate in street clothes. Others mimic law enforcement or wear uniforms looking like SWAT teams. Occasionally, they apprehend persons of interest in batches. Some wear masks, others don’t.

Professor Koh explains.

KOH: A lot is left up to the sort of agency leadership either at the national level or at the local level to kind of determine how to prioritize their resources.

The agency does have a Fugitive Operations Handbook that details its general practices. But in many cases, those guidelines provide only basic direction. The 2010 version, obtained through court documents, is 37 pages long.

The section on arrests is less than half a page.

I asked lawmakers if it’s time to reform ICE—making its operations more uniform across the board. And I got very different answers.

GARCIA: We’ve discussed this many times. There should be a standard.

That’s Congressman Robert Garcia of California. He’s a Democrat who sits on the House Homeland Security Committee.

GARCIA: ICE hasn’t been around for decades and decades. It’s been around for what, 20 years? 25 years? And so I think that as an agency there has to be reform, there has to be a focus on treating people humanely.

By contrast, Congressman Knott, the former attorney, believes that ICE’s current flexibility is necessary for enforcing the law in a variety of situations.

KNOTT: There are a dime-a-dozen circumstances for how people are apprehended. Sometimes they’re taken into custody off the street, sometimes they’re taken out of a mob, sometimes they’re taken out of a crime scene, sometimes they’re taken out of court.

Knott says setting a national standard for enforcement processes is unnecessary as long as ICE affords illegal immigrants a humane deportation process. What lawmakers and analysts will continue to watch for is how ICE agents use their discretionary authority to meet the administration’s goals.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Leo Briceno in Washington.

LINDSAY MAST, HOST: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It: World Tour.

From China’s crackdown on fentanyl to wildfires in Greece, war in Ukraine, and tensions rising in Syria—here is WORLD’s Mary Muncy with this week’s report.

MARY MUNCY: We begin today in China, where officials say they will strengthen controls on chemicals used to make fentanyl.

Earlier this year, the White House accused the Chinese Communist Party of subsidizing companies that make so-called “precursor chemicals.” It imposed a series of tariffs to stem the flow to the United States.

GUO JIAKUN: (Mandarin) This measure is an independent initiative taken by the Chinese government to fulfill its obligations as a party to the United Nations drug control conventions.

But Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun says the country’s move is “independent” and to “fulfill its obligations as a party to the United Nations.”

GUO JIAKUN: (Mandarin) Fentanyl is a problem for the U.S., not China, and the responsibility lies with the U.S. itself.

Jiakun says fentanyl is a problem for the United States, not China.

U.S. officials say since at least 2016 in the past six years, Chinese traffickers have been making precursor chemicals and shipping them to Mexico, where they’re turned into fentanyl and smuggled across the border. The drug killed almost 50,000 Americans last year.

Meanwhile in the Netherlands...Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed world leaders at the NATO summit at the Hague. He told his audience that Russian President Vladimir Putin has no interest in peace with Ukraine.

ZELENSKYY: Putin only thinks about war. That's a fact.

Zelenskyy went on to say that Ukraine wants to cooperate with NATO in any way possible.

Elsewhere aboard Air Force One...President Donald Trump told reporters:

TRUMP: As you know Vladimir called me up. He said, "Can I help you with Iran?" I said, "No, I don't need help with Iran. I need help with you." And I hope we're gonna be getting a deal done with Russia.

That may be an uphill climb, however. Ukrainian officials say Russian drones killed more than 20 civilians—injuring hundreds more during a recent strike.

Next, a church in Syria is still reeling from a suicide bombing that claimed the lives of at least 25 people on Sunday.

An unidentified gunman entered a Greek Orthodox church in Damascus and opened fire. The congregation tried to stop him, but the terrorist detonated an explosive vest. 63 people were wounded.

SOUND: [Singing in church]

Mourners carried the coffins of loved ones during the funeral procession Sunday evening. At the service, the Patriarchate of the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch said the Syrian government should take full responsibility for the attack, and called for protection from religious extremism.

SOUND: [Vigil]

In a rare show of unity, Syrian Christians and Muslims held a candlelight vigil for the victims, where many spoke out against the violence.

AUDIO: (Arabic) To first say that we are against any action, against any violence, against any terrorism that is happening in Syria, or will happen because this violence does nothing but spread and destroy ,

A priest in attendance says here that religious violence has no place in Syria, as attacks have increased in recent months.

A small Muslim extremist group claimed responsibility for the bombing yesterday.

Over to Europe’s southernmost tip,

SOUND: [FIRES BURNING]

Greece’s government has declared a state of emergency on the Mediterranean island of Chios as a fire burns out of control. More than 400 firefighters have arrived from across Greece to battle the flames. Local villagers are also lending a hand.

PSILOS: (Greek) A lot of people from the nearby village gathered together here to help, we filled up tanks. The images were terrifying. But thank god everything will be ok and the fire will not progress more towards the south of Chios.

This resident thanks God—saying many are terrified but glad to help fill water tanks in hopes of preventing the fire from spreading further south.

Greece is often hit by wildfires during its hot and dry summers. Athens has hired a record 18,000 firefighters this year—expecting a particularly challenging fire season.

And finally to Italy. Security camera footage from Florence’s Uffizi Gallery this weekend shows a clumsy visitor damaging a 300-year old portrait.

In the video, a tourist is seen striking a similar pose for a photo, when he trips backward—catching himself with his hand against the painting—ripping the unprotected canvas in the process.

The visitor quickly stands up, puts his hands behind his back, and then pretends to study the painting before moving away.

Earlier this year a similar incident occurred at a nearby museum when a visitor pretended to sit on a crystal chair for a photo, but then slipped, crushing the artwork.

The chair was repaired and the painting is expected to be back on display next week, but both museums are reviewing new guidelines to keep careless patrons from damaging priceless works of art.

That’s this week’s World Tour, I’m Mary Muncy.

NICK EICHER, HOST: You’ve seen surfers hang ten, but in Huntington Beach the dogs hang twenty!

It was the annual Purina Pro Plan Incredible Dog Challenge and there were some incredible Corgis, Dalmations, and Labs going out six at a time, paddling out and popping up as judges scored length of ride, size of wave, and, of course, added style points.

Kristina Welsh’s 11-year-old lab, Koa, won the big dog competition:

WELSH: She balances her board... she's incredible. She's self-taught. I think people can understand—there's more to your dog. … you unlock this whole new level.

When a lab can shred like that, that leaves all the ordinary dogs just to shed.

It’s The World and Everything in It.

LINDSAY MAST, HOST: Today is Wednesday, June 25th. Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Lindsay Mast.

NICK EICHER,HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher.

Coming next on The World and Everything in It: cleaning up.

Many people who see garbage or graffiti in their local communities just walk by, wondering why the city’s not doing its job.

MAST: But one man in Australia never stopped to wonder why. He just picked up a bucket and a brush. WORLD Correspondent Amy Lewis recently tagged along on one of his walks.

AMY LEWIS: Gary Robertson—who goes by Robbo—stands under a bridge, plunging a roller into a tray of steely gray paint. In front of him is a bright red message scrawled by someone named Scotty T.

ROBBO: “I love you with all my heart. Scotty T.” Sorry, Scotty. [sound of roller] Send her a letter [sound of roller]… It’s fine that you love somebody. That’s great. But do it the right way….

Robbo is something of a local paint store celebrity.

ROBBO: They call me the graffiti guy. I wish they called me the anti-graffiti guy. So, yeah. So I've taken down between six and 8,000 acts in the last five, six years…

Today, Robbo’s life is defined by service. But he wasn’t always so supportive of his local community.

Growing up, Robbo was the short, smart kid. He lived in a Geelong, Australia, neighborhood where most of the kids came from other countries. He and his red hair stood out. The other Anglo kids picked on him.

ROBBO: So I was angry and frustrated. So I had to be bigger, stronger, tougher than everybody else. And that was how the crime started.

At age 11, he regularly carried a knife and broke into cars and stole things to prove he was tough. He gave a stolen walkie talkie to a mate who gave it to another mate who told the police where he got it.

ROBBO: The coppers interviewed me down at the station and they turned around to mum and dad. ‘We won’t see him again.’

The police thought talking to him would be enough. But Robbo’s mother spoke up at his court case to make sure he got the punishment he deserved.

ROBBO: Because she knew if I got away with it again, with doing the wrong thing, I was gonna keep on doing it. Anyway, the judge told me that I didn’t appreciate the family I’ve got.

Robbo says getting caught was the best thing that ever happened to him.

ROBBO: And then Mr. Darcy, my probation officer taught me some more stuff…

Like how stealing stuff hurts people.

ROBBO: And yeah, I’ve never gone back.

After high school, he became a local businessman. He joined an Australia-rules footy club. He and his wife fostered dozens of hard case kids. He raised thousands of dollars for Christmas gifts and donated food for hungry families. He mentored criminals, whom he calls “crims.”

ROBBO: I was a crim, and I went and helped the crims not be crims.

But he was also working 70 hours a week. His family and health suffered. His doctor gave him the blunt truth.

ROBBO: I told him everything I was doing. He goes, ‘You can’t do that, mate.’ He goes, ‘You’ll be dead in a year.’

So Robbo gave up almost everything—except his footy club—and instead started taking daily walks by the Barwon River with his dog.

That’s when he started noticing the graffiti.

Today the Breakwater Bridge looks like a monochromatic Piet Mondrian painting with blocks of various gray-toned rectangles covering old graffiti. Robbo obviously visits just as often as the kids with their cans of spray paint.

It took him a while to figure out the best way to cover the unwanted artwork.

ROBBO: So when I first started this, because I was a novice, I didn’t know what colors they were using.

Now he knows the color to use is called Philosophical Gray.

ROBBO: I don’t like leaving any color, if I can. I don’t want them to get any satisfaction out of it whatsoever, because when they tell their friends at school, well, come and have a look at this, they get up here and they become very disappointed.

With one dip of his roller, he paints a tidy swath of Philosophical Gray over one tag.

ROBBO: It takes them longer to put it up than me to take it down.

Then another and another.

ROBBO: If I left this up…they’ll tag near it because, ‘Hang on. This is staying up, so mine will stay up.’

Once he got the graffiti under control on his regular five walking routes, he says he got bored. He saw someone picking up rubbish in another part of town. So now he brings a trash grabber tool and a 2-gallon collapsible container he calls a crush bucket on his routes.

ROBBO: From Moorabool Street Bridge to the Breakwater, 26 or 27 crush buckets before it was clean. Took me months to do it all.

Now he rarely fills a bucket and a half in 3 miles. He turns in bottles and cans for a refund to help pay for his paint.

Robbo says he enjoys walking around and NOT seeing the rubbish. Most people don’t even know he’s been there.

ROBBO: That’s the joy. They walk past where the graffiti was, and they don't even see my patch…

His simple acts make others want to do the same.

ROBBO: A young beautiful couple came up behind me and said, ‘You’ve inspired us.’ And I said, ‘What?’ They said, ‘We’ve been behind you, watching you pick up. We’re going to pick up a grabber and a bucket, both of us, and we’re gonna pick up rubbish while we go...’

Three weeks later, there they were, using their own grabbers to pick up rubbish on their side of the river.

ROBBO: So you get some volunteer in that area that loves his city, and he looks after that part. And then the next guy looks after that part. Next guy looks after that part…It’s as simple as that.

Robbo says anyone can do it.

ROBBO: You can’t save the world, but you can save a part of your little world. So if you see some rubbish on the road, just pick it up.

ROBBO: Once a week or something somebody says, ‘Thank you for doing what you’re doing,’ or whatever it is. But you don’t do it for that.

He likes not seeing trash and graffiti on his walks. But more importantly, he enjoys helping restore the streets and repair the walls.

ROBBO: What makes you big? Not the amount of money you have in your pocket, the ability to change, you know, the opportunity, the grace, the lovingness to have that opportunity to, to help people.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Amy Lewis in Geelong, Australia.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Wednesday, June 25th. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Nick Eicher.

LINDSAY MAST, HOST: And I’m Lindsay Mast. Up next, WORLD commentator Janie B. Cheaney says the world is more than what you make it.

JANIE B CHEANEY: I was wrapping up my quiet time on the back porch, to the serenade of robins and wrens. I stood up and walked toward the kitchen with a coffee mug and WHAM.

I slammed into the sliding glass door. Forgot I’d closed it. Hit it full force with the side of my head. Ouch.

The bruise developed into a dramatic reddish-purplish shade of eye shadow that went halfway around the socket and reminded me, somehow, of a dragon.

Every time something like this happens, I’m surprised at the kinetic force of a human body just going about its business. When my brain registers an obstacle, it adjusts the body accordingly. When it doesn’t, full speed ahead and boy, all my moving parts are shocked.

In the early 18th century, Bishop George Berkeley proposed that the material world existed only as it was perceived by the human mind. When the famous lexicographer Samuel Johnson was asked how he would disprove that theory, he famously kicked a rock and said, “I refute it thus.” Good answer, and yet I think Berkeley was on to something—not about physics, but about human psychology.

I’m sometimes startled at the fact that I take up space in the world. I wonder if others ever feel the same, and if that’s an indication of how much we live inside our own heads. It’s not just a lack of attention, as when you’re trying to remember a song lyric or rehashing an argument and don’t notice the pickup that just ran a stop sign. Minds have always been prone to wander. But galloping advances in technology are allowing some of us to pack up all our belongings and take up permanent residence inside our heads.

Recently I read about the 4 a.m. Club. It’s an online conclave of mostly women who believe that the nation experienced an alternative reality last November 6th and that Kamala Harris actually won the election. With enough spiritual energy, they say the balance will be restored along with our true leader. Or perhaps you’ve heard of the man who asked his AI chatbot to marry him. CBS Saturday Morning interviewed him in the home he shared with his flesh-and-blood girlfriend. These are real people taking up space in the world—one consequence of which is their toddler daughter running around and climbing on chairs while her father described his emotional connection with a talking circuit board.

That’s taking Berkeley’s idealism to a weird extreme, but don’t we all construct our own reality, as far as we’re able? Our primary tether to the real world is a physical body. We were made to take up space and form real relationships and do good works—“to glorify God in your body,” as the apostle Paul says in I Corinthians 6:20, just as Christ glorifies us in his body. Part of glorifying God might be to consider how we use the physical space he’s allotted to us. To see ourselves in the world, affecting other lives in positive ways. Just watch out for those glass doors.

I’m Janie B. Cheaney.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Tomorrow: the Senate wants to sell millions of acres of public lands. We'll talk to economists and locals. And, we’re revisiting an American institution mostly forgotten—the drive-in theater. That and more tomorrow.

I’m Nick Eicher.

LINDSAY MAST, HOST: And I’m Lindsay Mast.

The World and Everything in It comes to you from WORLD Radio. WORLD’s mission is Biblically objective journalism that informs, educates, and inspires.

The Bible says: “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.” —Revelations 4:11

Go now in grace and peace.

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