The World and Everything in It: September 25, 2025

Editor's note: The following text is a transcript of a podcast story. To listen to the story, click on the arrow beneath the headline above.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Good morning!

As AI and cloud computing expand, they need massive data centers: real buildings with big energy needs. Where to put them is sparking battles nationwide.

BEAR-TAYLOR: Data centers are going to have to go somewhere, and so we might as well work with them to create something that works well with our community.

LINDSAY MAST, HOST: And, the push to reclassify marijuana under federal law.

Also today: the ongoing diplomatic tensions between India and the U.S.

And at the speedway, the biggest battles don’t always happen on the track.

HEFT: Many of these drivers know someone who’s lost their life in a race. The thing that comes with that is the thought of what happens to me when I’m not here anymore?

And WORLD commentator Cal Thomas on the return of late-night host Jimmy Kimmel.

EICHER: It’s Thursday, September 25th. This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Myrna Brown.

MAST: And I’m Lindsay Mast. Good morning!

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

KENT COVINGTON, NEWS ANCHOR: ICE facility attack » Republican officials in Texas and in Washington are warning of worsening political violence after a deadly attack on an ICE facility in Dallas on Wednesday.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott:

ABBOTT:  This is not the first time this has happened in the state of Texas. It's not the first time it's happened across the United States, and so we have a serious problem across this country.

A man armed with a rifle opened fire on the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility from a nearby rooftop.

No official word on a motive, but FBI special agent Joe Rothrock told reporters:

ROTHROCK:  Early evidence that we've seen from, uh, rounds that were found near the suspected shooter contain messages that are anti-ice in nature.

Authorities say “The shooter fired indiscriminately at the ICE building.”

At least one detainee at the facility was killed two others critically wounded. No agents were hurt.

The gunman took his own life after the shooting.

The incident comes less than 2 weeks after conservative activist Charlie Kirk was assassinated by a bullet also fired from a rooftop.

Zelenskyy at U.N.  » Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is calling on world leaders to take action against Russia.

Addressing the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday, Zelenskyy again said that Vladimir Putin won’t limit its war to Ukraine.

ZELENSKYY:   We told you before, Ukraine is only the first and now Russian drones are already flying across Europe, and Russian operations are already spreading across countries.

And he said no one in Europe can feel safe right now.

The Ukrainian president met earlier this week with President Trump with the U.S. president expressing support for Ukraine’s efforts and criticizing Moscow.

Trump in a major shift from his earlier stance, said Tuesday that he believed Ukraine could win back all territory lost to Russia.

Iran starts rebuilding missile sites » And Iran’s president later took the stage at the U.N. to blast Israeli and U.S. military strikes, mainly against Iranian nuclear targets earlier this year. WORLD’s Paul Butler reports:

PEZESHKIAN: [Speaking Farsi]

PAUL BUTLER: Masoud Pezeshkian framed those strikes as brutal unprovoked attacks, and declared that Iran has never pursued the development of nuclear weapons and never will.

That declaration was likely a tough sell among world leaders.

The U.N.’s own nuclear watchdog agency does not believe that to be true.

Meantime, Iran is rebuilding missile sites bombed by Israel in June. But experts say a key part is missing — the large mixers needed for solid rocket fuel.

Satellite images show repairs at facilities near Tehran and Shahroud. Analysts warn Tehran may try to import mixers, likely from China.

For WORLD, I’m Paul Butler.

Israel » In the Gaza Strip:

SOUND: [Palestinians flee]

Palestinians continue to flee Gaza City. Residents packing the coastal road in central Gaza Wednesday spoke of intensifying Israeli military action in recent days.

PALESTINIAN: [Speaking Arabic]

One woman says she and her family ran out of their home with nothing at all. She says what remained of their belongings were scattered, until good Samaritans helped them load them onto a cart.

Meanwhile, Israel says at least 20 people were injured after Houthi rebels launched a drone attack from Yemen against the southern Israeli city of Eilat.

AUDIO: T minus 10.

NASA launch » A SpaceX rocket carrying two NASA craft and another from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration lifted off this morning.

AUDIO: 3, 2, 1. Engines full power, and liftoff!

The projects will monitor solar storms and the bubble formed by the sun that protects the solar system from radiation.

NASA launch broadcaster Derrol Nail.

NAIL: And we are flying three new missions on a million mile journey to track space weather.

Solar storms are sudden explosions of particles, energy, and material that can disrupt the Earth’s magnetic field.

Banned YouTube accounts reinstated » Google’s parent company, Alphabet, is promising to restore thousands of YouTube accounts that were banned under censorship rules during the pandemic. WORLD’s Benjamin Eicher has more.

BENJAMIN EICHER: A letter to the House Judiciary Committee admits the Biden administration pressured Google to take down posts and ban users whose content did not violate YouTube’s rules.

Alphabet attorney Daniel Donovan called that pressure “unacceptable and wrong,” and said the company is committed to protecting free speech.

Donovan added that public debate should never be suppressed in favor of authorities, and pledged YouTube will no longer rely on third-party fact-checkers.

Alphabet says creators banned for political speech about COVID-19 or elections will be allowed back on the platform.

Committee Chairman Jim Jordan says the admission confirms long-held concerns about government-driven censorship of conservative voices.

For WORLD, I’m Benjamin Eicher.

I'm Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: rural communities debate technology infrastructure. Plus, bringing the hope of the gospel to drivers in the fast lane.

This is The World and Everything in It.

LINDSAY MAST, HOST: It’s Thursday the 25th of September.

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

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown. First up, Big tech in small towns.

Right now, there are over 8,500 data centers worldwide, more than half of them are in the US, and President Donald Trump wants to build more.

Data centers are the back office of just about everything we do online, from asking AI how to cook Risotto to ordering decor from Amazon.

MAST: But the centers can cause problems if developers don’t plan well, and small towns across the nation are wrestling with the payoffs and drawbacks.

WORLD’s Mary Muncy reports.

KILEY BLALOCK: Imagine a data center back there.

MARY MUNCY: Kiley Blalock is standing on the road at the edge of her property in Henry County, Indiana. She’s pointing to a tree across a cornfield that marks a natural gas pipeline.

KILEY BLALOCK: The pipeline comes up to there in the back of our field, and that is where the data center they're wanting to connect and put their first building.

The site sits at the intersection of Interstate 70 and State Road 109. Two major roads. From where Blalock stands, all you see is farmland. She doesn’t want to lose the view to the proposed data center complex.

The developer says they’re going to build berms around the site to minimize the visual effect. Promising to make it look more natural. Something like they did in New Albany, Ohio. Blalock wasn’t convinced, so she drove there to see what it’s like.

BLALOCK: It didn't cover up the buildings. They're very tall, very, very large… And the berms with the trees on top, they don't cover them up. They don’t go with the landscape at all. So I don't think it's really a good fit for us over here. It's, it's going to change everything.

Blalock isn't just concerned with the view, she's also worried that changing the aesthetics could bring property values down, and that a data center would eat up the community’s power and water supply, making everything more expensive.

BLALOCK: We already have people in Knightstown, in our community, that are struggling to make it and this isn't going to help us at all with daily bills to be paid, monthly, anything.

So, Blalock and other community members have been going to community meetings and voicing their concerns.

And they’re not alone. According to one study, communities across the US have blocked or delayed $64 billion dollars in data center projects in the last year alone.

In the past, those data centers have been mostly concentrated in areas like Northern Virginia and California. But over the past few years, companies have been looking to expand. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of data centers in the US more than quadrupled in the last 24 years. And in July, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to try to expedite building even more.

GREG MARTZ: I live in the county, that we're trying to do this project.

Greg Martz is the owner of GM Development Companies, and his company now owns the land neighboring Blalock’s farm. He’s hoping to attract a data center to the property.

Indiana just passed a new law lowering property taxes, a good thing for individuals, but Martz worries Henry County schools and infrastructure could suffer if it can’t bring more revenue in. So he hopes to attract a big investor.

MARTZ: I think the reason that everyone assumes it's going to be a data center is just because there's so many of them trying to be built right now across the country, and I think it's a good assumption that they're going to be very interested in the site.

So, as a local developer, he’s trying to get the land rezoned to make that possible. He says normally, the process begins when a big company approaches a rural community with a site in mind, and then pressures them to get it rezoned to fit their needs. Martz is going about it the opposite way.

MARTZ: What we're trying to do is develop the land, not the building. Focus strictly on the land, so that we can make the zoning a community-prioritized zoning, rather than a company-prioritized zoning

That means anyone who buys the land in the future would only be able to use energy from the natural gas pipeline… and since it would have to generate a steady power source, it would likely add power to the grid, not take it. The proposed zoning won’t allow a new owner to dig a well—making it less likely to pollute the local water supply or deplete it. Finally, the zoning stipulates that the business must build berms around the property—both for aesthetic reasons and to dampen any noise.

Martz believes those restrictions will keep potential investors to a very limited group. Primarily data centers. It will also be written into the law that if no one decides to build there within 18 months, the land will revert back to its previous agricultural zoning and owner.

Community member and farmer Blalock still doesn’t think it’s a good idea. But some of her neighbors are on board even if it took some convincing.

GAYLA BEAR-TAYLOR: I immediately jumped on the bandwagon of being anti-data center.

Gayla Bear-Taylor lives about a mile from where the data center could be. She says when she first heard about it, she jumped online to see what kinds of things a data center might do for the community.

BEAR-TAYLOR: It turned up all this information you know, and about the water supply and the energy.

The initial search results were all negative. But she dug deeper. Then she took the same trip to New Albany, Ohio. She thought the city looked good. She also talked with a Northern Virginia realtor about housing prices near its data centers. He said property values have remained strong.

So Bear-Taylor has changed her mind. She says the information she saw originally is about ten years old.

BEAR-TAYLOR: AI is not going anywhere. It's only going to get bigger. You know, the data centers are going to have to go somewhere, and so we might as well work with them to create something that works well with our community.

And so the debate continues. It will likely be months before anything is decided in Henry County, and then it will be even longer for developer Martz to find an interested party.

Martz is playing the long game. He says it’s not just an opportunity for the county to get a big tax contributor, it’s also a chance to be part of making sure America stays a world leader in AI.

MARTZ: In some ways it’s scary for someone like me who just lives in a rural community, and I love the way things are right now, but at the same time, the other part of me thinks we have to win this race. It's a race we can't afford to lose. And that's part of what's exciting to me about that. You know, little Henry County, Indiana can actually make a difference in that race.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Mary Muncy.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It: Pot policy.

The Drug Enforcement Administration separates drugs into five categories with different restrictions. Schedule I is reserved for the most dangerous substances like heroin, ecstasy, and LSD. It also includes marijuana.

LINDSAY MAST, HOST: Some groups say the DEA should downgrade marijuana to a less controlled category. They think it’s time for the federal government to loosen up. Their reasoning? A majority of states allow marijuana for medicinal purposes. Almost half allow users to smoke it recreationally.

BROWN: But others warn that less restrictive policies could be devastating.

WORLD’s Anna Johansen Brown has our story.

PRESIDENT BIDEN: Far too many lives have been upended because of a failed approach to marijuana. And I'm committed to righting those wrongs. You have my word on it.

ANNA JOHANSEN BROWN: Under President Joe Biden, the Drug Enforcement Administration proposed reclassifying marijuana, moving it from Schedule I to Schedule III. That would have put marijuana alongside substances like ketamine and testosterone. The rule wasn’t finalized, but the Trump administration is now considering it.

DONALD TRUMP: And we’ll make a determination over the next, I would say over the next few weeks.

Some are concerned about what kind of message this sends. Tom Reynolds is the president of His Way, a residential addiction recovery program based in Huntsville, Alabama.

TOM REYNOLDS: When you reschedule it, you kind of create the impression that it's not as harmful. And I think it's a false impression.

Reynolds has witnessed where marijuana use can easily lead.

REYNOLDS: I have sat through well over a thousand testimonies of guys in our program and every one of them start with alcohol and marijuana.

Still, some experts say that marijuana doesn’t belong in a category with hard drugs. By definition, Schedule I drugs have no accepted medical use.

KENT VRANA: I would say that as a scientist, it doesn't belong there because it does have known medical benefits.

Kent Vrana is a professor of pharmacology at Pennsylvania State University.

VRANA: We have four compounds derived from cannabis that are approved by the FDA.

Those prescription drugs are used to treat symptoms like nausea and seizures. Vrana believes marijuana may have the potential to treat a lot more, but there just aren’t enough clinical trials. Bringing marijuana down to Schedule III could help with that.

Vrana directs Penn State’s Center for Cannabis and Natural Product Pharmaceutics. He says his work is complicated because marijuana is currently listed in Schedule I.

VRANA: In order to do that research, I had to get a Schedule 1 license from the federal government. And that involved an awful lot of work, probably nine months involving the DEA and examination of my facilities. And having received that license, I can only get cannabis and cannabinoids by federal government approved sources.

The red tape makes it tricky to study marijuana’s benefits, and its harms.

VRANA: What really bothers me is people are using things out on the street that I don't have access to for my research. So I can't fully gauge the dangers of some of this very high concentration material that's out there.

But others think that marijuana’s harms are well-known enough to rule out rescheduling. Schedule I drugs are defined as drugs that can easily be abused. Heritage Foundation senior fellow Paul Larkin says marijuana definitely checks that box.

PAUL LARKIN: In the 1960s, the concentration of THC which is the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis, tetrahydrocannabinol, was between 3 and 6%. Nowadays, the concentration in the botanical form, the raw form of cannabis, is 30 to 40%. And processed versions of cannabis can be in the 90+ percent.

Larkin explains that the federal government has never approved marijuana in its plant form for medical use. At the state level, doctors can recommend dried cannabis, but they can’t prescribe it. In Larkin’s opinion, the federal government won’t ever be able to recommend dried cannabis for medicinal use.

LARKIN: One of the criteria for a drug to be approved as safe, effective, and uniformly made is that a physician will be able to know by prescribing it exactly how much of that drug a person gets.

That’s important because cannabis in all of its forms is up for rescheduling. So, while cannabis compounds have some medicinal benefits, smokeable weed hasn’t proven to be safe. Especially among young people, marijuana may impair brain development and has even been linked to greater risk of schizophrenia.

Most Americans might not experience the immediate ramifications of rescheduling cannabis. But businesses selling the drug would feel the changes pretty quickly.

Currently, marijuana businesses can’t receive federal income tax deductions for most of their expenses because marijuana belongs to Schedule I. Those companies could get more than $2 billion in tax relief every year if the DEA reschedules marijuana. Here’s Baker Institute for Public Policy fellow Katharine Harris:

KATHARINE HARRIS: And so my concern is that their businesses should be able to take that tax deduction like anyone else. On the other hand, that gives them more money to spend on things like marketing.

That could influence everyday users.

HARRIS: There's a lot of evidence from the alcohol and the tobacco industries that, you know, marketing is very effective if you market things, especially to youth, to make things look cool and fun and, you know, just a good time that increases use.

Rescheduling is not inevitable. For one thing, the House Appropriations Committee advanced a bill earlier this month that would prevent the Department of Justice from using federal funds to reschedule cannabis.

But if the federal government does reschedule marijuana, it may lead to greater instances of addiction, both to cannabis…and to harder drugs. And that concerns recovery program leaders like Tom Reynolds.

REYNOLDS: I don't think making more dangerous drugs legalized in our culture is going to help us battle the battle that we fight every day of addiction. There's over a hundred thousand Americans dying every year to drug addiction overdose. I've tried to point out to people that that's equivalent to having a 767 crash every day in terms of the number of young people that's lives are being lost over 300 every day.

For WORLD, I’m Anna Johansen Brown.

LINDSAY MAST, HOST: Up next, making a deal with India.

President Trump has so far negotiated trade deals with seven nations including Vietnam and the United Kingdom, and a temporary trade truce with China.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: One deal that remains out of reach so far is with India. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick laid out U.S. priorities on CNBC earlier this month:

LUTNICK: You know India has to basically open their market, has to stop buying Russian oil. You know, people don’t remember that India didn’t buy Russian oil before the war with Russia and Ukraine.

MAST: In recent years, India has become Russia’s second largest customer for oil, taking advantage of lower prices during the Ukraine war. Hoover Institution Senior Fellow Sumit Ganguly says until recently, the U.S. permitted that arrangement.

GANGULY: The relationship really has taken a body blow in the last few weeks and months, largely because of the imposition of the initial 25% tariffs and followed by an additional 25%.

MAST: President Trump announced in August that new sanctions on Russia’s trading partners would go into effect. China was not on the list, but India was.

GANGULY: It's wreaking havoc on certain industries in India, from jewelry to textiles to the production of auto parts for American manufacturers of automobiles.

BROWN: Ganguly told Washington Producer Harrison Watters that Russian oil is only part of the conflict. Earlier this summer, President Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a falling out. Trump claimed to be the decisive negotiator in a ceasefire between India and Pakistan.

GANGULY: He may have played some marginal role in this, but hardly a critical role or a catalytic role. But Modi, I thought, was rather inept in terms of the diplomatic dealings with Trump.

MAST: Prime Minister Modi refused to return Trump’s calls, leading to a breakdown in trade talks.

Then earlier this month, Prime Minister Modi met with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin. That caused some to wonder if India would shift away from the United States on trade. But in a followup interview, Ganguly says pressure at home has since pushed India to return to the bargaining table.

GANGULY: I think they're willing to put almost anything on the table, barring one issue, and that is agriculture.

BROWN: India has high tariffs to protect its dairy industry in particular. On products like California pistachios, Ganguly says they are willing to talk. But one American product has become an awkward sticking point. Commerce Secretary Lutnick has complained that India’s massive population is not buying American corn. Ganguly says demand rather than tariffs may be the primary obstacle.

GANGULY: Why would Indians buy corn from the United States when they don't consume corn in large amounts?

MAST: India has increased its production of plant-based fuel in recent years, but uses domestic sugarcane and grains rather than American corn. India’s commerce secretary met with Lutnick on Monday, and both sides reported positive developments, though Ganguly says there’s still work to be done.

GANGULY: The most important thing is to see if both sides can find a compromise. And quite frankly, the ball is in the American court. If Lutnick keeps making these absurd demands… the Indians are going to walk away, to our detriment.

LINDSAY MAST, HOST: Have you ever felt compelled to extend your sincerest contrition in the most magniloquent, sesquipedalian terminology conceivable?

Turns out it's hard to say I'm sorry, literally. Science proves it. According to Dr. Shiri Lev-Ari of the University of London, when you use bigger words in your apology, your remorse sounds remarkably more remorseful. This is from the Mornings with Simi podcast:

LEV-ARI: I showed people versions of apologies that basically said the same thing, but with different words. So for example, ‘my action didn't reflect my true self’ versus ‘it didn't represent my true character.’

Same meaning, bigger words. So the next time you mess up, you could supersize your vocabulary—because, according to the good doctor, that’ll supersize your apology.

Or maybe, on the principle that love covers a multitude of sins, ask God to supersize your love for those you offend.

It’s The World and Everything in It.

LINDSAY MAST, HOST: Today is Thursday, September 25th.

Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Lindsay Mast.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown.

Coming next on The World and Everything in It: pressures at the race track.

This year, the racing film F1 became one of the top grossing movies of the year—raking in a whopping six-hundred million dollars worldwide.

It’s just the latest in a long line of films romanticizing racing culture. Gran Turismo. Ford v. Ferrari. Fast and Furious. Even Cars.

MAST: But reality isn’t always so glamorous. The sport is grueling and dangerous with lots of emotional ups and downs, setbacks and disappointments.

For some racers, these challenges spark a new spiritual curiosity—and open a door for the gospel message. WORLD’s Grace Snell visited one racing competition in Upstate New York. Here’s the story.

AUDIO: [Engines whirring]

GRACE SNELL: The roar of engines fills the air at Spencer Speedway just outside Rochester, New York.

It’s like a sonic surge of adrenaline coursing through the pits.

AUDIO: [Walkie talkie squawking]

An ambulance and firetruck perch just off the track.

Just beside them stand Todd Heft and his 19-year-old son Noah. They’re not EMTs or firefighters.

NOAH HEFT: There’s always an ambulance here. So you have those actual first responders.

But they are first responders of a sort, Noah says.

NOAH HEFT: But I kind of look at us as the spiritual first responders.

Racing is an intense and dangerous sport where accidents can happen in the blink of an eye and agonizing defeats and mechanical breakdowns can easily cause tempers to flare.

NOAH HEFT: We’re the ones that are going to be first in line to go and address that part of the situation.

The Hefts are race chaplains—with a network called Racing With Jesus Ministries. Todd says their mission is to step into the volatility of the racing world with the peace and comfort of the gospel.

TODD HEFT: I feel like I carry the presence of God with me to the race track, and that definitely has a calming effect on people.

Racing is a lot safer than it used to be. But it isn’t safe, per se.

TODD HEFT: When you’re talking about, you know, cars that are driving in excess of, you know, of over 100 miles an hour, it doesn’t take much for things to go bad very quickly.

Todd says he’s only seen a handful of really bad accidents. But when they do happen, they leave lasting emotional scars.

TODD HEFT: Many of these drivers know someone who’s lost their life in a race.

ANNOUNCER: Let’s go racing! It’s the Maynard Troyer classic six here at Spencer Speedway…

Tonight’s race is in honor of one of these drivers, Maynard Troyer.

TODD HEFT: This was, you know, 40 years ago now, but it’s still very fresh in the minds of folks.

Crashes shake people up. They make people think about death and what comes after.

TODD HEFT: The thing that comes with that is the thought of what happens if what happens to me when I’m not here anymore?

Todd says that opens doors to share the gospel.

TODD HEFT: Amidst some of the, you know, the accidents and the incidents, there is realization that that that God is real. You know, especially when, when folks walk away from things and say, I don’t know why God protected me through that.

Tonight, the next round of racers is rolling up to the track entrance.

Todd steps forward and approaches one of the cars.

TODD HEFT: God, I just thank you for Patrick, Lord. I thank You for the night you’ve blessed him with tonight, Lord.

The driver reaches his hand through the window. Todd grasps it firmly.

TODD HEFT: I ask that You would be with Him, that You would guide him. Protect him throughout this race. Keep him safe. In your name we pray, Amen. Alright buddy…

This is a highlight of Todd’s work. Getting to pray with drivers in those nerve-racking minutes before they head out on the track.

People aren’t always receptive when Todd offers to pray for them.

TODD HEFT: Oftentimes, there’ll be drivers who will say, ‘No, thanks, I’m good, usually, generally, they’re very polite about it.

Todd doesn’t take it personally when people turn down his prayers. He just looks for other ways to minister to them—showing an interest in their lives and making a point to remember important birthdays and anniversaries.

Tonight, the competition is steep. Just a millisecond separates the first and second place finishers. It’s a high stress environment that acts as a pressure cooker for people’s emotions.

TODD HEFT: Race cars are not inexpensive to run in any way. So when things happen on track, that’s that’s often a lot of expenses for for people, and people get upset at that very quickly, especially if things have happened between teams in the past.

Part of the chaplain’s role is to help defuse these situations.

TODD HEFT: Sometimes all you have to do is just stand there, not even say a word, not try to physically separate people, but just gently move yourself in between them and just be like, ‘Why don’t we come over here.’

Todd says his work all comes down to building relationships—so that people trust him to step in when things go wrong. It’s hard, slow work and the Hefts don’t always get to see the results of their labor.

But, sometimes, they do get to see hearts change over time. People who have resisted prayer for years suddenly want Todd to pray with them.

TODD HEFT: Suddenly, maybe it’s something that’s happened on track, maybe it’s something that’s happened in their own personal life outside the track, but God’s got that, that tug and that pull on folks.

And that makes it all worthwhile.

AUDIO: [Cars fading into the distance]

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Grace Snell in Williamson, New York.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Today is Thursday, September 25th. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Myrna Brown.

LINDSAY MAST, HOST: And I’m Lindsay Mast. Well, Jimmy Kimmel returned this week, after lots of speculation about what he’d say. He wasn’t exactly conciliatory:

KIMMEL: Anyway, as I was saying before I was interrupted…

Anyway, as I was saying before I was interrupted:

KIMMEL: I want to thank the people who don't support my show and what I believe, but support my right to share those beliefs anyway.

During his extended monologue he did take a moment to address the comments that led to his suspension.

KIMMEL: You understand that it was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man … Nor was it my intention to blame any specific group for the actions of what, it was obviously a deeply disturbed individual that was really the opposite of the point I was trying to make. But I understand that to some that felt either ill timed or unclear, or maybe both. And for those who think I did, point a finger, I get why you're upset. If the situation was reversed, there's a good chance I'd have felt the same way.

BROWN: And after a few more minutes of a freedom of speech lecture, he was right back to poking fun at and criticizing the President and his administration:

KIMMEL: He tried, did his best to cancel me instead, he forced millions of people to watch the show that backfired bigly. He might have to release the Epstein files to distract us from this. [LAUGHTER]

Now with commentary, here is syndicated columnist and commentator Cal Thomas.

CAL THOMAS: The “indefinite suspension” of Jimmy Kimmel didn’t last very long. But it sure unleashed a torrent of criticism or praise, depending on which ideological side one stands.

Democrats and the Left engaged in predictable hyperbole. Some called the suspension a violation of the First Amendment. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz may have topped them all.

TIM WALZ: This is North Korea-style stuff. It has no place in America. If he gets away with this, “Katie bar the door” it’s all open, everyone one of those rights is then at risk.

Several points. There is no constitutional or other right for anyone to have a show on a TV network. I was a FOX News Channel contributor for 19 years. For nearly 10 of those I appeared on a news critique panel and for two years I had my own show.

When management decided to cancel both shows—despite pretty good ratings—I didn't complain. It's their network and they get to decide who they want on the air and who they don't. I didn't claim my First Amendment rights were being infringed upon. No one picketed demanding my return.

Kimmel's ratings were terrible and the ABC affiliate stations complained about his claim that Republicans are trying to use the assassination of Charlie Kirk for political gain. Apparently, that was the last straw for management. If all the critics and demonstrators outside Disney had actually watched the show, Kimmel's ratings might have been higher.

I think the reason there has been such an uproar from the Left is the realization that they are losing their monopoly in three areas they have dominated for decades—news, entertainment and academia. Charlie Kirk's appeal to young people was the biggest threat of all, because if leftist professors can no longer indoctrinate the young without being challenged, their political power will be substantially diminished.

Now for the other side of this coin. The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Brendan Carr, made an unveiled threat to remove the licenses of local stations if they don't comply with his view of what constitutes the public interest. On a podcast hosted by conservative Benny Johnson, Carr said this:

BRENDAN CARR: They have a license granted by us at the FCC, and that comes with it an obligation to operate in the public interest. But frankly, when you see stuff like this, I mean we can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways to change conduct and take action ... on Kimmel or there's going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.

Republican Senator from Texas Ted Cruz was quick to respond:

TED CRUZ: I think it is unbelievably dangerous for government to put itself in the position of saying, 'We're going to decide what speech we like and what we don't, and we're going to threaten to take you out there if we don't like what you're saying.' It might feel good right now to threaten Jimmy Kimmel, but when it is used to silence every conservative in America, we will regret it.

Cruz is right. President Trump is wrong to criticize Kimmel. The president should look at what former presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama said about conservative media which some believed was an attempt to intimidate them and undermine their First Amendment rights.

Pulling the plug on Kimmel doesn't mean the Left is without access to the media to proclaim their views. But the government shouldn’t be the one to define “public interest.” The term is too vague, subjective, and can change with the times.

Let the market decide, which it has in the matter of Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert before him.

I’m Cal Thomas.

LINDSAY MAST, HOST: Tomorrow: John Stonestreet stops by for Culture Friday. And, Collin Garbarino reviews a rare G-rated movie for families with 5-year old girls. Plus, your listener feedback. That and more tomorrow.

I’m Lindsay Mast.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown.

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