Good morning. You're reading the Up First newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox, and listen to the Up First podcast for all the news you need to start your day.
Today's top stories
A grand jury in Atlanta indicted Trump late last night for his role in failed efforts to overturn Georgia's 2020 election results. The 41-count indictment also names 18 others, including former Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani and former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows. All 19 defendants are accused of violating the state's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO.
From Our Hosts
This essay is written by Leila Fadel, who hosts Morning Edition and Up First. She was previously an NPR national correspondent covering race and identity and prior to that an international correspondent based in Cairo.
There's something that Pidgeon Pagonis told me when we sat down to discuss their memoir, Nobody Needs to Know, that hurt my heart.
"Everyone had been lying to me my entire life."
The intersex advocate was raised as a girl. They didn't know the real reason they didn't get a period. They didn't know the real reason doctors operated on them throughout their childhood. They didn't know that the painful and invasive surgeries weren't actually necessary.
They discovered the truth by accident in a college freshman gender studies class. They were intersex. It upended Pagonis' world. It changed their understanding of their past and put them on a future path of activism. The book takes the reader on the same journey Pagonis lived. It's filled with heartbreak, healing and triumph. But after this book, they say they're done telling the story of their past. From now on, they'll only look forward. Listen here.
— Leila Fadel, Morning Edition host
Weekly dose of wonder
Weekly Dose of Wonder highlights wondrous, awe-inspiring stories that deepen our connection to the natural world and humanity.
Why do some foods improve with age, while others spoil? NPR's Pien Huang set out to find the answer by spending time with Chef Patrice Cunningham to learn how to make kimchi. Through the process, Huang came to appreciate the tiny microbes that transform cabbage into kimchi, milk into yogurt, soybeans into soy sauce, and so many more delicious things we enjoy.
It's an appreciation that also unites me and my fiancé. Kimchi is a big part of my diet as an Asian American, and his German family introduced me to sauerkraut. Listen to learn the science behind and health benefits of the wonder-inducing process of fermentation. Or, read the story here.
3 things to know before you go
This newsletter was edited by Majd Al-Waheidi.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
