All Things Considered

For as long as he can remember, Tommy Tomlinson has understood his identity as inseparable from his body.

Sabrina Rubich shopped for milk, bananas and other basics this week at an Albertson's grocery store in Missoula, Mont., with her nine-month-old son, Kenny. When she got to the checkstand she paid for some of her groceries with money from the USDA's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP—which is issuing its February payments early.

Rubich is one of about 39 million people who are now spending their SNAP payments not knowing when the next one will come due to the federal government shutdown.

The White House has blocked an emergency effort to finish major U.S.-funded school, water and sewage projects in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, according to documents reviewed by NPR.

It is the latest of a series of moves by the Trump administration to shut down U.S. aid to Palestinians, which is scheduled to end Feb 1.

Last summer, All Things Considered and Atlas Obscura took a road trip up the West Coast. Along the way, they met Bob Carr, the creator of Bob's Crystal Cave near Joshua Tree, Calif., where he welcomed visitors for 15 years.

Bob died earlier this month at age 80. He is survived by his wife Elizabeth and daughter Zena. Bob "died as he lived — on his own terms and with dignity and grace," Elizabeth says.

According to a report by Billboard magazine on Friday afternoon, R. Kelly has been dropped by RCA Records. The move comes in the wake of a documentary series called Surviving R. Kelly that aired on Lifetime and cataloged more than 25 years of accusations of sexual and physical abuse made against Kelly by a number of women, including seven who were interviewed on camera.

In the five years since her last music release, Sharon Van Etten has had her hands full: She became a mom, she took her first acting role in the Netflix series The OA, she wrote her first movie score, and she went back to school for psychology.

The title of her new album, Remind Me Tomorrow, is a nod to how busy she's been.

"There's a lot more of life pulling me in different directions," Van Etten says.

A diver in California has stumbled on an unexpected source of plastic waste in the ocean: golf balls.

As the balls degrade, they can emit toxic chemicals. And there appear to be lots of them in certain places underwater — right next to coastal golf courses.

Updated at 3:24 p.m.

Three Chicago cops were found not guilty of attempting to cover up the fatal police shooting of Laquan McDonald.

Handing down her decision Thursday afternoon, Cook County Judge Domenica Stephenson attacked the prosecution's case, including its heavy reliance on police reports and an infamous dashcam recording that showed convicted Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke shoot 17-year-old McDonald 16 times on Oct. 20, 2014.