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Possible Terror Plot Thwarted at U.K. Base, and Amazon Drones Overwhelm a Texas Town

September 28, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

Possible Terror Plot Thwarted at U.K. Base, and Amazon Drones Overwhelm a Texas Town

The episode opens with a striking image from Richardson, Texas: an 83-pound Amazon drone, five feet tall and five feet wide, descending slowly over a suburban neighborhood, buzzing "like billions of bees at once in a hive." It's a scene that captures both the technological ambition and the real-world friction of Amazon's Prime Air delivery program, which has turned this Dallas suburb into one of the first testing grounds for drone delivery in the United States. But the episode covers several major developments, from a thwarted terror plot at a U.K. airbase used for U.S. strikes on Iran, to the hidden bottlenecks in America's weapons supply chain, to the Trump administration's latest maneuvers with federal funding and taxpayer-funded ads.

The Ball Screw Bottleneck: Why Rebuilding U.S. Weapons Stockpiles Is So Hard

President Trump's war against Iran has depleted U.S. weapons stockpiles to "troubling levels," according to senior officials. A recent Congressional Budget Office report said it could take "at least five years" to restock critical weaponry like air defense missiles. The Times investigated why rebuilding is so difficult, and one answer is surprisingly mundane: precision ball screws.

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What you'll learn

  • 1 (00:36) **Episode Open & U.S. Weapons Stockpile Crisis** - Tracy Mumford introduces the day's headlines, beginning with a report on the depletion of U.S. weapons stockpiles due to the conflict with Iran.
  • 2 (03:24) **Trump Rejects Iran's Proposal to End War** - President Trump tells reporters he has rejected a proposal from Iran to end the conflict, which included a seven-day timeline to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
  • 3 (04:08) **Terror Plot Thwarted at U.K. Airbase Used by U.S.** - Authorities in the U.K. announce they thwarted a possible terror attack at RAF Fairford, an airbase used by the U.S. military for strikes on Iran.
  • 4 (05:29) **Investigators Probe Possible Russia Link** - Authorities are also investigating whether the thwarted attack at RAF Fairford has any connection to Russia, which has been accused of orchestrating previous attacks.
  • 5 (05:43) **White House Plans to Cancel $800 Million in Federal Funding** - The Trump administration announces plans to cancel over $800 million in federal funding for education and health programs that were approved by Congress.
  • 6 (06:46) **Pro-Trump Ads Aired During Major TV Events** - A series of pro-Trump ads, funded by the U.S. government and looking like campaign ads, aired during Saturday Night Live and NFL games over the weekend.
  • 7 (07:55) **Amazon Drones Overwhelm a Texas Town** - In Richardson, Texas, a Dallas suburb has become a testing ground for Amazon's Prime Air drone delivery service, with residents reporting a constant, intrusive presence.

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Show Notes

Plus, the pro-Trump ads paid for by taxpayers. 

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