9.2.26 Pentagon’s upheaval, Venezuela’s earthquakes, and Dolly Parton’s roots

Hunter Baker has more Washington than Wednesday can hold: Pentagon upheaval, the politics of AI data centers, Social Security’s looming reckoning—and a lightning round besides. In Venezuela, an earthquake exposes a crisis years in the making, while Mary Muncy looks past Dolly Parton’s carefully built image to the faith and roots beneath it. Plus: cheaper raccoon permits, and Maria Baer on the friend who asks, and Wednesday morning news.

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