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Michelle Obama opened up on “Call Her Daddy” about whether she believes the U.S. is ready for a female president. The former first lady discussed a wide range of topics during her interview with Alex Cooper on the Jan. 21 episode of the podcast, including the scrutiny she faced while in the public eye and the media’s focus on her appearance during Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign. Obama also expanded on comments she made last November about whether she would ever consider running for president herself and what that says about the country’s readiness for a woman in the Oval Office. “As we saw in this past election, sadly, we ain’t ready,” Obama said. “That’s why I’m like, don’t even look at me about running, because you all are lying. You’re not ready for a woman. You are not.” She previously touched on the subject during a conversation with actor Tracee Ellis Ross for a live taping of her podcast, “IMO,” at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on Nov. 5, 2025. Ross asked Obama whether serving as first lady had affected “the room that we’ve made for a woman to be president.” “You know, we got a lot of growing up to do,” Obama said. “And there’s still, sadly, a lot of men who do not feel like they can be led by a woman, and we saw it.” Speaking with Cooper, Obama elaborated further. “We’ve come a long way,” she said. “Whether people really feel yet that they can follow a woman as president… we’d be silly to think there aren’t some gut… I don’t know, like we’re not even analyzing what those feelings are about because we’re trying to pretend it’s all better.” “How could it be all better?” she continued. “We’ve been feeding off this bone for so long, it doesn’t just go away. It takes time. But we’re moving. We are moving in that direction.” Michelle Obama Nov 15, 2025 Michelle Obama says the U.S. is ‘not ready' for a woman president Michelle Obama Aug 14, 2025 The 3 words of dating advice Michelle Obama gave her daughters celebrity couples Jul 16, 2025 Barack and Michelle Obama break silence on divorce rumors “There are men out there who would not vote for a woman,” she said. “Let’s just be real about it and put that on the table and talk about what that’s about.” “Let’s not be mad because I made the statement,” Obama added. “Let’s look at the fact that we’ve had two really qualified female candidates.” “We have qualified women. They’re not perfect, they don’t cross every T and dot every I, there’s a falling-shortness that happens,” she said. “But why can’t we talk about that? Why are we pretending that didn’t just happen?” Cooper noted that some critics have argued that disliking certain candidates does not necessarily mean the country isn’t ready for a woman president. “We’re still growing,” Obama responded. “I think it’s going to happen. Are we ready now? I don’t know. Let’s prove us wrong. I would love that.” Cooper also raised a hypothetical scenario in which President Donald Trump changes the law and runs for a third term, asking whether Barack Obama would ever consider returning to politics. “I hope not,” Obama said. “I would actively work against that. I would be at home working against it.” “I do believe in the need for new vision,” she added. “This is a hard job, and it requires new energy, new vision all the time, new ways of looking at the world. So, I do think that eight years is enough.” “How are we going to build new leaders if the same people keep doing it again and again and again?”

Ryan Coogler’s blues-steeped vampire epic “Sinners” led all films with 16 nominations to the 98th Academy Awards on Thursday, setting a record for the most in Oscar history. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences voters showered “Sinners” with more nominations than they had ever bestowed before, breaking the 14-nomination mark set by “All About Eve,” “Titanic” and “La La Land.” Along with best picture, Coogler was nominated for best director and best screenplay, and double-duty star Michael B. Jordan was rewarded with his first Oscar nomination, for best actor. Paul Thomas Anderson’s father-daughter revolutionary saga “One Battle After Another,” the favorite coming into nominations, trailed in second with 13 of its own. Four of its actors — Leonardo DiCaprio, Teyana Taylor, Benicio del Toro and Sean Penn — were nominated, though newcomer Chase Infiniti was left out in best actress. In those two top nominees, the film academy put its full force behind a pair of visceral and bracingly original American epics that each connected with a fraught national moment. Coogler’s Jim Crow-era film — the rare horror movie to win the academy’s favor — conjures a mythical allegory of Black life. In “One Battle After Another,” a dormant spirit of rebellion is revived in an out-of-control police state. Both are also Warner Bros. titles. In the midst of a contentious sale to Netflix, the 102-year-old studio had one of its best Oscar nominations mornings ever. As the fate of Warner Bros., which Netflix is buying for $72 billion, hangs in the balance amid a challenge from Paramount Skydance, Hollywood is bracing for potentially the largest realignment in the film industry’s history. The 10 films nominated for best picture are “Bugonia,” “F1,” “Frankenstein,” “Hamnet,” “Marty Supreme,” “One Battle After Another,” “The Secret Agent,” “Sentimental Value,” “Sinners” and “Train Dreams.” Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein,” Josh Safdie’s “Marty Supreme” and Joachim Trier’s “Sentimental Value” all scored nine nominations. The nine for “Marty Supreme” included a third best actor nod for 30-year-old Timothée Chalamet, the favorite in the category he narrowly missed winning last year for “A Complete Unknown.” With Jordan and Chalamet, the nominees are Leonardo DiCaprio for “One Battle After Another,” Ethan Hawke for “Blue Moon” and Wagner Moura for “The Secret Agent.” Nominated for best actress was the category favorite, Jessie Buckley (“Hamnet”), along with Rose Byrne (“If I Had Legs I’d Kick You”), Kate Hudson (“Song Sung Blue”), Renate Reinsve (“Sentimental Value”) and two-time winner Emma Stone, who landed her sixth nomination, for “Bugonia.” ACADEMY AWARDS 8 hours ago Oscar nominations 2026: See the full list ACADEMY AWARDS 22 hours ago How to watch 2026 Oscars nominations announcement: Time, stream ‘KPop’ leads a field light on big hits The year’s most-watched movie, with more than half a billion views on Netflix, “KPop Demon Hunters,” scored nominations for both best song (“Golden”) and best animated feature. Sony Pictures developed and produced the film, but, after selling it to Netflix, watched it become a worldwide sensation. Blockbusters otherwise had a difficult morning. Universal Pictures’ “Wicked: For Good” was shut out entirely. While “Avatar: Fire and Ash” notched nominations for costume design and visual effects, it became the first “Avatar” film not nominated for best picture. The biggest box-office hit nominated for Hollywood’s top award instead was “F1,” an Apple production that landed four nominations. The streamer partnered with Warner Bros. to distribute the racing drama. This year, the Oscars are introducing a new category for casting. That new honor helped “Sinners” and “One Battle After Another” pad their already impressive stats. Along with those two films, the nominees are “Hamnet,” “Marty Supreme” and “The Secret Agent.” An international shift continues The academy, which has expanded its overseas membership in…

A prominent civil rights attorney and at least one other person involved in an anti-immigration enforcement protest that disrupted a service at a Minnesota church have been arrested, Attorney General Pam Bondi said Thursday, just as Vice President JD Vance is set to visit the state. Bondi announced the arrest of Nekima Levy Armstrong in a post on X. On Sunday, protesters entered the Cities Church in St. Paul, where a local official with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement serves as a pastor. Bondi later posted on X that a second person had been arrested. The Justice Department quickly opened a civil rights investigation after the group interrupted services by chanting “ICE out” and “Justice for Renee Good,” referring to the 37-year-old mother of three who was fatally shot by an ICE officer in Minneapolis earlier this month. “Listen loud and clear: WE DO NOT TOLERATE ATTACKS ON PLACES OF WORSHIP,” the attorney general wrote on X. Cities Church belongs to the Southern Baptist Convention and lists one of its pastors as David Easterwood, who leads the local ICE field office. Many Baptist churches have pastors who work at least part-time in other jobs. US & World Minnesota 17 hours ago Renee Good was shot in the head, autopsy commissioned by her family finds Immigration 22 hours ago ICE says its officers can forcibly enter homes during immigration operations without judicial warrant: 2025 memo Immigration Jan 21 Court lifts restrictions on immigration officers' tactics in Minnesota Vance threatens the protesters with prison terms Levy Armstrong, a civil rights attorney and prominent local activist, had called for the pastor affiliated with ICE to resign, saying his dual role poses a “fundamental moral conflict.” “You cannot lead a congregation while directing an agency whose actions have cost lives and inflicted fear in our communities,” she said Tuesday. “When officials protect armed agents, repeatedly refuse meaningful investigation into killings like Renée Good’s, and signal they may pursue peaceful protesters and journalists, that is not justice — it is intimidation.” Prominent leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention have come to the church’s defense, arguing that compassion for migrant families affected by the crackdown cannot justify violating a sacred space during worship. Vance, speaking in Toledo ahead of his Minnesota visit, said the church protesters scared “little kids.” “Those people are going to be sent to prison so long as we have the power to do so. We’re going to do everything we can to enforce the law,” he said. A swift civil rights investigation into the protest but not Good’s death A longtime activist in the Twin Cities metropolitan area, Levy Armstrong has helped lead local protests after the high-profile police-involved killings of Black Americans, including George Floyd, Philando Castile and Jamar Clark. She is a former president of the NAACP’s Minneapolis branch. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem posted a photo on X of Levy Armstrong with her arms behind her back next to a person wearing a badge. Noem said she faces a charge under a statute that bars threatening or intimidating someone exercising a right. FBI Director Kash Patel posted on X that Chauntyll Louisa Allen, the second person Bondi said was arrested, is charged under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, which prohibits physically obstructing or using the threat of force to intimidate or interfere with a person seeking reproductive health services or seeking to participate in a service at a house of worship. It’s unclear who Allen’s attorney is. Saint Paul Public Schools, where Allen is a member of the board of education, is aware of her arrest but will not comment on pending legal matters, according to district spokesperson Erica Wacker. The Justice Department’s swift investigation into the church disruption stands in contrast to its decision not to open a civil rights investigation into…

And the 2026 Oscar nominees are…. Nominations for the 98th Academy Awards were announced live Thursday morning from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Science’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Los Angeles by actors Lewis Pullman and Danielle Brooks. While horror films have traditionally been left out of the Oscars, Ryan Coogler’s vampire tale “Sinners” made history with 16 nominations, including Directing, Best Picture and Best Actor for Michael B. Jordan, his first Oscar nomination. No movie has ever landed more than 14 nominations — something achieved only by “All About Eve,” “Titanic” and “La La Land.” Paul Thomas Anderson’s father-daughter revolutionary saga “One Battle After Another,” trailed in second with 13 nominations. This year, the Academy is recognizing casting directors for the first time, adding the new category last year. The last time a competitive category was added was in 2001, with best animated film. The Oscars will take place on March 15 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles and will be televised live on ABC and Hulu at 7 p.m. ET on ABC. Conan O’Brien is returning as host. See the full list below: Best Actor Timothée Chalamet, “Marty Supreme”Leonardo DiCaprio, “One Battle After Another”Ethan Hawke, “Blue Moon”Michael B. Jordan, “Sinners”Wagner Moura, “The Secret Agent” Best Actress Jessie Buckley, “Hamnet”Rose Byrne, “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You”Kate Hudson, “Song Sung Blue”Renate Reinsve, “Sentimental Value”Emma Stone, “Bugonia” Best Director Chloé Zhao, “Hamnet”Josh Safdie, “Marty Supreme”Paul Thomas Anderson, “One Battle After Another”Joachim Trier, “Sentimental Value”Ryan Coogler, “Sinners” Best Cinematography “Sinners”“One Battle After Another”“Train Dreams”“Frankenstein”“Marty Supreme” Best Picture “Bugonia”“F1”“Frankenstein”“Hamnet”“Marty Supreme”“One Battle After Another”“The Secret Agent”“Sentimental Value”“Sinners”“Train Dreams” Best Supporting Actress Elle Fanning, “Sentimental Value”Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, “Sentimental Value”Amy Madigan , “Weapons”Wunmi Mosaku, “Sinners”Teyana Taylor, “One Battle After Another” Best Supporting Actor Benicio Del Toro, “One Battle After Another”Jacob Elordi, “Frankenstein”Delroy Lindo, “Sinners”Sean Penn, “One Battle After Another”Stellan Skarsgård, “Sentimental Value” Best Makeup and Hairstyling “Frankenstein”“Kokuho”“Sinners”“The Smashing Machine”“The Ugly Stepsister” Best Original Score “Bugonia”“Frankenstein”“Hamnet”“One Battle After Another”“Sinners” Best Live Action Short Film “Butcher’s Stain”“A Friend of Dorothy”“Jane Austen’s Period Drama”“The Singers”“Two People Exchanging Saliva” Best Animated Short Film “Butterfly”“Forevergreen”“The Girl Who Cried Pearls”“Retirement Plan”“The Three Sisters” Best Adapted Screenplay “One Battle After Another”“Hamnet”“Bugonia”“Train Dreams”“Frankenstein” Best Original Screenplay “Blue Moon”“It Was Just an Accident”“Marty Supreme”“Sentimental Value”“Sinners” Best Casting Nina Gold, “Hamnet”Jennifer Venditti, “Marty Supreme”Casandra Kulukundis, “One Battle After Another”Gabriel Domingues, “The Secret Agent”Francine Maisler, “Sinners” Best Costume Design “Avatar: Fire and Ash”“Frankenstein”“Hamnet”“Marty Supreme”“Sinners” Best International Feature Film “It Was Just an Accident”“The Secret Agent”“Sentimental Value”“The Voice of Hind Rajab”“Sirat” Best Original Song “Dear Me” from “Diane Warren: Relentless”“Golden” from “KPop Demon Hunters”“I Lied to You” from “Sinners”“Sweet Dreams of Joy” from “Viva Verdi!”“Train Dreams” from “Train Dreams” Best Production Design “Frankenstein”“Hamnet”“Marty Supreme”“One Battle After Another”“Sinners” Best Documentary Feature Film “The Alabama Solution”“Come See Me in the Good Light”“Cutting Through Rocks”“Mr. Nobody Against Putin”“The Perfect Neighbor” Best Film Editing “F1”“Marty Supreme”“One Battle After Another”“Sentimental Value”“Sinners” Best Visual Effects…

From this Friday through Sunday, a winter storm is expected to affect millions of people in the United States, impacting air travel. “When adverse weather conditions or other uncontrollable events affect your flight and travel dates, you may be able to change your trip without an additional charge,” American Airlines states on its website. As thousands of people may have questions about the status of their flights, the airline says it is working 24 hours a day to assist customers. They assure that affected passengers will be contacted via email or through app notifications. Extreme Weather Jan 21 A January freeze is taking hold across the U.S. with little sign of letting up weather Jan 21 How to prepare for the winter storm that is set to hit half of the U.S. this weekend However, they note that change fees will be waived if you: Are traveling on an American Airlines flight Have a reservation in any fare class, including Basic Economy Purchased your ticket before Jan. 19, 2026 Are scheduled to travel between Jan. 23-25, 2026 Can travel between Jan. 21-28, 2026 Do not change your origin or destination city Rebook in the same cabin or pay the fare difference Please note that: Changes must be booked by Jan. 25, 2026 Travel must be completed within one year of the original ticket date; a fare difference may apply To change your trip, if you meet the requirements, you can do so online by following these steps: Find your trip on the website or app. If your trip qualifies, you will see the “change trip” option in the toolbar. If you are unable to change your trip through the website, you can call American Airlines reservations at 800-433-7300. Delta offers flight changes with no additional fees Delta Airlines reported that due to the approaching adverse winter conditions, it will help customers manage their travel by allowing those with existing reservations to change their flights without additional fees. “The safety of Delta customers and our staff remains our top priority, so we closely monitor forecasts to determine necessary adjustments to flight schedules,” the company said. To change your flight, visit Delta.com or the mobile app, and “as always, if a flight is canceled or a delay causes a missed connection, Delta will rebook passengers on the next available flight,” the airline stated. “If travel is rescheduled for Jan. 28, 2026, or earlier, in the same class of service as the original reservation, no fare difference will apply. A fare difference may apply if the waiver is restricted to a specific class and the original booking class is not maintained on the rescheduled itinerary,” they said. If the trip is rescheduled after Jan. 28, 2026, a fare difference may apply. Passengers are advised to check their flight status frequently for the most up-to-date information. Customers can also receive updates directly on their mobile devices or by email, where Delta will notify them as far in advance as possible about changes to flight schedules.