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We’ll get back to the music on 120 Minutes in just a moment, but first, it’s 12:30 and it’s time once again to check the news, for this week, October 25th.

The New York Times reported on Wednesday that 7 of the 9 universities pressured by the Trump administration to sign a compact to receive federal funding have rejected it. Of the universities targeted, only the University of Texas system appeared to be willing to accept the compact that would prevent certain teaching that goes against conservative ideas. Meanwhile, the University of Virginia, although it rejected the compact, struck a separate deal with the Trump administration this week that at least temporarily removed the threat of federal investigations, but in exchange, UVA had to agree to end any admission-related programs that promote racial diversity.

In other news, the Lexington-Herald Leader reported on Monday that thousands of people attended Lexington’s No Kings rally last Saturday at the Courthouse Plaza downtown, which was just one of over 2,500 demonstrations across the country last weekend that attracted a total of an estimated 7 to 10 million people. Attendees reported a cathartic atmosphere at the events, being surrounded by a sea of other people in their local communities who oppose the litany of oppressive actions being taken by the Trump administration.

After the No Kings rallies last weekend, Trump posted an AI-generated fake video of himself wearing a king’s crown and dropping large amounts of feces on American people and cities, and then he proceeded in real life this week to demolish the entire East Wing of the White House, which was originally built in 1902, to make way for his gold-themed ballroom, according to the Associated Press.

This comes at a time when the federal government continues to be shut down, many federal workers are going without pay, SNAP benefits are under threat starting in November, the National Guard has been deployed by Trump in multiple U.S. states against the will of their governors, and his ICE and Border Patrol agents continue to target largely people of color in cities across the country.

According to CNN, a new poll released this week by PRRI shows that 56% of Americans agree with the statement that Trump is a “potentially dangerous dictator whose power should be limited before he destroys democracy”, with only 41% disagreeing with that statement.

Following up on some news that we told you about on the show a couple of weeks ago, the students behind the former WCSB radio station that was abruptly shut down after 50 years by Cleveland State University earlier this month have received some critical support from their city. ABC News 5 Cleveland reported on Tuesday that the city council unanimously passed a resolution urging CSU to give the station back to the students and community. However, the CSU administration responded by saying it has no such plans. The students have launched a website where they plan to share further developments, at xcsb.org.

If you missed our show last week, we also brought you some important news about UK stopping financial support for what it calls “identity-based” student organizations that are primarily run by minorities, as well as ending gender-inclusive housing, and halting any updates to students’ preferred name or gender and pronouns in university records. That news was originally reported by the Kentucky Kernel, and more details can be found on their website at kykernel.com.

Finally tonight, some music news, we’re sad to report that Dave Ball, the electronic music pioneer who was one half of the British synth-pop duo Soft Cell, died at his home in London on Wednesday at the age of 66, according to Soft Cell’s website. At the end of the show tonight at 1:45, we’ll be airing a cult classic from Soft Cell.

And that’s… the news.