NPR News: 07-02-2026 3PM EDT

Lakshmi Singh· Host0:01

Live from NPR News, I'm Lakshmi Singh. A punishing heat wave is baking towns and cities from the central to the eastern U.S. At least 160 million people affected. Records, some above 100 degrees, are being shattered. But the brutal heat is opening the door to some side hustles, like renting out a pool. Here's NPR's Stephen Bisaha.

Stephen Bisaha0:22

[water splashing] [people cheering] Megan Clapton and her husband, Taylor, used the app Swimply to rent a private pool near Birmingham, Alabama, during a scorching hot day last summer.

Speaker 30:32

I think it's part of the culture now, right? Just, like, take over someone else's house or pool or [laughs] for the day or the weekend.

Speaker 40:39

For a fee.

Speaker 30:39

[laughs] For a fee. That's right.

Stephen Bisaha0:41

One rental cost them about 380 bucks. That got 30 guests three hours of pool time. The pool's owner says renting it out helps her cover maintenance costs and boosts her income. So far this year, Swimply says there have been 275,000 pool reservations. Stephen Bisaha, NPR News, Birmingham.

Lakshmi Singh· Host1:00

57,000. That's the lower-than-expected number of jobs the Labor Department says the U.S. economy gained last month. The unemployment rate came in at 4.2% in June. The department also reported sharp downward revisions for April and May. President Trump is appealing a court ruling that blocks key parts of his executive order to restrict voting by mail. NPR's Hansi Lo Wang reports the court found Trump's directive was unconstitutional.

Hansi Lo Wang1:26

So far, President Trump's order has not directly affected mail-in voting.