During the holidays, the kids are off from school, so they might be enjoying some extra screentime. It’s a reality many parents begrudgingly accept. But is time spent playing online games always a cause for concern? On The Sunday Story, host Ayesha Rascoe (whose kids are spending a lot of time lately playing Roblox, Minecraft and Fortnite) sits down with researcher Eli Stark-Elster to clear up some misconceptions around the harms of screentime.
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Consider This from NPR - The U.S. spent billions to rebuild Afghanistan. Was it successful?
A new report from U.S. government watchdog SIGAR gives us the fullest accounting yet of U.S. efforts to rebuild Afghanistan.
In short, they call it "a two-decade long effort fraught with waste.”
Each week, Consider This hosts interview newsmakers, experts, and artists for NPR — conversations we don’t always have time to share fully in the podcast or on the radio. So every other week we share one here, for our NPR+ supporters.
Sign up to hear our bonus episodes, support public radio, and get regular episodes of your favorite NPR podcasts without sponsor messages at plus.npr.org.
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Up First from NPR - Epstein Files Release, Health Care Subsidies, Surviving The Holiday Season
The Justice Department releases a vast trove of documents relating to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Also, Congress left Washington D.C. for its holiday break without reaching a deal on health care. Millions of Americans will face price hikes on their insurance premiums. And surviving the holiday season, we’ll have tips on what can be a stressful time of the year.
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NPR's Book of the Day - Revisiting ‘Waiting to Exhale’
As the film adaptation of ‘Waiting to Exhale’ celebrates its 30th anniversary, B.A. Parker and Andrew Limbong, along with It’s Been a Minute host, Brittany Luse, revisit its source material about four friends, Savannah, Gloria, Robin, and Bernadine, as they make their way through the 30s, in love and in life. Later on, special guest, Tia Williams, speaks to Andrew about how Terry McMillian paved the way for her career path as a romance novelist.
Brittany’s Recommendation: ‘Things I Should Have Told My Daughter: Lies, Lessons & Love Affairs’ by Pearl Cleage
Parker’s Recommendation: ‘The Wilderness’ by Angela Flournoy
Andrew’s Recommendation: ‘Where I’m Coming From’ by Barbara Brandon-Croft
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Brittany’s Recommendation: ‘Things I Should Have Told My Daughter: Lies, Lessons & Love Affairs’ by Pearl Cleage
Parker’s Recommendation: ‘The Wilderness’ by Angela Flournoy
Andrew’s Recommendation: ‘Where I’m Coming From’ by Barbara Brandon-Croft
To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookoftheday
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Planet Money - What AI data centers are doing to your electric bill
As a country, we are spending more to get data centers up and running than we spent to build the entire interstate highway system. (Yes, that’s inflation-adjusted.) With tech companies spending hundreds of billions of dollars on AI, data centers have kind of become the thing in the US economy.
But along with that growth have come a lot of questions. Like where is all the electricity to run these data centers supposed to come from? And how much are residential customers’ electric bills increasing as a result?
On today’s episode, we go to Ohio to trace one electric bill back to its source, to see what exactly is causing the big price increases people are seeing. We take a tour of a data center hot spot, and get to the bottom of how prices are set from inside the power company.
Related episodes:
- Asking for a friend … which jobs are safe from AI?
- No AI data centers in my backyard!
- What $10 billion in data centers actually gets you
- Is AI overrated or underrated?
- Green energy gridlock
Pre-order the Planet Money book and get a free gift. / Subscribe to Planet Money+
Listen free: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.
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Today's show was hosted by Keith Romer and Jeff Guo. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was edited by Jess Jiang and fact checked by Sierra Juarez and Vito Emanuel. It was engineered by Cena Loffredo. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.
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But along with that growth have come a lot of questions. Like where is all the electricity to run these data centers supposed to come from? And how much are residential customers’ electric bills increasing as a result?
On today’s episode, we go to Ohio to trace one electric bill back to its source, to see what exactly is causing the big price increases people are seeing. We take a tour of a data center hot spot, and get to the bottom of how prices are set from inside the power company.
Related episodes:
- Asking for a friend … which jobs are safe from AI?
- No AI data centers in my backyard!
- What $10 billion in data centers actually gets you
- Is AI overrated or underrated?
- Green energy gridlock
Pre-order the Planet Money book and get a free gift. / Subscribe to Planet Money+
Listen free: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.
Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.
Today's show was hosted by Keith Romer and Jeff Guo. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was edited by Jess Jiang and fact checked by Sierra Juarez and Vito Emanuel. It was engineered by Cena Loffredo. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.
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Consider This from NPR - The cream of the slop: this year’s AI highlights
2025 has proved that artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping online reality and that the “slop” is here to stay.
NPR’s Geoff Brumfiel and Shannon Bond have spent much of the year rolling around in that slop and join host Scott Detrow to break down some of the highlights and how to sort the real from the fake.
For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.
Email us at considerthis@npr.org.
This episode was produced by Elena Burnett and Daniel Ofman.
It was edited by Brett Neely, John Ketchum and Courtney Dorning.
Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.
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1A - The News Roundup For December 19, 2025
President Donald Trump delivered a national address on Wednesday in an attempt to set the record straight on his economic record.
Gun violence dominated the news this week. Two people were killed in a shooting at Brown University. Six teenagers were injured in a shooting outside of a birthday party in Brooklyn. And an MIT professor was shot and killed inside of his home Tuesday.
And an appeals court signals it will allow the National Guard to continue in Washington D.C. while litigation continues.
And, in global news, two shooters opened fire on a Hanukkah gathering at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia on Sunday. It was the country’s deadliest shooting in 30 years.
President Donald Trump continues to escalate tensions between Washington and Caracas. This week Trump ordered the blockade of sanctioned Venezuelan oil tankers.
And Russian President Vladimir Putin is warning that his country will extend its gains of Ukrainian territory if peace talks aren’t successful.
We cover the most important stories from around the globe in the News Roundup.
Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.
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Gun violence dominated the news this week. Two people were killed in a shooting at Brown University. Six teenagers were injured in a shooting outside of a birthday party in Brooklyn. And an MIT professor was shot and killed inside of his home Tuesday.
And an appeals court signals it will allow the National Guard to continue in Washington D.C. while litigation continues.
And, in global news, two shooters opened fire on a Hanukkah gathering at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia on Sunday. It was the country’s deadliest shooting in 30 years.
President Donald Trump continues to escalate tensions between Washington and Caracas. This week Trump ordered the blockade of sanctioned Venezuelan oil tankers.
And Russian President Vladimir Putin is warning that his country will extend its gains of Ukrainian territory if peace talks aren’t successful.
We cover the most important stories from around the globe in the News Roundup.
Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.
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State of the World from NPR - Why Cuba is Watching Venezuela Intently
Cuba today feels more isolated than ever after years of sanctions from the United States have severely damaged the economy. Now Cubans are watching the U.S. ramp up pressure on the government of Venezuela, Cuba’s most loyal ally and an important trading partner. Our reporter in Havana talks to some Cubans about the current moment.
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Up First from NPR - Brown University Suspect Found Dead, Epstein Files Deadline, Kennedy Center Renamed
The suspected gunman behind the shooting at Brown University and the killing of an MIT professor has been found dead. The Justice Department faces a deadline to release files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. And the board of the Kennedy Center has voted to change the name of the cultural hub to the Trump Kennedy Center.
Want more analysis of the most important news of the day, plus a little fun? Subscribe to the Up First newsletter
Today’s episode of Up First was edited by Robbie Griffiths, Megan Pratz, Jay Vanasco, Lisa Thomson and Alice Woelfle.
It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Nia Dumas and Christopher Thomas.
We get engineering support from Stacey Abbott. Our technical director is Carleigh Strange.
And our Executive Producer is Jay Shaylor.
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NPR's Book of the Day - Paul McCartney on his band ‘Wings,’ plus the story of indie label Bloodshot Records
Two new memoirs zoom in on important moments in music history. First, Paul McCartney’s new book Wings reflects on the life of his post-Beatles band, which he formed in London in 1971. In today’s episode, McCartney speaks with NPR’s A Martínez about establishing a distinct identity in The Beatles’ shadow. Then, Rob Miller founded Bloodshot Records in the 1990s when a new sound – “insurgent country” or “alt-country” – was just emerging. Miller joined NPR’s Scott Simon for a conversation about his memoir The Hours Are Long, But the Pay Is Low, which tells the story behind the label.
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To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookoftheday
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NPR Privacy Policy