On tonight's program: A Florida state senator seems to have a leg up on the race to fill a vacated congressional seat. And although he has the nod from the incoming president, this individual insists he’ll have enough time in the state legislature to get his priorities into law; Right before the holidays, Governor DeSantis and the Florida Cabinet approve the acquisition of more land to go under Florida Forever protections; The incoming Trump administration and its threat of mass deportations of many immigrants has lots of people anxious. Although an expert in immigration law notes the issue has often changed over the years in response to who’s in the White House; The holiday season is already stressful enough. But add the extra anxiety often caused by too much social media interaction and you’ve got a mental health catastrophe in the making; But we’ also have some four-legged therapists on duty who can lift the spirits of those suffering from the trauma of the season; Forget the argument about whether or not America is a “Christian” nation. Is the country even a “religious” nation anymore? We’ll check out some new data that shows there are few atheists in foxholes OR jail cells; And we’ll discover that one of this year’s monster film hits could have the unexpected bonus of getting more students involved in musical theatre programs.

On tonight’s program: The recriminations continue. Why did Florida Democrats do so badly in the last election?; Could Florida re-instate a controversial wild bear hunt? Advocates believe there’s little other choice; A record number of Florida travelers will be driving and flying over the upcoming year-end holidays; With the year-end holidays looming, Florida lawmakers made a quick trip to Tallahassee this week. One big agenda item, the complex – and often convoluted – behavioral expectations for lawmakers; A judge considers a request to allow exploratory fossil fuel drilling in an environmentally sensitive North Florida river basin. Opponents fear what a “yes” decision might mean; An award-winning documentary on the destruction of Apalachicola’s famous oyster beds will soon have a much wider audience; Some endangered wildlife species are seeing new challenges to their well being in Florida; And it seems, despite all the medical advancements, HIV and AIDs remains a widespread public health issue.

On tonight’s program: As of this moment, Governor DeSantis isn’t OFFICIALLY in contention for Department of Defense secretary. But it sounds like that could change in a heartbeat; A once venerated organization that fights domestic violence is struggling to recover from its former boss’s misdeeds; One of the state’s most respected FORMER Republicans shares his thoughts on the recent election; Florida still has a lot of condos in a state of crisis. But it doesn’t appear state lawmakers will be making a special trip to Tallahassee to solve the problem; A father who lost a son to a distracted driver is determined to see Florida pass tougher laws against cell phone use by motorists; And it seems the water isn’t rising only in the oceans. The water that’s beneath our feet is on the rise as well.

On tonight’s program: Blame and recrimination continue in the wake of the Democratic defeat in Florida; Everyone agrees that Florida is now a red state. And one possible reason is that the Democratic Party has pretty much written the state off; Law officers say a troubled teen in North Florida needed help from the state’s child welfare agency. Help that didn’t come; The battle over whether or not to add fluoride to public water supplies didn’t end in the 1960s. The dispute is back again in Florida; A rift between the owners and the Pinellas County delegation could mean the end of the line for the Tampa Bay Rays; And as this year’s active Atlantic Hurricane Season draws to a close, we talk with a storm expert who sees the potential for even worse hurricanes in the future.

On tonight's program: Former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi may soon be able to put the initials “U.S.” in front of that attorney general title. And that’s getting some serious home state applause; With former Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz out of the running for U.S. Attorney General, what lies ahead for him and the seat he just vacated? Capital Reporter Margie Menzel will have the words of some possible candidates; Post election, Florida’s six-week abortion ban remains in effect. Lawmakers met this week and that was a big part of the meeting agenda; Another question in advance of the 2025 Florida lawmaking session is whether those who support open carry will have better luck than they’ve had in the past. But thisweek, the incoming Senate President essentially shot it down again; A native of Haiti who now lives in Florida worries his adopted home is beginning to take on some of the more unpleasant trappings of his homeland; And we chat with one of Florida’s most acclaimed chefs on the secret sauce involved in preparing the perfect Thanksgiving turkey.

On tonight's program: Although many folks from all over the political spectrum are a bit gobsmacked by a number of Donald Trump appointees, there are some who are saying, “What’s the big deal?”; Fear is growing among many immigrant communities, even those with legal status, in response to Donald Trump’s deportation promises; The conventional wisdom among lots of Democrats was that Hispanic voters would flee from the Republicans this electoral cycle. Boy, were they wrong; An expert on consumer law thinks protecting seniors from scams might be one of those issues that everyone, regardless of politics, may be able to get behind; Even though the words “climate change” may not have official recognition in Florida, the research consensus remains that manmade impacts are still driving weather patterns into ever more dangerous territories; And a bunch of Florida counties have adopted something called “Children’s Services Councils” to provide more services for kids. We’ll find out how that’s going.

NPR's Ari Shapiro speaks with Sister Mary Scullion, the co-founder, executive director and president of Project H.O.M.E. about stepping down after 35 years at the organization she co-founded.

Starbucks' union says workers are walking off the job at some 300 — out of over 10,000 — stores across the U.S. as contract negotiations falter. The company urges it to return to the bargaining table.

American Airlines passengers across the U.S. endured a sudden disruption of service on Christmas Eve as a "technical issue" forced the airline to request a nationwide ground stop of its operations.

The northern California coast is home to the tallest trees in the world, but a rivalry over who has the tallest decorated tree is brewing.

Whether we were paying attention or not, 2024 was filled with good news. In case you weren't, NPR's member stations have been keeping track. Here are some of the stories that made us smile this year.

NPR listeners talk about getting caught in the act of regifting.

NPR's Asma Khalid talks to Democratic Rep. Glenn Ivey of Maryland about the newly released findings from an ethics investigation into former congressman Matt Gaetz.

A mashed potatoes recipe that breaks all the rules and perks up your holiday meal

Facing a desperate manpower shortage, Ukraine is relying more and more on unmanned flying attack drones. The weapons are deadly and efficient — but will they be enough?

NPR's Asma Khalid speaks with Rev. Munther Isaac of Bethlehem's Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church about Christmas in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Despite being the first Indian film to win the Grand Prix award at the Cannes Film Festival in over 70 years, "All We Imagine As Light" was not nominated for an Academy Award.

H-1B visas, the kind many foreign scientists need to work in the U.S. became harder to get in the first Trump Administration. That's likely to happen again.

As other states get in the game, leaders in Virginia are facing the growing pains of hosting the biggest cluster of data center capacity in the world.

NPR's Ailsa Chang talks with Halina Rejn, writer and director of the new movie Babygirl, about making an erotic thriller from the female gaze -- and whether that's really possible.

NPR's Books We Love is a roundup of our staff's favorite reads this year. Today we look at some of our favorite, more obscure, lesser-known picks from this year's Books We Love.

NPR's Juana Summers talks with Martin Cheek, a conservation botanist for the Royal Botanic Gardens, about new plant and fungus species he and his colleagues discovered this year.

NPR's Juana Summers talks with Bomani Jones, sports journalist and host of the podcast The Right Time with Bomani Jones about the NFL's plunge into Netflix's Live Sporting Events on Christmas Day.

Some U.S. cities are seeing a bump in marriage licenses. Same-sex couples and couples with mixed immigration status are among those heading to the alter before the start of the Trump administration.

The good news? The Commerce Department says personal income and consumption were up in June. Bad news is savings didn’t rise with ’em. In fact, high interest rates and high prices have battered the personal savings rate down to an almost two-year low, leaving many households without a financial security cushion. In this episode, we’ll also get into why national manufacturing growth depends on where you are, and Boston is incentivizing office to residential real estate conversions.

New gross domestic product data just came in — GDP grew a healthy 2.8% annually in the second quarter, better than predicted. Meanwhile, consumers are focused on buying essentials and credit card debt is growing. In this episode, we’ll examine why GDP is strong while many everyday people feel squeezed for cash. Plus: New real estate broker fee rules take effect next month and the number of Americans who predict they’ll retire young is up.

The last time Congress raised the federal minimum wage, it went up 70 cents — from $6.55 to $7.25 an hour. That was in 2009. Today, we’ll get into why there hasn’t been a successful push to boost it since then and who suffers as a result. Plus, officials in China promise major tax reform, apartment vacancies in Sun Belt cities rise and the Federal Reserve keeps an eye on GDP estimates.

“Act your wage,” “coffee badging,” “ghost jobs” — the internet is always vomiting up new workplace phrases. You may even use some of them to describe the bizarre job market of the past few years. So when popular work slang shifts from silly — “lazy girl jobs” — to grim — “quiet cutting” — are there hints about where the labor market is headed? Also in this episode: Tech firms ditch user counts, car sales motor on despite high costs and educators get educated about jobs at the Port of Baltimore.

In the face of major news, some say the bond market can signal what comes next economically. But so far, bond yields don’t seem to be reacting to Biden’s dropping out of the presidential race. In this episode, what the crystal ball of the economy does care about in regard to elections. Plus, business investments outpace GDP gains, Nvidia employees cash in on the chipmaker’s hockey stick-shaped earnings growth and Friday’s CrowdStrike crash reveals a common cybersecurity weakness.