On tonight’s program: Tis’ the season, and there’s some good news for holiday shoppers who are watching their overall spending; Serious misconduct allegations are swirling around Florida’s Republican Party Chair and his wife who sits on the Sarasota County School Board; The controversy over transgender student athletes roils a school in Fort Lauderdale; A Holocaust survivor recalls his family’s narrow escape from what would likely have been their doom; We’ll visit a gallery devoted to Florida’s natural habitats and wildlife; And speaking of wildlife, have you checked out the monkeys in Gainesville?

On tonight’s program: Mobile homes are among the last affordable housing options in Florida. IF you don’t get evicted; It’s no surprise that property insurance rates are going up for many Florida homeowners. But it seems that isn’t the only problem, even for those who have policies with the so-called “insurer of last resort”; New state government restrictions on the collection of teachers’ union dues is having a significant impact on the state’s largest teachers’ union and its membership; Music fans have their “Lollapalooza.” So why shouldn’t the retail ravenous have their own “Shopapalooza?”; Holiday shoppers beware! Not all bargain buys are for real and we have some helpful hints to help you avoid getting scammed; And the State of Florida inducts its latest members of the Veterans Hall of Fame.

On tonight’s program: In the wake of Veterans Day, a proposed bill to provide more care and comfort for vets in nursing home facilities; A plan to expand Florida’s Telehealth program may be just what the doctor ordered for many expectant moms; There’s yet another remarkable twist in a Florida murder case that was already a hot mess to begin with; As frightening as a new novel about Florida’s infamous Dozier School for Boys is, even the author says it can’t come close to how horrible the reality was; And Florida’s first syringe exchange program, widely criticized when it began 7 years ago, seems to be working better than anyone expected.

On tonight's program: A special lawmaking session expands Florida’s school voucher program, although there are still unanswered questions; Vouchers weren’t the only items up for debate during this week’s special session at the Florida Capitol; Lawmakers also extended more help to Hurricane Idalia victims and banned state investment in countries like Iran; A university-level sociology course containing references to sexuality, gender identity, race and ethnicity appears to be on the chopping block in Florida; Republican presidential hopefuls had another debate this week. Although some were wondering why; It seems art and culture is a bigger business in Florida than most people realize; Even though state government keeps pre-empting more and more local authority, communities like Punta Gorda are still trying to regulate such things as short term rental properties; And there’s a move afoot to expand the honors accorded Florida’s military veterans.

On tonight’s program: Florida lawmakers return to Tallahassee next week: on their to-do list: more sanctions for Iran; How do Americans feel about the latest Israel-Hamas war?; A recent survey says, it’s complicated…; And an advocacy group for undocumented young people gets a new leader; It was a record nesting season for one of Florida’s favorite creatures: the sea turtle; But it was a dangerous time for pedestrians in the state; And fighting fetal and infant mortality requires having a better understanding of the communities that are impacted.

On tonight's program: Despite the legislature’s past efforts, property insurance rates in Florida are not dropping. Now lawmakers are planning to give it another go in a special session and maybe beyond; There’s a bit of good news about the state of Northwest Florida’s world-famous oyster beds; The controversy over what books can and can’t be included in public school libraries rages on; Florida approves new public school learning materials from a source that seems to have a very specific religious viewpoint; New state rules also seem to be putting a crimp on what can and can’t be said on public college and university campuses in Florida; And we hear the story of "Surf Skate Science" — and what some see as an educational renaissance in Florida.

With the nation's debt at more than $33 trillion, there's a new push in Congress for a bipartisan debt commission to come up with reforms for mandatory spending and the tax system.

With four Republican candidates planning to debate at the University of Alabama on Wednesday evening, presidential hopefuls try to stand out in the countdown to the Iowa Caucus.

Three university presidents defended their responses to rising antisemitism in a House committee hearing Tuesday. Many have faced scrutiny as they struggle to balance free speech with student safety.

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly talks with former CIA official Robert Baer about the case of Manuel Rocha, a longtime U.S. diplomat charged with being a spy for Cuba.

House Speaker Mike Johnson is set to keynote an event for lawmakers who promote conservative Christian dominance — the latest connection illustrating his close relationship with Christian extremists.

Middle school is often a challenging time for students. One Massachusetts school trying to put its credo into every day action: Let go and move on. Students and teachers alike say it's helping.

Should you stress about getting eight hours of sleep a night? Nope! Some experts say skip the worry and focus on keeping a consistent sleep schedule instead.

Victor Manuel Rocha, a longtime U.S. diplomat who served as ambassador to Bolivia, has been arrested and charged with being a clandestine agent for the Cuban government. How was he finally caught?

King Charles commissioned fashion students to repurpose old curtains from Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle. Curtains, some from the 50s, are now jackets and kimonos that look new.

Lee recorded the song in 1958 when she was 13 — it topped Billboard's Hot 100 for the first time thanks to a new video starring Lee that was produced to coincide with the song's 65th anniversary.

Dublin artist Chris Judge has been drawing faces on pictures of clouds since the early days of the pandemic. He named the project "A Daily Cloud."

NPR's Leila Fadel talks to Zlatina Kostova, a clinical psychologist at the University of Massachusetts, about the trauma children experience when living through war.

The first results are in from a charity experiment in Kenya. Those who got a lump sum of money were far more likely to start a business — and earn more — compared to those who got monthly payments.

Alabama GOP leaders hope Wednesday's Republican presidential debate gives viewers a broader image of their state beyond the recent headlines about Sen. Tuberville's hold on some military nominations.

NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with author Samantha Harvey about her new book Orbital, which examines the fascinating mundane-ness of outer space from the perspective of an international space station.

Their eventual decision in the case could severely limit congressional options in enacting tax policy, and it could cost the federal government trillions of dollars in corporate taxes.

A decade after the death of Nelson Mandela, many South Africans are asking what the anti-apartheid icon would have thought of the current state of the country and the direction it's heading in.

NPR's It's Been a Minute reviews megastar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter's film Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé.

Despite all the angst over the national debt limit, extensions and last-minute compromises aren’t unusual — since 1960, Congress has fought over the debt ceiling 78 times. Although the U.S. has never defaulted, there have been consequences. In this episode, why debt ceiling battles haunt the nation’s credit rating. Plus, the financial strain on regional theaters across the country, as told by Danny Feldman, head of the Pasadena Playhouse.

Seventeen percent of Spotify employees were laid off today in the company’s third round of layoffs this year. CEO Daniel Ek says a major reason for staff cuts is that capital has “become more expensive.” But how can money suddenly cost more? In this episode, why companies that grew by borrowing a bunch are scaling back in a high-interest-rate environment. Plus, gold isn’t the stable investment some think it is, 3D-printed houses could aid the affordable housing crisis and going splitsies on dinner is now en vogue.

Over half of major retailers now have a “return-less” refund policy — aka, they’ll pay you to keep not-quite-right items — according to a goTRG report. Returns cost retailers a lot, so why take stuff back? In this episode, big-box stores are adopting this practice (but not necessarily advertising it). Plus, the “endless shrimp” offer tanks Red Lobster profit, farmers try to monetize carbon-trapping agricultural methods and the manufacturing sector shrinks.

People in cities have, on average, made more money than people in rural parts of America for decades. Now, that disparity seems to be widening. In 2023, urban dwellers are making 23% more than rural ones, compared to 20% more before the pandemic. In this episode, why inflation, telework and higher education all play into the urban-rural wage gap. Plus, more older Americans are still paying off their mortgages, ESG investing goes under the microscope and global markets don’t quite believe OPEC+.

The United Nations’ climate change conference kicks off tomorrow in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where tens of thousands of global leaders, experts and activists will discuss how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, the host country’s main export is fossil fuels and the host of the event is CEO of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. In this episode, could conflicting interests stall progress in the transition to renewable energy? Plus, hybrid and electric vehicle sales ramped up while overall consumer spending slowed down in Q3.