Commentary

President-elect Donald Trump is at odds with leaders in his own party over how to respond to cyberattacks that U.S. intelligence has tied to Russia.

At Odds With GOP Over Hacking, Trump Splits With Precedent

11:46am January 05, 2017

by Ron Elving

Donald Trump may wish to rely on the record of previous presidents who entered the White House in conflict with their own parties over a major foreign relations issue. But can he find one?

Sports

The Case Against The College Football Playoff

3:07pm December 28, 2016

by John U. Bacon

Commentator John U. Bacon has a theory about why the NCAA introduced a college football playoff — and it has nothing to do with crowning a national champion.

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Google Backs A New Digital World, But What About The Real New World?

6:35pm December 26, 2016

by Andrei Codrescu

As Google invests in a startup called Improbable, a digital simulation of real cities, economies and biological systems, commentator Andrei Codrescu thinks of Communism and that dream of a new world.

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Week In Politics: U.N. Condemns Israeli Settlements, Trump On Nuclear Weapons

4:49pm December 23, 2016

NPR's Ari Shapiro speaks with David Brooks of The New York Times and E.J. Dionne of The Washington Post and Brookings Institution about the U.S. abstention from the U.N. Security Council vote condemning Israeli settlements and Trump's recent statements on nuclear weapons.

The author, far right in both photos, and some of his siblings in 1980 and in 2015.

A Village Christmas Story: No Gifts But Lots Of Joy

11:13am December 23, 2016

by Edward Mabaya

"We didn't have much," writes Edward Mabaya, who grew up in a family of 10 kids in rural Zimbabwe. "But I didn't feel that I was poor."

2016 was the year when the phrase "the new normal" became tied to politics.

'Normal': The Word Of The Year (In A Year That Was Anything But)

1:47pm December 22, 2016

by Geoff Nunberg

Linguist Geoff Nunberg says that the fact that people are talking a lot about "the new normal" is a sign that we're living in strange and unsettling times.

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Sports

2016: A Good Year For Sports

6:08am December 21, 2016

If the events of 2016 have got you down, commentator Christine Brennan says take a look at the sports pages, there's been a lot there to make folks smile.

Kefa Jawish takes pictures of the rubble as she heads with her husband to check their house for the first time in four years in Aleppo's northeastern Haydariya neighborhood on Dec. 4.

World News

They Said 'Never Again'

12:41pm December 17, 2016

by Scott Simon

In four years, an estimated 31,000 people have died in the Syrian city of Aleppo. NPR's Scott Simon asks: Does the rest of the world's indifference encourage the tyrants who crush their own people?

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Week In Politics: Russian Hacking Of Democrats, Pro-Life Movement

6:37pm December 16, 2016

NPR's Robert Siegel talks to political commentators E.J. Dionne of The Washington Post and Brookings Institution, and Fred Barnes, executive editor of The Weekly Standard. They discuss President Obama's response to Russian hacking of Democrats, the electoral college and the pro-life movement.

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The holiday season can be a difficult time to avoid alcohol.

Health & Safety

Eat, Don't Drink And Still Be Merry: Staying Sober Through The Holidays

2:39pm December 12, 2016

by Sarah Hepola

Before she stopped drinking, Sarah Hepola relied on alcohol to get her through the holiday season. "What nobody mentions about all the holiday spirit is how much booze it requires," she says.