Happy (?) New Year

Highlights from 2025 and hello to 2026

We are already five days into 2026, and I’m finally coming up for air after navigating Christmas, Hannukah, one kid home from college (yay!), a girls’ trip to the Caribbean which for some inexplicable reason I scheduled in mid-December right in the middle of all of the above, the end-of-year crunch that happens in every newsroom to get ready for lots of people spending time away for the holidays, and then - surprise! - a beginning-of-the-new-year crunch precipitated by the US strikes on Venezuela and capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and his wife.

A few highlights from last year:

• NPR Correspondent Brian Mann and I led a multi-part reporting series focused on the impact and meaning of declining birthrates in the US and around the world. I reported on Finland’s stubbornly low birthrates despite significant social support, and Greece’s shrinking island schools; Brian reported on related trends from Chile; and we both brought in stories from various locales here in the United States, all with an eye to the politics of low birthrates, the economic impact, and much more. In November, we did a Reddit AMA, which was really fun, and a first for me! And, colleagues from across the network came together to contribute a variety of fascinating stories on this topic, all leading to a body of work we’re really proud of.

• I continued to co-host the NPR Politics Podcast, which celebrated its 10th anniversary this year! As someone who was there from the beginning, I feel 1) old and 2) proud. Here’s our annual “Can’t Let It Go” extravaganza, obviously one of the most important shows of the year!

• I also continued to guest host shows including Morning Edition, Weekend All Things Considered, and Here & Now - including the latter during the week that Charlie Kirk was assassinated. I also covered the aftermath of that story, including how Kirk’s religious views intersected with his political movement focused on young conservatives. (I’m scheduled to be back on Weekend All Things Considered for the next few weeks.)

• Earlier in the year, I traveled to spots that represent some of the surprising shifts in the electorate toward Trump in the 2024 election, including Arab/Muslim communities in Michigan and Asian Americans in Nevada, to try to better understand what those shifts mean and whether or not they will have staying power in the mid-terms and 2028.

• I covered the 2025 off-year elections in Virginia and elsewhere, including former President Obama’s visit to Norfolk to campaign for Democrat Abigail Spanberger, now Virginia’s soon-to-be governor.

• I followed the growing rifts within the conservative movement over antisemitism and questions about the boundaries and future direction of the MAGA movement.

• I also spoke to audiences in Virginia, Kansas, Arizona, Colorado, North Carolina, and Georgia about my book, The Exvangelicals, which has been out for close to two years now, and for which I am honored to still receive regular speaking invitations.

This weekend, as we took down our Christmas tree and put away the ornaments and menorahs on our mantle, I noticed our holiday storage box says, “Christmas,” written in my husband’s handwriting, and “Chanukah,” in mine - each of us having made sure to include the other’s holiday.

I already miss the beauty of the lights, but that’s an image I’m taking into the new year - an image of mutual care, and interest in one another’s stories.