by Brittney Melton

December 23, 2025

Good morning. This year has flown by, right? Before we bid farewell to 2025, let's take a look back at this year's pop culture highlights. Here’s the news we’re following today:

President Trump announced yesterday that the U.S. Navy will spend billions of taxpayer dollars per ship to build a new class of warships named after him. The press event, where he spoke about the plan, came a few days after a Trump-led board voted to put his name on the Kennedy Center.

President Trump talks at a podium as he announces a new class of warship. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stands behind him on his left side. To the left of both of them is a rendering image of the class of warship seen in front of the Statue of Liberty.

Andrew Canallero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images

🎧 The president said that his administration would start by building two of these new battleships, which he says will have nuclear missile capability, NPR’s Quil Lawrence tells Up First. He said production would ramp up to produce more of these ships. The president didn’t provide a specific timeframe for any of the production. During yesterday’s press event, Trump discussed how U.S. forces are chasing after a third massive oil tanker. The administration’s actions toward oil tankers remain uncharted territory, and the president wasn’t focused on those details during his speech, Lawrence said.

A federal judge has ruled that the deportations of over 100 Venezuelans to El Salvador were illegal. U.S. District Judge James Boasberg ruled that the government violated due process and determined that the men are entitled to a hearing. Earlier this year, the U.S. deported numerous men to a prison in El Salvador after Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act. Boasberg’s ruling comes as the new head of CBS News, Bari Weiss, stopped the network from broadcasting interviews with former detainees on 60 Minutes over the weekend.

🎧 Boasberg ordered the administration to return the men to the U.S. or provide due process hearings abroad, though it is unclear how the government would facilitate that, NPR’s Ximena Bustillo says. While the government will likely appeal the decision, lawyers for the Venezuelans argue the ruling makes it clear that the government cannot send people off to a brutal foreign prison without due process. The men are back in Venezuela after four months in the Salvadoran prison. They have reported to NPR and other outlets about the poor nutrition, unsanitary conditions and sexual abuse they experienced while imprisoned.

More than a dozen staff members are leaving Heritage Foundation, the influential conservative think tank behind Project 2025. The former staff are joining a group that former Vice President Mike Pence founded. This marks a division within the Republican Party as it works to determine who should represent the political movement and what it should stand for.

🎧 Pence’s Advancing American Freedom has been a relatively small organization, but it is working to expand into a larger leadership role, says NPR’s Sarah McCammon. The group’s president, Tim Chapman, says it is working to define the future of conservatism and hopes to bolster support for traditional concepts, such as free trade and a less isolationist foreign policy. Meanwhile, Heritage Foundation remains a large and influential organization.

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An illustration of what looks like a tense speech bubble moving past angry flowers, mushrooms and the sun.

Shay Mirk for NPR

Socializing may make you feel awkward, but avoiding awkwardness can hinder your ability to have fun and make connections this holiday season. Psychologists Ali Mattu and Fallon Goodman shared tips with Life Kit on how to level up your small talk game and practice social courage. So, before you bail on your community potluck or office party, check out this comic showcasing their advice.

💬 Start building a daily routine of low-stakes socializing, like talking to a cashier, classmate or coworker.
💬 Try setting small goals like talking to one person or asking two questions. You can also create an escape plan and give yourself an exit strategy to leave if you really need to.
💬 Put your phone away. Looking at our screens can be a safety behavior that keeps us from connecting with others.

For more on how to work with your social anxiety, listen to this episode of NPR's Life Kit. Subscribe to the Life Kit newsletter for expert advice on love, money, relationships and more.

A colorful illustration of a person fishing while in a boat. The boat is on top of a whale that is peeking out from the water. Behind the body of water is a house on a hill.

Rafael López / Roaring Brook Press

After his mom died, Kevin Maillard wondered, "Where did she go?" He wrote about his confusion in his new kids' book, And They Walk On, which Rafael López illustrates. The book follows a little boy whose grandmother has died. The child then wonders where someone goes when they walk on. Perhaps they are in the garden watering herbs or heading to the market to buy melons. The story begins with muted illustrations in neutral colors. Then, as the little boy starts to remember his grandmother, the colors become brighter and more vivid. See how the book's illustrations use color to tell a story. You can also listen to Maillard and López discuss the creative decisions they made or read the transcript here.

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Hands are seen setting "A Charlie Brown Christmas" on a record player at Dell Seton Medical Center in Austin, Texas.

Lorianne Willett/KUT News

The ATX-VINyL program brings music to the bedsides of patients facing challenging diagnoses and treatments. The Texas doctor who conceived the program says listening to vinyl music helps lift heavy moments for families.

Kansas lawmakers approved a major tax incentives package yesterday, helping the Kansas City Chiefs build a new $3 billion domed stadium in the state and move the team from Missouri. (via KCUR)

Trump recently embraced kei cars, tiny vehicles popular in Asia that remain rare in the U.S. Kei car enthusiasts are delighted by the endorsement, but they doubt that much will change, as the vehicles fail to meet specific U.S. safety requirements.

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This newsletter was edited by Suzanne Nuyen.

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