Pages from the U.S. Affordable Care Act health insurance website healthcare.gov are seen on a computer screen in New York, Aug. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Patrick Sison, File)

Shots - Health News

Shopping for pricy ACA health plans? Some cheaper options come with trade-offs

KFF Health News

Without a fix from Congress, costs for many people who buy health care on the Affordable Care Act marketplace have gone up. Here's what's to know about cheaper choices — and pitfalls to be aware of.

Millions of soon-to-be uninsured Americans are looking for a 'plan B' WPLN News

An illustration of the U.S. Capitol with a grid overlaid on top and some of the segments in the grid are blacked out.

Local Headlines

KJZZ News in Phoenix, AZ

Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell in 2005.

DOJ releases Epstein files and the first batch is short on new information

The Justice Department released some of the Epstein files, including many previously public documents, related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's criminal charges and his death by suicide in federal custody.

Justice Department begins releasing Epstein files... What's next?

Jeffrey Epstein files: Tracing the legal cases that led to sex-trafficking charges

Picture This

Happy winter solstice! At last, we've made it to 'The Shortest Day'

Dec. 21 is the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. Susan Cooper, who wrote the solstice poem "The Shortest Day," collaborated with illustrator Carson Ellis on a new picture book. From the NPR archives.

Transcript

Transcript

Irma Thomas; Big Freedia; Tarriona "Tank" Ball

Religion

New Orleans musicians share their favorite Christmas songs, from bounce to blues

Rosemary Westwood from member station WWNO asked a few of New Orlean's favorite musicians about the songs they like to listen to around Christmas.

Bishop Ronald A. Hicks, the new Archbishop of New York, speaks at St. Patrick's Cathedral on Dec. 18.

Religion

New York has a new archbishop. His background looks a lot like Pope Leo's

Like Pope Leo, Bishop Ronald Hicks is an Illinois native with deep experience in Latin America.

Transcript

Transcript

Pope Leo XIV greets faithful as he arrives in St. Peter's Square on the occasion of the last Jubilee audience, at the Vatican, on Saturday.

Religion

Pope Leo summons cardinals for a key assembly to help him govern Catholic Church

Pope Leo XIV has summoned the world's cardinals for two days of meetings to help him govern the church, in the clearest sign yet that the new year will signal the unofficial start of his pontificate.

FILE - Russian Presidential foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov, left, U.S. President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, center, U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, foreground right, and Russian Direct Investment Fund CEO Special Presidential Representative for Investment and Economic Cooperation with Foreign Countries Kirill Dmitriev, behind Witkoff, arrive to attend talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Senate Palace of the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Dec. 2, 2025.

World

Russia says talks on US peace plan for Ukraine 'are proceeding constructively'

A Kremlin envoy says peace talks in Florida on a U.S.-proposed plan to end the war in Ukraine are proceeding constructively, after U.S. meetings with Ukrainian and European officials in Berlin.

President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth salute as carry teams move the transfer cases with the remains of Iowa National Guard soldiers Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard, 29, of Marshalltown, Iowa, and Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar, 25, of Des Moines, Iowa, and civilian interpreter Ayad Mansoor Sakat, who were killed in an attack in Syria, during a casualty return, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025 at Dover Air Force Base, Del.

National Security

U.S. launches strikes in Syria targeting Islamic State fighters after American deaths

The Trump administration launched military strikes in Syria to "eliminate" Islamic State group fighters in retaliation for an attack that killed two U.S. troops and an American interpreter a week ago.

South African police gather at the scene of a mass shooting where gunmen killed nine and injured at least 10 in a pub in Bekkersdal, South Africa, Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025.

World

9 killed, 10 wounded in South African pub shooting

Authorities report that nine people have died and at least 10 others are injured after a shooting at a South African pub. The incident occurred early Sunday in Bekkersdal, west of Johannesburg.

A poster seeking information about the campus shooting suspect is seen on the campus of Brown University on Dec. 17, 2025, in Providence, R.I.

National

A Reddit post helped find MIT and Brown shooting suspect. Here's what we know

Details are beginning to emerge about the life of Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, the gunman who killed two and injured nine others in the attack at Brown University last week. He is also believed to have killed an MIT professor on Monday, police said.

Sports

What to watch for in this weekend's College Football Playoff first round

An unpredictable and exciting college football season is coming to a close. This weekend's first-round slate is set up for two tight games and two blowouts — but in the playoffs, anything goes.

Transcript

Transcript

John Lowery, a New Carolina state representative and chairman of the Lumbee Tribe (right) is comforted by Rob Jacobs, as they join with other members of the tribe to celebrate Wednesday on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., after the passage of a bill granting the tribe federal recognition.

National

North Carolina's Lumbee Tribe receives full federal recognition after 137-year effort

The Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina has finally received full federal recognition, which it has sought since 1888. Tribal leaders were moved to tears after President Trump signed the measure.

A display at the Gender Health Program of Children's Minnesota hospital. Under a proposed rule announced Thursday, a hospital will lose all its Medicaid and Medicare funding if it continues to provide gender-affirming care for trans people under age 18.

Policy-ish

Trump's push to end transgender care for young people opposed by pediatricians

Doctors and children's hospitals say nothing in the evidence has changed to justify the Trump administration's efforts to ban gender-affirming care for teens and tweens.

Short Wave

Listen: GLP-1 pills are on the way. Here's what to know

Right now the medicines involve weekly injections — which can have a sticker price of over $1,000 a month, with hard-to-navigate insurance coverage. So there's a lot of excitement around a new pill form of the drugs.

Transcript

Transcript

Kris Kringle and the Jolly Jingles perform their Christmas extravaganza on Dec. 21, 2024, at the Heavy Anchor in St. Louis’ Bevo Mill neighborhood.

Transcript

WATCH

GIVĒON: Tiny Desk Concert
Sixpence None the Richer: Tiny Desk Concert
Odeal: Tiny Desk Concert
Sean Shibe: Tiny Desk Concert
Billy Strings: Tiny Desk Concert
Annie DiRusso: Tiny Desk Concert
Air: Tiny Desk Concert
Brandi Carlile: Tiny Desk Concert
David Byrne: Tiny Desk Concert
SEVENTEEN: Tiny Desk Concert
Robert Plant: Tiny Desk Concert
Goo Goo Dolls: Tiny Desk Concert
PinkPantheress: Tiny Desk Concert
Mustafa: Tiny Desk Concert
The All-American Rejects: Field Recordings x Aspen Ideas Festival
Lucius: Field Recordings x Aspen Ideas Festival
MILCK: Field Recordings x Aspen Ideas Festival
Daymé Arocena: Field Recordings x Aspen Ideas Festival
John Oates: Field Recordings x Aspen Ideas Festival

Sunday, December 21, 2025

Shopping for pricy ACA health plans? Some cheaper options come with trade-offs

Millions of soon-to-be uninsured Americans are looking for a 'plan B' WPLN News

'Congress is in a coma.' Former lawmakers sound alarm on health of the House

On winter's coldest days, this classic Kashmiri coat offers warmth — and wisdom

A radio station in Amsterdam is a lifeline for Sudan. After USAID cuts, it's faltering

Cartagena's iconic horse carriages give way to electric buggies

Available to download Friday, some Epstein files no longer there Saturday afternoon

U.S. forces stop a 2nd merchant vessel off Venezuela coast, officials say

Apple, Google tell workers on visas to avoid leaving the U.S. amid Trump immigration crackdown

Bowen Yang leaves 'SNL' midway through his 8th season

Local Headlines

ASU coach Kenny Dillingham reportedly signs 5-year extension averaging $7.5M a year

Pickleball's popularity is exploding. Will it become a sanctioned high school sport in Arizona?

Turning Point AmericaFest: Crowd credits Erika Kirk for drawing in female supporters

DOJ releases Epstein files and the first batch is short on new information

Justice Department begins releasing Epstein files... What's next?

Jeffrey Epstein files: Tracing the legal cases that led to sex-trafficking charges

Happy winter solstice! At last, we've made it to 'The Shortest Day'

New Orleans musicians share their favorite Christmas songs, from bounce to blues

New York has a new archbishop. His background looks a lot like Pope Leo's

Pope Leo summons cardinals for a key assembly to help him govern Catholic Church

Russia says talks on US peace plan for Ukraine 'are proceeding constructively'

U.S. launches strikes in Syria targeting Islamic State fighters after American deaths

9 killed, 10 wounded in South African pub shooting

A Reddit post helped find MIT and Brown shooting suspect. Here's what we know

What to watch for in this weekend's College Football Playoff first round

North Carolina's Lumbee Tribe receives full federal recognition after 137-year effort

Trump's push to end transgender care for young people opposed by pediatricians

Listen: GLP-1 pills are on the way. Here's what to know

Kris Kringle and the Jolly Jingles bring holiday cheer to St. Louis with a new single

Are Santa's elves stored along I-5 in Tacoma?

NORAD's Santa Tracker began with a typo and a good sport

WATCH