The cream of the slop: this year's AI highlights

On the night of his inauguration, President Trump signed an executive order that froze almost all international assistance.What followed was the termination of billions of dollars in aid programs — and the dismantling of the U-S Agency for International Development. Now, the future of U.S. foreign assistance looks very different.NPR global health correspondents Fatma Tanis and Gabrielle Emanuel have been following this all year and break down the impact of this move both on the ground and for the U.S.For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at [email protected] episode was produced by Mallory Yu, with additional reporting by Jonathan Lambert. It was edited by Patrick Jarenwattananon and Rebecca Davis. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

In the months after World War I erupted, young men in Europe were killing each other by the tens of thousands. Yet on a frozen Christmas Eve in 1914, the guns briefly fell silent. On the 100th anniversary of the truce, former All Things Considered host Ari Shapiro set out to reconstruct the events of that day using the accounts of the people who were there.  We bring you that story. For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at [email protected] episode was produced by Elena Burnett. It was edited by Courtney Dorning. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Singer Brenda Lee reflects on the enduring power of her Christmas classic "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree." For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at [email protected] episode was produced by Connor Donevan and Brianna Scott.It was edited by Courtney Dorning.Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

2025 was a hard year for science. The Trump administration upended federal funding for all kinds of scientific pursuits, slashing budgets across agencies like NASA, NIH and NOAA. NPR's Rob Stein and Katia Riddle spoke to scientists and officials who worry that those cuts could cause the United States to lose its competitive edge as a global hub for research and innovation, and steer future generations away from careers in science. For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at [email protected] episode was produced by Michael Levitt, with audio engineering by Zo vanGinhoven. It was edited by Sarah Handel, Scott Hensley and Amina Khan. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The Trump administration has removed over 600,000 people without legal status from the U.S. through deportation this year, according to the Department of Homeland Security.The Trump administration has also been busy revoking legal status for immigrants who entered the country through legal pathways -- affecting at least 1.6 million people -- by canceling programs and protections like CBP One, Temporary Protected Status, humanitarian parole and student visas.That legal limbo means they too now fear the constant threat of deportation.NPR's Sergio Martinez-Beltran and Ximena Bustillo recap the largest effort to delegalize immigrants in U.S. history.For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.Email us at [email protected] episode was produced by Vincent Acovino, with audio engineering by Ted Mebane. It was edited by Patrick Jarenwattananon, Eric Westervelt and Anna Yukhananov. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Entrepreneur, political strategist and philanthropist Bradley Tusk argues his new online voting tech could revolutionize participation in American elections. He is hellbent on making online voting a reality - even at a time when much of the election establishment thinks that is a very bad idea. NPR's Miles Parks speaks with Tusk about how Tusk's organization, the Mobile Voting Project, is pushing a major technology makeover for American democracy.For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at [email protected] episode was produced by Avery Keatley. It was edited by Ben Swasey and Sarah Robbins. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

A new report from U.S. government watchdog SIGAR gives us the fullest accounting yet of U.S. efforts to rebuild Afghanistan.In short, they call it "a two-decade long effort fraught with waste.”Each week, Consider This hosts interview newsmakers, experts, and artists for NPR — conversations we don’t always have time to share fully in the podcast or on the radio. So every other week we share one here, for our NPR+ supporters.Sign up to hear our bonus episodes, support public radio, and get regular episodes of your favorite NPR podcasts without sponsor messages at plus.npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

2025 has proved that artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping online reality and that the “slop” is here to stay. NPR’s Geoff Brumfiel and Shannon Bond have spent much of the year rolling around in that slop and join host Scott Detrow to break down some of the highlights and how to sort the real from the fake.For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at [email protected]. This episode was produced by Elena Burnett and Daniel Ofman. It was edited by Brett Neely, John Ketchum and Courtney Dorning. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Rob Reiner spent his life trying to fix what he saw as America’s shortcomings. In an interview shortly before his death he explained why he was optimistic America could be better.The actor and director was found dead on Sunday along with his wife Michelle Singer Reiner.Their son has been charged with their murders.And those tributes – they’ve centered on Reiner's acting, the movies he’s directed, but also on his political activism.It’s something he talked to the journalist Todd Purdum about shortly before he died. Purdum wrote about that interview in the New York Times this week, and joins Scott Detrow to discuss what he learned about Reiner's work and view of America's future. For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at [email protected] episode was produced by Elena Burnett.It was edited by Courtney Dorning.Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The Trump administration is ramping up pressure on Venezuela and its leader.  What is the ultimate goal?President Trump says he’s imposing a ban on all ‘sanctioned’ oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela.Venezuela’s government is calling this an ‘outrageous threat’ intended to rob the country of its oil wealth. For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at [email protected] episode was produced by Tyler Bartlam, with audio engineering from Ted Mebane. It was edited by Courtney Dorning and Christopher Intagliata.Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.  Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy