Arundhati Roy on New Memoir "Mother Mary Comes to Me," Gaza & Authoritarianism from India to U.S. In this holiday special, we speak to the acclaimed Indian writer Arundhati Roy on her new memoir, *Mother Mary Comes to Me*. The book focuses on her mother Mary Roy and how Arundhati was shaped by her, both as a source of terror and of inspiration. We also talk to Arundhati about Gaza and the rise of authoritarianism from India to the United States. http://www.democracynow.org/2025/12/26/arundhati_roy_on_new_memoir_mother

Remembering Bill Moyers: PBS Icon on Corruption of Corporate Media and Power of Public Broadcasting The legendary journalist Bill Moyers died in June at the age of 91. Moyers, whose long career included helping found the Peace Corps and serving as press secretary for President Lyndon Johnson, was an award-winning champion of public television and independent media. We feature one of his numerous interviews on *Democracy Now!*, where we discussed the history of public broadcasting in the United States and the powerful role of money in corporate media. “The power of money trumps the power of democracy today, and I’m very worried about it,” he said in a 2011 interview. http://www.democracynow.org/2025/12/26/remembering_bill_moyers_pbs_icon_on

A Tribute to Blacklisted Lyricist Yip Harburg: The Man Who Put the Rainbow in The Wizard of Oz His name might not be familiar to many, but his songs are sung by millions around the world. Today, we take a journey through the life and work of Yip Harburg, the Broadway lyricist who wrote such hits as “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?” and who put the music into *The Wizard of Oz*, the movie that inspired the hit Broadway musical and now Hollywood blockbuster, *Wicked*. Born into poverty on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, Harburg always included a strong social and political component to his work, fighting racism and poverty. A lifelong socialist, Harburg was blacklisted and hounded throughout much of his life. We speak with Harburg’s son, Ernie Harburg, about the music and politics of his father. Then we take an in-depth look at *The Wizard of Oz*, and hear a medley of Harburg’s Broadway songs and the politics of the times in which they were created. http://www.democracynow.org/2025/12/25/a_tribute_to_blacklisted_lyricist_yip

Headlines for December 24, 2025 Russia and China Strongly Condemn U.S. Pressure Against Venezuela at the U.N. Security Council, Israeli Defense Minister Vows Israel Will Build Settlements in Gaza, Greta Thunberg Arrested in London for Protesting in Solidarity with Palestine Action, Epstein Files Mention 10 Possible “Co-Conspirators”, SCOTUS Blocks Trump’s Deployment of National Guard Troops to Chicago, DOJ Sues Illinois Governor Pritzker over State Law Restricting Immigration Arrests, Federal Judge Rules Trump Admin Must Restore Disaster Aid to Democratic States, Trump Admin Bans Abortion Care for Veterans, Trump Admin to Start Garnishing Wages of Defaulted Student Loan Borrowers, Sudan’s Prime Minister Presents Peace Plan to the United Nations Security Council, Longtime Immigrant Rights Activist Jeanette Vizguerra Released from ICE Custody, Betty Reid Soskin, the Oldest U.S. Park Ranger, Dies at 104 http://www.democracynow.org/2025/12/24/headlines

"Heartbreaking": Journalist Vicky Ward on New Epstein Files & Survivors' Fight for Accountability As the DOJ releases the largest batch of files yet on the federal investigation into Epstein, we look at some of the most significant revelations with investigative journalist Vicky Ward, who has spent decades reporting on the deceased sexual predator, his powerful associates and the impact of his crimes. Survivors have condemned the Department of Justice for not complying with the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which required all files to be released last Friday. “I mean, that was the first indication of the contemptuous, cavalier attitude that has gone on inside this Justice Department,” says Ward. “It’s heartbreaking, frankly, to see these files being dribbled out.” http://www.democracynow.org/2025/12/24/epstein_vicky_ward

"Never Stop": Freed After 9 Months in ICE Jail, Immigrant Activist Jeanette Vizguerra Keeps Fighting *Democracy Now!* speaks with longtime immigrant rights activist Jeanette Vizguerra, who was just released Monday from ICE jail after nearly 10 months in a Colorado detention center. Vizguerra was ambushed by ICE agents during her work break in March. A judge ordered her detention was unconstitutional, and she was released on bond Monday. Vizguerra describes her time in detention and says she is “very emotional” and glad to be reunited with her children, and plans to keep fighting for her rights and for others. “Her detention was intentional to try and silence people across the country, not only immigrant leaders, but also citizens,” says Jennifer Piper, a supporter and program director for American Friends Service Committee Colorado. http://www.democracynow.org/2025/12/24/jeanette_vizguerra

Free Leqaa Kordia: Palestinian Woman Who Joined Columbia U. Protest Has Been Detained Since March Calls are growing to release Palestinian protester Leqaa Kordia, who was arrested at a 2024 Columbia University Gaza solidarity protest. The charges were dismissed, but when she went to her ICE check-in this past March, she was arrested and immediately sent to the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas, where she has been held ever since. Although Columbia University student protesters like Mohsen Mahdawi and Mahmoud Khalil have been freed from ICE detention, “her case sort of fell between the cracks,” says Laila El-Haddad, Palestinian writer and journalist from Gaza, who just visited Kordia. El-Haddad also criticizes the Trump administration’s effort to “crack down on any dissent and use immigration law, to weaponize immigration law to silence dissent and to criminalize free speech, especially when that speech relates to Palestine.” http://www.democracynow.org/2025/12/24/leqaa_kordia

Headlines for December 23, 2025 House Democrats Demand DOJ Investigate “Double Tap” Boat Strike as War Crime or Murder, Trump Says U.S. Navy WIll Begin Building “Trump-Class Battleships” for “Golden Fleet”, Israel Kills Palestinians in Gaza City in Latest Violations of October 10 Ceasefire, Israeli Defense Minister Vows to Build Settlements in Northern Gaza, U.S. Lawmakers Call for “Maximum Diplomatic Pressure” on Israel over Gaza Ceasefire Violations, Israeli Strike on Lebanon Kills 3 in Latest Violation of Ceasefire Deal with Hezbollah, Denmark to Summon U.S. Ambassador After Trump Appoints Special Envoy to Greenland, Trump Admin Recalls Nearly 30 U.S. Ambassadors and Other Senior Diplomats, Trump Admin Announces Pause of Leases for All Large Offshore Wind Farms, Federal Judge Says ICE Agents Violated Constitutional Rights in Raid of a Nutritional Bar Plant, Federal Judge Says U.S. Must Give Due Process to Venezuelans Deported to CECOT, DOJ Posts Thousands of Additional Documents from the Epstein Files on Website, Then Removes Them, Larry Ellison Offers $40 Billion Guarantee in Paramount’s Hostile Bid for Warner Bros. http://www.democracynow.org/2025/12/23/headlines

CBS Censorship: Bari Weiss Pulls "60 Minutes" Exposé on Torture of Migrants U.S. Sent to El Salvador The new head of CBS News, Bari Weiss, is facing accusations of censorship after she abruptly canceled a segment from Sunday’s episode of *60 Minutes* just three hours before broadcast. The segment centered on the stories of Venezuelan immigrants sent to El Salvador’s brutal CECOT prison by the Trump administration. “When so much of our ability to communicate out facts to the world is concentrated in a small number of people, and there’s a squeezing of independent media and the ability to get independent perspectives and voices out more broadly, I think we’re working with an information ecosystem that is highly dangerous,” says Alexa Koenig of the Human Rights Center at University of California, Berkeley. The center’s research on torture and other human rights violations at CECOT was to be featured in the segment. http://www.democracynow.org/2025/12/23/cbs_news_cecot_prison

"Out for Blood": Writer Jasper Nathaniel on Surviving Israeli Settler Attack on W. Bank Olive Farmers We speak to independent journalist Jasper Nathaniel, who has recently returned from documenting Israeli settler and state violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. Nathaniel describes being ambushed by settlers in October, on the first day of the olive harvest, in an attack that left one middle-aged Palestinian woman with a brain hemorrhage. “It was clear that this was a planned ambush,” says Nathaniel. “They were out for blood.” Earlier this week, the Israeli Cabinet approved 19 more settlements in the occupied West Bank. “What’s happening right now is these really violent settlers are going out into the fields. They’re stealing land from Palestinians,” explains Nathaniel. “[Then the government will] retroactively legalize the land that was stolen, and basically reward the violent settlers by giving them the stamp of state legitimacy.” http://www.democracynow.org/2025/12/23/jasper_nathaniel