Here & Now Anytime

President Trump has ordered a complete blockade on "all sanctioned oil vessels” in and out of Venezuela. Rice University professor Francisco J. Monaldi explains how the move, if enforced strictly, could devalue local currency, increase inflation and contribute to political instability in Venezuela.Then, a Hong Kong court convicted former media mogul and pro-democracy supporter Jimmy Lai on national security charges. He faces life in prison. Lai’s daughter, Claire Lai, joins us to discuss her father’s conviction.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Hate researcher Matteo Vergani and orthodox Rabbi Nomi Kaltmann examine the rise of antisemitism in Australia, as police continue to investigate the deadly attack on a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach on Sunday. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the father and son suspects were motivated by Islamic State ideology.And, in Syria over the weekend, a gunman ambushed a U.S.-Syrian joint patrol, killing two members of the Iowa National Guard and their American interpreter. President Trump has vowed to retaliate. The Washington Institute for Near East Policy’s Andrew Tabler explains what this shows about Islamic extremism.Then, for many immigrants, oath ceremonies mark the final step in becoming a U.S. citizen. But across the U.S., those ceremonies have been postponed or canceled. Gail Breslow from the nonprofit Project Citizenship details what this means for hopeful Americans.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

A gunman killed two students and injured nine others in a Brown University classroom Saturday afternoon. The suspect remains at large. Brown student Ref Bari was in the building where the shooting happened. He shares his story. Then, officials say that father and son gunmen killed at least 15 people at a Hanukkah celebration on Sydney's Bondi Beach in Australia. We hear from the Anti-Defamation League's Marina Rosenberg about the rise in antisemitism in Australia. And, Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele Reiner, were found dead in their home on Sunday. Reiner talked about his work several times on Here & Now. We revisit those conversations.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

With the rise of artificial intelligence, utilities are trying to satisfy an unquenchable thirst for new sources of electricity. Part of the answer may be deep underneath our feet. Here & Now's Peter O'Dowd visits New Mexico, where scientists, entrepreneurs and politicians from both parties are trying to harness the endless supply of heat generated below the surface of the Earth. Then, Virginia's climate law requires 100% renewable energy by 2050. The commonwealth is also known as the data center capital of the world. Can those ambitions coexist? University of Virginia professor William Shobe weighs in.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The White House has promised to quadruple nuclear power by 2050. To get there, some closed nuclear plants are coming back online, including one near the site of a reactor that partially melted down more than 45 years ago. Here & Now’s Chris Bentley visits two of them: the Palisades Nuclear Generating Station in Michigan and the Crane Clean Energy Center on Pennsylvania’s Three Mile Island.And, we talk with Katy Huff, associate professor at the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign, about what it will take to increase the role of nuclear in the country's future energy mix.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy