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The Senate is holding confirmation hearings this week for President Trump's pick to run the Justice Department. William Barr is the nominee to be the next Attorney General. Lawmakers are questioning his views on the Special Counsel's Russia investigation, whether a sitting president can be indicted, and other matters. Watch the proceedings live starting at 9:30 a.m.

Tonight at 9 p.m., President Donald Trump will address the nation from Washington. Trump is expected to talk about security and humanitarian aid on the US-Mexico border, his call for $5.7 billion in funding for a border wall, and the current partial government shutdown (now heading into its third week). His address will be followed immediately by a joint resonse from Democratic leaders, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.

NPR News will have special coverage of Trump's remarks (his first from the Oval Office) along with analysis and reaction.

The 116th Congress is beginning its first session today, and Democrats are now in control of the House of Representatives. Watch the first day of actions live, including the election for House Speaker, which Nancy Pelosi is expected to win, and debate on new House rules.

Join us for two consecutive weekends in January for the annual Best of the Best broadcast from the Third Coast Festival. Listen to winners of the 2018 Third Coast/Richard H. Driehaus Foundation documentary competition.

This year's program will feature producer interviews, highlights from this year’s unforgettable awards ceremony in Chicago, and excerpts from the following stories:

John Thompson vs. American Justice, produced by Andrew Marantz, Sarah Lustbader, and Katherine Wells and edited by David Krasnow for The New Yorker Radio Hour.

Has it been a rough year? Did you buy stock in Sears? Or invest in Ivanka's clothing line? Did you take a job as a public relations spokesperson for Kanye West?

Then you may feel the need to laugh at 2018, and the Capitol Steps could not agree more! So tune in to the Capitol Steps' New Year's edition of "Politics Takes a Holiday," featuring songs from their latest album, Make America Grin Again.

"Take Care" has always covered a wide range of topics -- addiction, Alzheimer's disease, cancer, winter health hazards, and even mold. As we wrap up the year, we take a step back. Instead of exploring one particular facet of health and wellness, we settle on one broad question for this show: What is health?

Join us for the Third Coast International Audio Festival's take on the holidays.

Stories include:

No Santa | by John Biewen for Scene on Radio (2015)

A father turns on a recorder while tucking in his 7-year-old, having no idea he’s about to capture a poignant growing-up moment in his son’s life.

Vince Guaraldi: A Charlie Brown Christmas | by Ben Manilla for Inside the National Recording Registry for Studio 360 (2012)

On Wednesday morning, a funeral ceremony for former President George H. W. Bush will be held at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. Bush died late last Friday at age 94. A detailed schedule of the funeral and memorial services has been released.

Aging is inevitable. For many of us, reaching our later years means some more aches and pains -- but hey, retirement isn't that bad! Age related diseases, though -- like dementia and Alzheimer's -- can throw a wrench in retirement plans by putting a strain on loved ones and families as they navigate the new norm. But with the latest advances in technology, maybe we can stave off the effects of some of these diseases or live healthier altogether. This time on "Take Care," we explore what it means to age today.

As Democratic leaders and strategists gear up for the 2018 and 2020 elections, the party stands at a crossroads.

For progressive populists, the path forward is clear: Democrats must get back in touch with the party’s working-class roots by championing a specific set of policies, including Medicare for all, free public college tuition, a guaranteed federal jobs program, and housing as a human right. They say this strategy is key to winning back disillusioned working-class voters and to regaining power in Washington and beyond.

With our fall fundraiser now underway, we thought we should take the time to point out some of our newest thank you gifts.

We know you're all donating because you can't find regional news coverage like ours anywhere else on the dial, and you love laughing along with "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me!" and "Ask Me Another" on the weekends, and you'd be lost without the hourly news updates from NPR... but a cool mug doesn't hurt!

The Senate is taking a procedural vote on whether or not to move Judge Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination forward. Watch the proceedings on the Senate floor live. Coverage will also be heard on-air. We expect speeches to begin at 9:30 a.m. today.

For the United States, tensions are rising with both allies and adversaries. Rogue states are racing to master new technologies and create weapons of mass destruction. And faith in international institutions is seemingly deteriorating. What does this all mean for U.S. national security?

Staged in the "Intelligence Squared U.S." "unresolved" format, five esteemed foreign policy thought leaders will argue for or against a number of motions revolving around some of America’s most pressing national security issues, including:

The Senate Judiciary Committee is voting on Judge Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination today at 1:30 p.m. A full Senate vote on the nomination is expected as early as next week.

Watch the proceeding live, here (if it is after 1:30 p.m. and the video is not available, please refresh the page):

Suicide numbers are up, according to the latest report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). When the CDC study came out earlier this year, it gained national attention amid some high-profile suicides and struggles with mental illness. With rates of suicide increasing in nearly every state in the U.S. between 1999 and 2016, many were left asking why?

Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and the woman who has accused him of sexually assaulting her in high school, Christine Blasey Ford, are testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee today.

Watch the proceeding live (if it is after 10 a.m. and the video stream is not available, please refresh the page):

President Trump is holding a news conference this evening, following the United Nations General Assembly in New York City. In a speech yesterday, Trump defended his "America First" agenda and touted the "tremendous progress" made in negotiations with North Korea.

The press conference comes a day before Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, faces questions from the Senate Judiciary Committee after three women accused Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct.

For generations, educators have fought about how kids learn to read and what that means about how they should be taught. Now, there is definitive evidence from neuroscience on how the brain learns to read and it suggests very different approaches to reading instruction than those that are commonly found in schools.

This APM Reports documentary explores why the reading science is not making its way into American classrooms – or teacher preparation programs – and what can be done about it.

Tune in on Sunday, September 23 at 7 p.m. on WRVO.

Apprenticeships are having a moment. Supporters on both the right and the left say the “earn while you learn” approach can help create a more skilled workforce, provide a path to solid, middle-class careers, and serve as a needed corrective to the “college for all” push that has left some students with piles of debt and no obvious career.

In this APM Reports documentary, we ask: How can apprenticeships expand to include careers beyond the traditional trades and reach new populations searching for a foothold in the middle class?

Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is set to face a second round of questions from the Senate Judiciary Committee today starting at 9:30 a.m. He's expected to be questioned about his views on previous Supreme Court cases, as well as a range of policy issues. Kavanaugh is also likely to be questioned about his work on Ken Starr's independent counsel investigation of former President Bill Clinton, and his time working in the White House under former President George W. Bush.

Mario Martinez and Katy Sorto were the first in their families to go to college. They started at community college in 2008 hoping to earn degrees, but the odds were against them. Both are from low-income families, they ended up in remedial classes, and they knew almost no one who had been to college. This APM Reports documentary tells their remarkable stories 10 years later and provides a rare window on the personal experience of trying to move up through education.

Join us Sunday, September 9 at 7 p.m. on WRVO.