As the days get shorter and shorter, and the focus turns from work to home, we enter that end-of-year frame of mind. It’s the natural time to look back on the lessons of 2025 and to look forward to 2026 and beyond.

Americans intuit that this season of self-reflection is an important one to keep alive. And we at the Heritage Foundation agree. That’s why this week on Heritage Explains, I sat down with our President, Dr. Kevin Roberts, to talk about what we’ve learned from 2025 and what to look forward to in the new year.

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The Kevin Roberts Show: https://www.heritage.org/the-kevin-roberts-show

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Have thoughts? Let us know at heritageexplains@heritage.org

In the 20th century, the traditional agriculture term “earmarking” gained traction in US politics, becoming slang for the mechanism of including smaller, regionally targeted spending for particular constituencies in larger spending bills. This was often done to appease a particular group or to provide leverage to get an individual legislator on board with a bill. But do they really serve the American public? At Heritage, we don’t think so.

I sat down with Chip Wyatt, Government Relations Director at Heritage Action for America, to learn why.

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Check out Heritage Action: heritageaction.com

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Have thoughts? Let us know at heritageexplains@heritage.org

Family life does not stop, especially at this time of year. The Supreme Court of the United States has also been busy. Over the last week or so, the court has taken up or listened to arguments in three potentially landmark cases. All three have to do with the Trump administration’s goals for the executive branch.

Heritage Senior Legal Fellow, and frequent guest on this our show, Hans von Spakovsky was kind enough to take a break from his own busy holiday season, to stop by and break down these three cases for us.