Here and Now

Anti-apartheid activist Ahmed Kathrada spent almost 27 years in prison with Nelson Mandela on Robben Island. Earlier this year, he gave President and Michelle Obama a tour of his former prison.

Here & Now’s Robin Young spoke to Kathrada in July. Today we present an excerpt of that conversation.

Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency are praising Japan for making progress to stabilize the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant, which was crippled by an earthquake and tsunami nearly three years ago.

This week, the IAEA inspectors wrapped up a 10-day inspection of the plant, where the decommissioning process started a few weeks ago.

Here & Now’s Jeremy Hobson gets the latest from BBC Tokyo correspondent Rupert Wingfield-Hayes.

Congressional budget committee leaders are working to pull together a budget deal by the end of next week. Republic Congressman Paul Ryan and Democratic Senator Patty Murray are reportedly discussing how to increase revenue without raising taxes.

A main provision of the agreement would be a partial easing of the next two spending sequesters. It was only in October that a deadlock over federal spending led to the first government shutdown in 17 years.

On Monday, NBC’s a cappella competition “The Sing-Off” returns for a fourth season on Monday, Dec. 9.

Ten teams (list below) will compete for a recording contract and a $100,000 prize.

Update 3:20 p.m.: Illinois Governor Pat Quinn has signed the pension reform bill.

Now that lawmakers have passed an overhaul of Illinois’s government worker pension systems, the fight is expected to move to the courts.

Provisions of the overhaul include raising the retirement age for many state workers and cutting some benefits. The overhaul is estimated to save the state $160 billion over 30 years.

Illinois Governor Pat Quinn is expected to sign the bill by the end of the week.

Every year, tens of thousands of people attend the international art show in Miami Beach called Art Basel. There are arts galleries, live music performances and lots of live street exhibitions on the street.

Art Basel, which runs from Dec. 5 to 8, also comes to Miami’s up-and-coming neighborhood, Wynwood. With its warehouses-turned-art galleries, Wynwood is a prime location for street art.

If you’ve been listening to NPR this week, you’ve probably heard about something called the t-shirt project.

Months ago, Planet Money had the idea to design a t-shirt and follow it around the world as it was manufactured.

The project took the Planet Money team around the globe: from factories in Bangladesh and Colombia, to cotton farms and container ships.

With top U.S. lawmakers warning of new terrorism threats, intelligence officials in the U.K. say there remains an enduring threat from bombs made by terrorists in Yemen.

The threat comes from the type of bomb that failed to explode on a plane over Detroit in 2009 — the so-called underwear bomber.

The BBC’s security correspondent Frank Gardner reports.

Georgetown University professor Abraham Newman argues that business practices at the big technology companies have helped the National Security Agency gather consumers’ personal data in the U.S. and abroad.

Technology companies have reacted sharply to revelations of N.S.A. spying on their customers’ data. Google said, “We are outraged at the lengths to which the government seems to have gone to intercept data from our private fiber networks, and it underscores the need for urgent reform.”

Cyber Monday, the Super Bowl of online sales, broke all records this year, with sales up 19 percent over last year.

Mobile traffic accounted for 13 percent of total site visits, and sales are projected to reach $2 billion for desktop online sales, according to comScore.

But the bonanza isn’t over. Today is “Giving Tuesday.” The movement to create a national day of giving started last year, raising $10 million dollars for more than 2,500 charities nationwide.

Successful malls can be some of the most bustling places in America: enclosed commercial districts that are “people magnets,” with packed parking lots and a variety of popular shops, department stores and restaurants.

But over the years, online shopping and a roller coaster economy have turned many malls into ghost towns.

From the Here & Now Contributors Network, David C. Barnett of WCPN examines the afterlife of some malls in Northeast Ohio.

College football fans on Saturday witnessed what some are calling the greatest play in college football history, at the Iron Bowl game between the Auburn Tigers and the Alabama Crimson Tide.

Auburn’s Chris Davis caught the missed Alabama field goal and ran over 100 yards for the touchdown that gave Auburn the win. Auburn now moves onto SEC Championship.