The New York Times Opinion columnist Thomas Friedman and the Opinion editor Daniel Wakin discuss how and why the United States should use its influence in Syria following the ousting of its longtime dictator Bashar al-Assad.

Thoughts? Email us at theopinions@nytimes.com

The New York Times Opinion columnist David French, a lifelong evangelical, speaks to Jonathan Rauch, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and an atheist, about the role of Christianity in redeeming and supporting American democracy.

Is there a movie, a book, a meme, a memory, a hobby you took up or a vice you quit that stayed with you this year, or helped you unwind and forget about it all? Times Opinion wants to hear about it.

Leave us a voice memo at theopinions@nytimes.com. We need your name, phone number, and where you’re calling from. Tell us what you’re holding onto, and why, as you head into 2025. You may get to hear your pick in an upcoming episode.

The political scientist Robert A. Pape has studied political violence for the past 30 years. In this episode of “The Opinions,” he describes what his research illuminates about the homicide of United Healthcare’s chief executive, Brian Thompson. Pape also explains why he is not surprised by the background of Luigi Mangione, who has been charged with the killing.

In this episode of The Opinions, Farah Stockman, a member of the Times’s editorial board, argues that letting U.S. sanctions against Syria expire, while not without risks, could go a long way to helping ordinary Syrians build a prosperous and stable nation.

What would happen if a nuclear weapon detonated in space, destroying the satellites that make so much of our digital existence — and our national security — possible? In this episode, William Hennigan, the lead writer for Times Opinion’s At the Brink series, speaks with the man whose job is to make sure that never happens.

Thoughts? Email us at theopinions@nytimes.com.