Good day. It's Monday, December the 29th, 2025, and this is Denison Forum's Daily Article Podcast.

I'm narrator, Chris Elkins, giving voice to today's daily article written by cultural theologian, Dr. Jim Denison.

President Donald Trump said Sunday that he and Ukrainian president, Vladimir Zelensky,

were getting a lot closer, maybe very close, to an agreement to end the war in Ukraine.

Both leaders reported progress on security guarantees for Ukraine and the division of

Eastern Ukraine's Donbos region that Russia has tried to capture.

Mr. Trump said it will be clear in a few weeks whether negotiations to end the war will succeed.

The president meets today with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss next steps in Gaza.

Mr. Netanyahu is also expected to focus on Israeli allegations that Iran is rapidly

working to rebuild its ballistic missile arsenal.

On Saturday, Iran's president claimed that his country is in an all-out war with the West.

On Sunday, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un oversaw the launch

of long-range strategic cruise missiles. Earlier today, China launched its most extensive war games

around Taiwan as the country expands its nuclear warhead manufacturing capacity.

If you're like many people, however, you'd rather not have to think about global war and peace this morning.

Today begins what some are calling Twixmas, Dead Week, or Farrell Week,

the stretch between Christmas and New Year's Eve, when, as one journalist reports,

we get the urge to take off

and tune out, and our outstanding projects, deadlines, and other responsibilities become

2026's used problem.

In quote, an Atlantic article calls this the best week of the year, explaining that for many of us, this is the only time of the year when it feels possible and even encouraged to do nothing.

Others are not so positive. One person said of this week, what day it is doesn't matter. Existence is confusion. Time is a flat circle. Another wrote,

...