History

David Reinert holds up a large "Q" sign that represents QAnon while waiting in line to see then-President Donald Trump at his rally in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., on Aug. 2, 2018.

America's Satanic Panic Returns — This Time Through QAnon

7:43am May 19, 2021

In the 1980s, false accusations of satanic ritual abuse spread across the U.S. Now, QAnon has revived those fears, borrowing from the playbook of the Satanic Panic from decades prior.

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Health & Safety

40 Years Later: The Denialism That Shaped The AIDS Epidemic

12:22pm May 18, 2021

by Noel King

It's been four decades since the first U.S. AIDS cases were reported. Some people who experienced the early years of the crisis say the effects of denialism have carried into the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Motorists line up at a gas station on New York's Long Island, hoping to fill their tanks during the gasoline shortage of 1973-74. Long lines and fuel restrictions were common across the country.

Pipeline Panic Recalls Perils Of Gas Lines For Past Presidents

8:01am May 16, 2021

by Ron Elving

Some Americans actually remember the gas lines of the 1970s and how they contributed to the downfall of two presidents. And if you don't, you've at least heard the stories and seen the pictures.

Books

Author Explains Why Those 4-Letter Words Are So Satisfying To Say Out Loud

4:30pm May 14, 2021

NPR's Ailsa Chang talks with linguist John McWhorter about his new book, Nine Nasty Words: English in the Gutter: Then, Now, and Forever, which looks at how profanities have evolved over centuries.

Barry Jenkins served as showrunner, executive producer, writer and director to the 10-part Amazon series, The Underground Railroad.

'Underground Railroad' Is A Hard But Beautiful Reflection On Black Pain

3:43pm May 14, 2021

by Eric Deggans

Barry Jenkins' adaptation of Colson Whitehead's The Underground Railroad reaches us at a time when we are most prepared for its message, but severely challenged by its delivery system.

National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre at the group's annual meeting in Dallas in May 2018. A secretive figure, LaPierre makes few public appearances outside of carefully scripted speeches.

National

Judge Dismisses NRA Bankruptcy Case, Heightening Risk For Dissolution Of Group

6:45pm May 11, 2021

by Tim Mak

A federal judge threw out the National Rifle Association's bid to declare bankruptcy Tuesday, allowing New York to proceed in its effort to dissolve the gun rights group for alleged "fraud and abuse."

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Album Leaf of Flowers and Insects, bequest of the Hofer Collection of the Arts of Asia, 1985.904.6

Arts

Brood X Is Back — But Cicadas Have Been In Chinese Art For Millennia

4:58pm May 10, 2021

by Neda Ulaby

The insects' appearances stretch back 4,000 years, to a time when ancient settlers carved cicadas from jade and put them on tongues of the dead before burial, evoking transcendence and eternal life.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, far right, Baltimore County Executive John Olszewski and Maryland House Speaker Adrienne Jones stand next to a new historic marker on Saturday in Towson, Md., that memorializes Howard Cooper, a 15-year-old who was dragged from a

National

Maryland Governor Grants Posthumous Pardons To 34 Black Lynching Victims

6:50pm May 09, 2021

by Eric McDaniel

Maryland is the first state to issue a comprehensive set of pardons to the victims of lynching. Across the U.S., more than 4,000 Black people were lynched in acts of racial terror.

The Italian Culture Ministry said the Guattari Cave in San Felice Circeo was "one of the most significant places in the world for the history of Neanderthals."

'An Extraordinary Discovery': Archeologists Find Neanderthal Remains In Cave Near Rome

2:03pm May 09, 2021

by H.J. Mai

Archeologists unearthed the remains of nine Neanderthals, dating from 50,000 to 100,000 years ago, in a discovery the Italian culture minister said will be "the talk of the world."

Left: Ivan Abbott Houston (bottom left), with his father Ivan J. Houston and sisters Pamela Houston-Chretien and Kathi Houston-Berryman in front of their house on West 24th St., across the street from 24th Street School, on Easter Sunday, in the late 1950

Black Americans And The Racist Architecture Of Homeownership

11:35am May 08, 2021

Owning a home is a part of the American dream. It's also the key to building intergenerational wealth. But Black Americans continue to face discrimination in housing, including through higher costs.

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