History

Martin Luther King Jr.'s Vision For Economic Justice

4:19pm January 18, 2021

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly talks with Michael Tubbs, Stockton, Calif., ex-mayor and founder of Mayors for a Guaranteed Income, on how Martin Luther King Jr. impacted the fight for universal basic income.

Martin Luther King Jr. was a man who had a "tremendous amount of burdens he had to deal with, both politically, socially and personally," says MLK/FBI director Sam Pollard.

Arts

Documentary Exposes How The FBI Tried To Destroy MLK With Wiretaps, Blackmail

9:00am January 18, 2021

by Sam Briger

MLK/FBI director Sam Pollard chronicles the FBI's campaign against Martin Luther King Jr., which included sending King a letter suggesting that he kill himself.

Books
Arts

There's Pain And Tragedy In 'Yellow Wife' — But Also Great Joy

11:07am January 17, 2021

by Denny S. Bryce

Sadeqa Johnson's novel — inspired by a real historical figure — pulls no punches in its tale of an enslaved woman trying to survive and make a life for herself and her family.

On March 1, 1954, Puerto Rican nationalists from New York carried out a shooting attack on Capitol Hill, in Washington, D.C. Front row, from left to right: Irving Flores Rodriguez, Rafael Cancel Miranda, Lolita Lebron and Andres Figueroa Cordero, stand in

Politics & Government

Listen: Eyewitnesses Recount The 1954 Shooting Attack On The U.S. Capitol

7:58am January 17, 2021

by Ben Shapiro

There's been more than one attack on the U.S. Capitol. More than 60 years ago, four Puerto Rican nationalists opened fire on lawmakers debating on the House floor.

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Pro-Trump protesters seeking to force Congress to overturn the election results swarm the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, two weeks before President-elect Joe Biden is scheduled to gives his inaugural address there.

In His Inaugural Address, Biden Seeks To Move Past 'American Carnage'

7:33am January 17, 2021

by Tamara Keith

With the country reeling from the pandemic, racial injustice, and the Capitol riot, President-elect Joe Biden must transcend the "typical gauzy appeals to national unity" of past inaugural addresses.

Books
Arts

The History In 'Angel Of Greenwood' Could Not Be More Timely

7:00am January 16, 2021

by Caitlyn Paxson

Randi Pink's new novel follows a young couple, Angel and Isaiah, whose budding love is set against the backdrop of historical tragedy: the Tulsa race massacre of 1921.

Reconstruction Era Expert On Why Politicians Use Terms Unity And Healing

4:04pm January 15, 2021

NPR's Ailsa Chang talks with Eric Foner, a history professor at Columbia University, about what people mean when they talk about unity and healing during a moment of national division.

Outgoing NPR Health Policy Correspondent Reflects On Her Favorite Story

4:04pm January 15, 2021

by Patti Neighmond

Patti Neighmond, an outgoing health policy correspondent who has worked at NPR for 40 years, remembers her favorite story — about a young quadriplegic woman dependent on a ventilator.

Televisions show a news broadcast of U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Taipei, Taiwan, on Jan. 11. The Trump administration removed decades-old restrictions on interactions with Taiwanese officials just days before President-elect Joe Biden's inaugur

As Pompeo Dumps Rulebook For U.S.-Taiwan Relations, Some See 'Trap' For Biden

2:45pm January 15, 2021

by John Ruwitch

The Trump administration has upended decades of diplomatic practice in U.S. relations with Taiwan. For the new president, "this is meant to be a trap," says a former Obama administration official.

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Books
Arts

Remembering Neil Sheehan, Vietnam War Correspondent Who Revealed The Pentagon Papers

1:39pm January 15, 2021

by Terry Gross

Sheehan, who died Jan. 7, broke the story of the Pentagon Papers and wrote A Bright Shining Lie, a Pulitzer Prize-winning book about the Vietnam War. Originally broadcast in 1988.

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