History

The Trekkie Community Reacts To The Use Of 'Their' Term

5:44pm May 27, 2020

The term "warp speed" was popularized by the Star Trek TV series. With the President announcing Operation Warp Speed to develop a COVID-19 vaccine, scientists and Trekkies discuss the term's history.

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National

How New Deal Art Redefined America

3:58pm May 25, 2020

by Neda Ulaby

When the Roosevelt administration rolled out funding for artists, musicians, writers and actors during the Great Depression, it helped create a new vision of American culture.

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Books
Arts

How Winston Churchill Pulled Britain Through The Early Years Of WWII

12:05pm May 25, 2020

by Dave Davies

In The Splendid And The Vile, author Erik Larson details the British prime minister's first year in office, during which England endured a Nazi bombing campaign. Originally broadcast March 30, 2020.

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Books

Author Interview: 'They Were Soldiers'

6:10pm May 24, 2020

NPR's Michel Martin talks with Joseph Galloway and Marvin Wolf, who covered the Vietnam War, about their new book They Were Soldiers: the Sacrifices and Contributions of our Vietnam Veterans.

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World News

The History Of Hong Kong Rejoining China

3:58pm May 22, 2020

by Frank Langfitt

China plans to enact national security legislation for Hong Kong that would put an end to free speech and political freedoms guaranteed to the city when it was handed back to China in 1997.

Tom Rivett-Carnac speaks as part of TED2020: The Prequel. April 22, 2020. Photo courtesy of TED.

Tom Rivett-Carnac: How Can We Shift Our Mindset To Fight Climate Change Together?

9:54am May 22, 2020

by NPR/TED Staff

It's easy to feel powerless against looming challenges we cannot control — like climate change. So what should we do? Political strategist Tom Rivett-Carnac says the power is in our mindset.

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Staff Sgt. Emilio DiPalma (right) stands on guard at the Nuremberg Trials in 1945.

National

Remembering Her Father, A WWII Veteran Who Stood Guard At The Nuremberg Trials

5:07am May 22, 2020

At StoryCorps, a daughter cherishes memories with her dad, WWII veteran Emilio "Leo" DiPalma, who died of COVID-19 last month at age 93. "I'm honoring his life, not how he died," Emily Aho said.

Health & Safety

What People Can Learn From The Discovery Of A Polio Vaccine

5:59pm May 21, 2020

by Joe Palca

People in the 1950s anxiously waited for scientists to come up with ways to protect children from polio. The road to a polio vaccine might contain some lessons for today's health crisis.

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National

How One Woman Inspired The Design For The N95 Mask

6:03am May 21, 2020

NPR's history podcast Throughline tells us the story behind the N95 mask.

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A judge in Virginia has ruled that a salvage company may cut into the remains of the Titanic to retrieve the ship's wireless telegraph machine. Artifacts from the sunken vessel are sit on shelves at a storage facility in Atlanta in this Feb. 18 photo.

National

Expedition To Salvage Titanic's Wireless Telegraph Gets The Go-Ahead

11:18pm May 20, 2020

by Vanessa Romo

A federal judge said retrieval of the technology "will contribute to the legacy left by the indelible loss of the Titanic, those who survived, and those who gave their lives in the sinking."