History

Books

Memoir Of A Black Lives Matter Activist

1:13pm October 11, 2018

DeRay Mckesson showed up in Ferguson, MO days after an unarmed black teenager was killed by a police officer — and took up residence in a new social justice movement that brought real reform to policing in America. The experience has never left him.

Books

How Presidents Have Appropriated War Powers From Congress

7:03am October 11, 2018

NPR's Steve Inskeep talks to presidential historian Michael Beschloss about how presidents have chipped away at the congressional power to declare war. It's the subject of his book, Presidents of War.

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Books

Stephen Carter's Book Tells How His Grandmother Helped Convict A Mob Boss

6:10am October 10, 2018

Morning Edition's Steve Inskeep talks to Stephen Carter about his book Invisible: The Forgotten Story of the Black Woman Lawyer Who Took Down America's Most Powerful Mobster.

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'Presidents Of War' Sounds The Alarm About Presidential Power

10:00am October 09, 2018

by Terri Bimes

In his new book, Michael Beschloss focuses on the lead up to war. But a more pressing danger and indictment of presidential power may be the interventions not authorized by Congress.

Ancient Maya ruins at Tikal in northern Guatemala, near the border with Belize. Researcher Heather McKillop explains that Maya sites like Tikal could have been popular marketplaces to trade salt and other commodities.

Ancient Maya: Astrologists, Farmers ... And Salt Entrepreneurs?

3:00pm October 08, 2018

by Rachel D. Cohen

Evidence from a site in Belize shows the Maya not only had large-scale salt-producing operations along the coast, they were also using salt to preserve fish for their extensive trade networks.

Our own Jacob Goldstein made this candle out of animal fat.

Economy

Episode 534: The History of Light (Nobel Edition)

1:28pm October 08, 2018

Bill Nordhaus just won the economics Nobel. In this show: He shows how history of light is the history of economic growth — of things getting faster, cheaper, and more efficient.

'Belonging' Explores The Notion Of Homeland And Inherited Guilt

7:01am October 06, 2018

by Heller McAlpin

In its searching honesty and multi-layered, visual and verbal storytelling, Nora Krug's memoir investigates mixed feelings about being German and her family's role in the Holocaust.

An iron age sword was discovered by an 8-year-old girl who was wading in a lake this summer in southern Sweden, in what local authorities called "a spectacular find."

World News

8-Year-Old Girl Discovers Iron Age Sword In Swedish Lake

9:09pm October 04, 2018

by Laurel Wamsley

The sword is about 33 inches long and "exceptionally well-preserved." The 1,500-year-old artifact even has a sheath made of wood and leather.

Protesters And Trump Supporters Gather In D.C. For Donald Trump Inauguration

How The 1990s Paved The Way For Today's Political Divide

2:20pm October 04, 2018

The political divide might be stark, but it's not a recent phenomenon. How did we get here?

Mesquite flour stirred into butter has a unique sweet flavor, and is especially good on homemade bread.

Arts

Texas Baker Rekindles Interest In The Mysterious Mesquite Bean

1:55pm October 04, 2018

by Karen Hudes

When an Austin neuroscientist-turned-baker dove deeply into a box of Peruvian mesquite flour on a lark, he found a forgotten, flavorful and nutritious bean that was once vital to Native Americans.