History

Conspiracy Theories About MLK's Death Continue, But Investigators Say Case Is Closed

5:12pm April 03, 2018

by Carrie Johnson

Authorities have investigated the death of Martin Luther King Jr. five times since his murder in April 1968. Congress, district attorneys and the Justice Department have all concluded that James Earl Ray shot King as he stood on a motel balcony in Memphis, but conspiracy theories about who was responsible for his death continue to flourish.

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National guard troops patrol outside the Capitol in Washington, D.C. on April 5, 1968, one day after Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated.

Spring 1968: Returning Home To A Smoke-Filled City And Nation In Crisis

4:14pm April 03, 2018

by Susan Stamberg

NPR's Susan Stamberg remembers flying back from India in 1968 to a city and country that was in the middle of a nervous breakdown.

Modest temperature reversals have not taken us back in time at all, says guest commentator Jimena Canales.

Science

Time Travel With Your Fridge?

12:55pm April 03, 2018

by Jimena Canales

If the history of thermodynamics can teach us anything, it is that modest entropy reversals have not taken us back in time at all. But it is more fun to think otherwise, says guest Jimena Canales.

Martin Luther King Jr.'s Final Cause: Memphis Sanitation Workers Strike

6:35am April 03, 2018

by Debbie Elliott

A sanitation workers strike in Memphis, Tenn., would end up being King's last cause. As the nation marks 50 years since the civil rights leader was assassinated, we look back at King's final speech.

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Sally Armstrong, who plays the role of ragged school teacher Miss Perkins, stands her ground.

A 'Ragged School' Gives U.K. Children A Taste Of Dickensian Destitution

5:11pm April 01, 2018

by Sam Alwyine-Mosely

The East End of London was once synonymous with Dickensian squalor. Now it's prime real estate. A tiny museum in the back streets shows schoolchildren what life was like in the past.

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White House counsel Harriet Miers speaks after being nominated by President George W. Bush to the Supreme Court on Oct. 3, 2005. She would withdraw later that month after intense scrutiny of her qualificiations.

Politics & Government

The Fall Of Harriet Miers: A Cautionary Tale For Dr. Ronny Jackson?

3:09pm March 30, 2018

by Ron Elving

Both Miers, picked as a justice, and Jackson, chosen for the VA, were known for strong praise of the presidents they served and resumes with questionable alignment to the jobs they were picked for.

Decorating Easter buns with a variety of symbols is an inclusive way to share holiday food.

Hot Agnostic Buns: A Proposal For A Pagan-Christian-Secular Easter Treat

11:45am March 29, 2018

by Kim Vukovich

Hot cross buns have been an Easter treat for centuries. But before that, pagans exchanged them as part of a spring ritual celebrating the four seasons or the phases of the moon. Can they morph again?

Martin Luther King, Jr. speaking to a mass meeting at the Mason Temple in support of striking sanitation workers.

National

The Memphis Sanitation Workers Strike: King's Last Cause For Economic Justice

9:39am March 28, 2018

by Debbie Elliott

They wanted better working conditions and higher pay, but they needed help strategizing. Martin Luther King Jr. went to Memphis to help.

The Complex Story Of Civil Rights Photographer Ernest Withers

7:23am March 28, 2018

by Christopher Blank

Fifty years ago, photographer Ernest Withers took an iconic photograph of Memphis sanitation workers on strike. He chronicled the civil rights movement, but was revealed to have been an FBI informant.

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Sports

The 1963 'Game Of Change,' Or Lack Thereof

5:20am March 28, 2018

The 1963 men's basketball game between Loyola University Chicago and Mississippi State was dubbed "The Game of Change." But ESPN's Kevin Blackistone tells David Greene that name might be misleading.

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