History

A week in science: A copper-age "queen," a sea squirt and malaria-fighting mosquitoes

4:44pm July 13, 2023

NPR's Adrian Florido talks with Short Wave hosts Regina Barber and Geoff Brumfiel about a copper-age "queen," a 500-million-year-old sea squirt, and a way to help mosquitoes fight malaria.

The backstory of 19th-century masterpiece 'Whistler's Mother'

4:28pm July 13, 2023

by Susan Stamberg

The painting known as "Whistler's Mother" is on display in Philadelphia for the first time in nearly 150 years. It's one of the best-known paintings in the world — and it has a backstory.

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Science

A small lake outside Toronto could be the clue that a new epoch has begun on Earth

5:46pm July 12, 2023

A team of scientists have identified a geological site in Canada that they say best reflects a new epoch in Earth's history — the Anthropocene era. Francine McCarthy led the group.

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View of a collection of defused cluster bombs and grenades used by an international bomb disposal group for training in Savannakhet, Laos, on May 2, 2006.

The U.S. promised Ukraine cluster bombs. In Laos, they still kill civilians

12:37pm July 11, 2023

by Lewis M. Simons

The U.S. dropped over 2 million tons of ordnance on Laos, including cluster bombs, in the 1960s and '70s. To this day, many people are killed, crippled and disfigured by them, writes Lewis M. Simons.

National

A lawsuit to compensate Tulsa Massacre victims and their descendants was dismissed

5:43pm July 10, 2023

by Elizabeth Caldwell

A number of survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Massacre had a setback recently when a lawsuit seeking damages from the state was dismissed. The suit would have compensated them and their descendants.

National

Some say the century-old water rights system in the West is unfair and racist

4:38pm July 10, 2023

by Lauren Sommer

The right to use water in Western states can be extremely valuable. Now, that century-old system is under scrutiny, with some saying it's unfair and racist.

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The New York State Capitol gets its first new statue since 1898: Ruth Bader Ginsberg

4:38pm July 10, 2023

by Jon Campbell

For the first time since 1898, a new face is being added to the grand staircase in the N.Y. capitol in Albany — Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the late U.S. Supreme Court justice born and raised in Brooklyn.

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Celebrating the history of American music in 24 Hours

4:06pm July 10, 2023

The performance artist Taylor Mac is the feature of a new documentary. When we spoke to him in 2016, he had just completed a 24-hour show covering 24 decades of American popular music.

Kansas City Monarchs pitching great Satchel Paige warms up at New York's Yankee Stadium Aug. 2, 1942 for a Negro League game between the Monarchs and the New York Cuban Stars.

Sports
Arts

The Negro League revolutionized baseball – MLB's new rules are part of its legacy

2:23pm July 10, 2023

by Dave Davies

In his film The League, Sam Pollard tells the story of the Negro National League: "They brought a different kind of style ... a kind of baseball which Major League Baseball is trying to bring back."

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Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., departs from the U.S. Capitol following a vote, on May 11, as she returned to Washington, D.C., after having being absent from the Senate for months due to illness.

Politics & Government

Feinstein's return to the Senate recalls its past heroics and persistent problems

5:01am July 08, 2023

by Ron Elving

The 90-year-old Californian's long absence and current condition raise questions about the institution's ability to deal with its internal issues of aging or disability.