History

Scientists who eat the plants and animals they study are following in the tradition of Charles Darwin. During the voyage of The Beagle, he ate puma ("remarkably like veal in taste"), iguanas, giant tortoises, armadillos. He even accidentally ate part of a

Science
Arts

Dining Like Darwin: When Scientists Swallow Their Subjects

10:55am August 27, 2015

by Jessie Rack

Some scientists carry on the tradition of eating the animals or plants they study: leeches, tadpoles, 30,000-year-old bison. Darwin did it first, but why do it at all? Call it all-consuming curiosity.

Former band student Rosalee Talahongva in front of her old music building, which is being turned into a Native American cultural center.

Phoenix Students Restore School To Reclaim Native American Identity

3:52pm August 25, 2015

by Christopher Livesay

A century-long government assimilation program boarded children from their tribes. Now some former students are turning their old school into a Native American cultural center to play their own music.

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Kenneth Jackson stands outside the Dew Drop Inn, which his grandfather, Frank Painia, opened in 1938.

Music & Culture

As New Orleans Recovers, Will The Dew Drop Inn Swing Again?

2:55pm August 24, 2015

by John Burnett

The popular New Orleans club welcomed everyone, even when the city code enforced segregation. It's been closed since 1972, but there's now a crusade to rescue the venue for a new generation.

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National

The Creation Of An Emmett Till Archive

1:29pm August 24, 2015

by Linton Weeks

A historical collection of civil rights movement material — stemming from the brutal murder of a teenager in Mississippi in 1955 — finds a home in Florida.

Arts

Guzzling 9,000 Years Of History With 'The Comic Book Story Of Beer'

11:45am August 24, 2015

by Alastair Bland

A new illustrated history explores beer's journey from the cradle of agriculture, to the rise and fall of Ancient Rome, to the modern-day craft beer heyday.

Tres hermanas- "Three Sisters", Cuajinicuilapa, Guerrero, Mexico, 1986.

Tony Gleaton: Photographing The African Story Across The Americas

11:23am August 24, 2015

by Karen Grigsby Bates

Tony Gleaton left a budding career in fashion photography to travel across continents, taking pictures of landscapes and people of the Americas that had special meaning for the African diaspora.

Tracing The Shifting Meaning Of 'Alien'

10:49am August 23, 2015

by Adrian Florido

Many immigration rights activists cringe at the term "alien." But decades ago, that word was embraced as a humane alternative to terms like "undesirable" and even "wetback."

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National

16 'Spiffy' Words College Students Used In 1916

3:30pm August 20, 2015

by Linton Weeks

The campus can be a laboratory of great experimentation — especially when it comes to American English.

'Rosenwald' Celebrates 'The Greatest Philanthropist You've Never Heard Of'

6:54pm August 19, 2015

NPR's Robert Siegel interviews Aviva Kempner about her latest documentary on Julius Rosenwald, the successful businessman who helped advance the cause of educating African-Americans in the South.

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A Texas-size obstacle at the Peter Pan minigolf course in Austin, Texas — created in 1948.

4 Creative Takes On Golf In America

2:06pm August 19, 2015

by Linton Weeks

Leave it to resourceful Americans to tinker and toy with the royal and ancient game of golf.