History

Arts

'Road to Surrender' revisits the final weeks of World War II

1:57pm June 20, 2023

by Dave Davies

Author Evan Thomas tells the story of American leaders wrestling with the terrifying dilemmas of nuclear weapons and of determined Japanese leaders confronting the humiliating prospect of defeat.

Queue Listen Now

National

A rare signed copy of the Emancipation Proclamation is displayed on Juneteenth

4:40pm June 19, 2023

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly speaks with the executive director of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum about an original copy of Emancipation Proclamation it is displaying for Juneteenth.

Books
Arts

A new book celebrates the contributions of America's Black working class

1:31pm June 19, 2023

by Tonya Mosley

In Black Folk, Blair Kelley portrays generations of Black workers — Pullman porters, domestic laborers, USPS employees, COVID-19 essential workers — who have contributed to the nation's prosperity.

Queue Listen Now

A new dinosaur species, with blade-like spiked armor, has been identified

5:51am June 19, 2023

The fossilized remains were found on the Isle of Wight in the English Channel. The new dinosaur's name is Vectipelta barretti — after Professor Paul Barrett from the Natural History Museum in London.

Queue Listen Now

On this Juneteenth: A reading of the Emancipation Proclamation

5:14am June 19, 2023

For the observation of the federal Juneteenth holiday, NPR examines and reads the Emancipation Proclamation.

Virginia Del. Sally Hudson's campaign for state Senate has held informal house parties, including this one in Charlottesville, Va. on June 12. Hudson, a 35-year-old economist, says she'd lead on progressive issues in a state Senate she argues is dominated by older white men.

For Democrats trying to retake Virginia legislature, fiery primaries are first hurdle

5:00am June 19, 2023

by Ben Paviour

It's nearly been two years since Virginia Democrats lost the governor's office and the House to the GOP. Before attempting a comeback this fall, they must first survive Tuesday's expensive primaries.

A young boy walks past a painting depicting Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during a Juneteenth celebration in Los Angeles in 2020. Juneteenth marks the day in 1865 when federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, to take control of the state and ensure all enslaved people be freed, more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation.

National

Juneteenth, the newest federal holiday, is gaining awareness

5:00am June 19, 2023

by Alana Wise

Monday marks the Juneteenth holiday — a date commemorating the fall of slavery in the United States. While it's a new federal holiday, it's been celebrated since the 1860s.

National

A cemetery in Sugar Land, Texas, forces city to confront its history

5:19pm June 18, 2023

A new podcast from The Texas Newsroom explores the discovery of a cemetery in Sugar Land, Texas.

Britain's Boris Johnson, pictured in 2021, resigned as prime minister last year, but his policies are still felt. He resigned his seat in the House of Commons last week after receiving a draft of a report excoriating his behavior as prime minister.

As the U.S. and democracies worldwide face threats, Britain shows how to fight back

5:00am June 16, 2023

by Frank Langfitt

With democracy under siege around the world, the U.K. offers a glimmer of hope. Despite attacks from former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Britain's institutions resisted.

Queue Listen Now

In this 2020 photo, survivors walk below a gate with the inscription "Work sets you free" after a wreath-laying ceremony at the memorial site of the former German Nazi death camp Auschwitz during ceremonies marking the 75th anniversary of the camp's liberation in Oswiecim, Poland.

World News

Germany will pay more than $1.4 billion next year to survivors of Nazi atrocities

1:51pm June 15, 2023

by Bill Chappell

Nearly $890 million will go toward home care services — an increasingly vital aspect of the reparation effort, as Holocaust victims advance in age.