History

Good Night Oppy is a suspense-filled ride, crammed with brainstorming, trouble-shooting, deadline-pushing, and frequent nail-biting.

Science

A loving salute to NASA's Mars rover program in 'Good Night Oppy'

12:43pm November 04, 2022

by Bob Mondello

The Mars Rovers Opportunity and Spirit were expected to remain operational for 90 days. Fifteen years later, Oppy was still roving, as the new documentary Good Night Oppy chronicles.

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Genevieve Von Petzinger speaks at TED Fellows Retreat 2015, August 26-30, 2015, Asilomar Conference Grounds, Pacific Grove, California. Photo: Ryan Lash/TED

Arts

Why did ancient humans paint the same 32 symbols in caves all over Europe?

11:00am November 04, 2022

With few exceptions, ancient humans painted the same 32 symbols in caves all over Europe. Paleoanthropologist Genevieve von Petzinger asks: What were they trying to say to each other — and to us?

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Ariana Curtis speaks at TEDWomen 2018: Showing Up, November 28-30, 2018, Palm Springs, California. Photo: Marla Aufmuth / TED

Arts

How can museums honor both the extraordinary and the everyday?

11:00am November 04, 2022

Museums are full of artifacts left by "the first and the famous," says curator Ariana Curtis. Museums can better represent diverse stories, she argues, if they also include stories of everyday life.

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The statue of Samuel Adams stands outside Boston's Faneuil Hall.

Books
Arts

Author reminds Americans that Samuel Adams was a revolutionary before he was a beer

1:55pm November 01, 2022

by Maureen Corrigan

Adams' historical importance is often overlooked because he didn't keep copies of his own letters. Stacy Schiff's superb new biography explores his crucial role in inciting the American Revolution.

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An image shows the first page of the first printing of the final text of the U.S. Constitution. The rare document will go up for auction in December, Sotheby's announced on Tuesday.

A rare copy of the first printing of the U.S. Constitution is going up for auction

1:40pm November 01, 2022

by Bill Chappell

The document last went up for auction in 1894. After the new auction was announced, the group that crowdfunded an attempt to buy a similar copy last year told NPR, "We're looking into it."

Julia Roberts poses at a red carpet premiere in London in September. That same month, she spoke publicly about her family's friendship with Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King.

Arts

Martin Luther King Jr. paid the bill for Julia Roberts' birth. Here's the backstory

11:37am November 01, 2022

by Rachel Treisman

As fans marked Julia Roberts' birthday last week, they also uncovered a connection between her family and that of the civil rights icon. It all started when her parents opened an acting school.

A scene from "Entremeses Cervantinos," three one-act plays written by Miguel de Cervantes, at Plaza San Roque, Guanajuato, Mexico.

Festival Cervantino, Latin America's biggest cultural event, returns with new energy

4:54pm October 29, 2022

by Betto Arcos

After a virtual edition in 2020, and hybrid version last year, the Cervantino International Festival is back in person and celebrating 50 years.

Supporters of then-President Donald Trump gather on the steps of the state Capitol on Jan. 5, 2021, in Harrisburg, Pa.

State legislative races are on the front lines of democracy this midterm cycle

11:27am October 28, 2022

by Laura Benshoff

More than 6,000 state legislative seats are up for election this year. Republicans and Democrats are spending tens of millions in a battle to shift the balance of power in these chambers.

Charles Addams in his Westhampton Beach, N.Y., studio in 1977.

Arts
Books

How the cartoonist behind The Addams Family defused fear, with dead-on humor

12:08pm October 27, 2022

by Allyson McCabe

Charles Addams' goal was never to create fear, but to defuse it — infusing the horror with a playfulness that appealed even to those who prefer daylight to the witching hour.

A group prays during a small ceremony as remains from a mass grave are re-interred at Oaklawn Cemetery on July 30, 2021, in Tulsa, Okla.

National

Exhumations to resume in a bid to identify Tulsa Race Massacre victims

4:44am October 26, 2022

by The Associated Press

Some of the 19 bodies taken from a Tulsa cemetery and later reburied that could include remains of victims of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre will be exhumed again starting Wednesday.