History

The NPR podcast 'Throughline' examines how Korean culture went global

6:52am October 03, 2022

From BTS to Squid Game, South Korea reigns as a global exporter of pop culture. In the past two decades, government intervention has led the country to become a major driver of global soft power.

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World News

How Ukraine ended up with one of the world's largest nuclear power plants

8:34am October 02, 2022

by Julian Hayda

As part of the former Soviet Union, Ukraine was the site of nuclear power plants and nuclear weapons - and the story of those helps tell the story of the country.

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From left, Gordon Newman, Frank Green, Sammie Robinson and Terry Pierce open up about life in the Angola Louisiana State Penitentiary.

National

What it's like serving a life sentence in prison with no chance of release

9:32am October 01, 2022

by Lauren Hodges

When Calvin Duncan was 19 years old, he was arrested for a murder he didn't commit. Now, he's helping to tell the stories of other men who have found themselves behind bars for life.

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'Mercury Rising' explores treacherous U.S. attempts to control space

5:46pm September 30, 2022

by Dave Davies

Historian Jeff Shesol recalls the early days of the space program, when Cold War fears ruled and no one knew if John Glenn would survive America's first orbital flight. Originally broadcast June 2021.

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World News

The history of Iran's so-called morality police

5:26pm September 30, 2022

Iran's Guidance Patrol is under fire after protests across the country. NPR's Juana Summers speaks with an Iranian scholar Roxane Farmanfarmaian about the history of the controversial institution.

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Politics & Government

I hated to be the guy who had to tell of the Watergate tapes, Butterfield says

5:13am September 30, 2022

Republican staffer Alexander Butterfield revealed during Watergate hearings that he had overseen the installation of a recording system that taped President Richard Nixon's White House conversations.

Lizzo performs on rarely-played James Madison glass flute at DC concert

2:13pm September 29, 2022

by Chloe Veltman

Pop artist Lizzo stunned audiences with her performance Tuesday on a historic glass flute once owned by James Madison. The flute is currently housed in the Library of Congress.

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Adrien Brody as The Playwright & Ana de Armas as Marilyn Monroe in Blonde.

Books
Arts

'Blonde' director says the unhappiness of Marilyn Monroe should come as no surprise

12:00pm September 29, 2022

by Tom Vitale

The Netflix adaptation reimagines the inner life of one of Hollywood's most enduring icons.

The Fed has pushed interest rates high because it doesn't want to repeat the 1970s

5:54pm September 28, 2022

by Scott Horsley

Inflation watchdogs are acting to rein in runaway prices. They're hoping to avoid a re-run of the 1970s, when inflation went unchecked for so long it became harder to get prices under control.

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National

A county that once barred Black people holds a town that was a safe haven for them

5:22pm September 28, 2022

by Kyra Miles

When Cullman County, Ala., was founded in 1873, it was advertised as a place with "No Blacks and No Indians." But one of the oldest communities in Cullman County was a safe haven for Black people.

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