History

A rare Chicago license plate is up for auction until Sunday.

National

A rare, first-of-its kind Chicago license plate is up for auction

5:30am August 26, 2022

by Emma Bowman

Before Illinois took over the issuing of license plates, Chicago made plates from thin, stamped aluminum. Of those, the first-ever made is expected to sell for upwards of $4,000.

Debbie Harry and Clem Burke, 14th Street, NYC, circa 1976.

Against the odds: How Blondie shattered the conventions of punk and pop

9:16am August 25, 2022

by Allyson McCabe

From unreleased music to promotional flyers, photos, a mirrored dressing room sign, and even a stray Andy Warhol print, Blondie's out with a new box set, Blondie: Against The Odds 1974-1982.

Encore: Podcast investigates the early death of musician Chalino Sanchez

5:09pm August 22, 2022

Some musicians become more famous for dying young. That's part of the story of Chalino Sanchez, but there's more to it. NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with the host of a podcast that explores that theme.

A new exhibit in LA explores the complicated history of Black Cinema

5:00am August 21, 2022

by Mandalit del Barco

"Regeneration" examines 73 years of film history, from the silent movie days to the rise of the Blaxploitation era.

The cautionary tale of Japan: Why an L-shaped recession is so undesirable

5:23pm August 19, 2022

Not all economic recessions and recoveries are created equal. Japan's "L-shaped" recovery — which really isn't much of a recovery at all — in the 1990s offers a cautionary tale.

Civil rights leader Clara Luper poses with a photograph from her scrapbooks at a community center in Oklahoma City, Okla., in August 1983.

National

How a history teacher and 13 Black students shaped the civil rights movement

3:15pm August 19, 2022

by Destinee Adams

One of the first lunch counter sit-ins of the civil rights movement took place in Oklahoma City in 1958. This weekend, the city remembers the protest and its organizer, Clara Luper.

Queue Listen Now

Jewish townspeople of the village of Nasielsk, Poland in 1938.

'The Territory' and 'Three Minutes: A Lengthening' find cinematic hope in tragedy

6:22pm August 18, 2022

by Bob Mondello

A pair of documentaries gleans what it can from a pre-WWII home movie and Indigenous efforts to halt the destruction of the Amazon rainforest.

Queue Listen Now

People line up to receive the monkeypox vaccine.

Science
Arts

Talking about monkeypox? Then you should be talking about sex

5:00am August 18, 2022

by Andrew Limbong

Despite the possibility of stigmatizing queer sex, experts say it's important to keep sex at the center of the conversation around monkeypox.

Sacheen Littlefeather appears at the Academy Awards ceremony to announce that Marlon Brando was declining his Oscar as best actor for his role in The Godfather, on March 27, 1973.

The Academy apologizes to Sacheen Littlefeather for her treatment at the 1973 Oscars

8:35pm August 15, 2022

by The Associated Press

In 1973, Sacheen Littlefeather spoke on behalf of Marlon Brando at the Oscars about the depiction of Native Americans in Hollywood films.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., is calling for the repeal of the Espionage Act.

Sen. Rand Paul wants to repeal the Espionage Act amid the Mar-a-Lago investigation

10:07am August 15, 2022

by Juliana Kim

This is the first time in U.S. history a former president has been investigated for possibly violating the 1917 law. But it's not the first time the Espionage Act has been under scrutiny, experts say.