Story of the Day

Health & Safety

Feds Say It's Time To Cut Back On Fluoride In Drinking Water

8:56pm May 03, 2015

by Rob Stein

Excess fluoride consumption is leading to tiny white marks on many people's teeth. It's mainly a cosmetic problem, but one that could be solved by lowering the fluoride in drinking water.

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Former FBI Agent Speaks Out: 'I Was Not Protected'

8:17pm May 03, 2015

by Carrie Johnson

Robyn Gritz investigated major national security threats, but says the FBI drummed her out of a job after she fell out of favor with her supervisors. She went on to sell cosmetics and answer phones.

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The documentary I Am Big Bird tells the story of Caroll Spinney (left), who has been the man inside the yellow suit for more than 40 years.

Arts

At 81, The Man Behind Big Bird Sees 'No Reason To Quit'

10:26am May 02, 2015

by NPR Staff

"It's an awfully good job," Caroll Spinney says, of the more than 40 years he has spent on Sesame Street. A new documentary tells the story of the octogenarian man playing a 6-year-old bird.

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Members of the Nguyen family, including Harry, Tammy, Elizabeth, Emma, Elly and Quan, look through family photos.

How The Fall Of Saigon Turned San Diego Into A Home For Refugees

9:18pm May 01, 2015

by Megan Burks

Forty years ago, the Nguyen family was among the first refugees to be brought to San Diego after the Vietnam War. Now the community they helped form has become home to refugees from around the world.

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A spread from Enchanted Forest: An Inky Quest and Coloring Book by Johanna Basford.

Books
Arts

Artist Goes Outside The Lines With Coloring Books For Grown-Ups

3:56pm May 01, 2015

by NPR Staff

When Johanna Basford first told her publisher she wanted to draw books for adults — well, she says, "You can imagine how quiet they were." Today, both of her books have become sellout successes.

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Derrick Jennings never goes without his hat, boots or cowboy belt buckle. He wears them so it's clear to people that he's a hardworking cowboy.

National

Compton's Cowboys Keep The Old West Alive, And Kids Off The Streets

8:40am May 01, 2015

by Gloria Hillard

The city has seen some positive changes in recent years, including a reconnection with the city's rural past. The pastime has given youth an outlet in a region that's at the center of gang violence.

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No Rest For Your Sleeping Brain

4:28pm April 30, 2015

by Jon Hamilton

No wonder the brain needs so much energy. The same coordinated activity that allows you to retrieve a specific memory, like what you had for breakfast, continues at rest and even during sleep.

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Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor grilled lawyers arguing the constitutionality of new lethal-injection cocktails.

It's Sotomayor V. Roberts In Supreme Court Death Penalty Drama

7:13pm April 29, 2015

by Nina Totenberg

Justice Sonia Sotomayor and lawyers arguing in favor of Oklahoma's lethal-injection cocktail got into a clash so pronounced that Chief Justice John Roberts chastised Sotomayor for talking too much.

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Michelle McKelvey (left) and Meg McKelvey sit near demonstrators outside of the Supreme Court on Tuesday. They have been together for two years.

Justices Deeply Divided Over Same-Sex-Marriage Arguments

1:41pm April 29, 2015

by Nina Totenberg

Justice Kennedy, seen as the determinative vote in the same-sex-marriage cases before the Supreme Court, was very tough on gay-marriage advocates.

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Yashua Cantillano, 14, arrived in New Orleans in June from Tegucigalpa, Honduras. He's now enrolled in a charter school, Carver Prep, on the city's east side.

New Orleans Schools Face A Surge Of Unaccompanied Minors

9:25am April 29, 2015

by Claudio Sanchez

America's classrooms are seeing a surge of kids from Central America who crossed into the U.S. illegally. Educating them is expensive, and one school in New Orleans is scrambling to cover the costs.

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