History

Hard Cider, Chamber Pots And Leeches: Living Like A Founding Father

River Donaghey, associate editor at VICE, spent four days living as people did in the 18th century. Donaghey tells NPR's Ari Shapiro that New Yorkers happily mistook him as an extra from Hamilton.

Hard Cider, Chamber Pots And Leeches: Living Like A Founding Father

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Remembrances

Holocaust Survivor Elie Wiesel Created A Legacy Of Remembrance

The world mourns the loss of writer, Nobel Peace Prize winner, Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel. NPR's Rachel Martin speaks with Sara Bloomfield of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Holocaust Survivor Elie Wiesel Created A Legacy Of Remembrance

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Remembrances

Book Critic Ruth Franklin On Elie Wiesel's Literary Legacy

Author of famed memoir "Night," Elie Wiesel's has died. NPR's Rachel Martin talks to author and former editor of The New Republic, Ruth Franklin on the lasting legacy of his Holocaust remembrance.

Book Critic Ruth Franklin On Elie Wiesel's Literary Legacy

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Elie Wiesel, Holocaust survivor and Nobel Peace Prize-winning author, at a news conference in Budapest, Hungary, in 2009.

Elie Wiesel, Holocaust survivor and Nobel Peace Prize-winning author, at a news conference in Budapest, Hungary, in 2009. Bela Szandelszky/AP hide caption

toggle caption Bela Szandelszky/AP

The Two-Way

Elie Wiesel, Holocaust Survivor And Nobel Laureate, Dies At 87

After surviving the Nazi death camps, Wiesel advocated on behalf of victims of hate and persecution around the world. He died Saturday at the age of 87.

Elie Wiesel, Holocaust Survivor And Nobel Laureate, Dies At 87

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British soldiers stand among graves as they attend a vigil Thursday to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the Battle of the Somme in northern France.

British soldiers stand among graves as they attend a vigil Thursday to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the Battle of the Somme in northern France. Francois Mori/AP hide caption

toggle caption Francois Mori/AP

The Two-Way

A Century After The Battle Of The Somme, Europe Gathers To Honor The Fallen

On July 1, 1916, nearly 20,000 British soldiers died on the first day of the Battle of the Somme in northern France. The battle went on for months, and more than a million men were killed or injured.

President Obama is interviewed by NPR's Steve Inskeep at the White House on Monday.
Becky Lettenberger/NPR

Code Switch

President Obama Defends His Record On Race

In an interview with NPR, Obama answers critics among people of color who say that, despite their overwhelming support at the ballot box, he hasn't delivered enough results for their communities.

President Obama Defends His Record On Race

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National Security

Are We Living In An Unprecedented Age Of Terror?

It seems attacks are happening at a more furious pace than ever before. Georgetown Security Studies professor Daniel Byman tells Steve Inskeep that there were many more incidents in the '70s and '80s.

Are We Living In An Unprecedented Age Of Terror?

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In District Merchants, Akeem Davis plays Lance, a freed slave who has a crisis of conscience when he learns his boss, Shylock, may have been involved in the slave trade.

In District Merchants, Akeem Davis plays Lance, a freed slave who has a crisis of conscience when he learns his boss, Shylock, may have been involved in the slave trade. Teresa Wood/Courtesy of the Folger Theatre hide caption

toggle caption Teresa Wood/Courtesy of the Folger Theatre

Theater

This Shakespeare Reconstruction Sets 'Merchant' In Post-Civil War D.C.

In District Merchants, Shylock is still Jewish, but half of the other characters are freed slaves. The playwright says he was inspired but a reference to slavery in Shakespeare's original text.

This Shakespeare Reconstruction Sets 'Merchant' In Post-Civil War D.C.

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Politics

Prohibition-Era Gang Violence Prompted Congress To Act On Gun Control

In the 1930s, the United States government was absorbed with a different kind of gun violence: prohibition-era gangsters using fully automatic weapons of war, with civilians often caught in the crossfire. NPR looks back at how the U.S. Congress, at the urging of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, passed the nation's first firearms legislation, which still holds today.

Prohibition-Era Gang Violence Prompted Congress To Act On Gun Control

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Ancient Pay Stub Shows Workers Were Paid In Beer

The British Museum has a 5,000-year-old tablet from the ancient Mesopotamian city of Uruk that is likely a pay stub. Historians say beer at that time was thick and starchy — basically liquid bread.

Ancient Pay Stub Shows Workers Were Paid In Beer

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This is where the Burning Brigade was housed. The apparatus in the middle is not the original, but ones like it were used as ramps so that the bodies could be stacked high and set alight. All the pits at Ponar were originally dug by the Russians to store fuel.

This is where the Burning Brigade was housed. The apparatus in the middle is not the original, but ones like it were used as ramps so that the bodies could be stacked high and set alight. All the pits at Ponar were originally dug by the Russians to store fuel. Ezra Wolfinger for Nova hide caption

toggle caption Ezra Wolfinger for Nova

The Two-Way

Researchers Uncover Long-Lost Tunnel Used By Jews To Escape Extermination Pits

They have provided physical evidence to a famous story of heroism during the Holocaust — known before only through the testimony of the 11 Jews who escaped a Lithuanian massacre site.

Author Interviews

In 'Hustling Hitler,' A Jewish Vaudevillian Scams The Third Reich

It seems everyone has one: the eccentric relative much gossiped about. For Walter Shapiro, it's his great-uncle, Freeman Bernstein. The vaudeville manager, boxing promoter, card shark and stock swindler managed to scam the Third Reich. Shapiro writes about this in his new book, Hustling Hitler.

In 'Hustling Hitler,' A Jewish Vaudevillian Scams The Third Reich

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An illustration shows spikes of different types of wheat: (1) Polish wheat (2) Club wheat (3) Common bread wheat (4) Poulard wheat (5) Durum wheat (6) Spelt (7) Emmer (8) Einkorn.

An illustration shows spikes of different types of wheat: (1) Polish wheat (2) Club wheat (3) Common bread wheat (4) Poulard wheat (5) Durum wheat (6) Spelt (7) Emmer (8) Einkorn. The Library of Congress/Flickr The Commons hide caption

toggle caption The Library of Congress/Flickr The Commons

The Salt

Nothing Says 'Hip' Like Ancient Wheat

Many consumers in North America and Europe are willing to pay a premium for nutritious, organic grains. That makes the market ripe for a revival of millennia-old bread wheat, some plant breeders say.

The Noordbrabants Museum's Hieronymus Bosch exhibition was so popular that the museum kept the show open around the clock for its final weekend.

The Noordbrabants Museum's Hieronymus Bosch exhibition was so popular that the museum kept the show open around the clock for its final weekend. Marc Bolsius/Courtesy of the Noordbrabants Museum hide caption

toggle caption Marc Bolsius/Courtesy of the Noordbrabants Museum

Fine Art

Hieronymus Bosch Died 500 Years Ago, But His Art Will Still Creep You Out

Known by some as "the devil's painter," Bosch depicted imaginary animals and souls being violently tortured. At least one critic believes he is the father of modern art.

Hieronymus Bosch Died 500 Years Ago, But His Art Will Still Creep You Out

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News

'Battle Of The Somme' Centenary Symbolizes Great Loss For Newfoundlanders

Most of Newfoundland's regiment was wiped out the first day of the Allied offensive on the Somme. NPR's Linda Wertheimer talks to Maureen Power, a curator at the provincial museum about their legacy.

'Battle Of The Somme' Centenary Symbolizes Great Loss For Newfoundlanders

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