History

Ancient Maya ruins at Tikal in northern Guatemala, near the border with Belize. Researcher Heather McKillop explains that Maya sites like Tikal could have been popular marketplaces to trade salt and other commodities.

Ancient Maya: Astrologists, Farmers ... And Salt Entrepreneurs?

3:00pm October 08, 2018

by Rachel D. Cohen

Evidence from a site in Belize shows the Maya not only had large-scale salt-producing operations along the coast, they were also using salt to preserve fish for their extensive trade networks.

Our own Jacob Goldstein made this candle out of animal fat.

Economy

Episode 534: The History of Light (Nobel Edition)

1:28pm October 08, 2018

Bill Nordhaus just won the economics Nobel. In this show: He shows how history of light is the history of economic growth — of things getting faster, cheaper, and more efficient.

'Belonging' Explores The Notion Of Homeland And Inherited Guilt

7:01am October 06, 2018

by Heller McAlpin

In its searching honesty and multi-layered, visual and verbal storytelling, Nora Krug's memoir investigates mixed feelings about being German and her family's role in the Holocaust.

An iron age sword was discovered by an 8-year-old girl who was wading in a lake this summer in southern Sweden, in what local authorities called "a spectacular find."

World News

8-Year-Old Girl Discovers Iron Age Sword In Swedish Lake

9:09pm October 04, 2018

by Laurel Wamsley

The sword is about 33 inches long and "exceptionally well-preserved." The 1,500-year-old artifact even has a sheath made of wood and leather.

Protesters And Trump Supporters Gather In D.C. For Donald Trump Inauguration

How The 1990s Paved The Way For Today's Political Divide

2:20pm October 04, 2018

The political divide might be stark, but it's not a recent phenomenon. How did we get here?

Mesquite flour stirred into butter has a unique sweet flavor, and is especially good on homemade bread.

Arts

Texas Baker Rekindles Interest In The Mysterious Mesquite Bean

1:55pm October 04, 2018

by Karen Hudes

When an Austin neuroscientist-turned-baker dove deeply into a box of Peruvian mesquite flour on a lark, he found a forgotten, flavorful and nutritious bean that was once vital to Native Americans.

Juan Romero earlier this year at his home in Modesto, Calif., holding a photo of himself and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, taken by The Los Angeles Times' Boris Yaro on June 5, 1968. Romero died this week at age 68.

National

Juan Romero, Busboy Who Cradled Dying RFK, Dies At 68

1:47pm October 04, 2018

The photo of the moment — light illuminating the fallen senator's face, the young immigrant crouched at his side — locked Romero into the public memory of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy's assassination.

Politics & Government

Brett Kavanaugh Is The Latest Troubled Supreme Court Nominee

7:56am October 03, 2018

Steve Inskeep talks to columnist and commentator Cokie Roberts, who answers listener questions about hotly contested Supreme Court nominations throughout history.

Queue Listen Now

Race, Gender And Sexual Harassment

8:23am September 30, 2018

NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro speaks to Kimberlé Crenshaw about the role of race and gender in the Ford-Kavanaugh hearings and how it compares to Anita Hill's testimony. Crenshaw helped Hill's legal team.

National

If We Called Ourselves Yellow

3:13pm September 27, 2018

by Kat Chow

For more than a century, it has been a racial slur. But there's also a movement to reclaim the term. So, what about Yellow?