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Saturday

Festival Cervantino, Latin America's biggest cultural event, returns with new energy

A scene from "Entremeses Cervantinos," three one-act plays written by Miguel de Cervantes, at Plaza San Roque, Guanajuato, Mexico. Germán Romero, courtesy of Cervantino International Festival hide caption

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Germán Romero, courtesy of Cervantino International Festival

Culture

Festival Cervantino, Latin America's biggest cultural event, returns with new energy

After a virtual edition in 2020, and hybrid version last year, the Cervantino International Festival is back in person and celebrating 50 years.

Festival Cervantino, Latin America's biggest cultural event, returns with new energy

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Friday

State legislative races are on the front lines of democracy this midterm cycle

Supporters of then-President Donald Trump gather on the steps of the state Capitol on Jan. 5, 2021, in Harrisburg, Pa. Laurence Kesterson/AP hide caption

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Laurence Kesterson/AP

National

State legislative races are on the front lines of democracy this midterm cycle

More than 6,000 state legislative seats are up for election this year. Republicans and Democrats are spending tens of millions in a battle to shift the balance of power in these chambers.

State legislative races are on the front lines of democracy this midterm cycle

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Thursday

Black Vets Were Excluded From G.I. Bill Benefits. Congress Could Fix That.

Many Black veterans were among those who risked their lives on D-Day at Normandy Beach. They did not receive the same benefits from the G.I. Bill as the white soldiers they fought beside. Keystone/Getty Images hide caption

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Keystone/Getty Images

Consider This from NPR

Black Vets Were Excluded From G.I. Bill Benefits. Congress Could Fix That.

The G.I. Bill of 1944 provided free education, unemployment pay and home loans for millions of veterans returning from fighting in World War II. These benefits helped to expand the American middle class after the war.

Black Vets Were Excluded From G.I. Bill Benefits. Congress Could Fix That.

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How the cartoonist behind The Addams Family defused fear, with dead-on humor

Charles Addams in his Westhampton Beach, N.Y., studio in 1977. Tee & Charles Addams Foundation hide caption

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Tee & Charles Addams Foundation

Culture

How the cartoonist behind The Addams Family defused fear, with dead-on humor

Charles Addams' goal was never to create fear, but to defuse it — infusing the horror with a playfulness that appealed even to those who prefer daylight to the witching hour.

How the cartoonist behind The Addams Family defused fear, with dead-on humor

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The State of Disunion
Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

Throughline

The State of Disunion

Is the U.S. on the brink of civil war? It's a question that has been in the air for a while now, as divisions continue to worsen. Beyond the political speeches and debates in the halls of Congress, it's something you're likely feeling in your day-to-day life. Vaccines, school curriculums, climate change, what you define as a human rights issue, even who you call a friend. Some say we've moved beyond the point of discussion. But when words fail, what comes next? In conversation with Malcolm Nance, Anne Applebaum, and Peniel Joseph, we take a deeper look at what we mean when we say civil war, how exactly the country reached this political moment, and where we go from here.

The State of Disunion

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Wednesday

Fear, Halloween and the real-life horrors of the past
Cindy Ord/Getty Images

Code Switch

Fear, Halloween and the real-life horrors of the past

It's that time of year again: celebrations of the macabre hit a little too close to home and brush up against our country's very dark past. We talk about navigating fake horror amid what's actually terrifying and how scaring ourselves, on purpose, can help us. This episode first ran in October 2019.

Fear, Halloween and the real-life horrors of the past

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Tuesday

Sunday

Everyday people were civil rights heroes, too. This is the story of one town's fight

A view of downtown Oxford, N.C., near Main Street. Cornell Watson for NPR hide caption

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Cornell Watson for NPR

The Civil Rights Generation

Everyday people were civil rights heroes, too. This is the story of one town's fight

In 1970, the murder of a Black man in Oxford, N.C., led ordinary people to take extraordinary action. In a country that still struggles with race, stories like theirs show that the past is not dead.

Everyday people were civil rights heroes, too. This is the story of one town's fight

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Friday

Democrats' total control over Oregon politics could end with the race for governor

From left: Republican candidate Christine Drazan, Democrat-turned-independent candidate Betsy Johnson and Democratic candidate Tina Kotek are all vying for the Oregon governor's office. Kristyna Wentz-Graff/OPB hide caption

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Kristyna Wentz-Graff/OPB

National

Democrats' total control over Oregon politics could end with the race for governor

OPB

In the Oregon race for governor, the Democrat, Tina Kotek, and the Republican, Christine Drazan, are in a dead heat thanks to the independent, Betsy Johnson, who has outraised her competitors.

Democrats' total control over Oregon politics could end with the race for governor

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Thursday

The Woman Question
Stefani Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images

Throughline

The Woman Question

What's happening in Iran right now is unprecedented. But the Iranian people's struggle for gender equality began generations before the death of 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman Mahsa Amini, also known by her Kurdish name, Jina Amini. The successes of this struggle, as well as its setbacks and horrors, are well-documented, but often misunderstood. Scholar Arzoo Osanloo argues that women have been at the center of Iran's century-long fight for freedom and self-determination. It's a historical thread that goes all the way back to Iran's Constitutional Revolution in the early 20th century: A complicated story of reform, revolution, and a fundamental questioning of whether Iranian people — and people around the Islamic world — will accept a government of clerics as the sole arbiters of Islam and the state.

The Woman Question

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Wednesday

Black Death survivors gave their descendants a genetic advantage — but with a cost

Researchers extracted DNA from the remains of people buried in the East Smithfield plague pits, which were used for mass burials in 1348 and 1349. Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) hide caption

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Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA)

Goats and Soda

Black Death survivors gave their descendants a genetic advantage — but with a cost

Nearly half of Europeans died from the plague. Now a new study shows a protective gene mutation that survivors passed on to help with future outbreaks might cause other problems.

Black Death survivors gave their descendants a genetic advantage — but with a cost

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Skeletons in the closet, revisited

A young Native American woman sits in a museum display case alongside artifacts and human remains. Gabriella Trujillo for NPR hide caption

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Gabriella Trujillo for NPR

Code Switch

Skeletons in the closet, revisited

More than 10,000 Native human remains are currently sitting in a storage facility in a Maryland suburb. This week, how one small tribe is fighting to get them back to Florida. This episode originally aired October 13, 2021.

Skeletons in the closet, revisited

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Tuesday

Ongoing Protests In Iran Echo A Century-Old Revolution

Women chant slogans and hold up signs depicting the image of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died while in the custody of Iranian authorities, during a demonstration denouncing her death by Iraqi and Iranian Kurds outside the UN offices in Arbil, the capital of Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, on September 24, 2022. Safin Hamed/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Safin Hamed/AFP via Getty Images

Consider This from NPR

Ongoing Protests In Iran Echo A Century-Old Revolution

It's been more than a month since 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died after being detained by Iran's morality police – allegedly for breaking the rule requiring women to wear a hijab. Her death sparked protests that continue to this day.

Ongoing Protests In Iran Echo A Century-Old Revolution

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