Accessibility links
History History

History

Tuesday

Thursday

Nearly 27 Years After Hindu Mob Destroyed A Mosque, The Scars In India Remain Deep

Satendra Das, 80, is the chief priest in waiting for the Ram temple, which has not yet been built in Ayodhya. Furkan Latif Khan/NPR hide caption

toggle caption
Furkan Latif Khan/NPR

Faith And Power: How Hindu Nationalism Is Changing India

Nearly 27 Years After Hindu Mob Destroyed A Mosque, The Scars In India Remain Deep

The 16th century Babri mosque's destruction marked a turning point in Indian politics. Thousands, mostly Muslims, died afterward in riots. The prime minister vows to build a Hindu temple on the site.

Nearly 27 Years After Hindu Mob Destroyed A Mosque, The Scars In India Remain Deep

Listen · 7:02
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/711412924/716757244" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Resistance Is Futile
Angela Hsieh

Throughline

Resistance Is Futile

Artificial intelligence, gene modification, and self-driving cars are causing fear and uncertainty about how technology is changing our lives. But humans have struggled to accept innovations throughout history. In this episode, we explore three innovations that transformed the world and show how people have adapted — and ask whether we can do the same today.

Resistance Is Futile

Listen · 35:09
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/716521520/1200557323" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Wednesday

The Libro de los Epítomes, a guidebook to the 16th century library of Hernando Colón, recently turned up in a manuscript archive in Denmark.

The Libro de los Epítomes, a guidebook to the 16th century library of Hernando Colón, recently turned up in a manuscript archive in Denmark. Suzanne Reitz/Arnamagnæan Institute, University of Copenhagen hide caption

toggle caption
Suzanne Reitz/Arnamagnæan Institute, University of Copenhagen

Author Interviews

Christopher Columbus' Son Had An Enormous Library. Its Catalog Was Just Found

In the 16th century, Hernando Colón assembled one of the greatest print-media collections the world had ever known. For centuries, its reference book was missing — until it turned up in Denmark.

Christopher Columbus' Son Had An Enormous Library. Its Catalog Was Just Found

Listen · 4:56
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/716600905/716873153" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Sunday

'Gentleman Jack' Swaggers Off The Page And Onto The Screen

Suranne Jones stars as Anne Lister — sometimes called the first modern lesbian — in Gentleman Jack. Aimee Spinks/HBO hide caption

toggle caption
Aimee Spinks/HBO

Television

'Gentleman Jack' Swaggers Off The Page And Onto The Screen

A new HBO show takes on the life of Anne Lister, a real-life British landowner of the 1830s whose voluminous coded diaries detailed her extensive — and sometimes open — love affairs with women.

'Gentleman Jack' Swaggers Off The Page And Onto The Screen

Listen · 6:16
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/715223887/715616312" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Saturday

Colombia's Salt Cathedral Is A Marvel Of Architecture And A Popular House Of Worship

The Salt Cathedral of Zipaquirá is an underground church built inside a salt mine, and made entirely of salt. Luis Acosta/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Luis Acosta/AFP/Getty Images

World

Colombia's Salt Cathedral Is A Marvel Of Architecture And A Popular House Of Worship

On Easter, people will gather to pray in the cathedral, situated 600 feet underground in the Andean mining town of Zipaquirá. It was built in the caverns and tunnels left behind by salt miners.

Colombia's Salt Cathedral Is A Marvel Of Architecture And A Popular House Of Worship

Listen · 3:31
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/714609074/715394019" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Friday

Frederick Douglass' Remarkable Life, From Slavery To 'American Wonder'

Fresh Air

David Blight's Pulitzer Prize-winning biography details Douglass' passionate leadership in the abolitionist movement and his gift as a writer and orator. Originally broadcast Dec. 17 2018.

Frederick Douglass' Remarkable Life, From Slavery To 'American Wonder'

Listen · 26:50
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/714671545/715190207" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Thursday

War Of The Worlds
Fahmida Azim for NPR

Throughline

War Of The Worlds

The Sunni-Shia divide is a conflict that most people have heard about - two sects with Sunni Islam being in the majority and Shia Islam the minority. Exactly how did this conflict originate and when? We go through 1400 years of history to find the moment this divide first turned deadly and how it has evolved since.

War Of The Worlds

Listen · 33:53
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/714297520/1200557327" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Tuesday

Donation Pledges Roll In For Notre Dame's Reconstruction

Damage seen from inside Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris on Tuesday. President Emmanuel Macron has set a five-year goal to rebuild the cathedral after Monday's blaze. Christophe Petit Tesson/AP hide caption

toggle caption
Christophe Petit Tesson/AP

World

Donation Pledges Roll In For Notre Dame's Reconstruction

France's wealthiest families and businesses pledged hundreds of millions of euros to restore one of their nation's cultural touchstones.

Donation Pledges Roll In For Notre Dame's Reconstruction

Listen · 3:45
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/714116303/714628088" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
David Brion Davis, Who Helped Remake The Study Of Slavery, Dies At 92

David Brion Davis, seen in this undated portrait released by Yale University, died Sunday at the age of 92. The volumes of his seminal trilogy, The Problem of Slavery, won a Pulitzer Prize, a National Book Award and several other prestigious honors. Harold Shapiro/Yale University/AP hide caption

toggle caption
Harold Shapiro/Yale University/AP

David Brion Davis, Who Helped Remake The Study Of Slavery, Dies At 92

The historian's trilogy, The Problem of Slavery, won the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, among others. More than that, though, a colleague says Davis' work "shook up the field of history."

Monday

Mueller Report Release Will Likely Escalate Tensions Between Trump And Congress

Attorney General William Barr has signaled that he will play a rather different role from recent predecessors who were caught between warring executive and legislative powers. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Analysis

Analysis

Mueller Report Release Will Likely Escalate Tensions Between Trump And Congress

And unlike the attorney general's predecessors who were caught between warring branches of government, William Barr seems intent on being at the center of the conflict.

Sunday

Remembering Dick Cole, Who Risked His Life In WWII Doolittle Raid

B-25 Mitchell medium bombers on the deck of the carrier Hornet before performing the first Allied attack on Tokyo. Courtesy of U.S. Air Force hide caption

toggle caption
Courtesy of U.S. Air Force

Obituaries

Remembering Dick Cole, Who Risked His Life In WWII Doolittle Raid

Cole died last week at age 103. He was the last surviving member of the celebrated 1942 air raid by the United States on the Japanese mainland, which at the time was regarded as a suicide mission.

Remembering Dick Cole, Who Risked His Life In WWII Doolittle Raid

  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/713260538/713263643" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Saturday

Former 'Ebony' Publisher Declares Bankruptcy, And An Era Ends

Founder of Ebony magazine and Johnson Publishing Company John H. Johnson. Almost 15 years after the company was handed down to his daughter, JPC is filing for bankruptcy. Bettmann/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Bettmann/Getty Images

Code Switch

Former 'Ebony' Publisher Declares Bankruptcy, And An Era Ends

For millions of African-Americans who did not otherwise see themselves in the mainstream media, Ebony was more than a magazine. It was a public trust. This week marks its final chapter.

Friday

Ruby Sales: How Do We Maintain Our Courage To Fight For Change?
Ryan Lash/TED

TED Radio Hour

Ruby Sales: How Do We Maintain Our Courage To Fight For Change?

At 17, Ruby Sales witnessed the shooting of one of her fellow civil rights activists. She explains how despite the trauma, she went on to devote her life to fighting for social and racial justice.

Ruby Sales: How Do We Maintain Our Courage To Fight For Change?

Listen · 12:29
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/712275387/712346989" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript