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Opinion

In 'A Dog's Life,' One Student Finds Strength

In essays on the 'In Character' blog, NPR audiences have been waxing thoughtful about their own favorite characters. An 11-year-old, in foster care for the past four years, says he feels a kinship with the protagonist of A Dog's Life: Autobiography of a Stray.

In 'A Dog's Life,' One Student Finds Strength

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French Families Adopt U.S. Graves in Normandy

Eight years ago, a French couple founded an organization that adopts graves of American servicemen who died during the Normandy invasion of World War II. The volunteer group encourages French families to lay flowers on the graves when the Americans' own families can't do it.

French Families Adopt U.S. Graves in Normandy

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Slugging to Work: Anonymous Ride-Sharing

If you've ever sat in rush-hour traffic, gazing longingly at the cars rushing by in the high-occupancy vehicle lanes, try doing something your parents warned you never to do: Hop in a car with a complete stranger behind the wheel.

Slugging to Work: Anonymous Ride-Sharing

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Couple Frantic to Find Loved Ones in Rubble

Rescuers worked frantically throughout southwestern China on Wednesday to reach the thousands of people still trapped in the rubble after Monday's devastating earthquake. But, as the day faded, so did the hope that many of the missing would be found alive.

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Two Families Grapple with Sons' Gender Identity

Thousands of miles apart, two families noticed their toddler sons gravitated toward toys, colors and clothes generally associated with girls. Each family eventually decided to go with radically different approaches to their child's identity issues, as directed by their therapists.

Two Families Grapple with Sons' Gender Identity

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Dan Gottlieb, 'Learning from the Heart'

Fresh Air

He's helped many people through painful passages in their lives. And he's faced his own: Since a near-fatal auto accident in 1979, he's been paralyzed from the chest down. Gottlieb has had nearly three decades to come to terms with the changed circumstances of his body — but now, he fears, that body may be growing tired.

Dan Gottlieb, 'Learning from the Heart'

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Radio Rookies: 'Aging Out' of Foster Care

Shirley Diaz grew up in foster care. Now almost 21, she's on the verge of aging out of the system. As part of "Radio Rookies," a project at WNYC that teaches teenagers to tell radio stories in their own words, Diaz takes listeners into her world as she looks ahead to an uncertain future and back to the violent tragedy that shaped her teenage years.

Radio Rookies: 'Aging Out' of Foster Care

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Opinion

Seeing Red over Injustice

Mary Ellen Noone's great-grandmother became the victim of a vicious, racist store owner just for wearing nail polish. Noone says she's still angry that someone could have that much control over another person — who just wanted to feel like a woman.

Seeing Red over Injustice

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Opinion

A Delightful, Awful Marriage to a Pet Parrot

Perhaps you've seen a colorful, talking bird in a pet shop and thought, "I've always wanted a parrot!" Before you take the plunge, commentator Julie Zickefoose sounds a note of caution.

A Delightful, Awful Marriage to a Pet Parrot

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Van Cliburn: Treasuring Moscow After 50 Years

Fifty years ago, a tall 23-year-old Texan shook up the music world by winning the first Tchaikovsky Competition, in Moscow at the height of the Cold War. Van Cliburn reminisces about his victory and his unconventional career.

Van Cliburn: Treasuring Moscow After 50 Years

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Creative Play Makes for Kids in Control

Play has radically changed — and not for the better, some researchers say. So, at one school in New Jersey, preschoolers are asked to fill out paperwork before they pick up their Play-Doh. The idea isn't to take the fun out of play, but to get kids to think in advance about what they're doing and how they'll do it.

Creative Play Makes for Kids in Control

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Mister Rogers Still Asking Kids to Be His Neighbor

Tuesday marks the 40th anniversary of the first nationwide broadcast of the PBS classic, Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. Fred Rogers died in 2003 but the show continues to air.

Mister Rogers Still Asking Kids to Be His Neighbor

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Opinion

Cookie Monster: A Sweet, Sensual Id, Unfiltered

The Cookie Monster is a deeply sensuous character who speaks to our most basic appetites and desires. "[We] need many things to try and make us happy," explains puppeteer Frank Oz. "He only needs one thing, and that's a cookie."

Cookie Monster: A Sweet, Sensual Id, Unfiltered

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