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In The Event Of Attack, Here's How The Government Plans 'To Save Itself'

The Cheyenne Mountain Complex was completed in the mid-1960s. The tunnels extend thousands of feet into Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado Springs, Colo. Courtesy Simon & Schuster hide caption

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Courtesy Simon & Schuster

Author Interviews

In The Event Of Attack, Here's How The Government Plans 'To Save Itself'

Fresh Air

In Raven Rock, Garrett Graff describes the bunkers designed to protect U.S. leaders in the event of a catastrophe. One Cold War-era plan put the post office in charge of cataloging the dead.

In The Event Of Attack, Here's How The Government Plans 'To Save Itself'

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Why Do Some South Koreans Believe A Myth That North Koreans Have Horns?

A United Nations propaganda poster from the Korean War era bears an anti-communist message. In South Korea, the propaganda turned North Koreans into beast-like characters. -/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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-/AFP/Getty Images

Parallels

Why Do Some South Koreans Believe A Myth That North Koreans Have Horns?

Researchers say the belief some South Koreans hold that North Koreans — who are the same ethnicity as South Koreans — are beast-like is a product of years of propaganda and misleading education.

Why Do Some South Koreans Believe A Myth That North Koreans Have Horns?

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Don't Call It Wheat: An Environmentally Friendly Grain Takes Root

Green tips of of a newly developed grain called Salish Blue are poking through older, dead stalks in Washington's Skagit Valley. Eilís O'Neill/KUOW/EarthFix hide caption

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Eilís O'Neill/KUOW/EarthFix

The Salt

Don't Call It Wheat: An Environmentally Friendly Grain Takes Root

KUOW

Researchers have developed a new wheat-like species called Salish Blue that grows back year after year, which not only cuts down on work for farmers, but helps prevent erosion and agricultural waste.

How Uncertainty In The Korean Peninsula Could Be A 'Recipe for Disaster'

This undated photo released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on Nov. 11 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un at a defense detachment on Mahap Islet. KNS/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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KNS/AFP/Getty Images

Parallels

How Uncertainty In The Korean Peninsula Could Be A 'Recipe for Disaster'

President-elect Trump's statements on North Korea have reflected contradictory aims. Political turmoil in South Korea and Pyongyang's nuclear capability make for a mix that worries Korea-watchers.

How Uncertainty In The Korean Peninsula Could Be A 'Recipe for Disaster'

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Decades-Old Mystery Put To Rest: Why Are There X's In The Desert?

Pez Owen was joyriding in her Cessna airplane when she first spotted a giant X etched in the desert. "It's not on the [flight] chart. There just wasn't any indication of this huge cross," she says. Chuck Penson/Pez Owen hide caption

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Chuck Penson/Pez Owen

National

Decades-Old Mystery Put To Rest: Why Are There X's In The Desert?

Pez Owen was joyriding in a Cessna airplane when she spotted one down below. A landmark that big would show up on any flight chart — but it wasn't logged. Then she spotted more X's in the distance.

Decades-Old Mystery Put To Rest: Why Are There X's In The Desert?

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The Madness Of Humanity: Nuclear Weapons And M.A.D.

A tourist at the Bradbury Science Museum in Los Alamos, New Mexico, in February examines a full-size replica of the "Fat Man" atomic bomb which was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, on Aug. 9, 1945. Los Alamos is home to the Los Alamos National Laboratory which was established in 1943 as part of the Manhattan Project. Robert Alexander/Getty Images hide caption

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Robert Alexander/Getty Images

Opinion

13.7: Cosmos And Culture

The Madness Of Humanity: Nuclear Weapons And M.A.D.

What would happen if the world's countries armed with nuclear weapons engaged in all-out confrontation? Marcelo Gleiser considers this in the first of a series of essays on our collective future.

Cold War, Hot Tea: Nancy Reagan And Raisa Gorbachev's Sipping Summit

Nancy Reagan (left) and Soviet first lady Raisa Gorbachev both smile politely during a tension-filled tea in Geneva in 1985, while their husbands discussed nuclear disarmament. Dieter Endlicher/AP hide caption

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Dieter Endlicher/AP

The Salt

Cold War, Hot Tea: Nancy Reagan And Raisa Gorbachev's Sipping Summit

In 1985, while their husbands discussed nuclear disarmament, the two first ladies — both considered influential advisers — held their own tense tea tête-à-têtes in Geneva.

For Young South Koreans, The North's Nuclear Test Is Barely A Blip

Young South Koreans in the Hongdae neighborhood of Seoul, the weekend following North Korea's latest announcement of a nuclear test. Haeryun Kang/for NPR hide caption

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Haeryun Kang/for NPR

Parallels

For Young South Koreans, The North's Nuclear Test Is Barely A Blip

As the world refocuses its attention on North Korea after the rogue nation's fourth nuclear test, in neighboring South Korea, day-to-day life has barely been affected.

For Young South Koreans, The North's Nuclear Test Is Barely A Blip

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SS United States, Once A Marvel Of Technology, May Be Sold For Scrap

The SS United States ocean liner, seen here docked in Philadelphia in 2013, was built in 1952 for United States Lines in an attempt to capture the trans-Atlantic speed record. Landov hide caption

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Landov

The Two-Way

SS United States, Once A Marvel Of Technology, May Be Sold For Scrap

The ship's conservancy has retained a broker to explore the potential sale of "America's Flagship" to a responsible, U.S.-based metals recycler if no investor comes forward by Oct. 31.

Willis Conover, The Voice Of Jazz Behind The Iron Curtain

Willis Conover, an expert on jazz, broadcasts "Music USA" from his Voice of America studio in Washington in March 1959. AP hide caption

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AP

Opinion

Simon Says

Willis Conover, The Voice Of Jazz Behind The Iron Curtain

American broadcaster Willis Conover was known around the world in places like Prague, Moscow and Warsaw, but not so much at home. For more than 40 years, he hosted a jazz show on the Voice of America.

Willis Conover, The Voice Of Jazz Behind The Iron Curtain

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From Blueprints To Betrayal: The Daring, And Downfall, Of A Cold War Spy
Courtesy of Doubleday

Author Interviews

From Blueprints To Betrayal: The Daring, And Downfall, Of A Cold War Spy

Initially, the CIA was suspicious of Soviet aviation expert Adolf Tolkachev. But he earned the agency's trust — and provided blueprints, documents and plans that were crucial to the U.S.

From Blueprints To Betrayal: The Daring, And Downfall, Of A Cold War Spy

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Germany's Merkel: Fall Of Berlin Wall Shows Dreams Come True

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, left, and Mayor of Berlin Klaus Wowereit, 3rd from left, place candles to commemorate the victims of the Wall at the Berlin Wall memorial site at Bernauer Strasse in Berlin, Germany, on Sunday. Markus Schreiber/AP hide caption

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Markus Schreiber/AP

The Two-Way

Germany's Merkel: Fall Of Berlin Wall Shows Dreams Come True

Chancellor Angela Merkel, marking the 25th anniversary of the event, said the destruction of the Wall showed that "nothing has to stay as it is."

Sweden's Sub Hunt Evokes Cold War Memories

Swedish corvette HMS Stockholm patrols Jungfrufjarden in the Stockholm archipelago, Sweden, on Monday. Swedish authorities say they've detected "foreign underwater activity" thought to be a possible Russian submarine. Anders Wiklund/EPA/Landov hide caption

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Anders Wiklund/EPA/Landov

The Two-Way

Sweden's Sub Hunt Evokes Cold War Memories

Stockholm has a grainy photo of what it says shows "foreign underwater activity" in an incident eerily similar to the grounding of a Soviet submarine in the same waters in 1981.

John Walker Jr., Cold War Spy For Soviets, Dies At 77

An Oct. 28, 1985 photo of John A. Walker Jr., being escorted by a federal marshal as he leaves the Montgomery County Detention Center in Rockville, Md., enroute to a federal court in Baltimore. He was ultimately sentenced to life in prison on espionage charges. Bob Daugherty/AP hide caption

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Bob Daugherty/AP

The Two-Way

John Walker Jr., Cold War Spy For Soviets, Dies At 77

The U.S. Navy warrant officer recruited his son, his brother and a friend to help him steal and sell classified message keys to the USSR over a 17-year period.