Liz Stepansky decided to become teacher to follow in the footsteps of her parents. But the profession was not what she had expected based on their experiences a generation earlier.

When former helicopter pilot Tony Zimlich retired from a 20-year military career, he worried about his civilian job prospects. Then he discovered the burgeoning world of commercial drone work.

With his 1966 documentary The Endless Summer, surfer-filmmaker Bruce Brown created one of the most iconic expressions of the joy of surfing. Brown died this week at the age of 80.

Frances Glessner Lee is known to many as the "mother of forensic science" for her work training policemen in crime scene investigation in the 1940s and 50s using uncanny dollhouse crime scenes.

Director Julie Taymor took an unconventional tack in adapting the animated film for the big stage. Even 20 years on, she finds the musical's social themes evolve and resonate with audiences worldwide.

For 40 years, the record's interstellar message to extraterrestrials remained mostly unheard by human audiences — until a Kickstarter campaign brought a new vinyl box set to the public.

Colin Warner served 20 years for a murder he didn't commit. A childhood friend fought tirelessly to get him exonerated. The story was featured on This American Life and is now the focus of a new film.

In 2011, the band put its career on hold at the height of its success. Singer and songwriter Robin Pecknold says he needed to turn his attention back to other parts of his life to grow as an artist.

NPR's Michel Martin speaks with actor Liev Schreiber about his new film Chuck, which tells the story of boxer Chuck Wepner, the real-life inspiration for the Rocky film franchise.

This week on 'Brave New Workers': After 20 years working as a performer in the adult entertainment industry, Alana Evans is putting her efforts into organizing for the Adult Performers Actors Guild.

The "Brave New Workers" series tells stories of Americans adapting to a changing economy. This week: after years working in the coal mines of West Virginia, a miner charts a new career in health care.

As a teenager, the Sleater-Kinney guitarist's local record shop, Rubato Records, became the site of an awakening. "I felt like I had discovered a treasure chest," she says, "and I dove in."

"Brave New Workers" tells stories of Americans adapting to a changing economy. This week: a former contractor who lost his business when the housing bubble burst found a new livelihood grooming cats.

What happens to workers when an industry collapses or a new technology takes off? NPR brings you stories of people adapting to a changing economy. This week: a former cowboy in the wind industry.

The lawsuit was one of the cases that inspired the new law — the Consumer Review Fairness Act — that aims to curb one avenue businesses have used to sue customers for posting negative online reviews.

In the early 1970s surrealist icon Salvador Dalí published a lavish cookbook called Les Dîners de Gala. Decades later, the book is being republished for a new and much wider audience.

In light of a recent rash of "creepy clown" sightings and incidents across the country, some working clowns say the controversy is negatively affecting their business.

For decades, residents in Santa Fe, N.M., have gathered to burn a massive puppet — but only after stuffing it with symbols of their woes. It's a way to release the past year's sadness and start anew.

The network is offering descriptive narration of the Olympics for blind TV consumers for the first time during the Rio Games. Jim Van Horne, one of the narrators, says it can be tough work.

As the last VCR factory in Japan closes down production, we take a look at the rise and fall of the videocassette recorder and the culture it created.