NPR Staff

NPR Staff appears in the following:

'Like An Avalanche': Otis Redding's Unstoppable Crossover

Saturday, May 30, 2015

"He had an underground kind of appeal that built on itself," says author Mark Ribowsky, whose book Dreams to Remember traces Redding's unlikely pivot into national stardom.

Comment

When Nora Jane Struthers' Identity Was Stolen, She Created A New One

Saturday, May 30, 2015

The former English teacher may never have become a singer-songwriter if her identity hadn't been taken. "I was just ready for a brand new start," she says. And soon she was on the road to Nashville.

Comment

North Korean Defector Reflects On Life 'Under The Same Sky'

Saturday, May 30, 2015

In his new memoir, Joseph Kim tells the harrowing tale of his journey from being homeless on the streets of North Korea to a college student in America.

Comment

Fact-Checking 'San Andreas': Are Earthquake Swarms For Real?

Saturday, May 30, 2015

Seismologist Lucile Jones discusses how accurate — or not — the plot of this new California earthquake thriller really is. Bonus: Her advice on what to include in an earthquake kit.

Comment

Thousands Who Run, Few Who Fight: A Journalist On Ramadi's Fall

Saturday, May 30, 2015

More than a week ago, the Iraqi city of Ramadi, in Anbar province, was taken by the self-declared Islamic State.

The fall of that key city wasn't just a setback for Iraq: It was also a blow to the current U.S. strategy of trying to contain ISIS through air strikes.

...

Comment

How Bad Risotto Led To A House 'Full Of Yogis': A Critic's Childhood Story

Saturday, May 30, 2015

When Will Hodgkinson was a kid just outside of London, his whole family was laid low after eating some bad chicken risotto. His father, Nev (short for Neville), a well-regarded science writer, was especially sick and took months to recover. During that time, he rethought his life and put it ...

Comment

This Cajun Chicken Pizza Will Remind You Of Your Salad Days

Friday, May 29, 2015

Chef James Rigato makes delicious seasonal dishes at his restaurant in Michigan. But perhaps what he is best-known for is the pizza he created when he was just a teenager.

Comment

Grandpa The Gardener Helped Nurture His Seedling Grandson

Friday, May 29, 2015

A man remembers the grandfather who taught him valuable lessons and helped him grow. "He is a part of everything that I am," says Santiago Arredondo.

Comment

'Halt And Catch Fire' Explores What It Was Like For Women In '80s Tech

Friday, May 29, 2015

Mackenzie Davis, lead actress in the AMC show, says she's more interested in the story of an underdog woman than of a "damaged, white, middle-class male figuring out his dreams."

Comment

Got A Voice For Radio? The Algorithm Speaks

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Nearly a thousand of you heeded our call on All Tech Considered to submit a voice sample. The idea: Let a computer algorithm decide if you have a voice for radio.

Now, we've got the results.

Actor Wilbur Fitzgerald rated highly (surprise, surprise):

But most of you who responded are ...

Comment

Post-Ron Swanson, Nick Offerman Has The 'Gumption' To Be Himself

Sunday, May 24, 2015

"I've never accused myself of being manly," Offerman says, noting his real-life persona is different from his Parks and Recreation character. His book is a set of essays about people who inspire him.

Comment

'It's For You To Know That You Forgive,' Says Holocaust Survivor

Sunday, May 24, 2015

Eva Kor, who was held at Auschwitz and recently testified against former Nazi guard Oskar Groening, says that when a victim chooses to forgive, they take the power back from their tormentors.

Comment

A Mother-Son Folk Duo Went 'From The Kitchen To David Letterman'

Sunday, May 24, 2015

Madisen Ward and his mother, Ruth Ward—better known as Madisen Ward and the Mama Bear—have been performing together for six years, but have only recently begun to attract national attention.

Comment

'How Could You Not Know You Were Pregnant?'

Sunday, May 24, 2015

Weekend Edition Sunday host Rachel Martin brings listeners an unexpected side of the news by talking with someone personally affected by the stories making headlines.

Brittany Ohman is a 41-year-old mother of two and a licensed social worker in Idaho Falls, Idaho. Ohman and NPR's Rachel Martin grew up together ...

Comment

Novelist Mat Johnson Explores The 'Optical Illusion' Of Being Biracial

Sunday, May 24, 2015

Growing up in Philadelphia, Mat Johnson lived mostly with his mother in a black neighborhood. The son of an African-American mother and an Irish-American father, his skin was so light that he might have passed for white. But being biracial meant only one thing back in the '70s: "Um, it ...

Comment

An Invasion Of Intimacy, And The Song That Followed

Sunday, May 24, 2015

Holly Herndon mashes up experimental sounds, electronic dance music and pop into a singular sound that intentionally defies genre. The artist and Stanford University student visited with Weekend Edition Sunday to elaborate on her critically acclaimed album, Platform. She focused on a single song: "Home," which is about ...

Comment

This Weekend, Navigate The Changing World Of 'Vikram Lall'

Sunday, May 24, 2015

It's the 1950s in Kenya, and young Vikram Lall is a third-generation Indian boy coming of age during a time of great political unrest, as a group of fighters known as the Mau-Mau try to break free of British rule.

The In-Between World of Vikram Lall is his story, told ...

Comment

What If The Drought Doesn't End? 'The Water Knife' Is One Possibility

Saturday, May 23, 2015

It's Chinatown meets Mad Max in writer Paolo Bacigalupi's new desert dystopia, filled with climate refugees, powerful state border patrols, and secret agents called water knives.

Comment

'Sunshine Superman': A Love Story Against The Backdrop of BASE Jumping

Saturday, May 23, 2015

BASE jumping pioneer Carl Boenish became famous for jumping with his wife Jean in the 1970s and '80s. Marah Strauch, director of the documentary, says "this felt like a love story to me."

Comment

Notes On A Month Spent Embedded In Afghanistan

Saturday, May 23, 2015

Producer Rebecca Hersher is just back from a monthlong reporting trip to Afghanistan. She talks to host Arun Rath about her experience.

Comment