NPR Staff

Hoffman's Playland, one of a handful of kiddie parks left in the country, is getting ready to close after 62 years of merry-go-rounds, toddler trains and more pint-sized fun.

Calling a halt to a career that put him at the No. 7 spot on the all-time home run list, Jim Thome officially retired as a Cleveland Indian Saturday.

As Beethoven set about composing his Third Symphony, his hearing was failing and he felt certain his life was about to get worse. That it was born in a moment of despair may help explain why the finished work, for all its grandeur, is extremely odd — employing ...

Each week, Weekend Edition Sunday brings listeners an unexpected side of the news by talking with someone personally affected by the stories making headlines.

The average household with a credit card carries more than $15,000 in credit card debt, and more than one-third of those with credit card debt have ...

In the latest installment of our Weekend Reads series, Elizabeth Nunez, the author of books including Boundaries and Prospero's Daughter, and the co-editor of an anthology of work by female Caribbean writers, recommends the novel Oh Gad!

The book, by Joanne C. Hillhouse, takes readers to the Caribbean island of ...

The writer Roxane Gay admits that she isn't that well read in feminist theory, and that she dances to Jay Z and other music that she knows is "terrible for women" (in her words) — and that she sometimes plays dumb with repairmen because, as she says, "it's just easier ...

It sounds like something out of Dr. Seuss, but artist Sam Van Aken is developing a tree that blooms in pink, fuchsia, purple and red in the spring — and that is capable of bearing 40 different kinds of fruit.

No, it's not genetic engineering. Van Aken, an associate ...

Despite the economy adding more than 200,000 jobs last month, unemployment ticked up and incomes have stayed stagnant. For many people, stretching every dollar is still an economic necessity.

Nakase, who has played and coached in other pro leagues, is an assistant video coordinator for the LA Clippers. During the NBA Summer League, she became the NBA's first-ever female assistant coach.

There are countless ways to make a living in America, and for many people, typing at a desk or working retail just isn't the right fit. All summer, NPR has been meeting young people who have landed jobs with some wacky job descriptions.

The Aquatic Mailman

Leaping from boat ...

A group of undergraduate students in Oxford, England, must be pretty chuffed right now (that's how Brits say "pleased," by the way).

Why? They've managed to get the attention of Shakira, one of the biggest pop stars in the world:

The video she retweeted is a saucy take on her ...

Four years of brutal sectarian war in Syria has devastated the lives of nearly 10 million people.

But one group among them stands out: the children of Syria.

In a new documentary, Children of Syria, BBC chief international correspondent Lyse Doucet tells the stories of six young Syrians, ...

It's hard for us to imagine now, but there was a time when people simply didn't know what was in the Arctic circle.

"Whether it was ice, whether it was sea, whether it was land, whether there was a civilization up there — there were a lot of weird theories ...

Morning Edition's David Greene talks to director James Gunn about his new film, Guardians of the Galaxy, which Marvel hopes to make its next big franchise. Characters include a raccoon and a tree.

Barbara Moore was the only woman bricklayer in Baltimore when she started the job in 1973. "A lot of the older guys didn't think I should be there," she tells her daughter on a visit to StoryCorps.

Uzo Aduba channels many conflicting emotions as Suzanne "Crazy Eyes" Warren on Netflix's original hit series Orange Is the New Black. The character is at once aggressive, tender, terrifying and vulnerable. That balancing act recently earned Aduba an Emmy nomination.

So it seems fitting that her full name, Uzoamaka, means ...

A food blogger says dozens of distilleries are buying rye whiskey from a factory in Indiana and using it in bottles labeled "artisan."

Earlier in the day it looked like a resolution was possible, but ultimately talks between the country and a group of creditors broke down in New York. The first time the country defaulted was in 2002.

New legislation in Bolivia will allow children as young as 10 to work. Critics say the law will keep kids out of school, but supporters argue that children are working anyway — and need protection.

After seven years hosting NPR's Tell Me More, Michel Martin felt she had left some of her own struggles unspoken: the unique challenges for women of color trying to balance work and family.