NPR Staff

Aloe Blacc sang two of the past year's most ubiquitous singles. So why haven't you heard of him?

Packs of enthusiasts have started meeting up in Disneyland with matching gear and group names, like The Neverlanders and Walt's Misfits. Disney gangs? Not quite.

In a community theater production in 1973, Harris went into another zone. The Oscar-nominated actor says he totally embodied his character, and he's been chasing that high ever since.

When Kayla Montgomery runs, her legs go numb. But she's determined to not let MS slow her down. The teen track star from North Carolina is headed to nationals in New York next week.

Alpha Lambda Mu filled a void last year, becoming the first Muslim fraternity in the country. Its founder says he just wanted to provide Muslim American men a place to be themselves.

For the Affordable Care Act to be considered a success years down the road, Ezekiel Emanuel believes that all Americans must have access to health coverage, and it must be better quality and lower cost. "And I think it's well within our grasp," he says.

A special adviser to the ...

Manchester, England is known for its great music scene: Think The Smiths, New Order, Joy Division -– and, a bit more recently, Elbow. The group has won many awards, won over many critics, performed at the London Olympics and supported U2 in concert, and has kept the same ...

Walter Kirn has written insightful, best-selling novels — including Up in the Air and Thumbsucker, which were made into movies. He's an expert in the art of fiction.

So why did he fail to see the signs of falsehood in real life?

When Kirn was just starting his novel-writing career, ...

When most people see bugs on the big screen, they squirm, panic or squeal. But not Steven Kutcher. Kutcher is the man responsible for getting those insects on the screen. He's been Hollywood's go-to bug wrangler since the 1970s, handling, herding and otherwise directing insects in over 100 feature films.

...

A lot of talented jazz musicians in the 1930's couldn't buy a drink in the places they played. They were the African-American musicians who helped create the era's signature sound — but still had to live under the sting of segregation. Unless they went elsewhere.

Author Nicole Mones' new Night ...

Aaron didn't think he would ever tell a teacher he was living on the street. But sharing a recording of his personal story, he says, was a relief.

After being stored under a bed for a half-century, a $16 million violin is now in the hands of Anne Akiko Meyers, who's recorded Vivaldi's vivid Four Seasons.

World War I began 100 years ago this summer. It's a centennial that goes beyond mere remembrance; the consequences of that conflict are making headlines to this day.

To underline that, All Things Considered wanted to turn history on its head and ask historians and listeners alike: What if World ...

Ed Walker fell in love with radio as a kid in the 1930s. Today, as the host of WAMU 88.5's beloved Sunday night show, he introduces a new generation to classic programs from the golden age of radio.

"The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are as much every U.S. citizen's wars as they are the veterans' wars," says Phil Klay, who served in Iraq. His debut story collection is called Redeployment.

"The beauty was in the rawness," says the violinist, who based her latest album around field recordings from the American South.

A California dental hygienist who never quit her day job, Perhacs released one album in 1970 that failed to find an audience — or so she thought.

Don't call this a "Wes Anderson film." No, with its mix of humor and darkness, the director's new movie is both familiar and quite different. Anderson and actor Ralph Fiennes talk about their process.

The French capital wasn't always beautiful. Author Joan DeJean details the city's transformation in the 17th century, as new bridges and boulevards turned desolate terrain into the City of Light.

The former U.S. senator, now head of the Heritage Foundation, reflects on the state of the Republican Party, the Tea Party and what he thinks it will take to change Washington.