Scott Simon

Award-winning novelist Penelope Lively hasn't written short stories in decades, but, she says, the form suddenly came back to her, for a collection that ranges from Pompeii to the modern day.

Is there a difference between organic milk bought in a grocery store and milk bought straight from farmers? Washington Post reporter Peter Whoriskey talks with NPR's Scott Simon about his findings.

Swarming bees at NPR headquarters led to a warning to not use one of the building's entrances. You know how that advice went over with a bunch of journalists.

The film is set during the Harlem Renaissance and tells the mysterious, magical story of Tawny Bennett, an antiquarian's apprentice.

NPR's Scott Simon observes an uptick in the number of profanities uttered by politicians speaking in official capacities, and muses about what the strategy is, and the effect it's having.

The Chicago singer learned about civil-rights-era funk and soul through his Indian Muslim father's record collection. Bagewadi's new album, Vetted, is informed by his family's immigrant story.

As sickening images of the chemical weapons attack in Syria emerged, NPR's Scott Simon was reminded of a conversation with Romeo Dallaire, and the different ways we understand evil in modern times.

Their Finest is a film within a film about making wartime movies in Britain. Bill Nighy stars as an aging matinee idol. Gemma Arterton plays a young copywriter — the script department's secret weapon.

Scott Simon talks with author Sarah Dooley about her book Ashes to Asheville. It's about sisters trying to fulfill their mother's dying wish to spread her ashes in the last place the family was happy.

Lauren Grodstein's new novel follows a political consultant who's determined to use what time she has left to share as much as she can with her 6-year-old son, including the identity of his father.

Artist Abraham Poincheval is roosting over eggs in a Paris museum, hoping to hatch them like a mother hen. NPR'S Scott Simon says it's an attempt at performance art that doesn't quite make the grade.

Partisan disagreements ran through this week's Senate hearings for Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch. One issue the members really struggled with was pronunciation of the nominee's name.

Wright plays an FBI secretary who falls in love with an undercover Russian spy. She says Martha is "who we would all most likely be" if we found ourselves in the world of The Americans.

Jessica Shattuck's novel follows three German women — all war widows, and all of very different political persuasions — who take refuge in a ruined Bavarian castle at the end of World War II.

Soon after the terrorist attack in London, the Parliament's Twitter account posted a short message restoring business as usual. NPR's Scott Simon remembers another time Brits met terror with calm.

"If there's a locker room that doesn't have it, I haven't seen it," says ESPN reporter Baxter Holmes, who expands on his recent story, which details professional basketball's obsession with the snack.

There is a photograph that's been seen around the world this week. It seems to hold both civilization and destruction in the same frame.

Last month more than 100 people, who said they were celebrating a baptism, sat down to a banquet at a restaurant in Spain. Afterward, they formed a conga line and danced out without paying.

NPR's Scott Simon reflects on the scientific discovery of Neanderthal dental plaque that indicates they might have kissed humans.

After moving away, Ask Amy columnist Amy Dickinson returned to her hometown of Freeville, N.Y. There, she married a man she first met at age 12, and cared for her mother in her final days.