KCLU Site Search

Announcing the NPR Student Podcast Challenge for 2026 — and a very special prize!

The annual contest for students in grades four through 12 is back for its eighth year — this time with a special prize for a podcast that marks the 250th anniversary of the United States.

News Brief: Boulder Shooting, AstraZeneca's Vaccine, Infrastructure Plan

Ten people were killed when a gunman opened fire at a Colorado supermarket. Questions are raised about AstraZeneca's vaccine data. Biden team's next legislative push would boost infrastructure.

Bryan Stevenson takes on cases to exonerate people wrongfully convicted. "One of the things that pains me is we have so tragically underestimated the trauma, the hardship we create in this country when we treat people unfairly, when we incarcerate them unfairly, when we condemn them unfairly," he says.

One Lawyer's Fight For Young Blacks And 'Just Mercy'

When police pulled a gun on Bryan Stevenson as he was sitting quietly in his car in Atlanta, he knew he had to effect change. His memoir describes his attempts, including freeing men on death row.

Langston Hughes was brought before the House Un-American Activities Committee in March 1953. "We find no evidence that he was ever a Communist, which was the accusation that haunted him through the '40s and '50s," Rampersad says.

Tumultuous Relationships, But Not Much Gossip, In Langston Hughes' Letters

Poet Langston Hughes was also an "inveterate letter writer," says the co-editor of a new compilation of his correspondence. But if you're hoping to find profound love letters, you'll be disappointed.

Some of our readers sent in their vaccine selfie pics. We asked the experts: What should they do with their vaccine cards?

Coronavirus FAQs: What Should I Do With My Vaccine Card? Is Choir Practice OK Now?

We ponder your pandemic questions. This week's topics: vaccine cards (including whether to laminate or not), group singing sessions and CBD products.

Composer Julius Eastman's music is slowly moving from neglected to championed.

Julius Eastman, A Misunderstood Composer, Returns To The Light

A visionary who died young and alone in 1990, Eastman is making a slow but richly deserved comeback thanks to a curious younger generation. A new interpretation of his 1974 work Femenine is out now.

Karen Watkins is vice chair of the school board of Gwinnett County, a suburban county north of Atlanta. She is surprised that she has become a target for a political culture war. "I just didn't realize that it would impact the local school board," Watkins says. "Our main focus is towards student achievement and ensuring that we are producing children that are thriving."

What it's like to be on the front lines of the school board culture war

Karen Watkins ran for her local school board because she wanted to be involved in her children's education. Since her election in 2020, she's been yelled at, threatened and followed to her car.

Poet Richard Blanco says that appearing at President Obama's second inauguration made him feel as if, for the first time, he "had a place at the American table."

An American Dream, A Cuban Soul: Poet Richard Blanco Finds 'Home'

While immigration is a subject of some of the most intense political debates in this country, inaugural poet Richard Blanco says it also drives his art. He shares his journey of becoming an American.

On the 49th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, could it be the last?

On the 49th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, we hear from abortion clinics and from anti-abortion activists on how they're preparing for the potential overturn of the law by the Supreme Court this summer.

Abortion providers and advocates experience déjà vu as Roe v. Wade is threatened

NPR's Adrian Florido talks with two abortion providers and an abortion support group leader about how they are preparing for the likely overturning of 'Roe v. Wade' after the recent SCOTUS draft leak.

Search results for