Search results for

The former American Idol runner-up set the political class chattering Friday with rumors that he may run for Congress. He's one in a line of reality stars who have aimed for public office.

After decades of war in Afghanistan, the country has thousands of orphans. One home for these children ended up with an improbable benefactor — an Iranian-American who came to Kabul to do rule of law development work, and stumbled into a side project working with disabled orphans.

Jimmy Santiago Baca began writing poetry while he was serving a five-year sentence in prison. His new anthology tells the story of his journey to becoming a celebrated Chicano poet.

The Everly Brothers influenced an entire generation of popular musicians. Don's voice usually handled the melody, but Phil gave the higher accompanying harmony to that melody, which defined the brothers' sound. Phil Everly died Friday from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. He was 74.

On Monday, the BCS National Championship featuring Florida State and Auburn University will mark the end of the confusing and controversial Bowl Championship Series. Dennis Dodd from CBS Sports speaks with NPR's Arun Rath about what this means for the future of NCAA football.

Heavy fighting has been reported in the Anbar province of Iraq this week. NPR's Arun Rath speaks to Middle East specialist Kirk Sowell about what it means.

Carlos Watson, co-founder of the online magazine Ozy, talks with host Arun Rath about what he's most excited about in 2014: Japan's burgeoning role on the world stage, the rise of actor Idris Elba and Tesla's electric cars.

Author Kim Stanley Robinson knows that most science fiction fans think the best books were written in their youth — whenever that was. But in his case, he says, it's more than nostalgia: the late '60s and early '70s were a spectacular time for science fiction. He recommends three classics from that fruitful era.

There's much on the congressional agenda beyond Monday's Senate vote on jobless benefits. The debt ceiling and immigration are sure to be big issues, and President Obama will lay out his priorities in his State of the Union later in January. Political correspondent Mara Liasson talks with NPR's Rachel Martin about what to expect from Congress in the New Year.

Chang-Rae Lee is an award-winning author best known for his novels Native Speaker and The Surrendered. NPR's Rachel Martin speaks with Lee about his latest book On Such a Full Sea, a futuristic dystopian novel set in a declining America that's been repopulated by Chinese immigrant workers.