Search results for

School vouchers and border security are the focus of a special legislative session beginning this week in the Texas Statehouse. Both are key issues for the state's Republican governor.

It's commonly thought that the Catholic Church fought heroically against the fascists in Italy. But in The Pope and Mussolini, historian David Kertzer says the church actually lent organizational strength and moral legitimacy to Mussolini's regime.

In the new book What You Want Is in the Limo, author Michael Walker argues that a peak year in the careers of Led Zeppelin, Alice Cooper and The Who also marked a cultural shift — from the peace, love and understanding of 1960-era music to '70s rock decadence.

Postwar marketing of convenience foods pushed our grandmothers to take many shortcuts in the kitchen that modern foodies might find unpalatable. Many involved Jell-O. Cookbook author Jeremy Jackson updated his grandma Mildred's famous strawberry cake recipe to remove this old-school secret ingredient.

The pun-filled Phantom Tollbooth turns 50 this year. Author Norton Juster takes questions from young readers about the story of Milo, a bored little boy who finds adventure in a very strange land full of riddles and wordplay.

In Rawhide Down, journalist Del Quentin Wilber offers new information about the March 1981 day that President Ronald Reagan was shot in Washington, D.C. Wilber and Jerry Parr, the head of Reagan's Secret Service detail at the time of the shooting, speak with NPR's Ari Shapiro.

A love story is not the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of the Saw franchise, but that's exactly what a new musical is – and then some.

Jeff VanderMeer's Southern Reach trilogy comes to an end with Acceptance; reviewer Jason Sheehan says it's a maddening, fascinating read that will stay with you long after you finish the last page.

NPR's Renee Montagne visited Coolhaus Ice Cream Shop in Southern California to find out what architecture and frozen desserts have in common, and how to stack up a mean ice cream sandwich.

In Little Failure, the novelist recounts his emigration from the USSR to the U.S. when he was 7. For the first few years, he says, he would sit alone in the school cafeteria, talking to himself in Russian "in this gigantic fur hat and fur coat." It wasn't long before a teacher advised, "Children won't play with you if you have that much fur on."