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Believers of the folk goddess Mazu on Meizhou Island off China's southeast coast carry a statue of her to the main square during a celebration of her 1,050th birthday. The goddess is believed to protect fishermen at sea and help the poor, and her popularity is growing. The Chinese government is now encouraging the worship of deities in the folk, Daoist and Buddhist pantheon.

Chinese Turn To Religion To Fill A Spiritual Vacuum

Alongside China's astonishing economic boom, an almost unnoticed religious boom has been taking place. The collapse of the communist ideology created a void that has left many Chinese looking for a value system. NPR looks at the trend in a five-part series beginning Monday on All Things Considered.

Lebanese anti-government protesters use the light on their mobile phones during a demonstration in downtown Beirut in November. Activists turned to social media platforms to get out their message, streaming protests live on Twitter and highlighting police abuse on Instagram. New podcasts documenting corruption launched with the protest movement.

Lebanon's Government Is Accused Of Swarming WhatsApp To Catch Protesters

Protest organizers, lawyers and rights advocates tell NPR the authorities have adopted surveillance tactics, including allegedly invading chat groups to intimidate and investigate critics.

John Cleese, pictured above in 1976 with Monty Python's Flying Circus (from left, Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones), says he worked hard to learn physical comedy by imitation â "It was not something I was naturally gifted at," he says.

Early On, Comedian John Cleese Says, He Had Good Timing But Little Else

The co-founder of the Monty Python troupe admits he wasn't "naturally gifted" at physical comedy, and learned a lot by imitation. His new memoir, So, Anyway..., covers his boyhood and early career.

"This iconic photograph became one of the most famous images of the 1970s," Jeffrey Toobin says. It shows Patty Hearst standing in front of a Symbionese Liberation Army flag several months after she was kidnapped.

Whose Side Was She On? 'American Heiress' Revisits Patty Hearst's Kidnapping

Hearst was abducted in 1974 and then declared allegiance to her captors. Legal expert Jeffrey Toobin does not believe Hearst was brainwashed, but rather, "responded rationally to the circumstances."

Megyn Kelly speaks onstage at Tina Brown's 7th Annual Women In The World Summit Opening Night on April 6, in New York City.

'My Year Of Guards And Guns': Megyn Kelly On Standing Up To Trump And Ailes

In her book Settle For More, the Fox anchor shares scary and empowering moments covering the 2016 campaign. But Kelly says she doesn't regret not going up against Roger Ailes earlier.

Geraldo Rivera pals around with Fox colleague Sean Hannity at the launch of Rivera's book <em>The Geraldo Show: A Memoir</em> in New York City in 2018.

Geraldo Rivera, Fox and Me

Geraldo Rivera leaves Fox News. He was a war correspondent, a host, a Trump supporter and, in his later years, an unexpected voice of reason — but above all, he was a showman.

Excerpt: 'Son of Hamas'

An excerpt from Mosab Hassan Yousef's book, Son of Hamas.

A year later, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department has released body-worn camera footage of a July 13, 2022, incident in which one of several deputies arresting a woman at a traffic stop punched her in the face as she held her newborn baby.

An LA deputy punched a woman in the face as she held her 3-week-old baby, video shows

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna released video of the July 2022 incident this week, saying he'd only just learned of it. He said the deputy has been disciplined and the FBI is looking into it.

Fact Combing The Presidential Debate

Presidential hopefuls John McCain and Barack Obama debated the issues Tuesday night in Nashville, Tenn. Did they stick to the facts? Steve Inskeep finds out from a team of reporters: NPR's Jim Zarroli, David Wessel of The Wall Street Journal and NPR's Julie Rovner, Richard Harris, Michele Kelemen and David Schaper.

Walking Through Walls And Staring At Goats

The new George Clooney movie, The Men Who Stare at Goats, is filled with tough-to-believe notions. Here's one — the U.S. Army teaching one of its squads how to walk through walls. Or how about stopping the hearts of goats just by staring at them? Sounds crazy, but author Jon Ronson tells host Guy Raz that the Army really tried those techniques and others in the late '70s and early '80s. Ronson wrote the book that became the basis for the movie.

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