Ari Shapiro

Jamil plays flighty socialite Tahani al Jamil on the NBC sitcom The Good Place, but in real life she's a disability rights advocate who speaks out against body shaming and extreme beauty standards.

In The Fifth Risk, Michael Lewis examines the Trump administration's impact on federal agencies, where inexperienced loyalists have been sent to manage nuclear weapons or the National Weather Service.

The actress, activist and fitness icon is the subject of the documentary Jane Fonda in Five Acts. Married three times, she says, "It took me into my 60s and 70s to begin to say: I deserve respect."

The resourceful singer is unafraid to bring opera — and his high-flying top notes — to unlikely places, from sixth-grade classrooms to the offices of NPR.

In his new book, The Impostor, Javier Cercas unravels the lies that created the life of Enric Marco — a man who for years portrayed himself as a Holocaust survivor and Spanish Civil War hero.

Cape Town, South Africa, averted the "Day Zero" water crisis that made headlines earlier this year, but is the close call enough to change the city's water consumption habits?

Dozens of houses have exploded into flames, and a hospital says it is treating victims. People are being told to evacuate, which has led to gridlock and traffic jams.

"I wrote it for myself," Field says of her intensely personal accounting of her life and career. In Pieces describes childhood abuse, an abortion at 17 and her relationship with Burt Reynolds.

In late 2017, the South African city — hit by a historic drought — faced the possibility it would have to shut off its water supply within six months. A musical challenge helped avert that disaster.

The two artists, best known for their bands Bon Iver and The National, say their new project isn't really a band but a large-scale collaboration involving dozens of musicians.

Kahane's new album, Book of Travelers is inspired by a two-week train trip the composer took across America. Kahane discusses the album and performs a few of the songs in NPR's studio.

When a disease wipes out most of the U.S. population, Candace Chen is the last one left at the office. Ling Ma began work on the apocalyptic novel right before she got laid off from her own job.

The Rio Grande Valley is the busiest stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border for crossing. NPR recently spent time on both sides of the border here, where immigration is part of everyday life.

How you feel about immigration can put you at odds with your friends, family or neighbors. In McAllen, Texas, two families with different points of view don't let politics come between them.

With the promise of good-paying jobs, Raymondville, Texas, has welcomed an immigration detention center that rose from the ashes of a facility once plagued by allegations of abuse.

Locking up immigrants is a growth business, worth hundreds of millions of dollars. NPR's Ari Shapiro visits a small town in Texas where a new immigration detention facility is opening on the site of one that burned down during riots a few years ago.

Borders are two sided. Migrants in along the Mexico border speak with NPR about the challenges they are facing on the road to the U.S.

The Rio Grande Valley in South Texas is the busiest section of the U.S.-Mexico border. President Trump threatens shut down of the government over funding for border security.

Zimbabweans living in neighboring South Africa are injecting capital into a railway revamp — but much more is needed to get the country back on its feet.

The lack of hard currency is a severe problem for the southern African nation.