Ari Shapiro

The federal prison in Oakdale, La., provided well-paying jobs and good benefits. Now, its some 400 workers are feeling intense pressure — and the effects are reaching all corners of the town.

In the town of Oakdale, La., the government shutdown has far-reaching effects, from restaurants to barber shops, all the way up to the mayor's office.

Prison guards have to be tough on the job. But after weeks of working without pay, corrections officers at a federal prison in rural Louisiana are feeling exhaustion, stress and high emotions.

After taking a break, Van Etten tweaks her sound and loves the many versions of herself on her latest album, Remind Me Tomorrow.

As the government shutdown enters its fourth week, federal workers are struggling to make ends meet. But according to Jamiles Lartey, the shutdown is having a disproportionate effect on black workers.

Jemisin is the only author to win three Hugo Awards in a row — for her Broken Earth trilogy, which begins with an apocalypse. She says she likes to explore what apocalypses mean for different people.

In Raqqa, where many streets are still filled with rubble from the battle to force out ISIS a year ago, people are shocked and worried about the U.S. decision to pull out of Syria.

The Rock Store, run by the Savko family for more than 50 years, is one of the few structures still standing after last month's Woolsey Fire. There, amid the destruction, locals found help and hope.

East of downtown Los Angeles, a group of high school students put out a community newspaper four times a year and tell neighborhood stories that bigger news outlets sometimes overlook.

Host Ari Shapiro speaks with singer and multi-instrumentalist Jacob Collier about his latest project, a four-album odyssey called Djesse, the first volume of which is out now.

Beachside in Santa Monica, Calif., Earl Sweatshirt spoke with NPR's Ari Shapiro about memorializing his father, working through anger and his latest album, Some Rap Songs.

The Los Angeles Times' Wally Skalij discusses how he made the often surreal images, and how covering wars in Iraq and Kosovo prepared him to cover mass shootings and other tragedies in the U.S.

The state has started to reduce overdose deaths by offering counseling and medication for opioid addiction in prison. Research finds the treatment helps inmates avoid relapse after release.

The singer-songwriter talks about coming out as transgender and releasing a new album under the moniker teddy <3 about her transition journey.

Filmmakers Hans Block and Moritz Riesewieck discuss how their documentary tells the sobering story of the trauma and challenges faced by those who sift through social content.

Ten years after the financial crisis, the recovery hasn't reached everywhere. After the plant at which they worked was shuttered, three members of a family saw their lives change in unexpected ways.

He's the voice of NPR's comedy news quiz. He has also run a marathon in under 3:10. And now he has collected his thoughts about his avocation in The Incomplete Book of Running.

After eight years away, Robyn's new album Honey has fans asking where she's been. The answer, as the Swedish singer tells NPR's Ari Shapiro: dancing her way to emotional clarity.

From the title heartthrob in Alfie to the fatherly butler of a Batman franchise, the actor has been filling movie screens for a half-century. His new memoir is Blowing The Bloody Doors Off.

The latest release from the young pop singer, known for Barbie doll imagery and bubble-gum sounds, features spookier sonics and a cameo from Elvira.