Ari Shapiro

The Smithsonian's first brewing historian explores everything from immigration to urbanization through the lens of beer. And with the boom in microbrewing, she says beer's story has come full circle.

The Chesapeake Bay cleanup depends heavily on farmers taking steps to keep runoff from entering the bay. But the Environmental Protection Agency's plan to help them do it has been controversial. NPR's Ari Shapiro talks to one Maryland farmer who changed his mind about the EPA efforts to clean up the bay.

After years of failed attempts at cleaning up the dead zones, the Chesapeake Bay, once a national disgrace, is teeming with wildlife again. But success is fragile, and it might be even more so now.

Titus Andromedon "doesn't have money to pay the rent; he can't keep a job; he gets racially profiled," Burgess says. "I mean, so what that he ... wears women's clothes?"

Trumpeter Hugh Masekela and producer Stewart Levine organized the 1974 festival and produced the new album Zaire 74: The African Artists, which captures performances by Miriam Makeba, Franco and more.

The clash between science and religious belief lies at the heart of Sarah Perry's new novel, set in a marshy, windswept English town menaced by a serpentine monster that may or may not truly exist.

Gus Unger-Hamilton and Joe Newman tell Ari Shapiro about their songwriting process, how alt-J put its spin on a classic folk song and how the band has progressed over the years.

Mike Mills' chicken wings have been named the best in the country. He is even in the Barbecue Hall of Fame. His new book with daughter Amy Mills shares the gospel of barbecue with home cooks.

What did it take to get through Ellis Island? For a few years, it took passing a puzzle test. NPR's Audie Cornish talks with Adam Cohen, who wrote about it in Smithsonian Magazine.

Once Amelia Meath and Nick Sanborn became famous as Sylvan Esso, they immediately felt the burdens of replicating their success. Three years after their electro-pop debut, they're back with What Now.

Maj. Janine Garner's photo was swept into the online group in which users, including some fellow troops, graded or demeaned military women. Now she is joining with other Marines to return fire.

The Facebook executive lost her husband in 2015. She says, "Rather than offer to do something, it's often better to do anything. Just do something specific." Her new book is called Option B.

The duo met in college and loved right away how their voices "cradled one another. " They speak with NPR's Ari Shapiro about learning to work together, and perform selections from their debut.

This week, Isabelle Meggett Lucas got to visit her childhood home — in the Smithsonian, which moved the house from South Carolina to the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

After 20 years as the magazine's cartoon gatekeeper, Bob Mankoff is stepping down. He says humor helps us cope with hardship, get along with one another — and, in general, makes life more enjoyable.

The HBO series is set a few years after 2 percent of the world's population suddenly vanishes. Executive producer Mimi Leder says the show revolves around some of life's biggest questions.

Stephanie Powell Watts' No One Is Coming to Save Us isn't quite a retelling of The Great Gatsby; instead, it uses similar themes to tell a story about black characters in a declining furniture town.

Syrian refugee Monzer Omar, who first spoke with NPR in 2015, has been living in Germany awaiting his wife and young children. After a 10-hour trek out of Syria, they were able to join him in January.

NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with Jennifer Pahlka, founder and executive director of Code for America, about what it takes to bring innovation to government.