NPR Staff

Service members are generally screened before, during and after deployment. But the Army lacks reliable diagnostic tools, according to former Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Chiarelli....

Chances are, you've fallen victim to earworms — pesky songs or melodies that get stuck in your head and just won't get out.

Research suggests that there may be psychological reasons why some songs are more likely to stick, including memory triggers, emotional states and even stress. Some researchers ...

For most people, taking in a Broadway show offers the chance to take a few hours and depart from reality into a more exciting, glamorous world. But for Miriam Bluestein, Broadway is more than just an alternate world. It's a permanent refuge from the rest of her life.

In his ...

PBS's hit series Downton Abbey has been praised for its subtle and witty dialogue. But a few anachronisms have slipped into the characters' conversations, and spotting them has become a hobby for many fans.

Linguist Ben Zimmer, executive producer of Visual Thesaurus and language columnist for the Boston Globe, talked ...

Egypt has faced deteriorating security and a surge in crime since the popular uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak a year ago. The country's military rulers have yet to transfer power t...

Jay Hunter Morris has become a surprise hit as Siegfried, the Norse hero in Wagner's Ring Cycle — widely considered one of the most challenging roles in opera.

The Mona Lisa is one of the most enigmatic and iconic pieces of Western art. It has inspired countless copies, but one replica at the Madrid's Museo del Prado is generating its own buzz: Conservators say that it was painted at the same time as the original — and possibly ...

While the Internet may aid the spread of democracy, democracy doesn't necessarily mean a free and open Internet. In her new book Consent of the Networked: The Worldwide Struggle for Internet Freedom, Rebecca MacKinnon, senior fellow at the New America Foundation and co-founder of Global Voices, a citizen media network, ...

How do you top last year's mini-Darth Vader Super Bowl ad? Use the Force. And several barking dogs. That's not all it takes for success, though, so one ad agency is breaking from the pack — again.

When it comes to learning an instrument, children have the edge in many respects. Using himself as a guinea pig, psychology professor Gary Marcus resolved to find out whether nonmusic...

The struggling company says it's surviving "one day at a time." But after failed mediation with its unions and a lockout in place, the clock is running out.

In Intel Wars, historian Matthew Aid details how bureaucratic policies and a glut of raw data have weakened the intelligence community in its war against would-be terrorists.

No, Olivia Newton-John doesn't work out to her own anthem about exercise. That would be weird.

Photographer Eve Arnold died Wednesday, just a few months shy of her 100th birthday. Arnold is best known for her intimate portraits of both the rich and famous — including Marilyn Monroe, Malcolm X and Joan Crawford — and of the down and out.

As Robert Capa, one of the ...

The Texas governor said he's returning home to determine whether there is a path forward for his Republican presidential campaign. He got 10 percent of the vote and finished fifth ...

At Lake Superior State University, college officials have been releasing a list of banished words since 1976. Words that you're not allowed to say this year include "baby bump" and "o...

If one movie can sum up the definition of "cult film," it would probably be The Rocky Horror Picture Show. (Yeah, that is why it's up there at the top of the page.)

Midnight-movie screenings and singalongs with the film's musical numbers have cemented Rocky Horror's status in the pantheon ...

Coquito, an eggnog made with rum and coconut, is as integral to a Puerto Rican Christmas as presents under the tree.

In New York on Saturday, 12 coquito makers are battling to be this year's Coquito Masters champion. It's the 10th year of the contest. Trolleys will take fans to ...

It's been a year of frustration on Capitol Hill with constant battles over money, the partisanship in Congress and legislative gridlock. It certainly doesn't look like the system of g...

In Eric Weiner's newest book, Man Seeks God, the former NPR foreign correspondent heads around the world on a humorous and thoughtful quest for spirituality.