Search results for

For the first time in history, all 10 acts on the "Billboard Top 10" are black. Nine of the 10 are rap acts, and the top spot is held by Pop/R&B songstress Beyonce and Dancehall Reggae star Sean Paul.

Productions Peter Pan have reflected changing social attitudes toward children over the years. The result is that until recently, Peter, the boy who wouldn't grow up, was played by a woman. NPR's Pat Dowell explores the history of the character.

NPR's Michele Norris talks with Jad Adams, author of Hideous Absinthe: A History of the Devil in a Bottle, about the cultural role the potent green liquor played among artistic circles in 1890s France.

NPR's Jennifer Ludden reports on the fledgling democracy in Sierra Leone, West Africa. A recently elected government there survived a coup attempt earlier this week and citizens are still hopeful that democracy will take hold in their country which has a long history of instability.

Noah Adams talks with Craig Masback who has been covering the Olympic Track and Field events for NBC Sports about some of the athletes competing in the games -- from Carl Lewis' ninth gold medal and Michael Johnson's try for two golds to the first Syrian to win an Olympic medal in history.

Today is the 65th anniversary of the adoption of "The Star pangled Banner" as our National Anthem. The flag that inspired writer Francis cott Key now hangs in the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History ere in Washington, where Liane Hansen spoke with Dr. Harold Langley about the istory of the song.

Conservative businessman Al Salvi stunned the state's Republican establishment when he beat the Lt. Governor in the primary. In a state with a history of electing moderate Republicans, Salvi's upset appears to complicate GOP plans to capture the seat being vacated by retiring Democratic Sen. Paul Simon. NPR's Cheryl Corley has the story.

Until now, history books have described the creation of New York's Central Park as a story of developing a desolate patch of Manhattan where no more than a few squatters lived. But NPR's Margo Adler reports on a new exhibition that shows that a vibrant village of African Americans lived there before they were uprooted.

Korva talks with Jonathan Steinberg, who teachers Modern European History at the University of Cambridge in England about the issue of Swis s neutrality during the second world war andd other wars. Steinberg says the Swiss have often had to strike deals with warring countries to guarantee not being drawn into conflicts.

Scott talks to Weekend Edition's Gardening Commentator, Ketzel Levine, and author Michael Pollan about the social history of, and reflected by, roses. ("Second Nature: A Gardener's Education" by Michael Pollan. ALSO "The Writer in the Garden" -- selected writings about the garden on two audiocassettes. High Bridge Company, St. Paul, MN.)