From Descartes to punk rock, the letter X has an extraordinary history The letter X can be a lot of things: rebellious, mysterious, religious. For this Word of the Week, we examine its origins and many uses. James Doubek
And the Oscar goes to — wait, why is it called an Oscar? The Academy Awards officially adopted the "Oscars" nickname in 1939. But who is Oscar, and who started calling them that? We may never know. But here are four enduring legends to consider. Rachel Treisman
This historian dug up the hidden history of 'amateur' blackface in America In her new book, Darkology, historian Rhae Lynn Barnes writes about how blackface and minstrel shows became one of the most popular forms of entertainment in 19th- and 20th-century America. Terry Gross
7 key points in U.S.-Iran relations since 1953 The U.S. and Iran have a long history of tensions, including a CIA-led campaign to topple Iran's prime minister in 1953 and the taking of American hostages in 1979. Joe Hernandez
'Radio Diaries': Orson Welles and the Blind Soldier In 1946, Orson Welles vowed to solve a shocking crime on his radio show on ABC: the beating of a Black soldier who was returning from service after Word War 2. Radio Diaries recalls the story.
Oregon cave holds 12,000-year-old sewn materials Oregon caves housed evidence of sewn materials from the end of the last Ice Age. Justine Kenin
How researchers learned the rules of an ancient Roman board game A team of researchers in the Netherlands set out to decipher the rules of an ancient Roman board game, with an assist from artificial intelligence. Henry Larson
'We were scared': Man recalls the night he nearly launched a nuclear missile In 1974, Lt. Colonel Randall Lanning manned the launch controls that could deploy nuclear weapons in the event of a Soviet attack. He looks back at one night that's still etched in his memory. Esther Honig
'American Struggle' author assesses Trump's expansion of presidential power Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Jon Meacham talks about Trump's impact on democracy. Meacham's latest book is a collection of speeches, letters and other original texts from 1619 to the present. Dave Davies
I thought I'd heard my dad's voice for the last time. A movie helped me find it again A period drama, a Supreme Court case and voice our film critic hadn't heard in decades. Bob Mondello