Farewell, fair penny. You are finished, but never forgotten This tiny disc of zinc with just a smidge of copper has played an outsized role in our national (and international) discourse. The U.S. Mint ended production of the one-cent coin last week. L. Carol Ritchie
40 years ago, Calvin and Hobbes' raucous adventures burst onto the comics page The adventures of a precocious 6-year-old and his stuffed tiger debuted on November 18, 1985. NPR's Renee Montagne spoke with the comic strip's editor, Lee Salem, in 2005. Renee Montagne
The man who tried to make Texas a country again In the 1990s, an armed group pushed for Texas to break from the unio. Zoe Kurland from Marfa Public Radio covers the story in 'A Whole Other Country.' Sacha Pfeiffer
Seizures, broken spines and vomiting: Scientific testing that helped facilitate D-Day Biomedical engineer Rachel Lance says British scientists submitted themselves to experiments that would be considered unethical today. Her book is Chamber Divers. Originally broadcast April, 10 2024. Terry Gross
Boston museum returns stoneware jars made by enslaved man to his descendants The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston has returned two stoneware jars to the descendants of the enslaved man who made them. It's part of an effort to restore ownership of objects acquired unethically. Andrea Shea
'Death by Lightning' unfolds like an 1880s 'West Wing' Netflix's new four-part miniseries dives into the plot to assassinate President James Garfield. Death by Lightning is full of recognizable arrogance, political intrigue and unexpected betrayal. David Bianculli
100-year-old veteran remembers the raising of the flag after the Battle of Iwo Jima A 100-year-old veteran who survived the Battle of Iwo Jima recounts his experience and the freedom he's enjoyed since the Allies won World War II. Bente Birkeland
50 years ago, the Edmund Fitzgerald, a 'rock star' ship, sank in Lake Superior Twenty-nine sailors drowned when the Edmund Fitzgerald went down in the Great Lakes' icy waters on Nov. 10, 1975. The ship was immortalized in a surprise hit 1976 folk ballad by Gordon Lightfoot. Neda Ulaby
After 200 years, a first daughter comes home NPR's Scott Detrow speaks with retired teacher Barbara VornDick about her years-long efforts to shed new light on the life and death of Eliza Monroe Hay, President James Monroe's eldest daughter. Linah Mohammad
How a great-grandmother helped researchers unravel a dinosaur mummy mystery A paleontologist was trying to locate the site of a famous 1908 discovery when a rancher in Wyoming shared an important clue. Bill Chappell