The Mount Rushmore we know wasn't the one originally planned Matthew Davis, author of a Mount Rushmore biography, explains how four presidents ended up on a mountain that was never meant to honor them. Sacha Pfeiffer
Why do we kiss? New research finds the answer goes back 21 million years Kissing could be 21 million years old. NPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks to Matilda Brindle an evolutionary biologist from Oxford University about the origins of smooching. Ayesha Rascoe
Record-setting Klimt portrait helped woman avoid Nazi persecution NPR's Scott Detrow talks with Laura Morowitz, art history professor at Wagner College, about the incredible back story behind a Gustav Klimt painting that set a record at auction. Scott Detrow
Who are Afrikaners, the group at the center of Trump's dispute with South Africa? Trump has repeated debunked claims that Afrikaners are facing a "white genocide" in South Africa. Critics say the false statements are causing conflict in a country still recovering from apartheid. Joe Hernandez
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
