A tentative labor agreement has been reached between NBA owners and players. If both sides ratify the deal, the season would open on Christmas Day with three games.
Texans don't have to leave the state to visit Paris or Port-au-Prince. Just the most exotic among the state's many colorful town names which were dug up by the San Antonio Express-News. There's Uncertain, Texas, and also Nameless. Its founders gave up on a name after the postmaster rejected several choices.
Emma Sullivan, who wrote a disparaging tweet about Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback, said Sunday that she is rejecting her high school principal's demand for a written apology.
Transforming traditional songs — and writing new ones — makes both money and good times.
After a meteoric rise, GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann is now polling in the single digits. But she's still plowing ahead with her campaign and this week she came out with a memoir. The Minnesota Congresswoman talks with co-host Steve Inskeep about Core of Conviction and aiming to win the nomination.
South African Constitutional Court Justice Albie Sachs discusses how a once-divided nation can abandon the impulse to avenge past wrongs and, instead, come together to build a new democracy. One of the framers of the country's constitution, Sachs also mulls over just what it means to determine the "intent" of a nation's founding fathers.
NPR correspondent John Burnett's high school English teacher, Christine Eastus, may have been demanding, but she encouraged his interest in writing. Burnett is thankful that Eastus gave him the boost he needed as a teenager. You can thank a teacher, too, on Twitter with #thankteacher, or on the StoryCorps Facebook page.
This weekend, Catholics may experience a surprise when they attend Mass. The words and music are different, thanks to the first major change of the English-language Mass in 40 years. Supporters say the new prayers are more elegant; critics say they're clumsy and are a triumph of conservatives.
President Obama's campaign recently urged supporters to stock up on 2012 merchandise for the holidays. Not to be outdone, the Republican White House candidates are hawking their own ballcaps and bumper stickers. Here, an NPR guide to campaign swag.
Egypt's ruling military council and anti-government protesters are in a standoff. The military council has pledge to hand over power once a newly- elected president and parliament are in place next summer, but protesters have rejected the idea.
In Afghanistan, a media boom followed the ouster of the Taliban in 2001, but it hasn't been without problems. Watchdog groups report hundreds of cases of violence and intimidation against journalists, including murder. Afghan reporters have learned which topics are off limits, and they take great care to avoid offending the country's most powerful personalities.
If a fly walked into a bar, he'd chose beer, and scientists think they've figured out why. The secret? A molecule that tastes sweet but isn't sugar. The research could help create more powerful insect repellents.
On this Black Friday, Linda Wertheimer talks to branding expert Martin Lindstrom about the psychology of sales and the array of techniques retailers use to get people to shop.
For the past week, New York Police and the FBI have been at odds over a terrorism case which involves an American of Dominican descent named Jose Pimentel. New York police say he was an al-Qaida sympathizer planning to bomb targets in the city. The FBI declined to get involved with the case because it didn't see him as threat. Law enforcement officials on both sides have been airing the dispute over the case publicly, and that could help Pimentel build a defense.
China's "one-child" policy has repressed and stabilized the number of births, but the market for baby products has exploded. The growth is driven by rising incomes and the intense focus on the single child with interesting twists. For instance, baby formula sales have gone way up because people are now spending more money on foreign formula products because they no longer trust Chinese companies after the melamine poisoning of several years ago.