In the 1960s, Irish-born Jews living in New York started the Loyal League of Yiddish Sons of Erin. The fraternal organization's biggest event was the annual St. Patrick's Day banquet, complete with green matzo balls.

Is there such a thing as a lock than cannot be picked? Host Rachel Martin talks with Tom Vanderbilt of Slate about the quest.

Mississippi State University defied its state's unwritten rule of never playing against a team with African-Americans. Its 1963 NCAA tournament match against Loyola University, which had four black players in its starting lineup, became a symbol in the effort to overturn Jim Crow policies.

The late Raymond Telles may not be a household name, but he was a trailblazer for Latinos in politics; he was the first Latino elected mayor of El Paso, Texas and later became a U.S. Ambassador to Costa Rica. Host Michel Martin looks back on Ambassador Telles' life with former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Henry Cisneros.

Across Russia, pancakes and butter abound as the country marks a week-long celebration before the start of Orthodox Lent. Pagan in origin, Maslenitsa calls for plenty of eating, sledding, merrymaking – and even organized fistfights.

Jupiter Hammon lived and died in slavery. But he still managed to become the first published African American poet. Now a newfound poem by him shows how complex his thoughts on religion and slavery really were.

For their popular podcast, two longtime friends sit down at a kitchen table and share little-known anecdotes and historical facts about New York. Its bare-bones production hasn't hurt its popularity — it's been downloaded 5 million times in the past five years.