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From hippie culture to the first personal computers, Stewart Brand has been key to some of the most groundbreaking movements of the last century. This hour, he reflects on his life and career.

At the age of 45, Michael May, who had been blind since childhood, was given the possibility of sight through a revolutionary stem-cell transplant surgery. Author Robert Kurson has documented May's experiences regaining his sight in a new book, Crashing Through.

Photographer William Claxton began making a name for himself in the 1950s, taking photos of some of the world's top jazz artists. Then got the opportunity of a lifetime — he was commissioned to document the American jazz scene at a moment when the genre was at its height.

Noted historian and pioneering Duke University Professor John Hope Franklin died yesterday at the age of 94. The legendary educator was widely respected for chronicling the African-American experience. Franklin's friends discuss his lasting legacy.

In 1944, Brave New World author Aldous Huxley wrote his first and only children's book. It's called The Crows of Pearblossom and it isn't for the faint of heart. Daniel Pinkwater, our ambassador to the world of kid's lit, joins NPR's Scott Simon to discuss the book's newly illustrated re-release.

In a departure from her popular novels, author Barbara Kingsolver takes her family back to its roots in Appalachia to live off the land for her latest book. The clan learns to "eat deliberately."

In 1965, 16-year-old Meredith Hall became pregnant. Her community shunned her, and after giving up her child for adoption, she wandered the world. Hall's new memoir, Without a Map, recounts her turbulent journey and the unexpected reunion she had with her lost son.

In a new book for middle-school girls, actress and mathematician Danica McKellar argues that being good at math can be cool. Also, a team of U.S. girls recently held their own in the China Girls Mathematical Olympiad.

In 2006, fans mourned the loss of Steve Irwin, the intrepid "Crocodile Hunter," who died when a stingray barb pierced his chest. In a new book, Steve & Me, Irwin's wife, Terri, writes about her husband's legacy and her efforts to keep his work alive.

A six-part series on the source of India's great river begins in the Himalayan village of Bhaironghati, where villagers prepare to take a statue of the goddess Ganga to her summer temple.

Julie Phillips' new biography follows the woman behind the famous pen name of James Tiptree, Jr. Alice B. Sheldon (1915 - 1987) used the male pen name to write in a time when male authors could expect more success in the realm of science fiction.

Spain a prolific producer of strawberries, and the jurisdiction of Huelva is where 80% of the country's berries are grown, in an industry that is increasingly demanding.

NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter snapped the uncanny photo in December. Eyes are formed by craters. A hill with a "V-shaped collapse structure" resembles a snout.

With nearly 9 billion streams, the popular K-pop girl group beat the previous titleholders, Little Mix, on Wednesday, according to Guinness World Records.

Some Senegalese manteros spend years selling goods on the streets of Madrid and trying to avoid harassment from police as they wait for visas and work documents.

Our Ganges journey ends on Sagar Island, where the river meets the sea. Once a year, millions of Hindus come here to worship the river and to toss coins into its waters. It's a spot where the income gap between rural and urban India is evident.

As the Ganges River's journey nears an end, it passes through Calcutta, one of India's great cities. Renowned for its slums, militancy and red tape, Calcutta is changing, as it remakes itself into an IT hub. But the change has met with resistance.

India has overtaken Japan as home to the most billionaires in Asia. Yet it also has the world's largest population of hungry people, as one reporter's continuing journey down the Ganges River reveals.

The African continent has seen at least 7 military coups in the last two years.

For a special episode of Microphone Check we invited Prince Paul, Mike Dean, Faith Newman, Stretch Armstrong and Ralph McDaniels to tell stories about a singularly productive year in the culture.

Best known for “Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry,” Taylor’s books explore African American history and the painful burden of racism through the lens of one Black family living in Mississippi.

The plan aims to dramatically reshape federal agencies, reduce their independence, and give more power to the president.

Two scientists — one in Nigeria and one in the U.S. — realized that deadly diseases kept emerging (or reemerging) in West Africa, but going undetected, leading sometimes to widespread outbreaks.

The latest communications blackout in Gaza entered its second day Friday, forcing aid agencies to stop deliveries of food and supplies into Gaza.

The tribal areas along Pakistan's border are a haven from which a resurgent Taliban has been launching attacks into Afghanistan, U.S. and Afghan officials say. Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's military ruler, has tried both military force and appeasement to rein in the pro-Taliban militants in the country's lawless tribal areas.