Search results for

In his three-part series on the oil century, John Burnett reports that a century ago, a gusher blew on Spindletop Hill in southeast Texas, inaugurating America's infatuation with oil and gas. The first of the great southwest oil fields, Spindletop made America a global energy power, virtually overnight.

Reggae — with its island rhythms, religious roots, and frequently political messages — has held its place as a popular musical form for more than a quarter century. Today, on the 20th anniversary of Bob Marley's death, NPR's Tom Cole looks back at the history of the genre.

Scott talks with Dolly Parton about her new CD, Little Sparrow. After a wildly successful career as a country music singer, Dolly is returning to the bluegrass and mountain music she heard growing up in eastern Tennessee. Little Sparrow is released on Sugar Hill Records.

NPR's Nancy Marshall reports on the tradition of New Year's resolutions and how philosophers from Hobbes to Plato might help us keep them.

Susan Stamberg presents a variation of her annual Thanksgiving recipe for cranberry relish. This year she had assistance from composer Rodney Lister of the New England Conservatory of Music and soprano Denise Konicek.

Ninety years after a fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company in New York killed 146 workers, host Lisa Simeone talks with Dana Walden, the granddaughter of one survivor of the fire. Rose Freedman was the oldest living survivor of the fire until her death in Februrary. We hear clips of Freedman from a documentary series, The Living Century, which aired on PBS stations in December and January. More information about the documentary and Freedman can be found at http://www.thelivingcentury.com or http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/trianglefire.

Lisa talks with Dr. Erin Blake, curator of art at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington about a newly discovered portrait of William Shakespeare, that shows his face in a new light.

Scott talks with Lucinda Williams about her new CD, Essence (Lost Highway, 088 170 197-2). This is Ms. Williams' sixth major label recording. Her last release, Car Wheels On A Gravel Road, won a Grammy in 1998 for Best Folk Album.

In the first of a two-part series, NPR's Ketzel Levine reports on author Michael Pollan. His new book, The Botany of Desire, suggests that plants have evolved to be attractive to humans.

Scott visits the London Underground. After more than a century of service, the Tube is falling apart. Stations are crowded, equipment is breaking and transit workers have been on strike. Now, the Underground has a new boss. Bob Kiley is an American who fixed Boston's "T" in the 1970s and the New York City Subway in the 1980s. His first challenge in London is to find a good bagel. (In Glorious Stereo.)