Showing results by author "NPR" in All Categories

What's a "driveway moment"? It's when you're so captivated by a story on NPR that you stay in your car to hear it to the end - even if you're sitting in your own driveway. For years, listeners have written to NPR to describe such moments. Some are serious, some are touching, and some, like the stories included here, are very, very funny.

With generous splashes of popular culture and human interest, the NPR Road Trips series introduces you not only to far-off locations and unusual destinations, but to the people who inhabit them - and seek them out. Each story focuses on real locations, real people, and real history in the thought-provoking, imaginative and entertaining way you’ve come to expect from NPR. Grand Canyon National Park is one of the planet’s Seven Natural Wonders, with 4.4 million visitors each year. Who keeps them safe, fed, and happy?

Veteran radio repertory company ZPPR Productions is guaranteed to give you goose bumps! Ranging from comic to horrific, their bite-sized thrillers include suspenseful contemporary dramas, satiric murder mysteries, and tongue-in-cheek parodies.   

NPR's popular new podcast features spirited round-table discussions covering a wild and unpredictable landscape of pop culture subject matter, from the 50th anniversary of Gilligan's Island to "pop culture carbon dating" (why some things age well and others not at all) to the "what's making us happy" segment of the show, which always leaves listeners with a smile.

If you listen to NPR, you’ve had at least one "driveway moment". You’re sitting in your parked car, hooked by a story, needing to hear it all the way through. NPR celebrates the emotional bonds we share with this audio valentine that will warm hearts all year round. The story of an ex-monk and an ex-nun who form a family, as told by their son.The story of letters that continue to arrive from all over the world, addressed simply to Juliet, Verona, Italy.

This extended session of Laughter Therapy explores the history of all things funny, presenting a cornucopia of comedy from the pioneers of vaudeville and the silent film era, to the wildly creative innovators that transformed television in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, to the modern practitioners that continue to bend the boundaries of comedy today.

Nationally known NPR on-air personalities - including Melissa Block, David Greene, Rachel Martin, Guy Raz, Scott Simon, Susan Stamberg and many more - share the lasting impressions made during interviews with a wide variety of exceptional individuals. Each story is introduced by the NPR host and offers a candid account of how the encounter was particularly meaningful to them.

Famously referred to by US president Woodrow Wilson as "the war to end all wars", the First World War eclipsed all previous wars with its scale of destruction. With over 27 nations involved, the battle-field horrors and political outcomes of the first truly global military conflict had repercussions that are still felt today. NPR presents a vivid portrait of what most experts consider the first modern war, including profiles of America’s flying ace Eddie Rickenbacker, unlikely savior of war-torn Belgium Herbert Hoover, and the last surviving doughboy Frank Buckles.

Ho ho ho! Here's what to listen to while driving to the mall, wrapping gifts, entertaining friends, or relaxing in front of a crackling holiday fire. In Scott Simon's modern version of the Christmas story, Jesus is born in an abandoned factory near Cleveland and the Three Wise Persons bring Chipotle gift cards. Claudia Sanchez gives a Latin accent to "A Visit from St. Nicholas". Barbara Bradley Hagerty explores what Christmas means for the boy choristers of the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. (Hint: Handel).

Dog lovers will delight in this audio celebration of the canine character. From our earliest encounters with Lassie, to the magical moments we share with our own imperfect but thoroughly lovable companions, dogs have become an integral part of our culture and beloved members of our family. NPR proudly presents these tales of unforgettable animals and their devoted human friends.

Funny, comforting, and nostalgic - kind of like Dad - Driveway Moments for Dads is over 100 minutes of NPR at its finest. You'll want it for your father and yourself, and for those you know who frequently finds themselves in their driveways, tuned to NPR, listening to the end of a story.

Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! is NPR's weekly hour-long quiz program. Each week on the radio listeners test their knowledge against a panel of the best and brightest in the news and entertainment world: Adam Felber; Roy Blount, Jr.; Paula Poundstone; Mo Rocca; Roxanne Roberts; Charlie Pierce; and others. This set features highlights from the popular "Not My Job" segment of the show, during which celebrity guest contestants answer questions on topics unrelated to their particular area of expertise.

Looking for an alternative to the seriously reliable, soothing yet informative sound of NPR? Try NPR! Prepare to be surprised by this collection of interviews with some of the funniest personalities on the planet, and by the memorable, unbelievable news that delights NPR listeners on the 1st of April each year.

This eclectic collection gathers all-time "Driveway Moment" favorites, including some suggested by listeners themselves. These literate, intelligent, profoundly touching stories are worth hearing over and over again, and now you don't have to stay in your car. What is a Driveway Moment? Maybe it's happened to you as it has to countless others.... You're driving home, listening to a story on NPR. Suddenly, you find yourself in your driveway (or parking space or parking garage).

Presented together for the first time, here are the very first, and very best, definitive listener favorites that came to be known as Driveway Moments: the classic, spellbinding stories that keep getting better with repeated listening, selected from the National Public Radio archives. These tales were first heard on Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and other NPR programs.

Each year, listeners tune in to NPR for holiday offerings of all kinds: funny, touching, insightful, and surprising. Now anyone can listen to these evergreen delights while driving to the mall, wrapping gifts, entertaining friends, or relaxing in front of a crackling fire.

From rainforests to deserts, mountains to plains, the sea to the sky, animals raise their voices in an eclectic and thrilling chorus. This collection celebrates the unique calls of the keel-billed toucan, the morning roar of the Guatemalan howler monkey, the seriously social laughing of the spotted hyena Guatemalan coatimundi, the honk of the courtship-crazed hammerhead bat, sophisticated conversation from the Central African forest elephant, the subtle bellow of the great plains bison, and many more intriguing sounds.

Each week, two million listeners tune into Wait Wait . . . Don’t Tell Me! to test their knowledge of the week’s dumbest news against some of the best and brightest - panelists including author and humorist Roy Blount Jr., author and radio anomaly Tom Bodett, syndicated advice columnist Amy Dickinson ( Ask Amy), Atlantic Monthly journalist P.J. O’Rourke, Washington Post columnist Roxanne Roberts, and other know-it-alls.

These NPR "driveway moment" stories featuring our feline friends will have you curled up in your seat, purring. Mischievous, mysterious, content, curious, and full of attitude, these stories mirror the personality of these creatures that dwell in our homes and our hearts.

NPR was created in 1970, three years after Congress passed the Public Broadcasting Act and established the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Signing the act into law, President Lyndon B. Johnson said, "We in America have an appetite for excellence...we want most of all to enrich man's spirit." Today, NPR produces and distributes programming that reaches more than 26 million listeners weekly. More than 900 stations nationwide broadcast NPR programming.