Search results for

Few people today remember E.T.A. Hoffmann, but most everyone is familiar with his most famous creation: The Nutcracker. NPR's Robert Siegel traces the history of everyone's favorite Christmas ballet all the way back to its much darker original version.

In film and TV, pop culture references are meant to give a knowing nod to those in the audience who understand the joke. But in an increasingly segmented and diverse country, those jokes may be pulling in fewer laughs.

Lady Rhea is not the kind of witch you'll find in a pointy hat this Halloween. She is a real workaday Wiccan, grinding out a living selling magic products in the Bronx.

Rob Delaney has almost 670,000 Twitter followers. He talks to NPR's Audie Cornish about what that means for his traditional standup career, and whether he cares if you call him a "Twitter comedian."

On Friday, Sotheby's is putting up for auction 44 letters and 35 drawings Charles Schulz gave to a young woman he was courting. Schulz, 48, wrote Tracey Claudius, 25, poignant, funny, even innocent notes in pictures and words, often using Charlie Brown to stand in for himself.

Long before James Prosek became a world-famous artist and naturalist, he was a kid who used art as a way to work through the ups and downs of childhood. "When I went into the woods, it was the first time that I felt like something was mine," he says.

Susan Stamberg and Murray Horwitz bring four generation-spanning Hanukkah stories to life.

It's tradition! Writer and humorist David Sedaris reflects on his short tenure as Crumpet the Elf at Macy's. Sedaris first read the "Santaland Diaries" on Morning Edition in 1992 — and instantly, a classic was born.

Veterans Day — originally Armistice Day — was renamed in 1954 to include veterans who had fought in all wars. But the day of remembrance has its roots in World War I — Nov. 11, 1918 was the day the guns fell silent at the end of the Great War.

Eastern Oregon is known more for ranching than abstract sculpture, but some residents are venturing into the world of fine art. For the last five years, Whit Deschner has been organizing the Great Salt Lick Contest, which gathers salt blocks artfully licked by local farm animals.