National She's currently the only Black woman leading a state military. Here's how it happened Brig. Gen. Janeen Birckhead of Maryland only became a soldier to help pay for college. Three decades later, she's risen to the top military position in Maryland, leading a force of 4,600 soldiers. Ajani Daniel Jonathan Franklin
National Philly's 'pastor of the hood' Carl Day weighs in on the 2024 election Carl Day joined NPR to weigh in on the Biden campaign in 2020. We caught up with him to hear what he's thinking heading into 2024. Kai McNamee
World Fallout continues after a Sikh activist was murdered on Canadian soil Canada and India are engaging in an escalating war of words and tit for tat diplomatic expulsions, as the fallout over the murder of a Sikh activist on Canadian soil continues. Jackie Northam
National Lessons from Birmingham: 60 years after the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing This city is remembering a dark chapters in U.S. civil rights history. On September 15, 1963 the Ku Klux Klan bombed a church, killing four Black girls and rocking the conscience of the nation. Debbie Elliott
Politics In light of the Jacksonville shooting, here's how hate groups have grown in Florida During the last year, some organizations have staged increasingly brazen displays of hate in Jacksonville and across Florida. Odette Yousef
National He helped write MLK's 'I Have a Dream' speech. Now he reflects on change in the U.S. 60 years after Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous "I Have a Dream" speech, we hear from one of the men who helped him write it, his friend and attorney Clarence B. Jones. Scott Detrow Gabriel J. Sánchez Adam Raney
National A pioneering casting director reflects on diversity in Hollywood NPR's Ailsa Chang talks with host of The Academy Museum Podcast, Jacqueline Stewart, and casting director Reuben Cannon about the art of casting in Hollywood. Jonaki Mehta Christopher Intagliata Ailsa Chang
Music Welcome to 'El Petronio,' the biggest celebration of Afro-Colombian music and culture The Petronio Alvarez Festival has been the biggest source of income for artists, cooks and vendors in the Pacific region. But some critics say they want the festival to return to its roots. Betto Arcos
Movies 'The Blind Side' drama just proves the cheap, meaningless hope of white savior films The true story behind the hit Oscar-winner has only gotten ickier — and Hollywood is complicit. Aisha Harris
National An Oklahoma City woman remembers being a child activist StoryCorps brings us memories of one of the first sit-ins of the Civil Rights Era, a protest at a drug store in Oklahoma City that was organized by children. Von Diaz