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Bruce Mirken is conducting what seems like a high-profile auction in New York City.“As you can see,” he says to the gathered crowd, “we’re auctioning this…

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon speaks at the United Nations on Thursday. In a surprising admission, Ban said he came under pressure to remove Saudi Arabia from a list of countries that harm children. The Saudis had been placed on the list because of their bombing campaign in Yemen.

Saudi Arabia Dropped From List Of Those Harming Children; U.N. Cites Pressure

United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon says he delisted Saudi Arabia because of threats to cut U.N. funding and "the very real prospect that millions of other children would suffer grievously" as a result.

An armed man waves his rifle inside the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, on Sept. 11, 2012. Four Americans were killed that night, including Ambassador Chris Stevens. U.S. airstrikes helped topple dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011, but Libya has descended into chaos since then.

America's Middle East Scorecard: Many Interventions, Few Successes

U.S. actions have not resolved the multiple conflicts raging in the region. Are U.S. policies at fault, or are these convulsed lands simply beyond anyone's control?

Robots Are Really Bad At Folding Towels

Machines are surprisingly bad at doing things an average 8-year-old can do with ease.

Tatsuya Takahashi at his home workshop in early 2017, surrounded by a few of his signature machines.

Analog For The People: Synth Master Tatsuya Takahashi On Engineering Fun

NPR Music's year-end interview series continues with an engineer who's led a quiet movement to create music tools anyone can use.

Novel Explores The Fierce And Frenzied World Of Competitive Gymnastics

Megan Abbott's new book takes readers deep into the intense, vacuum-sealed universe of young female gymnasts and their parents. Critic Maureen Corrigan says You Will Know Me is worthy of a gold medal.

Colson Whitehead is also the author of the novel <a href="http://www.npr.org/2011/10/19/141422845/a-zone-full-of-zombies-in-lower-manhattan" target="_blank">Zone One</a><em>,</em> and the memoir <a href="http://www.npr.org/2014/05/07/310412859/from-poker-amateur-to-world-series-competitor-in-the-noble-hustle" target="_blank">The Noble Hustle</a><em>.</em>

Colson Whitehead's 'Underground Railroad' Is A Literal Train To Freedom

As a child, Whitehead was surprised to learn that escaped slaves did not ride an actual subway. His new novel follows Cora, a young slave who has escaped a Georgia plantation and is heading north.

Conan O'Brien in 2016. He is being sued by a writer who accuses him of stealing jokes. O'Brien says the idea of stealing someone else's comedy makes him physically ill.

Can You Copyright Your Dumb Joke? And How Can You Prove It's Yours?

"Joke theft" sounds funny, but that claim is at the heart of a lawsuit lodged against Conan O'Brien. The case brings thorny questions of humor to the courtroom, a place not always known for jokes.

City tries new model for resettling homeless

Last fall, I went to Fifth and King Streets in San Francisco, just under the on-ramp to I-280. A group of tents inhabited the space then. The ground…

Renouncing Pablo Escobar's Sins, His Son Trafficks In Motivational Talks

Drug czar Pablo Escobar's son studied to be an architect. But his late father's notoriety interfered with business, so today he's a speaker urging kids to stay away from drugs.

Perfume Genius' new album, <em>Too Bright</em>, comes out Sept. 23.

First Listen: Perfume Genius, 'Too Bright'

After two solid albums, Too Bright is something shockingly new for Perfume Genius: a set of muscular, magnificently controlled songs that explore darkness inside and out.

New African-American Museum In D.C. Remembers Imprisoned Leesburg Stockade Girls

A photo in Washington's new African-American history museum brings back a forgotten chapter of the civil rights era: the jailing in a Georgia stockade of young black girls who protested segregation.

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