Author: rpnadmin

The Jefferson Memorial and US Capitol are seen alongside the Tidal Basin in an aerial photograph taken on approach to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport near Washington, DC, on October 22, 2024. Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images The White House has fired six members of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, the independent federal agency that advises the president and Congress on design plans for monuments, memorials, coins and federal buildings. The seven member commission is made up of experts in architecture, art, urban and landscape design. Since its creation in…

Politics / October 29, 2025 Are we just going to sit around and pretend that the president isn’t having a lot of… questionable moments these days? Ad Policy President Donald Trump speaks to members of the military aboard the USS George Washington, an aircraft carrier docked at an American naval base, in Yokosuka, Tuesday, October 28, 2025.(Mark Schiefelbein / AP) Something is rotten in the state of Donald Trump’s mind. “No kidding,” you say. “Tell us something we don’t know.” But I’m not talking about the bigotry and gleeful cruelty that have animated the president’s second sweep through the halls…

A screengrab from Grokipedia shows its article about Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia that Grokipedia is challenging. Grokipedia/ Screenshot by NPR hide caption toggle caption Grokipedia/ Screenshot by NPR Elon Musk’s Grokipedia encyclopedia is now online, challenging volunteer-edited Wikipedia with a new tool that incorporates Grok, the large language model chatbot developed by Musk’s artificial intelligence company, xAI. Musk is positioning Grokipedia as an alternative to Wikipedia, which he called “Wokepedia” in an X post last December. Musk has lofty ambitions for the new encyclopedia: His stated goal is to create “an open source, comprehensive collection of all knowledge.” Critics and…

Politics / StudentNation / October 29, 2025 After the state’s ban on gay marriage was lifted in 2014, advocates took a breath. But more than a decade later, with Obergefell now at risk, there’s still more work to be done. Ad Policy The Portland Pride Parade and Festival in June 2019.(Diego Diaz / Getty) This story was produced for StudentNation, a program of the Nation Fund for Independent Journalism, which is dedicated to highlighting the best of student journalism. For more StudentNation, check out our archive or learn more about the program here. StudentNation is made possible through generous funding from The Puffin Foundation.…

Mary Ann Edwards takes stock of inventory at the Llano Food Pantry in central Texas on October 23, 2025. She said the pantry has seen increased need because of rising costs of goods over the last year. With SNAP benefits set to halt barring Congressional intervention, she expects to see “a bunch of new people coming in.” Barbara Sprunt/NPR hide caption toggle caption Barbara Sprunt/NPR Chris Jones and Mary Ann Edwards have been volunteering at the Llano Food Pantry in central Texas for several years. It’s a tight-knit group, where food recipients gather early to chat outside, and community members…

Politics / October 29, 2025 At some point, we have to recognize that we just don’t know about the Maine Senate candidate’s past motivations—or about much of anything else, either. Ad Policy Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner speaks at a town hall in Ogunquit, Maine. (Sophie Park / Getty Images) I’ve got a dim view of online discourse, and decided long ago to opt out of it. Arguing about our problems online strikes me as philosophically similar to (and about as likely to succeed as) homeopathy. You don’t fix a car by repeatedly slamming it into the brick wall you…

President Donald Trump speaks at an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation CEO luncheon in Gyoeongju, South Korea, Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025. Mark Schiefelbein/AP hide caption toggle caption Mark Schiefelbein/AP GYEONGJU, SOUTH KOREA – President Trump on Wednesday confidently predicted striking a deal with China’s leader in a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Forum, following a period of trade tensions that have threatened to escalate. “I think we’re going have a deal, I think it will be a good deal for both, and that’s really a great result,” Trump told a lunch meeting of APEC business executives in…

Ad Policy Mayoral Candidate Zohran Mamdani (C) with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), left, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), right, during an election rally on October 26, 2025, in New York City. (Andres Kudacki / Getty Images) Voters can take a stand against Trump’s candidates in next Tuesday’s elections in Virginia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, California, and New York City—and move toward redistricting that favors Democrats. Harold Meyerson of The American Prospect explains. Also: A new art exhibit in Los Angeles, called Monuments, displays 10 decommissioned Confederate monuments alongside the work of 19 artists responding or relating to them. It’s at MOCA, the…

This photo provided by North Korean government shows what it says a test of a sea-to-surface cruise missile at an undisclosed place in North Korea, Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: “KCNA” which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. KCNA via KNS/AP hide caption toggle caption KCNA via KNS/AP SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea said Wednesday…

Politics / Rethinking Rural / October 27, 2025 Rural activists are ready to take their place and play their part in the coalitions that are forming. Ad Policy Loretta Jasper, left, and Jo Schwartz, wave to a passing vehicle on Buckeye Avenue in downtown Abilene, Kansas, on Saturday, June 14, 2025, during a “No Kings” protest.(Brian Kratzer / Missourian via AP) Democrats and others on the left need to put working people, farmers, and rural communities at the center of the effort to defeat Trumpism. There’s no question that rural activists are ready to take their place and play their…