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Featured story: The Almost Astronaut (Revisited)
In an attempt to beat the Soviet Union in the space race, the Kennedy administration enlisted Air Force captain Ed Dwight to enter the astronaut training program as its first Black trainee.
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Featured story: The End of Smallpox
Rahima Banu holds a remarkable place in history, as the last known person in the world to be infected with smallpox. This week on the RadioDiaries podcast, the story behind a global effort to eradicate the deadly virus.
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Featured story: Meet Miss Subways
Beauty pageants promote the fantasy of the ideal woman. But for 35 years, the Miss Subways contest in New York City celebrated the everyday working girl.
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Diaries We give people tape recorders and help them document their own lives in their own words
Sofia’s Choice: A Ukrainian Diary
Sofia’s mother Vita was living in Kharkiv, Ukraine when Russian forces invaded. The family is now faced with an difficult choice.
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Matthew and the Judge: Juvenile Court Diary
Through their diaries, Matthew and Judge Jeremiah tell the same story from two different sides of the bench.
ListenPortraits Extraordinary stories from ordinary places
Lockdown in Lockup
Moe Monsuri shares his experience of the pandemic from behind bars at Sing Sing prison. Part of our new series Hunker Down Diaries.
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The Final Frontline
Fourth generation funeral directors reflect on their experience of the coronavirus pandemic and prepare for a second wave.
ListenHistories Exploring the past to tell the History of Now.
The Forgotten Story of Clinton Melton
Emmett Till’s murder is considered the spark that ignited a burgeoning Civil Rights movement. But there was another brazen murder of a Black man that happened just three months later, in a neighboring town in the Delta.
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How to Lose an Election: A History
In every U.S. presidential election since 1896, the losing candidate has given a concession speech.
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