Search results for

In the hours just after sunrise, Earth's neighboring planet Venus was visible as it passed directly between our planet and the sun. The occurrence is called "transit," and the last time Venus's orbit crossed this route was in 1882. NPR's Steve Inskeep talks with Dave Eicher, amateur astronomer and the editor of Astronomy Magazine. He traveled to Luxor, Egypt, to get the most prolonged view.

NPR's Linda Wertheimer talks with historian Robert Dallek, who recalls the memorable events of Reagan's inauguration in 1981. American hostages held by Iran during the last days of the Carter presidency were released as Reagan prepared to enter the White House.

Rapper Kidd Creole, who was a founding member of Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five, was sentenced Wednesday to 16 years in prison for stabbing a homeless man to death on a New York City street.

Time and Newsweek are using the same exact photograph of President Reagan on their covers this week. Presidential photographer Michael Evans took the picture in 1980, before the Republican National Convention. Hear NPR's Robert Siegel and Evans.

From the outset of his presidency, Ronald Reagan aimed to re-establish a conservative voice on the Supreme Court. He did so by promoting the bench's most conservative justice, William Rehnquist, to chief justice, and appointing leading conservative thinker Antonin Scalia to the court. Hear NPR's Steve Inskeep and NPR's Nina Totenberg.

President Bush hosts a summit of the Group of Eight nations in Sea Island, Ga., this week. Though trade and economic issues are on the agenda, Iraq is expected to dominate the discussions. President Bush is trying to win support from world leaders for a U.N. resolution on the transfer of sovereignty in Iraq. Hear NPR's Steve Inskeep and NPR's Don Gonyea.

Catherine Cuellar of member station KERA in Dallas, Texas, presents an audio postcard of this weekend's Crossroads Guitar Festival, a gathering of 60 of the world's greatest guitar dynamos, headlined by legends Eric Clapton, Santana and B.B. King.

He's been acting since he was a child. Culkin first attracted attention as John Candy's inquisitive nephew in the John Hughes film, Uncle Buck. The film Home Alone turned him into a star. He also made the films Home Alone II, Jacob's Ladder, and most recently Party Monster. Recently he returned to acting after a 6-year hiatus. His latest film is Saved! He plays a high school student in a wheelchair attending an evangelical Christian High School, whose friends are all outsiders. The film has been described as part religious satire, and part teenage rite of passage film.

Many politicians cite the late President Ronald Reagan as a major inspiration for their career choice. Rep. Dana Rohrbacher (R-CA) was a high school student when he volunteered for Reagan's first campaign for California governor in the 1960s. Paul Begala became active in Democratic Party politics after hearing Reagan speak at the University of Texas in the 1970s. They share their memories with NPR's Susan Stamberg.

This week, a presidential panel will release a report on how to implement President Bush's plans for a moon base and a manned mission to Mars. Numerous experts endorse the idea of a Mars mission, but are sober about its near-term prospects. Representatives of foreign nations say funding for an international effort will be difficult to come by, and public support for the project is mixed. Hear NPR's David Kestenbaum.