NPR's Scott Simon remembers screenwriter Robert Towne, who died this week. Towne won an Oscar for Chinatown, which is considered one of the best screenplays in American cinema.

An art installation called The Portal was shut down this week in New York and Dublin because of rude gestures and other bad public behavior, as NPR's Scott Simon explains.

What is so dangerous about the song, "Glory to Hong Kong"? NPR's Scott Simon explains that the Chinese government is cracking down on any singing, quoting, or use of the song.

Forget the saber-toothed tiger steaks: a new study published this week reveals that ancient humans also ate their veggies. NPR's Scott Simon marvels at the menu.

NPR's Scott Simon muses about the passage of parental time, now that his eldest daughter has turned 21.

NPR's Scott Simon remarks on the long career of John Sterling, the New York Yankees' play-by-play announcer, who is retiring at the age of 85.

An art gallery worker lost his job in February after hanging up his own art. NPR's Scott Simon thinks an Open Wall night might be a good way to give artists who are not huge names a chance to shine.

Every major campaign used to have jingles. Now so many political ads seem to be more about the opposition than the candidate they're trying to elect.

Journalists with sticky fingers: NPR's Scott Simon talks about items missing from Air Force One, prompting the White House Correspondents Association to remind reporters to leave these things be.

Russia's ban on Jehovah's Witnesses has led to raids, arrests and imprisonment. NPR's Scott Simon says that the religion the Russian government calls "extreme" would be better described as "devout."

NPR's Scott Simon muses on his family's life with animals — a dog, a foster cat, a hamster in a hamster ball — and all that entails.

NPR's Scott Simon recounts the heroic actions of a Chicago bus driver and his passengers, who saw buildings on fire at 2 a.m. and raced to warn residents.

Illinois has a chance to enshrine its long history of corruption.

Tucker Carlson did not ask Putin about how so many of his opponents wind up imprisoned and murdered, or the warrant the International Criminal Court has out for his arrest for war crimes in Ukraine.

NPR's Scott Simon remembers Alexei Navalny. The Russian opposition leader died Friday in a penal colony.