PRI: Latest Stories

Artist Nina Katchadourian transforms car alarms into bird calls.

A birdwatcher and beatboxer combines his two passions to make a totally original sound.

Theremin virtuoso Pamelia Stickney teaches a lesson in the eerie electronic instrument.

The earthly origins of the alien sounds of “Star Wars” and “WALL-E.”

Can the clanks, bangs and hisses of a radiator become music?

What does it sound like to travel? In this A-side B-side, we find it in two tracks.

Students from the town of Dapchi spent a month in captivity.

France doesn't collect comprehensive statistics based on race, ethnicity or religion. And that has something to do with its experience in World War II.

Austin Police Chief Brian Manley told reporters early Wednesday morning that the motive for the bombings was still unclear.

Turkey is making advances in its scientific infrastructure — like its brand new astronomical observatory. But the new science curriculum for high schoolers leaves out the theory of evolution.

Advocates say that these immigration enforcement threats keep workers from telling their stories of wage theft to law enforcement. Wage theft costs Los Angeles workers $26 million a week, according to the University of California, Los Angeles.

A singer raised in Thailand and Sweden is trying to create a virtual space in music for kids raised in multiple cultures who often feel like they don't belong anywhere.

The election was never about whether Putin would win. But high voter turnout has been marred by reports of ballot stuffing and other unethical means of getting support for the incumbent president.

In a region surrounded by threats — from Turkey’s attacks and Islamic State terrorism and patriarchy at home — the women of Kurdistan are fighting for their life and liberty. And the cost is hard, dangerous labor.

Leaks of methane from gas and oil wells are a major source of climate pollution but it's tough to detect the odorless and colorless gas. Now, a new competition is spurring inventors to come up with cheaper and more effective methane detectors. The World's Jason Margolis profiles two of the inventors.

Mx. is a gender-neutral title that's gaining popularity in the UK. Though the road to acceptance for this prefix has not been without a struggle. On The World in Words podcast, we delve into the fight over this two-letter word.

Londonderry, or Derry, Northern Ireland's second-biggest city, borders the Republic of Ireland. Residents worry Brexit will bring changes at the border - and a return to the days of "the Troubles."

On Nantucket, homeowners are funding an extensive engineering project to save their houses from sliding into the sea. But no one knows how long the homes and the entire island can resist the forces of the sea and climate change.

IceCube’s ability to spot where neutrinos come from provides a powerful new tool for understanding many mysteries of the universe.

Newer, tougher ship hulls and shrinking Arctic ice are now opening up the Northern Sea route for business.

Until last year, solar energy experienced huge growth in job creation. But 2017 saw about a 4 percent decline in solar jobs, with installers taking the biggest hit.

Vladimir Putin will win his fourth term after 18 years in power. But behind the scenes of an election with a foregone conclusion — an event that should be drama-free — a more complicated picture emerges.

In the wake of another attack on girls at a Nigerian school, parents in Nigeria are looking at how the US responds to the latest American school shooting.

A spokesperson for the federal immigration agency has quit over what he says are lies from the Trump administration. So what’s the truth about immigration raids?

Russian journalist Vitaly Bespalov worked in the now-infamous Internet Research Agency, which employed internet trolls to reinforce state-sanctioned messages.

An Olympic sailor struggles with delusions that his life is a reality show, and he’s the star.

How “The Americans” and “Trumpcast” are related—in more ways than one.

A writer comes clean about his secret favorite song.

The missteps and errors of ICE and its contractors have led to concerns about the safety of immigrant detainees with mental health issues.

President Donald Trump has tapped Gina Haspel to replace Mike Pompeo as CIA Director. But Sen. John McCain said that Haspel oversaw a "black site" prison where detainees were tortured with methods such as waterboarding.

The US is going to increase its military presence in Afghanistan over the next few months. The US Army plans to increase the total force by as many as 1,000. So, what is it like for an Army officer getting ready to deploy? We followed one of them.

“Of course we have echoes of what’s happening in the region, but when you put scientists together, they tend to talk about science.”

Muslim women are using the hashtag #MosqueMeToo to speak out against sexual abuse that takes place during the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump replaced US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson with Central Intelligence Agency Director Mike Pompeo. In his new pick for secretary, Trump someone who agrees with him on major foreign policy issues.

According to UN statistics, about 40 percent of Iraq's population was born after the US invasion. Now, youth are investing in a new Baghdad.

Behind the country’s new military prowess and greater international power is a sleight of hand. This series looks at the “ghost empire” behind the illusions.

Yoo In-sik remembers when other skiers used to shy away from him on the chairlift because of his missing leg. “When I ski now, people cheer me on and clap for me,” he says.

Most Latinos in the US, about 90 percent, support Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. But in Texas and especially in cities that are the closest to the US-Mexico Border, about 24 percent say they would want to end the Obama-era program that provides work permits and deportation protections for undocumented immigrants who were brought the US illegally as children.

Calls to hotlines to assist immigrants are skyrocketing, while employers brace themselves for more inspections.

In a new book, "The End of Epidemics: The Looming Threat to Humanity and How to Stop It", global health expert Dr. Jonathan Quick focuses on the need for a universal flu vaccine and ways to prevent and contain the next pandemic.

In 1984 professional wrestler Dr. "D" David Schultz smacked the TV journalist John Stoessel to the ground backstage at Madison Square Garden. Why? One word: kayfabe. This week on The World in Words we throw on some tights and get into the ring to explore this word you were never supposed to hear.

Lyudmila Pavlichenko, history’s deadliest female sniper, is considered to be a Soviet propaganda myth by some, including some people in Russia. The divorced teenage mother from the tiny Ukrainian town of Bila Tserkva is credited with killing at least 309 Nazis — she simply sounds too good to be true.

Untold numbers of viruses are swept up into the atmosphere along with dust and water vapor, and they can travel for thousands of miles. No need to worry, though: The vast majority of viruses infect only microbes, not humans.

Shannon Mouillesseaux was violently assaulted a decade ago in Sri Lanka while working for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Of course, the attack itself was deeply traumatic, but Mouillesseaux says the way she was treated by UNHCR in the aftermath was even more damaging.

Philip Glass went from taxi driver to star composer overnight.

A spy novel made Maureen Sestito realize it wasn’t too late to achieve her dream.

David Chase launched a golden age in television drama when he created “The Sopranos.” But what he really wanted to make was movies.

A winner of the Nobel Prize, Toni Morrison started writing because she couldn’t find the novels she wanted to read.

As bombing and shelling by the Syrian regime intensifies, families living underground turn to social media in hopes that international attention will save them.