NPR Topics: Story of the Day Podcast

Jairo Gomez knows the importance of school, but his home life leaves him struggling to stay focused. "If I don't get an education, I'll be stuck like my parents."

The importance of a teacher's presence in the classroom has long been debated. Our 50 Great Teachers project asks: Does does a teacher's performance distract, or does it inspire?

After his diagnosis, Peter Milton wasn't about to abandon art; but he did feel he had to abandon color. Today he says he finds black and white to be "fully more elegant than color."

New Jersey radio station WFMU prides itself on radically open programming — like three hours of "Eleanor Rigby" covers. But as a new film shows, it can be tough to pay bills and maintain a mission.

Women who turn to law enforcement for help are often frustrated that authorities aren't doing enough. Police say tracing the culprits can be a complicated and time-consuming process.

In the eight years regulators didn't collect penalty fines from D&C Mining, it was cited 1,500 times for safety violations — including many that federal inspectors say put miners at serious risk.

An NPR investigation found thousands of American mine owners fail to pay penalties for safety violations, even as they continue to manage dangerous — and sometimes deadly — operations.

Over the past century, midterm elections have been pretty rough on the party that holds the White House.

An investigation by NPR and ProPublica reveals how the Red Cross increased its focus on public relations while it struggled to meet basic needs of storm victims.

If played just right, members of Congress can see a political payoff from simply doing their jobs and helping out voters who elected them. It's one reason incumbents fare well come Election Day.

When a New York City doctor was diagnosed with Ebola, the epidemiologists knew just what to do: search the city for potential contacts.It's a gig they perform daily with far more contagious diseases.

In Los Angeles, more than a thousand people sleep on the street in cardboard boxes and tents — just a mile away from City Hall. Many want to fix Skid Row, but how to do it is extremely controversial.

You can thank audio engineer Joe Carpenter and his 80 microphones every time you hear the crack of a bat, smack of a glove or thud of a base in this World Series.

In her memoir, The Woman I Wanted to Be, Diane von Furstenberg says she owes her success to her mother, a strong, strict Holocaust survivor who called Diane her "torch of freedom."

Costume shop owners think about stocking their shelves like investors think about putting together stock portfolios. They need a diverse mix of classic costume favorites and risky hot new things.