Lucy Perkins

A new documentary follows talented young pianists as they compete in the International Chopin Piano Competition in Poland. NPR's Ayesha Rascoe talks with director, Jakub Piatek, about Pianoforte.

Reports of mail slowdowns are forcing election officials to scramble. They're installing drop boxes and trying to reassure voters they won't have to cast their vote in person amid the pandemic.

If you've taken part in a religious service, have you ever stopped to think about how it all came to be? How did people become believers? Where did the rituals come from? And what purpose does it all serve? This week, we bring you a July 2018 episode with social psychologist Azim Shariff. He argues that we should consider religion from a Darwinian perspective, as an innovation that helped human societies to thrive and flourish.

The turn of the year is a time when we set the old aside and welcomed the new into our lives. When one chapter ends, another begins.