Search results for

From forays into Jamaica's Blue Mountains to battles with stinky fruit in Thailand, Robb Walsh has gone to great lengths to sample the world's culinary phenomena. The food critic recounts his most recent adventures in a new book, Are You Really Going to Eat That? NPR's Liane Hansen talks with Walsh.

The results are in: teams Ramrod and Trampoleen are the winners of Ball State University's second annual Pumpkin Drop. See photos of the pumpkin-protecting winning designs and hear the sound of winning pumpkins.

Songwriter Vic Chesnutt has often been called gifted, but in the past, his introspective, idiosyncratic music has been deemed too gloomy for the masses. On his latest CD, Silver Lake, Chesnutt's songs take an upbeat turn, though his homey narrative style and gallows humor remain. Listen to songs from Silver Lake, and watch Chesnutt's performance in NPR's studio 4A.

If it absolutely, positively had to get there overnight -- or as soon as possible in 1860 -- you'd have to put it on the Pony Express. Their riders could travel from Missouri to California in a recording-breaking 10 days. But a little over a year after the first rider set out, the company closed under major debt. NPR's Linda Wertheimer talks with the author of a new book offering a revisionist history.

Our summer reading series profiles paleontologist Paul Sereno of the University of Chicago. A professional dinosaur hunter, Sereno enjoyed Charles Gallenkamp's Dragon Hunter: Roy Chapman Andrews and the Central Asiatic Expeditions. Sereno also likes improving his physical abilities through books like Jeff Galloway's Galloway's Book on Running.

U.S. troops test materials believed to be chemical agents found inside 55-gallon drums near Basra. Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says first reports of chemical weapons often are incorrect. NPR's Melissa Block talks with Washington Post reporter Rick Atkinson, traveling with the unit that found the material.

As of Monday, the average cost of a gallon of regular fuel is now $4.325, according to AAA. Both ride-share companies say they're adding surcharges to deal with the spike in gas prices in the U.S.

California’s economic recovery was better than expected, but gas prices are shooting up, threatening the state’s hard-fought gains.

Gasoline costs about 50 cents more per gallon than it did in January. Motorists dread the trip to the pump and wonder why prices are so high — and when they'll go back down. But growing world demand could mean oil prices will continue to rise in coming years.

As gas prices rise, politicians call for gas taxes to be suspended. Transportation experts say such moves won't provide much relief and would cut into needed spending on roads, bridges and transit.