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Protestors gathered outside of the White House Saturday afternoon after President Donald Trump announced the large-scale...
01/03/2026

Protestors gathered outside of the White House Saturday afternoon after President Donald Trump announced the large-scale military operation inside Venezuela that resulted in the capture of President Nicolas Maduro and his wife.
photos by Tyrone Turner

12/30/2025

Alexa Listeners: Please use the voice command “Alexa, Play W-A-M-U from N-P-R”.

The addition of “…from NPR” is a temporary workaround for a known issue with Alexa selecting another station.

Learn more at wamu.org/help/

D.C. jazz bassist Ben Williams digs into his family history of activism and religion on his fourth studio album, Between...
12/30/2025

D.C. jazz bassist Ben Williams digs into his family history of activism and religion on his fourth studio album, Between Church & State, which came out Friday, May 2.

Williams was already known as one of the best young bassists in jazz – or “Black American Music” as his collaborator Nicholas Payton calls it – when he released his album I Am A Man in 2020. The album is based on Williams’ introspection about social justice and the human experience during the latter half of the last decade.

“[It was] sort of touching on these themes of the Civil Rights era and what continues to go on in this country and the world, just how I feel about it – and I communicate it through my music,” Williams explains to WAMU’s All Things Considered host Tamika Smith. “[I] really wanted to highlight the humanity of Black American culture.” https://wamu.org/story/25/05/05/dc-jazz-bassist-ben-williams/

So, how did one of America’s most famous 20th-century literary couples come to be buried here, in a small Rockville Cath...
12/27/2025

So, how did one of America’s most famous 20th-century literary couples come to be buried here, in a small Rockville Catholic cemetery alongside a busy road, with views of condominiums and a shopping center?

Jackson Bryer, a retired English professor and co-founder of the F. Scott Fitzgerald Society, says that question is answered by the author himself.

“He ended up here because his father’s family was from Maryland. He wrote in a letter when he died… it would be nice to snuggle up under a gravestone in Maryland,” Bryer says. He’s joined us at the grave after his own quick jaunt through the suburban cemetery. https://wamu.org/story/25/11/04/author-f-scott-fitzgerald-buried-twice-maryland-rockville-great-gatsby/

ICYMI: The Cathedral of St. Matthew was quiet but bustling with energy only an hour after Chicago-born Cardinal Robert P...
12/24/2025

ICYMI: The Cathedral of St. Matthew was quiet but bustling with energy only an hour after Chicago-born Cardinal Robert Prevost was announced to the world as Pope Leo XIV.

Cathedral workers were busy putting up a new bunting – the colored banner that hangs above the cathedral’s main doors – to celebrate the announcement that still rang across the globe: “Habemus Papam”….we have a pope.

Rev. Msgr. Ronald Jameson, the rector of the cathedral for 30 years, was at the base of the steps, directing the workers while also speaking to reporters from media outlets around the world.

“We’ve just taken down one bunting, which had black in it, which was obviously in memory of Francis – one of mourning,” Jameson said. “Here you have yellow and white, which, first of all would be the colors of the Vatican and the papacy, and it’s brighter. [But] it’s also very appropriate that we’re in the season of Easter. We’re in a joyous season of resurrection … in a sense we come now into new light!” https://wamu.org/story/25/05/09/shocked-dc-catholics-share-their-initial-reactions-to-the-first-american-pope/

Long before The Washington Post critiqued D.C. hardcore punk bands like Swiz in its pages or Pitchfork sought out the me...
12/23/2025

Long before The Washington Post critiqued D.C. hardcore punk bands like Swiz in its pages or Pitchfork sought out the members of Fugazi for lengthy interviews, the only publications talking about the city’s tapestry of punk music and culture were zines.

Zines, or fanzines, are independently-produced – and some in a consciously amateur style – publications that focus on a specific topic. As University of Maryland archivist John Davis notes in his new book Keep Your Ear to the Ground: A History of Punk Fanzines in Washington, DC, zines originated in the 1940s with fans of science fiction literature and comic books.

“The ‘for fans, by fans’ elements of fanzines … a portmanteau of ‘fan’ and ‘magazine’ … are generally credited to have come from the science fiction and comic book fanzines generated by those flourishing fan communities, beginning in the first half of the twentieth century,” Davis writes. https://wamu.org/story/25/10/30/in-keep-your-ear-to-the-ground-local-author-and-archivist-traces-the-history-of-d-c-punk-fanzines/

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. And he’s in Annandale. Well, at least a bone fragment. Deacon Elmer explains that...
12/21/2025

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. And he’s in Annandale. Well, at least a bone fragment.

Deacon Elmer explains that the small piece of one of the saint’s finger bones came to the church in the 1980s, donated by a parishioner who obtained it in Rome. It’s believed there are fewer than 20 relics of St. Nick currently in the United States.

“It’s been certified by Rome to be authentic. And we are stewards of it,” he says. “A relic can never be bought or sold. There’s no price on it.“

Relics are important in Catholicism. They are often parts of a holy person’s body, or their belongings, that people venerate. Deacon Elmer points out that this is a common practice even outside of Catholicism. https://wamu.org/story/25/12/18/santa-claus-bone-relic-northern-virginia-catholic-church/

The winter cold and holidays are officially upon us. That makes it the perfect time for a steaming cup of hot chocolate!...
12/20/2025

The winter cold and holidays are officially upon us. That makes it the perfect time for a steaming cup of hot chocolate!

So this week for Get Out There, our weekly conversation about ways to explore the Washington region, WAMU’s arts and culture reporter Darryl C. Murphy searched the region for some of the finest sips.

He compiled a short list of places that ought to have what you’re looking for, whether you’re out holiday shopping want a quick drink to warm you up, or simply have a hankering for something chocolatey and sweet. https://wamu.org/story/25/12/19/get-out-there-hot-chocolate/

Currently on display at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center in D.C. is a unique exhibition of work from artist...
12/20/2025

Currently on display at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center in D.C. is a unique exhibition of work from artist and D.C. native Lindsay Adams.

The show is called Ceremony and it incorporates Adam’s paintings with historic artifacts to offer a look at how Black people lived and defied social and structural limitations in the early to mid-20th century.

The centerpiece of the show is titled Kind of Blue (1959) which refers to jazz legend Miles Davis’ album that pushed the boundaries of the genre. It’s Lindsay’s largest painting to date, totaling 6 feet by 14 feet and akin to its name, immerses the viewer in dominant layers of blue that allow flashes of hues of earthy red to pop. https://wamu.org/story/25/12/05/dc-art-jazz-lindsay-adams-new-exhibition-ceremony/

Friday on The Politics Hour with Kojo Nnamdi were joined by Prince George's County's Krystal Oriadha to discuss her new ...
12/19/2025

Friday on The Politics Hour with Kojo Nnamdi were joined by Prince George's County's Krystal Oriadha to discuss her new role as council chair. WAMU’s regional politics team will also join the show to discuss this year in politics!

12/16/2025

This just in: every gift made during All Things Considered will be matched dollar-for-dollar up to $20,000. Go to wamu.org now to support the program that helps you make sense of the day's headlines!

WAMU is proud to partner with Passion and Compassion, INC. in their mission to increase food security in Prince George’s...
12/15/2025

WAMU is proud to partner with Passion and Compassion, INC. in their mission to increase food security in Prince George’s County and neighboring communities. See how you can help at wamu.org/food.

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