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The whole keyboard was Miller's canvas. His left hand could strideand swingwith great authority, and when the two hands got together, he sent the train down the tracks.

You'll never suffer from writer's block as long as you've got a copy of Plotto: The Master Book of All Plots. Prolific pulp novelist William Wallace Cook turned his fiction production methods into a wacky manual for aspiring writers. Originally published in 1928, it has just been reissued.

With siblings like William and Henry James, it's easy to be forgotten. But Alice James, the sickly younger sister of two famously brilliant minds, has proved herself unforgettable. In Jean Strouse's biography Alice James, the author revisits a woman who had a salty wit, but a chronic cold.

Thursday marks the 50th anniversary of William Strunk and E.B. White's Elements of Style, the grammar manual used by millions of students, including commentator Marc Acito.

Novelist Ellen Meister explores how a single character might live parallel lives in alternate dimensions, while philosopher Sam Harris explores how science should shape human values. Also, an attempt to re-create the perfect peasant bread, and in-depth profiles of Charles Dickens and Louisa May Alcott.

NPR commentators favor Jennifer Close's look at women facing marriage and Amanda Hodgkinson's post-World War II family drama. There are also memoirs by actor Christopher Plummer and nuclear watchdog Mohamed ElBaradei, plus Don Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams re-evaluate universities for the digital age.

John Keats' famous 1816 sonnet "On First Looking into Chapman's Homer" celebrated the recent discovery of Uranus — the first new planet to be found in more than a thousand years. In fact, says author Richard Holmes, the scientific discoveries of the Romantic age inspired generations of great artists and their work.

In the inaugural Pillow Fight Championship, grown adults entered what looks like a boxing ring and bludgeoned one other with specialized pillows. Two athletes emerged with $5,000 and champion belt.

The ex-head coach of the Miami Dolphins alleges racial discrimination in his suit against the NFL. The ultimate goal is change – even if he gets blackballed in the process, Flores tells NPR.

Cardiac devices called ICDs can detect a heart attack and deliver a strong shock in response. But a new study shows that the machines aren't as reliable as many believed. Nearly one in every 300 has to be replaced.

The NPR/National Geographic co-production Radio Expeditions marks the anniversary of the 1964 Wilderness Act by visiting the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness, straddling the borders of Idaho and Montana.

NPR's Juana Summers talks with Lisa Hanna, a member of Jamaica's parliament, about how Jamaica's relationship with the monarchy may change after Queen Elizabeth II's death.

Veterans and their caregivers who are part of a popular Department of Veterans Affairs program are breathing easier after a three-year grace period on unenrollment was announced.

A federal judge has sharply criticized Attorney General William Barr's handling of the Mueller report, saying Barr made misleading statements potentially to spin the report for the president's benefit.

It's been six months since the launch of the national 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. We check in on how many people are using it, and whether it's connecting them to help.

It's been six months since the launch of the national 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. We check in on how many people are using it and whether it's connecting them to help.

Attorney General William Barr got into a "shouting match" with Utah Sen. Mike Lee over Jessie Liu's bid for associate attorney general, sources told NPR. Liu is the U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller has given his report to Attorney General William Barr, but the findings of the investigation are still unknown.

Students in a Florida school district will be reading only excerpts from William Shakespeare's plays for class rather than the full texts under redesigned curriculum guides.

Oil prices are hovering near $120 a barrel and people are wondering what, if anything, can be done to bring prices down. Oil is a commodity — the price of which is set in a global market. Increasingly, oil-producing countries are pointing at the weak dollar as the main factor keeping prices high.