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Peter Jackson takes his audience back to Middle-earth in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, set in a time before the Lord of the Rings films. NPR's Bob Mondello says that where the Rings films struggled with what to omit, The Hobbit labors to justify its three-hour running time.

At the request of a lifelong Lord of the Ringsfan, architect Peter Archer has built a cottage modeled after those of the Shire. Like any good hobbit-hole, this dwelling was built for sitting comfortably and imagining great adventures — but it took a lot of skill to put together.

Mikhail Sebastian is stateless. Born ethnically Armenian in what was then the U.S.S.R. and today is Azerbaijan, he came to the U.S. and was eventually allowed to stay and work. Now, he is stranded on American Samoa where immigration officials say he "self-deported."

Lorenzo and Cheryl Graves were found shot to death in front of their downstairs TV. The body of their 4-year-old daughter, Oznola, was near her parents'…

Some of Sen. Jeff Flake's constituents in Arizona are still livid over his recent vote against expanded background checks for gun sales. They say the Republican is ignoring their calls for a public meeting.

NPR's Robert Siegel interviews Kathleen R. McNamara, director of the Mortara Center for International Studies at Georgetown University about what the Greek referendum means to Greece and Europe.

At science fiction's Hugo Awards, voters largely rejected a slate of nominees pushed by a group called the Sad Puppies. In an unusual end to the controversy, a few categories didn't even get a winner.

It began as a conversation over a beer. Now, a collaboration between musicians across the Nile basin has expanded to concert tours, albums and courses at universities in the U.S. and East Africa.

Fifty Shades of Grey is expected to be a blockbuster — and the director, Sam Taylor-Johnson, is a relative unknown outside of the art world, where she's a star. NPR's Neda Ulaby has a profile.

Commentator Sandip Roy says the traditional sari has been falling out of fashion in the new India, but designers are turning to pop art prints and other changes to boost its appeal.

The fourth volume in James S.A. Corey's Expanse series jumps far beyond our puny solar system to paint an epic struggle between colonists on a distant planet — livened with well-drawn small details.

Pundits and politicians have staked out their positions in the encryption dispute between Apple and the FBI. The same debate is playing out across the country between siblings, parents and children, and even husbands and wives.

When artists hit the big time, it’s not uncommon for them to move on to LA or New York. Grammy Award winning singer and Charlotte native Anthony Hamilton…

NPR's Kelly McEvers speaks with R. Carey Davis, the mayor of the city of San Bernardino, Calif., about the mass shooting at the Inland Regional Center, where 14 people were killed Wednesday.

The novelists, poets and playwrights won Wednesday partly for their work so far, but also for the promise they've shown. If previous winners are an indication, it's a promise they're likely to keep.

Surprise billing is one of the rare public policy issues that are both bipartisan and in need of a federal solution. A hearing on Capitol Hill looked to insurers and providers to help figure it out.

Campuses that failed to win approval for their student IDs to be used for voting will get more time and a clearer definition of the requirements under a bill approved Thursday afternoon.

Plenty of famous musicians own eateries: Jimmy Buffett's Cheeseburger in Paradise and Flavor Flav's House of Flavor, to name a few. But there are some artists whose names practically demand a dining establishment. In this game, puzzle guru Art Chung describes musical acts and restaurant chains that share a word. See you guys at Taco Bell Biv Devoe!

Members of Congress have more big hearings planned at which current and former U.S. officials are set to talk about Russian interference and the integrity of state election systems.

NPR's Robert Siegel interviews Barbara R. Shook, senior reporter-at-large at the Energy Intelligence Group, about how low oil prices need to go to make "unconventional oil" extraction too expensive.