2015-12-13 Arizona: The Spirit of Route 66
Arizona’s stretch of Route 66 contains some of America’s most impressive – and famous – landscapes. Parts of Arizona’s Mother Road wind through the Petrified Forest and Painted Desert National…
2015-12-12 Old Sex Comedy Gets Modern in Spike Lee’s ‘Chi-Raq’
Filmmaker Spike Lee reached back thousands of years to a Greek comedy for the inspiration of his latest film, “Chi-Raq.” The musical is a modern, urban telling of the ancient…
2015-12-11 Kendrick Lamar Leads Grammy Nominations
Kendrick Lamar has had a good week. The hip-hop artist led the music industry in nominations for its most important awards, the Grammys. The Recording Academy honored him with 11…
2015-12-04 Who Doesn’t Have a Tattoo? Body Ink Surges
Soccer star David Beckham, voted “Sexiest Man Alive” by People magazine, has more than 40 of them. Actress Reese Witherspoon has an image of a star with blue swallows. Even…
2015-11-26 Who Eats the Most on Thanksgiving? These Americans
Many Americans spend Thanksgiving with family and friends around a table of roast turkey, sweet potatoes and cranberry sauce. But for others, it’s a competition. Across the United States, there…
2015-11-27 Movie Recalls ‘The 33’ Trapped in a Chilean Gold Mine
A new movie, “The 33,” tells about the famous 2010 mining accident in Chile. The 100-year-old San Jose copper and gold mine collapsed over the heads of 33 mine workers.…
2015-11-20 ‘Trumbo’ Tells the Story of Blacklisted Screenwriter
In 1950, the United States Congress tried to end the career of Dalton Trumbo, the highest-paid screenwriter in Hollywood. Now, that story is being told in the new movie, “Trumbo.”…
2015-11-13 ‘Spectre’ Begins New Era for Bond Films
Many critics consider “Skyfall” the greatest of James Bond films. But, the latest in the series, “Spectre,” may be a strong competitor for that title. “Spectre” steps into new territory,…
2015-11-07 Lambert, Stapleton Win Big at CMA Awards
Country music singer Miranda Lambert has a great career going for herself. The key word being “herself.” For a few years, Lambert shared the spotlight with her equally famous husband,…
2015-10-31 American Halloween Goes to the Dogs
In America, Halloween is a big deal. Americans spend $7.4 billion on Halloween — and $350 million of that is for costumes for their pets, reports the National Retail Federation.…
2015-10-30 International Players to Watch in the NBA
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is arguably the best basketball league in the world. Some of the most famous teams are the Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers and Chicago Bulls.…
2015-10-30 The Boy on Graves-End Road by Caty Weaver
Editor’s Note: This is a weekly multimedia series of American short stories for English language learners. Each story has video, audio, quizzes, and a lesson plan for teachers. Hope you…
2015-10-21 ‘Back to the Future’ Celebrates 30 Years
Thirty years ago, Marty McFly and Doc Brown traveled in time “back to the future” in the film “Back to the Future II.” The characters, played by actors Michael J.…
2015-10-28 World Series Teams Last Won in 1980s
The last time the Kansas City Royals won baseball’s championship – the World Series – it was 1985. Ronald Reagan was the U.S. president. The rock band Wham!, led by…
2015-10-26 What Makes Beauty So Appealing?
Every year the entertainment magazine People publishes a list of who it considers the most beautiful people in the world. How do the editors choose from the 7 billion people…