For small towns with dwindling populations and shrinking tax bases, luring travelers to stop and spend a few dollars is a matter of community survival. Some turn to quirky roadside tourist attractions. And the community pride these offbeat sites generate can be just as valuable as the money they bring in.

Federal officials are responding to Tuesday’s mass shooting at an elementary school in Texas, the second-deadliest school shooting in U.S. history. Many Democrats have called for more restrictions on gun access. While Republican lawmakers have condemned the shooting, critics have quick to point out the tight relationships these lawmakers have held with the NRA.

After a leaked U.S. Supreme Court ruling overturning the landmark case that promised women the right to abortion, an August vote to amend the Kansas Constitution over abortion has taken on heightened importance.

Donavon Decker became, in more ways than one, an ambassador of limb girdle muscular dystrophy type 2D, a rare degenerative disorder. But decades after he participated in patient trials and fundraised for research, drug companies are still nowhere close to a cure.

America runs on diesel. It keeps freight moving, factories humming and farmers planting. But a surge in diesel prices is making everything more expensive.

The massacre in Uvalde, Texas, was yet another grim reminder that in the U.S., children are more likely to die from gun violence than in any other wealthy nation. And it's getting worse.

This week, we make a triumphant return to the Bay Area, with the help of Ear Hustle's Earlonne Woods and Nigel Poor. We ask them three questions about rodeos, or Steer Hustles.

NPR's Scott Simon remarks on what has become a never-ending parade of mass shootings in the U.S., and the lack of effort over the years to address them.

Followers of the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine broke with its Moscow leadership. The Russian patriarch has supported the war and called opponents "forces of evil."

In this week's selection from the StoryCorps' Military Voices Initiative, Ryan Walz remembers his father, Sgt. 1st Class Jodi Walz, who played trumpet in the United States Army band.

Puerto Rican band Buscabulla discusses how they made the song "Andrea" with rapper Bad Bunny, and what it means for pop music to raise awareness about intimate partner violence.

The mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, has reignited the gun debate on Capitol Hill but it does not look like there's enough support to get new restrictions passed.

Some parents in Uvalde, Texas, say children's lives could have been saved if police had confronted the gunman at Robb Elementary School more quickly.

The National Rifle Association continued its annual meeting in Houston with only minor schedule changes due to the school shooting that took place earlier this week a four-hour drive away.