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Annie Parsons had her son, River, when she was 41.

Bek Shackelford-Nwanganga

Kansas News Service

More Kansas women are having babies after age 40. This Roeland Park mom is one of them

In Kansas and nationwide, the number of women having babies in their 40s is increasing. It comes as the overall birth rate declines and younger women are having fewer babies.

A blue sign on a shop window asks people to "shop small."

Rachel Cramer

Harvest Public Media

Small businesses feel more uneasy ahead of the holidays after a year of slow sales and high costs

Rachel Cramer

A white water tower with an orange pumpkin covers the word Morton. Morton, Illinois prides itself on producing tons of pumpkins each year. Most of them are pureed and canned at the Libby's plant, which has been in the town for nearly 100 years.

Joe Deacon

Harvest Public Media

This bite-sized Midwest town produces almost all of the canned pumpkin in the U.S.

Local news

Lawrence cancels its beloved Christmas horse parade because of equine herpesvirus outbreak

Stephen Koranda

The Lawrence Old-Fashioned Christmas Parade normally features dozens of human and horse participants from across the region. The Dec. 6 event is now canceled because of the virus outbreak affecting eight states.
Technology

Kansas got millions to expand broadband, but the Trump administration shrank the program

Blaise Mesa

Kansas got $451 million from a Biden administration grant for "Broadband Equity, Acess and Deployment." But after the Trump administration told states to rethink how to spend the money, Kansas rolled back its proposal.
Pumpkin pie vs. sweet potato pie for Thanksgiving? Both are part of American history

Chad Davis

Are you serving pumpkin or sweet potato pie this Thanksgiving? There's a lot of history and cultural ties that influence why Americans may prefer one or the other.
Renovated Kansas Museum of History Reopens Saturday

Jim McLean

After three years and $6 million worth of renovations, the Kansas Museum of History in Topeka will reopen to the public on Saturday. KPR's Jim McLean got a sneak preview of what's in store for visitors.
The Range

Clown about town: A local performer creates her own little circuses

Hugo Phan

The history of the clown dates back centuries. The jester, the fool, the trickster – mischievous beings who embody an aspect of the human condition. For this month’s Culture Pop, Hugo Phan talks to someone who’s keeping the art form alive.

NPR News

Natalia Vacheishvili

billy woods is open to interpretation. Just listen closely

Rodney Carmichael

After releasing two albums in 2025, rap's great modern philosopher and griot is having one of his best-ever runs. He may not have all the answers, but his questions are everything we need right now.
FrankRamspott

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Getty Images

VOTE: What are 2025's best albums?

Robin Hilton

We're bringing back our listener poll to help stick a fork in 2025 and make sense of all the amazing music that came out. So... tell us your top five albums (or EPs) this year.

Syrians displaced by war are returning to find homes occupied by foreign fighters

Emily Feng

Fighters have settled across northern Syria, surprising displaced Syrians who've tried to return to their homes. Nearly a year after the war's end, sorting out property ownership remains a pressing issue.
New books this week: A tome on capitalism, a deep dive on crosswords and more

Colin Dwyer

Capitalism: A Global History comes in at 1,000 pages before the footnotes. Across the Universe explores the past, present and future of crossword puzzles. Plus, a Mitford sister biography and more.
Democrats plan a new investment in winning rural voters, who've fled the party

Ashley Lopez

Democrats are announcing a new investment to win over voters in rural areas — where the party has suffered deep losses in recent elections — by leaning on an economic message.
What Russia wants from the peace deal with Ukraine

Michel Martin

NPR's Michel Martin asks Russia-U.S. relations expert Julia Ioffe what Russia is seeking from a peace deal with Ukraine.
5 things to know about the new obesity pills that are on the way

Sydney Lupkin

Instead of struggling with weekly injections, patients may soon be able to swallow a daily pill to lose weight. Both the makers of Wegovy and Mounjaro are seeking FDA approval for tablets.

Commentary & Podcasts

Grace Walker's debut novel, "The Merge," takes us to a climate-ravaged dystopian future, where people can have their minds merged as a form of government-sponsored population control.

Christianne Risman

Courtesy photo

Ready for another dystopian nightmare? 'The Merge' explores the dark side of population control

Suzanne Perez

Grace Walker’s debut novel, "The Merge," opens in a world where Earth’s resources have been pushed to a breaking point. That has given rise to a controversial new procedure in which two people’s consciousness can be combined and exist in one body.