Humankind: An Informed Republic

America's founders recognized that without a king, the fledgling nation would need an informed citizenry or their bold experiment in democracy could fail. So in early America, the government subsidized newspapers, established the postal system to facilitate information flow and drew up plans for public education.

Now, in the digital age, we'll ask whether the demise of newspapers threatens citizens' access to quality journalistic information, and whether remarkably low civic knowledge by average Americans weakens the fabric of democracy.

This one-hour "Humankind" documentary features retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

For more information, visit the Humankind website


Arts & Culture

WAMU 88.5

Art Beat With Lauren Landau, October 7

You can explore one calligrapher's modern take on Korean handwriting, or see two shows that require a little help from the audience.

Food

NPR

Fairfax Schools Pull All-Beef Burgers From Menu, Citing Complaints

Students in a Virginia school system are now eating hamburgers with additives in them, after officials heeded their complaints about the appearance and taste of all-beef burgers it had been serving. The burgers that are now being served include a reported 26 ingredients.

Politics

NPR

No End In Sight: Shutdown Showdown Enters Week Two

Hundreds of thousands of Defense Department civilian employees will go back to work on Monday, but many government operations remain suspended.

Technology

NPR

Wanted: A New Generation Of High-Tech Aviation Workers

Millions of U.S. factory jobs have been lost in the past decade. Now, in North Carolina, high school students are being encouraged to think about taking manufacturing jobs. But this isn't the furniture-making or textile labor of generations past — it's a new kind of highly technical work in aviation.