"The riveting tale of two pioneering botanists and their historic boat trip down the Colorado River and through the Grand Canyon. In the summer of 1938, botanists Elzada Clover and Lois Jotter set off to run the Colorado River, accompanied by an ambitious and entrepreneurial expedition leader, a zoologist, and two amateur boatmen. With its churning waters and treacherous boulders, the Colorado was famed as the most dangerous river in the world. Journalists...

"The powerful and affirming story of a father's journey with his teenage daughter to the far reaches of Alaska. Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, home to only a handful of people, is a harsh and lonely place. So when James Campbell's cousin Heimo Korth asked him to spend a summer building a cabin in the rugged Interior, Campbell hesitated about inviting his fifteen-year-old daughter, Aidan, to join him: Would she be able to withstand clouds...

In the predawn hours of July 10, 2014, the son of Alaskan scientist and National Geographic Explorer Roman Dial walked alone into Corcovado National Park, an untracked rainforest along Costa Rica's remote Pacific Coast. He carried a light backpack and machete. Cody emailed his father that he would do 4 days in the jungle and a day to walk out. He was never seen again. The authorities suspected murder. Dial was forced to confront the question: Was...

New York Times bestselling author of The Wordy Shipmates and contributor to NPR's This American Life Sarah Vowell embarks on a road trip to sites of political violence, from Washington DC to Alaska, to better understand our nation's ever-evolving political system and history.
Sarah Vowell exposes the glorious conundrums of American history and culture with wit, probity, and an irreverent sense of humor. With Assassination...

"From travel writer and Instagram phenomenon Jedidiah Jenkins, a long-awaited memoir of adventure, failure, and lessons learned while bicycling the 10,000 miles from Oregon to Patagonia. On the eve of turning thirty, terrified of being sucked into a life he didn't choose, Jedidiah Jenkins quit his dream job and spent the next sixteen months cycling from Oregon to Patagonia. He chronicled the trip on Instagram, where his photos and profound reflections...

With frequent stops at pop culture meccas, and unforgettable encounters with humans of singular interest, the NPR Road Trips series introduces listeners not only to far-off locations and unusual destinations, but to the people who inhabit them, and seek them out. Each story focuses on real locations, real people, and real history in the thought-provoking, imaginative and entertaining way listeners have come to expect from NPR.