‘Benjamin Banneker and Us’ traces descendants, Black and white, of the mathematician Rachel Jamison Webster learned she is related to Benjamin Banneker at a cousins’ wedding. The news was unexpected, not only because of Banneker’s place in history but also because the author is white. Read more on NPR

Can moderates survive state politics? In Montana, they may be going extinct Across the country, parties are consolidating political power in states and squeezing out the moderate middle. In Montana, that squeeze is changing political representation and whose voice counts. Read more on NPR

Before the U.S. rolled into Baghdad 20 years ago, Iraqis warned us what would happen When the U.S. invasion of Iraq began, NPR’s Mideast editor Larry Kaplow was a reporter in Baghdad. Looking back now, he writes that the signs and warnings of the chaos to come were all too clear then. Read more on…