Go behind the scenes of a 911 dispatch center

See how a 2018 fire in Paradise, California, exposed the limits of emergency coordination

This Frontline documentary shows how the Camp Fire stretched and ultimately overwhelmed the complex web of agencies involved in emergency response, including fire suppression, 911 dispatch, law enforcement, and emergency management, with catastrophic results.

Fire engines are among the most complex vehicles on the road

These vehicles are purpose-built to carry water, foam, hoses, ladders, and lifesaving equipment to a scene in minutes. This animated video pulls apart every system inside a pumper truck, showing exactly how the machinery that fights fires actually works.

Read what it's like working in emergency medicine

A board-certified emergency medicine physician working in the Bronx writes about what her workweeks look like and what attracted her to this fast-paced medical specialty, including being able to help suffering patients quickly, treating a wide range of ailments, and tending to disadvantaged communities.

A history of raising the alarm, from rattles to 911

Because fires spread so quickly, communities around the world have deployed many tactics to raise the alarm to get help. This history from the Museum of Natural History dives into the use of rattles, bells, and brigades to gather help to fight fires, showing just how far we've come since 911 was introduced in 1968.

Good Samaritans help Florida driver experiencing medical emergency

When a driver experienced a medical episode and was drifting into an intersection, people around her sprang into action and saved everyone on the road from a potentially life-threatening crash.

How search and rescue teams remove survivors from rubble

At any time, large-scale seismic activity can devastate entire regions, often with little warning. Emergency responders, then, are perpetually on call. This is particularly critical in areas with poor infrastructure.

A look behind the scenes of the UN General Assembly

This behind-the-scenes look at the 2015 UN General Assembly offers a unique perspective on what it takes to run one of the world’s most complicated and important diplomatic events. Following four staffers—including a youth advocate and an interpreter—the video captures the energy, pressure, and coordination behind the scenes.

They lost loved ones on 9/11. Hear the heart-wrenching voicemails they'd leave for them.

NPR set up an old phone booth in Brooklyn Bridge Park — across the river from the new World Trade Center — and invited people to leave a voicemail for someone they lost that day.

Soaps often air every day, leading to frantic production schedules

Unlike more typical primetime or streaming shows, soap operas often air every weekday. That means writers and actors often work every day to complete a new episode, making for a grueling schedule. It also explains why some of the dialogue and performances might seem a bit off-the-cuff.

View the layout and components that make up a typical data center

Alongside server rooms for the storage, processing, and transmission of data, data centers include climate control systems to manage the heat generated by microchips, backup systems to ensure systems can run during power outages, offices for on-site personnel, and monitoring and security stations to provide continuous protection against physical threats.

Deputy sheriffs and city police have different legal authority and chains of command

Sheriffs are elected officials at the county level, and their deputies usually patrol unincorporated areas and manage county jails. City police are hired by local government authorities and operate within city limits under a different chain of command.

A video showing how drug dealing really works

What motivates people to sell drugs? The “News on Drugs” series asks how people get drawn into the drug trade, unpacking the different goals and aims involved in dealing drugs. While there is a lot of focus on cartels, traffickers, and gangs...

Screaming, running, and chaos in retailers like Walmart are the norm on Black Friday

This Black Friday episode from Dax Shepard's Armchair Expert podcast features stories both from people who have worked behind the register on Black Friday and those who have stood in line at 4 am to score some deals. From police escorting violent shoppers competing over a discounted laptop computer out of the building, to a false-alarm emergency exit from a Dick's Sporting Goods, the episode is both harrowing and hilarious at times.

Journey through Norway’s frozen frontier

This 44-minute video takes viewers through the Arctic landscapes of Norway, as they learn about the area’s life and challenges. Viewers can observe the wildlife that thrives in this harsh setting—from reindeer and polar bears to red foxes. They...

Making sense of Mexico City's traffic honks and horns

A car's horn makes just one sound, but somehow, drivers across the world manage to use the monotone for a surprising variety of purposes. This audio-inflected essay takes readers into the nuanced horns of Mexico City's famously congested traffic, providing a "claxonomy" (taxonomy + claxones, or horns) of its drivers' honks.

When your 9-to-5 becomes optional

You've seen the headlines. But what would actually happen if everyone's 9-to-5 became optional? We dug into the data. Traced automation philosophy back thousands of years. Examined what happened when elevator operators disappeared. Looked at Alaska's 40-year experiment paying every citizen. And investigated the Philippines, where 89% of call center jobs are now at risk. What we found was more positive than bleak. This video explores three questions: What does the data actually show? What does history tell us about this kind of disruption? And what happens when work becomes optional?

How a cut flower goes from a Colombian farm to a US vase in under 72 hours

The flower industry operates a complex logistical relay to move flowers to distant markets. Blooms are harvested before opening, chilled immediately, auctioned, and air-freighted to retailers before they are fully in bloom.

The US air traffic control system is safe but due for major technological updates

On any given day, over 3 million passengers fly on roughly 45,000 flights in the US. Flying today is safer than ever, but air traffic controllers deal with outdated technology that can interfere with pilot communication.

Cleaning a glass bridge 4,000 feet in the air

Dangling 4,000 feet above the Grand Canyon, these cleaners risk it all to scrub a glass bridge. With a custom-built trolley and nerves of steel, they tackle one of the scariest jobs in America.

Auburn's public help desk landline has been ringing since 1953

The Foy Information Desk at Auburn University in Alabama receives roughly 1,000 calls a day from members of the public looking for answers on just about everything. Originally created to serve students, it eventually was opened up to the public, and continues to receive requests for answers, similar to a Google search, to a variety of questions.

‘Dispatches’ by Michael Herr pushed the boundaries of war journalism

Straying from the typical protocol of reporting casualties and soldiers' whereabouts, Herr reported about the Vietnam War from the field while emphasizing its surreal and tragic nature. His account detailed the experiences of soldiers, while also expressing uncertainty about the meaning of the war.

Five surprising things your GPS can do

You’d be surprised at all the things that GPS—the global positioning system that underlies all of modern navigation—can do. Here's a quick breakdown.

Explore what it's like inside a patient isolation unit, used in situations such as treating a patient or suspected patient with Ebola.

Watch a livestream of Earth from the International Space Station

The feed is made possible by the SpaceTV-1 camera system, which is live over 20 hours a day. Video replays are shown during routine loss of signal communications with the inter-satellite link relaying the video data.

Hear firsthand stories of prison life from those living it

"Ear Hustle"—produced inside San Quentin Rehabilitation Center (formerly known as San Quentin State Prison)—shares personal and often surprising stories of incarceration and reentry—providing listeners with an unfiltered human perspective on the US justice system.

Watch this behind-the-scenes interview about the first person ever diagnosed with autism

Two reporters from The Atlantic tell the story behind their effort to track down the first diagnosed autism patient, Donald Gray Triplett, in Forest, Mississippi, and how his life turned out decades later.

Discover the catastrophic consequences of a failure of the US electrical grid—something that is more likely than many Americans think.

Hear about the 250-year history of the United States Postal Service, complete with some of its strangest deliveries, important innovations, and the figures that made it an American institution.

See how fireworks are made and learn how metals like magnesium and copper are responsible for different colors.

In 1984, Operation Smash Hit intentionally crashed a 239-ton train into a nuclear waste canister at 100 miles per hour to prove the canister's safety, which remained completely intact and lost just 0.29 of its 100 pounds of pressure.

In 2009, the nation was gripped by the story of a missing young boy who was believed to be floating over Colorado in a homemade balloon, until it was revealed that he was at home the whole time.

See how Budweiser's famous Clydesdales spend their days at Warm Springs Ranch, where roughly 70 to 80 of the beer brand's giant horses can be found at any given time.

Power lines are dotted with large, brightly colored balls to improve the visibility of these thin wires to helicopters and small planes and help prevent potential crashes.

This site reaches millions of visitors who are tired of AI chatbots and seeking human connection. Pretend to be an AI chatbot and ask questions, provide answers, and draw for people in real time.

Visualize how CRISPR-Cas9—a type of immune system used by single-celled organisms to attack invasive viruses—targets and makes precise changes to a gene's DNA.

Search a massive database of over 4 decades of clues from the TV quiz show 'Jeopardy!'

Crows are believed to have intelligence on par with a seven-year-old child and demonstrate complex behaviors, from problem-solving with tools to recognizing human faces.

Explore an interactive map of battles from the American Revolution, along with detailed summaries of each engagement

Coral polyps reproduce via broadcast spawning, where entire reefs simultaneously release reproductive cells for about one hour, once a year.

Dorothy's famous entrance into Oz in 'The Wizard of Oz' relied on analog tricks, including a body double and sepia-toned paint, as much as it did on technology

A 2019 Facebook event called on attendees to "Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us," resulting in countless memes, the creation of a music festival, and eventually the arrests of those who did try to approach the area.

Listen to an in-depth conversation on the links between Parkinson's disease and herbicide exposure and the challenging pace of scientific investigation.

Domino's Pizza's 30-minute delivery guarantee was responsible for the chain's 1980s surge, but it was discontinued after the company was found liable for delivery driver accidents.

Legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed the SC Johnson headquarters in Wisconsin, aiming to make a cathedral-like workplace

Comedy legend Catherine O'Hara, star of 'Schitt's Creek' and 'Home Alone,' quit 'Saturday Night Live' after just one week to return to her old job.

Up to a million Girl Scouts sell about 200 million cookie boxes every spring, generating $800 million, largely because refusing a child is frowned upon

The first image of a black hole was captured by creating an Earth-sized virtual observatory from a network of eight radio telescopes.

See a 3D reconstruction of Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital that was home to an estimated population of 200,000 to 400,000.

For centuries, it was common to sleep in two shifts: a few hours at the beginning of the night, and a longer period beginning around midnight

Watch a 1934 short film starring jazz legend Cab Calloway, a major figure in the Harlem Renaissance's music scene