Top Regional News
Courtesy of Mandi Rehn, superintendent of Valley School District
A new early learning center north of Spokane in the town of Valley is set to open next fall, with the goal to bridge and improve child care for the rural community.
Kristyna Wentz-Graff
/
OPB
Courtesy of the Idaho Transportation Department
Barry Thumma
/
AP
NPR has lost a singular, distinctive radio journalist: Susan Stamberg, who died Thursday. She was the first woman to host a national news broadcast and set the tone, pace, and scope of the network.
Arts & Culture
-
Movies 101On this week’s show, Dan Webster, Mary Pat Treuthart, and Nathan Weinbender discuss two movies that incorporate violence, or references to it, at their very core. The first is the aptly titled “The Smashing Machine,” in which Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson plays the real-life MMA fighter Mark Kerr. The other is “Anemone,” a film starring Daniel Day-Lewis as a man tortured by memories of war. -
Host Henry McNulty sits down with composer Michael Kropf and filmmaker Charlie Pepiton to discuss their collaborative project, "Love, Eleanor," and its role in the upcoming concert from Spokane's new string orchestra, Luminia. -
Movie ReviewsDwayne Johnson is getting the best reviews of his career playing UFC fighter Mark Kerr in Benny Safdie’s "The Smashing Machine." Nathan Weinbender says the performance is solid, but the movie is sketchy and unsatisfying.
Events
-
EventsSPR and IAE present David Sedaris on November 13th, 2025 at the Fox Theater. -
EventsSPR is a media partner for the Fall Folk Festival, taking place November 8th and 9th, 2025 at Spokane Community College. -
SPR Staff attended the Fall Arts Preview in Comstock Park on Labor Day, September 1st, 2025
-
NPR's Elissa Nadworny speaks with Chris Kraus about her new novel, The Four Spent the Day Together.
-
Scientists have known for decades that many animals use the Earth's magnetic field for navigation. It's less clear how they do it. A new study suggests earthworms may be a good way to figure it out.
-
The court's conservative majority could invalidate the section of the Voting Rights Act aimed at ensuring minority voters are not shut out of the process of drawing new congressional district lines. -
The starting pitching staff of the Los Angeles Dodgers has been on a tear this postseason -- allowing few hits and being truly dominant. Which is good, because the L.A. bullpen has struggled.
-
Gaza's future is filled with hard questions. Consider these three: Who will govern the territory? Who will provide security? And who will be in charge of the money and reconstruction?
-
NPR's Elissa Nadworny talks with investigative reporter Paris Martineau about a new Consumer Reports analysis that shows protein powders can contain toxic heavy metals, especially lead.
-
NPR's Elissa Nadworny talks with investigative reporter Paris Martineau about a new Consumer Reports analysis that shows protein powders can contain toxic heavy metals, especially lead.
-
NPR's Mary Louise Kelly talks to David Miliband, the president and CEO of the International Rescue Committee, about the needs of Palestinians in Gaza moving forward.
-
Musicals for students give Broadway flops a second life. Students in South Florida are resuscitating the 2023 Brittney Spears musical show that lasted just three months on Broadway.
-
The Trump administration is cutting another 466 federal workers from the Department of Education, including staff who oversee funding that supports children with disabilities and low-income students.
