Communism

Women pray in front of paramilitary policemen at Yonghegong Lama Temple on the first day of the Lunar New Year of the Rooster in Beijing, China.

Religion is alive and kicking in officially atheist China

Books

A variety of religions are thriving in post-Mao China.

"In Terror in Little Saigon," Frontline and ProPublica investigate the unsolved murders of a series of Vietnamese-American journalists across the US, including Nguyen Dam Phong of Houston.

‘Terror in Little Saigon’ — an old war comes to a new country

Conflict
Customers don’t mind the long lines, according to writer and filmmaker Jason Motlagh. The line is part of the experience.

For Cubans, this ice cream store is about much more than just the cold, creamy scoops

Business
Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) shakes hands with one of American history’s greatest statesman, Henry Kissinger, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on March 17, 2015.

Mao had a little red book. Xi Jinping has a little red app.

Global Politics
CubaStore2

Cuban Americans know to shop at this sassy-named store if they want to send goods back home

Economics
The US Coast Guard intercepted a vessel carrying Cuban migrants en route to Florida this summer. New York Times reporter Frances Robles recently reported a story that highlights a slow but steady increase in the number of Cubans trying to enter the US.

Long, dangerous journeys aren’t stopping Cubans from trying to come to the US

Justice

Cubans may not be jamming into fleets of makeshift rafts like they did in 1994, but the number of people trying to leave the island for the US is still surprisingly high. That’s even despite routes that may take them as far south as Ecuador in their quest to enter the US.

A cover illustration for the Communist-era board game Burokratopoly, which is being re-launched by Berlin's DDR Museum.

To understand life in East Germany, all you need is this board game

Culture

The board game called Bürokratopoly isn’t about getting filthy rich, though players might feel filthy after they’re done playing. The popular German game was created by dissidents in communist East Germany years ago as a satire about power and corruption. Now it has become a teaching tool for German kids trying to understand what it was like to live in the Communist East.

Bian Zhongyun's children mourn the death of their mother, as seen in the documentary "Though I am Gone." Bian was a school principal who beaten to death 1968 by a crowd.

How to apologize for the Cultural Revolution without blaming the Communist Party

Global Politics

The rhetoric of apology in China today is nuanced and coded. Though some people seem genuinely contrite for their actions during the vigilante violence of the Cultural Revolution, they are careful not to blame the government.

Bian Zhongyun's children mourn the death of their mother, as seen in the documentary "Though I am Gone." Bian was a school principal who beaten to death 1968 by a crowd.

How to apologize for the Cultural Revolution without blaming the Communist Party

Global Politics

The rhetoric of apology in China today is nuanced and coded. Though some people seem genuinely contrite for their actions during the vigilante violence of the Cultural Revolution, they are careful not to blame the government.

Former actress and diplomat Shirley Temple Black reacts to being introduced as she sits with Rod Steiger and Marisa Tomei during the 70th annual Academy Awards March 23. Seventy former Oscar winners gathered on stage during the show. Temple Black won her

Shirley Temple Black’s life as a diplomat took her from velvet dresses to the Velvet Revolution

Arts, Culture & Media

Many know Shirley Temple Black as a child star who became famous at the age of five. But for many in the former Czechoslovakia she was the US Ambassador during the Velvet Revolution.