Apr 5th, 2008 · He's more bigoted than Archie Bunker, more short-tempered than Jackie Gleason, and much more trouble-prone than his animated precursor Fred Flintstone. NPR's Julie Rovner profiles South Park's wildly inappropriate fourth-grader.
Jan 22nd, 2008 · Carnival, the precursor to Easter, falls in the first week of February this year. In Bolivia, where the annual rite is a monthlong affair, the official start of carnival begins this week with the digging up of the beloved La Paz character Pepino.
Sep 20th, 2007 · California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger calls a special session of the legislature to work out a statewide health care plan. It would cover the 6.5 million Californians without insurance. Success in California could be a precursor to the plans offered by presidential candidates for 47 million people.
May 14th, 2007 · Americans may not know her, but elsewhere in the world, 100 million people watched her on TV. Marija Serifovic won this year's Eurovision Song contest winner, a precursor to American Idol that has been around since 1956.
Feb 24th, 2007 · Literary detective Paul Collins has uncovered a literary ancestor to mad libs, the party game that was first popular in the 1950s. The discovery of a book called Revelations of My Friends points to an earlier origin.
Aug 9th, 2006 · In the hip and swinging days of the 1960s, a strange contraption called the Scopitone jukebox seemed poised to be the next big thing. The machine the size of a refrigerator projected short films on a 26-inch screen that were precursors to modern music videos.
Jul 14th, 2006 · A stroll off the beaten path of the classics leads inexorably to the lute -- and its Arabic precursor, the oud. From the NPR studios, lutenist Hopkinson Smith plays a Bransle de Poitou, from 16th-century France. Then, oud player Ramiro Amusategui improvises on a traditional Moroccan tune.
May 23rd, 2006 · Back in the 1980s, a public-access TV channel in New York City aired Stairway to Stardom, an amateur talent show some see as a low-rent precursor to American Idol. Thanks to the dedication of a few die-hard fans, the show has now become an Internet cult hit.