Apm: The Story

The night before he was killed, President John F. Kennedy spent the night surrounded by a one-of-a-kind collection of masterpiece artworks. A curator in Dallas has recreated that collection as a tribute. Also in this show: Gore Vidal, the late novelist, speaks with interviewer Studs Terkel in 1961 about John F. Kennedy and the great intellectuals of American history; when a would-be thief tried to get away with Voodoo Donut Kitchen’s prized Holy Donut, clerk Jay Boss Rubin sprung into action. What he didn’t know was the pursuit would take on a life of its own.

As western forests continue to burn every summer, new technology is helping fight them. But Rick Cowell, a veteran hotshot firefighter, says the work has remained the same. Also in this show: producer Kenny Malone looks into the story behind a collection of salt shakers and a picture left behind in a Florida deposit box; how the rise of Hitler forced great physicists such as Max Born to flee Germany in the 1930s; and producer David Schulman goes on a search for digital sound that can compare to the acoustic sound of a Stradivarius violin.

Jon Copley dove more than three miles in the first manned mission to the deepest known hot water vents in the world. And even though the purpose was to study life there, he was captivated by what he saw on his way down – and back up. Also in this show: a whale washes up on the shore of Lubec, Maine, and people have different theories about the meaning of its arrival – and how to get rid of it; and author Jeanine Cummins reads from her novel The Crooked Branch.

For 17 years, Anthony Nicodemo didn’t tell the high school where he coached basketball that he was gay. Earlier this year, he called for a meeting with players and parents and came out. ALSO: This July, Cody Dent managed to spoil a perfect game by Boston Red Sox minor league affiliate the Lowell Spinners. It’s kind of like the infamous 1978 day in which his father Bucky Dent spoiled a game for the Red Sox; and for years, a dozen friends in Natick, R.I., gathered on Friday nights in a cloud of cigarette smoke, holding cans full of pennies and a card deck for poker.

In the 1960s, Hollis Watkins helped convince blacks in Mississippi that registering to vote was worth the risk. Now, he says he is concerned this year’s Supreme Court decision striking down part of the voting rights act will keep people from going to the polls. Also in this show: activists were fighting for equal access to schools and the voting booth, George Wallace gave a speech when he was inaugurated as Alabama governor: “Segregation now, segregation forever;” and two boys – one black and one white – make friends and music in this story by Clyde Edgerton.

Basel used to cross from the side of Aleppo that’s controlled by rebels to the side controlled by the regime. But now, he says, that one-mile stretch has become too dangerous. Also in this show: a country veterinarian gets a phone call at 3 a.m. in this short story by Ron Rash; and Sister Mary McCaffrey spent more than 50 years in a once-thriving convent in Hastings on Hudson, N.Y. But when she was 80, and the number of nuns there had declined, she had to find herself a new home.

Photographer Dave Jordano got tired of the negative press about his native Detroit, so he set out to make portraits of creativity and humanity. Also in this show: An FBI investigator gives his theory of what happened to the union leader Jimmy Hoffa, who disappeared almost 40 years ago; and Charlie Rizzo shares the story of his lifelong journey with his father Matt Rizzo, who died in 1986 but remains a constant presence in Charlie's life.

Derrick Durr was laid off as one of Chicago’s violence interrupters earlier this year. He continues to do the work, without a paycheck. Recently, he coordinated a dinner for sixty young men in his neighborhood, many of them rivals. Also in this show: Walking along the Hudson River, guest host Sean Cole and his friend Malissa O’Donnell discovered a monument to two of his poetry heroes.

Biologist Lynn Rogers has been putting radio collars on bears and feeding them for years in Ely, Minn. Now, town residents are trying to get the license for his scientific project revoked. Also in this show: Writer Jo Ann Beard reads an essay from her book “The Boys of My Youth;” Booker T. Jones on the rules of the organ, the day he first stepped into Satellite Records, and just how “Green Onions” became a hit.

Guest host Phoebe Judge speaks with Neil White, who got sentenced to 18-months for check fraud. He expected a minimum-security prison, but instead found himself in a home for leprosy patients. Then, Phoebe meets some of the people at the Carville National Leprosarium. Also in this show: A man named Thanatos roams the streets of Vancouver in a mask.

Swimmer Lynne Cox meets a baby whale. Also in this show: The Purple Hotel is a Chicago landmark.

Andrew Chin, a.k.a. Brushy One-String, has crafted a unique style playing a one-string guitar and singing in an utterly original voice. Also in this show: A sculptor recreates Rome’s Trevi Fountain - in cardboard.

Orion Magazine writer Jeremy Miller explores the exact center of the U.S. population, and finds that its movement has paralleled the country's westward expansion and development. Also in this show: An audio meditation on riding the bus to work every day; and artist Bo Gehring makes portraits with a slow moving camera set to music.

Brian Bushway became legally blind when he was 14 and learned to use a soft clicking sound to orient himself. He now teaches the technique, echolocation, to other blind people. Also in this show: Photographer George Steinmetz talks about his glider, and how he uses it to soar above deserts and vast wild spaces to capture the view from above.

A childhood friend of Anne Frank remembers a vibrant, curious girl. Also in this show: Robert Macfarlane reads from his latest book, "The Old Ways: A Journey On Foot."

When Levi Felix left his power job, he set out to travel the globe. He wound up learning how to help people disconnect from technology. Also in this show: One afternoon, Ed Rosenthal went for what he thought would be a short hike in the Mojave Desert and wound up lost; Margareta Claesson and her husband, noted physiologist Knut Schmidt-Nielsen, studied the camel and found the key to its survival is in its nose.

While reporting in Moscow during the Cold War, American journalist George Krimsky found himself entangled in the personal drama of the Stalin family. Also in this show: how the first and only women's professional baseball league came into existence during World War II; and how sound designers make sports sound exciting - even if they have to fake it.

Workers from a bankrupt window factory in Chicago have opened their own employee-owned cooperative. We look back at the 2008 worker lock-in of the Republic Windows and Doors factory. Also in this show: Host Dick Gordon speaks with two former Chicago factory workers about starting an employee-owned factory; and since the verdict of the Trayvon Martin case, playwright Nicole Anderson Cobb has been thinking about where we, as a country, are.

Jerry DeWitt spent most of his life working as an evangelical preacher in Louisiana. Two years ago, he realized he could no longer lead others to believe in something he didn’t. Also in this show: A group of students and professionals created a human-pedaled helicopter that can rise higher than 10 feet and hover for more than a minute.

Steven Czifra spent 10 years in prison – eight of them in solitary confinement. Also: Author Ron Rash reads his short story “Something Rich and Strange,” from his new collection, “Nothing Gold Can Stay;” and violinist Hilary Hahn, who learned to play Bach when she was four, still loves to play his compositions as a soloist – and with other musicians.