Rob Schmitz is NPR's international correspondent based in Berlin, where he covers the human stories of a vast region reckoning with its past while it tries to guide the world toward a brighter future. From his base in the heart of Europe, Schmitz has covered Germany's levelheaded management of the COVID-19 pandemic, the rise of right-wing nationalist politics in Poland and creeping Chinese government influence inside the Czech Republic.
Ron Teasley, one of the last remaining veterans of the Negro Leagues, has died. A native of Detroit, Teasley sparkled on the baseball diamond. He was 99.
"Mudlarking" is the hobby of searching for keepsakes along muddy creek banks. An old marble is enough to get people outdoors for this pursuit best performed in the winter.