Burned in the War

Staff Sgt. Bobby Henline and his family's world was literally flipped upside down when his Humvee was hit by a roadside bomb in Iraq. He survived burns to 38 percent of his body, including his face and left arm, though surgeries and treatment are ongoing.
(Video by John W. Poole / NPR)

Deer Munching on Acorns

Deer Munching on Acorns from John Winslow Poole on Vimeo.

NPR: Radio Pictures Podcast

"On the Internet, nobody knows you're a radio network."

Come see what Keith, David, Coburn and I have been up to the past few months in our humble quest to figure out what "the NPR sound" _looks_ like.

You'll find an Afghan Taekwondo champion, the world's greatest pianist, plenty of baby pandas, and lots more ...

Follow the link below to the iTunes store where you can subscribe for free to our new, and NPR's first-ever, video podcast:

http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=290787437

Cheers!

Handmade Portraits: Wood Mosaics

A great video portrait from Tara Young at etsy.com: a cute old couple that get their water from a hand-pump well and sell their crafty stuff on the interwebs.

Homeless Portraits by Philip Bloom

Homeless Portraits from Philip Bloom on Vimeo.

Lang Lang Shreds a Steinway at NPR

Chinese piano prodigy Lang Langs tears it up with some Beethoven in NPR studio 4A.

A Snail Encounter

Snail
Originally uploaded by heather

I didn't make this one ... and it's no baby panda ... but it's cute charming nonetheless. (Via Flickr by Heather Champ)

Paddling on Jug Bay

Paddling on Jug Bay
Originally uploaded by juanpoolio

My first Flickr video. Shot with my little point n shoot still camera. Fun!

Ronn's First Mummy

Ronn's First Mummy from John W. Poole on Vimeo.

'A Good Throw'

Adam Nelson is one of the world's best shotputters and has won nearly every title you can win in the sport. Except an Olympic gold medal. He's hoping this will be his year.

Thinking Outside the Dikes

Thinking Outside the Dikes from John W. Poole on Vimeo.

Project Song: Nellie McKay

Nellie McKay writes all kinds of wacky and interesting songs. She's in her early twenties, but writes songs that sometimes feel like they could be from the 1920s. We wanted to see what she'd come up with locked in an NPR studio for two days. A pretty cool song, it turns out.

My Dad Was 'The Sheik'

NPR's Neda Ulaby introduces you youngins to the 1921 silent film hit 'The Shiek.' And also to the fact that that's what her grandparents called her Syrian dad.

A Comedic Interlude

We will return to your regularly scheduled documentary video programming after this brief interlude (brought to you by UK comedian Eddie Izzard and YouTube's Thorn2200).

Alice Smith Makes Music 'For Lovers'

Alice Smith is a new artist with a common name, but also an uncommon voice. Her debut album, For Lovers, Dreamers & Me, takes listeners on a musical journey infused with sounds of rock, R&B, and soul.

A Bat in the City Video Haiku

This cute little bat lived in a crack across the street from the NPR offices. She lived there for about a month. My friend Bill found her and we used to check on her every day. She's since been rescued and taken to a "bat hospital" we're told. I'm organizing a field trip ...

Project Song: Georgie James

We locked the great local DC band Georgie James up in an NPR studio for two days and stuck my video camera in their faces for good measure. This 15-minute video documents the songwriting process and the resulting song.

Coffee Club Caucus

These days, the coffee regulars say they can't watch television without seeing endless presidential campaign ads. They can't eat dinner in peace because the phone keeps ringing, with campaigns calling to try and win them over. But they're all inspecting the candidates closely as the caucuses approach. And they say they would never give up the special role they play, as Iowans, giving an early and important seal of approval to a Republican and a Democrat — sending the candidates on to other states and other battles.

My Erhu

We were contemplating a series about musicians talking about their instruments. And then Ma walked into our studio. It also happened to be the same day my new colleague David Gilkey started at NPR, so it turned into a beautiful two camera shoot.

Stephin Merritt: Two Days, 'A Million Faces'

The challenge: Write and record a song — in two days. (We provide the studio and the inspiration.) On this edition of Project Song, songwriter Stephin Merritt.

Rock Star

We spent a chilly morning at local climbing spot Carderock with Chris Sharma, who's maybe the best rock climber in the world today. It was amazing watching him climb stuff near the same spot where I myself first learned to rock climb.