Morning Edition

Updated at 12:14 p.m. ET

The Justice Department announced on Wednesday a global settlement of civil and criminal investigations into Purdue Pharma's aggressive marketing of opioid medications, including OxyContin.

Federal officials have long maintained Purdue's actions helped fuel a prescription opioid epidemic that has killed more than 232,000 Americans, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

When a Washington D.C. artist lost his job during the pandemic, he found comfort and order amidst the clutter of his home workshop.

Don Becker, 57, got laid off from his job as a set painter for a company that makes displays for conventions and large meetings. So he turned his attention to making automatons. They're mechanical sculptures that come to life with the turn of a crank.

Becker's creations don't just move; they tell a story.

Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge says that Google's domination among free search engines means it serves up products and services to consumers that may not be the best but rather "what Google wants you to see."

Updated at 3:24 p.m. ET

The Justice Department filed an antitrust lawsuit Tuesday against Google alleging the company of abusing its dominance over smaller rivals by operating like an illegal monopoly. The action represents the federal government's most significant legal action in more than two decades to confront a technology giant's power.

As Kevin Young gets ready to take over as the next director of the National Museum of African American History in January, his thoughts turn to poetry — and how poets make connections for readers.

"I think a poet or the idea of being a poet is a calling, it's a vocation," he tells NPR. "For me, so is thinking and talking about Black culture. Those two things are intimately related."

Young, who has written more than a dozen books of poetry, directs the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in New York City.