Search results for

NPR's Scott Horsley reports Ford Motor Company and telecom giant Qualcomm will offer wireless communication systems to new cars. The venture, called Wingcast, will be installed in all new Fords by 2004, giving drivers access to e-mail and wireless Internet services. But some worry that these distractions will affect road safety.

Host Alex Chadwick talks to David Horowitz editor of the Jerusalem Report about Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak's political woes. Yesterday, Barak survived a no-confidence vote despite coalition defections, a failed peace summit and the election of right-wing opposition politician Moshe Katzav as president.

Linda talks to Savita Deva, a resident of Bangalore, India, where the kidnapping of an Indian movie star has sparked riots. Schools and other buildings are shut down, and Savita says buses are burning.

The International Olympic Committee's medical commission today approved a combined blood and urine test to detect the banned performance-enhancing drug EPO. The decision must be approved by the IOC's executive board meeting later this month, but experts said it is very likely the new test will be used during the Sydney games in September. Finding a reliable test for EPO, which up to now has been virtually undetectable, has been a priority for the Olympic movement. EPO stimulates the production of oxygen-rich blood cells and is popular with endurance athletes. NPR's Tom Goldman reports.

There have been many political dynasties in the United States, but only two presidential sons have risen to be nominated for president in their own right. John Quincy Adams... and George W. Bush. The Bush clan never uses the word dynasty, of course, but it's hard to miss the importance of family in this political year. NPR's Elizabeth Arnold reports on the importance of being a Bush.

All Things Considered Host Robert Siegel is at the Republican Convention in Philadelphia this week, where "diversity" is one of the watchwords. Minority orators, singers, even dancers are fixtures on the podium, applauded enthusiastically by the largely white audience. This hasn't always been the experience of African-American Republicans, who often feel isolated in their party and their communities. NPR's Wade Goodwyn went to Philadelphia's African-American Museum today, where he talked to many black women who are delegates to the convention.

NPR's Mara Liasson reports on the first day of activities at the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia. While the delegates are more that 80 percent white, the platform speakers were predominantly black, Asian, Latino and female. Last night retired general Colin Powell called on Republicans to follow the example set by George W. Bush, and reach out to minorities. Delegates also heard from Bush's wife, Laura, who spoke of her husband's strength of character.

Even though scientists acknowledge the limits of the study, that won't necessarily limit the political fallout - coming, as it does, on the eve of the presidential election. While the study's authors - both advocates of gun control - say their work supports "greater" regulation, gun control opponents say the study is proof that gun control doesn't work. NPR's Eric Westervelt reports.

Veteran Broadcaster Robert Trout casts back to his early days as a reporter covering politics, to tell the story of the Republican Party's slide from a majority party to the minority in the 1930's and 1940's. For its first seventy years, the GOP was the dominant party. But from Hoover's loss to Roosevelt in the 1932 presidential election until now, Republicans have been playing catch-up to the Democrats. This is the first of two reports.

NPR's Sarah Chayes reports from Paris that investigators say it's too early to tell what exactly brought down the Concorde supersonic jet that crashed last week. The Accident and Inquiry office says investigators have identified a fuel leak as one of a number of problems with the plane.

Robert Siegel talks with Washington Post columnist and Brookings Institution Senior Fellow E.J. Dionne and David Brooks, who is Senior Editor at the Weekly Standard.

Commentator Andrei Codrescu says traveling becomes harder in the summer, when the airports and hotels are full of tourists. His proposed alternative: stay home in a cool room and come down with a malady he calls spleen -- a malady that prevents you from doing or caring much about anything.

Highlights from Republican vice-presidential nominee Dick Cheney's acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia last night.

At the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia, Robert Siegel asked the question What do you want to hear from Governor Bush tonight? to several delegates on the floor of the First Union Center last night. Some delegates want to hear about faith-based organizations, appointing future Supreme Court justices. Some people want Bush to continue on themes of unity, compassion, and inclusion. Some delegates want him to avoid topics like abortion and impeachment. And some people say it's not so much what he should say, but how he should appear to the American people -- confident, compassionate, authentic.

NPR's Linda Gradstein in Jerusalem reports the government of Prime Minister Ehud Barak has survived yet another "no confidence" vote in the Israeli parliament.

NPR's Michele Kelemen reports from Moscow that mystery writers are making it big on the Russian literary scene. One author, who uses the pen name Boris Akunin, has achieved best-seller status by taking a high-brow approach to the detective novel, writing in the style of Dostoyevsky.

Co-Host Madeleine Brand talks to Republican consultant Frank Luntz about how GOP firebrands like Newt Gingrich, Pat Buchanan and others are long gone or pushed out of sight in favor of a more compassionate conservative message.

Linda Wertheimer talks by phone with three Republican voters about their reactions to what they've seen of the Republican National Convention on television so-far. She speaks first with Faye Schwartz, an independent financial advisor in Portland, Oregon. Then she talks to Betha Wade a retired teacher, who lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Finally, Kate Fowler, a University of Colorado student who is living in Chicago for the summer.

Pat Dowell takes a look at the new movie,The Tic Code, which is about a young jazz musician with Tourette's Syndrome. The film was written by actress Polly Draper whose husband originally asked her not to write the script because of its similarity to his life.

David Greenberger reviews The Unaccompanied Voice, a collection of songs by two dozen performers singing a cappella.

The FCC reports that the market for fast Internet connections is growing rapidly, with the number of residential subscribers about tripling over the past year. But in its annual survey of access to broadband service, the agency says access is still expensive or not available for people in rural or inner city areas. The report adds that some areas might never get service with current technologies because it's simply too expensive.

Host Alex Chadwick talks to Armando Alonzo, professor of history at Texas A&M about the verdict of a jury in Brownville, Texas. Six decades after a New York lawyer bought Padre Island from a Mexican-American family, the jury determined that he had swindled the family's impoverished descendants out of 1.1 million-dollars in oil and gas royalties.

NPR's Mara Liasson reports on events of the third day of the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia. Last night, former six-term congressman, defense secretary and oil executive Dick Cheney accepted the Republican Party's vice presidential nomination and opened a new chapter in his political life. (8:29

David Brower of member station KRWG in New Mexico reports that two of the state's leading training centers for the blind have settled their philosophical differences and are now teaching classes together.

NPR's Mark Roberts reports from McCall, Idaho that there are dozens of major fires burning in 10 western states. US Army soldiers, are preparing to join regular firefighters in an effort to contain the wildfire in the Payette National Forest. Groups of soldiers are receiving training from members of elite firefighting teams.