Search results for

Andy Bowers takes us through the fits and starts as Europe continues its 40 year movement toward a union of 15 states.

Robert talks to Seymour Martin Lipset, author of "American Exceptionalism: A Double Edged Sword." (W.W. Norton & Company) Lipset says that many of the characteristics that Alexis de Tocqueville described as uniquely American still exist in our society today and continue to make the United States different from other countries. But Lipset notes these characteristics have a negative side, too.

NPR's Melissa Block takes note of a trend among politicians to quote the words of William Butler Yeats. Irish-American politicians tend to quote him most frequently. There are complaints that taking Yeats' lines out of context distorts their meaning and that over-using Yeats can devalue the poet's work, reducing his lines to political cliches.

Host Madeleine Brand talks to Daniel Williams, correspondent for the Washington Post about the Russian nuclear submarine that sunk to the bottom of the Barents sea during naval exercises off Russia's north coast this past weekend. More than 100 crew members are trapped inside.

Linda talks to E.J. Dionne, Columnist for the Washington Post, and David Brooks, Senior Editor at the Weekly Standard, about the next steps in the torch-passing from President Clinton to the presumed Democratic nominee, Vice President Al Gore. They discuss the president's mission in his speech last night, and what Gore needs to accomplish when he addresses the delegates on Thursday.

Senator Joseph Lieberman met today with the Democratic National Committee's Black Caucus. The meeting came just a day after some in the caucus publicly questioned his fealty to affirmative action and other issues important to African American liberals. NPR's Cheryl Corley was at the meeting, and she spoke with Noah Adams from the downtown Los Angeles hotel.

One-hundred-thirty prisoners in Washington and Oregon volunteered in the 1960s and 1970's to participate in a federally sponsored experiment to determine the affects of radiation on sperm production. After the experiments, they received vasectomies. Now they are seeking compensation from the federal government, saying they were coerced into taking part in the experiments. From KOPB in Portland Oregon, Jeff Brady reports.

Two weeks ago, veteran news broadcaster Robert Trout offered a recent history of the Republican party, over the course of his political coverage. This week he turns to the Democrats. Today, Trout brings us the sounds of Democratic Conventions he covered in the 1930's and 40's, and the story of the battle between North and South for control of the party.

Jody Becker of Chicago Public Radio reports on a thorny environmental case being heard next month by the U.S. Supreme Court. It involves the right of some Chicago suburbs to build a landfill on land that's being used by migratory birds. Some environmental activists warn that the court could use the case to gut the landmark Clean Water Act.

Host Bob Edwards talks with Andrew Bernard, an associate business professor at Dartmouth, about his predictions for which country will take home the most Olympic medals. Bernard bases his results on each country's population, wealth and past Olympic performances. He says the US will win 97 medals, followed by Germany with 63 and Russia with 59.

NPR's John Nielsen reports on the discovery of some really old fungi. Scientists have long wondered how plants made the big move from water to earth five hundred million years ago. Now, two plant experts at the University of Wisconsin may have uncovered a lead in this mystery.

Most events at the Olympics are timed to one-hundredth of a second, some even down to one-thousandth of a second. Robert talks with Tom Westenburg about how they determine athletes' finishing times so precisely. Westenburg is an electrical engineer in the Sports Science Division of the U.S. Olympic Committee. He is working with the Organizing Committee for the 2002 winter games.

NPR's Eric Weiner reports that despite the taint of drugs and Olympic scandals, the 2000 Summer games have begun and the opening ceremonies is reflecting on positive aspects of the Olympics. Athletes from North and South Korea marched today under one unification banner.

Commentator Joanne Kaufman just got her drivers license -- at age 41. Her ultimate road test was a trip to the drugstore. She talks about what she missed not being able to drive, the freedom it would have meant as a teenager. Driving solo as an adult is a defining moment she wants to tell everyone about, but the destinations and reasons to drive are different.

Host Howard Berkes talks to Shannon Curfman, a 15 year-old blues prodigy from Fargo, North Dakota. Curfman fell in love with the blues at the age of 10 and has since been studying, writing, and performing all over the country. She says the raw aspect of blues is what appeals to her, and she expects to make music her career.

Daniel takes a look into the indigent defender system in New Orleans where for years, the problems were so grave that very often defendants weren't able to get a competent lawyer to represent them. Now, however, there have been some changes that could produce momentous changes in the way justice is dealt for the poor in Orleans Parish. Daniel Zwerdling reports.

Commentator Lenny Kleinfeld lives in Los Angeles, where is has NOT been snowing. All the talk of the blizzard on the East Coast has him more than a little homesick for bad weather of the old-fashioned type.

NPR's Cheryl Corley reports on the impending end a federal program that was started in the late-1960s to provide subsidized housing for the poor in middle class white neighborhoods. The program grew out of a 1966 discrimination lawsuit against the Chicago Housing Authority and the federal Deparatment of Housing and Urban Development. Advocates are lobbying Housing Secretary Henry Cisneros to continue the subsidies.

NPR's Richard Harris reports that astronomers have, for the first time, seen features on the surface of a nearby star, Betelgeuse (BAY-dull-juwz). Until now, all stars other than our sun have appeared simply as points of light, even through the best telescopes. Now the Hubble Space Telescope has shown that Betelgeuse, in the constellation of Orion, has a mysterious bright spot on its surface.

Noah talks with NPR's Tom Gjelten in Sarajevo about a glitch in plans for a prisoners-of-war exchange, which was agreed to by all sides under the Dayton peace accords. The Muslim-led Bosnian government now refuses to free Serb prisoners, insisting the Serbs first account for thousands of Muslims which Bosnia charges are still being held prisoner.

The Supreme Court heard arguments today on whether laws limiting campaign spending by political parties violates the First Amendment. If the justices were to rule in favor of unlimited spending by parties, it would in effect eliminate limits for individual candidates, most of whom run with the support of a party. NPR's Nina Totenberg takes a look at today's arguments.

to be held in Washington, DC today. The meeting will bring together hundreds of people of different ethnic and religious backgrounds to discuss their differences. The Anti-Defamation League pulled out of the conference after learning that a minister from the Nation of Islam would take part.

With the presidential race now in a dead heat, Vice President Al Gore and Texas Governor George W. Bush are campaigning hard in key battleground states. Florida is one of them with 25 electoral votes at stake. NPR's Phillip Davis reports on why Florida has turned from solidly Republican to a state ripe for either candidate to win or lose.

Lisa talks with author Adrian House about his new bookFrancis of Assisi: A Revolutionary Life. Francis, who lived from 1182 to 1226, started out as a party-boy. At age 24, he underwent a religious conversion, and began a spiritual journey that continues to inspire millions of people throughout the world.

NPR's Julie McCarthy reports from London that Britain announced plans today to kill 100,000 more animals, in addition to the 200,000 sheep, cows and pigs marked for slaughter because of foot-and-mouth disease. World governments are scrambling to contain the virus, which has reportedly spread to parts of the Middle East.