Search results for

The government has been trying for years to stop identity thieves from stealing Social Security numbers. But now officials say the problem has taken on new importance as a way to stop terrorists, NPR's Larry Abramson reports on Morning Edition. NPR Online offers tips on protecting yourself from identity theft.

Technology has radically changed the sport of surfing. Surfboards have evolved from heavy solid-wood planks -- almost identical to boards used for centuries in Hawaii -- to high-tech tools that rocket skilled surfers across the water. Tom Goldman has the story on surfers and their boards for our continuing Present at the Creation series.

A song that had America dreaming of California sunshine actually was born on a New York winter's day. As part of the Present at the Creation series, NPR's Susan Stamberg has the story of "California Dreamin'," the Mamas and the Papas' enduring anthem to homesickness.

NPR's Morning Edition and Youth Radio have been giving Israeli and Palestinian youths the chance to share their thoughts about the continuing violence in their homelands. Today we hear from Sara Dansker, a 15-year-old Israeli girl who lives a half hour from Jerusalem, and from 21-year-old Dina Jawhar, a recent college graduate, whose home is a few miles from Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's compound in Ramallah.

For years, Amy Borkowsky has been collecting hilarious and embarrassing messages left by her mother on her answering machine. Now she's put them on a CD and wants the world to hear them. On Morning Edition, host Bob Edwards reviews some of the messages with the former ad executive turned standup comedian.

If Cole Porter and George Gershwin provided a soundtrack for the city, then Hoagy Carmichael was the voice of America's heartland. A new Carmichael biography and song collection — both called Stardust Melody — lead a resurgence of interest in the prolific songwriter's work. Sing along Wednesday on All Things Considered

Turns out Ray Magliozzi of Car Talk has a secret passion for bonsai and magnolias in addition to carburetors and exhaust systems. On Morning Edition Ketzel Levine of Talking Plants takes us on a tour of Ray's Massachusetts garden. Hear excerpts of their rainy-day conversation and view a collection of photos online.

In the close-knit village of Oakwood, Ohio (population 742), residents are reeling from a financial scandal involving one of their own -- a banker who is accused of embezzling tens of millions of dollars. All Things Considered host Robert Siegel visited Oakwood, and reports on the community's crisis of trust.

Fifty years ago, Folkways Records released a six-album set of recordings that had a profound influence on the folk music revival and later on rock music. Morning Edition has the story of Harry Smith's The Anthology of American Folk Music. NPR Online offers a selection of songs from the collection.

Old computer monitors and TV picture tubes dumped in landfills can leach hazardous amounts of lead into groundwater, according to a scientific study. The research is playing a key role in the fight to keep electronics out of landfills and has intensified a controversy over who should pay to recycle them. NPR's Emily Harris reports for Morning Edition.

Senate debate begins this week on ways to add a prescription drug benefit to Medicare. Fifteen years ago, Congress passed such a measure, only to repeal it a year later under a storm of criticism. NPR's Julie Rovner reports for Morning Edition.

Researchers and activists are in Barcelona this week to talk about the global AIDS epidemic. But another epidemic of similar size is sweeping the globe: tuberculosis. A major push is on to expand TB treatment, and as NPR's Richard Harris reports from Kenya, the treatment is working, even under some of the most challenging conditions.

A group of scientists reported finding a six or seven million-year-old skull in Chad, Central Africa. The specimen, the oldest hominid skull ever found, will shed new light on a mysterious period in human history. The new species has been nicknamed Toumao, a name for children born before the dry season in the African desert.

The phrases "toga! toga!" and "food fight!" were shouted in countless dorm rooms the summer of 1978, all thanks to National Lampoon's Animal House, the movie starring John Belushi. On Morning Edition, as part of NPR's Present at the Creation series, Molly Peterson tells the story of the film that defined college humor for a generation.

In a bare-bones cabin on Walden Pond, Henry David Thoreau wrote a bible for people who want to live in harmony with nature. On Morning Edition, Jill Kaufman explores the origins of Thoreau's Walden as part of NPR's Present at the Creation series on American icons.

Lee Child's Without Fail, Walter Mosley's Bad Boy Brawly Brown, and John Sandford's Mortal Prey -- NPR's Linda Wertheimer has put these "bad-boy mysteries" on her summer reading list, and interviewed their authors. On Morning Edition, Wertheimer sizes up the fictional tough guy who can be "romantic, even vulnerable, in between cracking heads."

Asian longhorned beetles are eating their way through hardwood trees in New York and Chicago, and experts worry the pests are spreading. A new tool, using acoustic clues, may make it easier for inspectors to detect the beetles. NPR's Melissa Block reports for Morning Edition.

Forty years after Andy Warhol's first exhibition, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles is hosting a retrospective of the artist's work. The exhibition boasts 200 works spanning Warhol's career, including examples of his most famous series like Campbell's Soup cans and Marilyn Monroe. Eric Roy of member station KCRW reports for Morning Edition.

From almost the beginning of the broadcast era, audiences have had a taste for seeing -- and before that, hearing -- themselves on the air. On Present at the Creation, Peter Sagal, host of NPR's Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!, explores the origins of the quiz show.

For six generations, Mohawk Indian ironworkers have shaped New York City's skyline, working the "high steel" of skyscrapers and bridges. From The Sonic Memorial Project and Lost & Found Sound, hear the stories of the Mohawks who helped build the World Trade Center Twin Towers -- and their descendents who returned to the site after Sept. 11, to help clear the shattered towers away.

Centuries ago, the Silk Road snaked across Asia and Europe. Now the Smithsonian Folklife Festival celebrates the ancient trade route by bringing 350 singers, dancers, artists and storytellers from over 20 countries to the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Robert Siegel travels the route for All Things Considered.

In his third report on the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit of Camp Lejeune, N.C., NPR's David Molpus went along on several different types of rescue and attack exercises. Hear the story on Morning Edition.

India has lost one of its most important birds, and no one knows why. Since the early 1990s, hundreds of thousands of healthy-looking vultures have literally dropped dead there. Scientists say they've never seen anything like it. NPR's John Nielsen reports for All Things Considered.

Five years ago, a plucky little spacecraft called Pathfinder parachuted into Mars and sent back rock composition data and stunning images of the Martian surface. On the five-year anniversary of the mission, Joe Palca reports for All Things Considered that planning for the next mission in 2003 is already underway.

What exactly are stock options? How far does the market have to fall before it's a "crash?" If WorldCom has been de-listed, why is my MCI long distance still working? And what does it mean to be de-listed, anyway? Now's your chance to get some answers -- call All Things Considered at 202-898-2395 with your question.