Search results for

The general public might recognize Wayne Hale as that NASA manager on TV who talks about ice-frost ramps and the aerodynamics of foam. But for thousands of NASA workers and their friends, Hale is known for his thoughtful and lyrical emails reflecting on life at the space agency.

Tulane University in New Orleans held its graduation ceremony Saturday after a traumatic year. Students who held on through Katrina and nine months of recovery heard advice and admonitions from former Presidents Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush.

There are plans to bring a new dump to Uniontown, Ala., where the county commission approved the project because the area desperately needs jobs. Commentator John Fleming says this is the kind of case that has been labeled "environmental racism."

Ernesto Miranda, aka "Smokey," was a co-founder of the infamous Mara Salvatrucha gang in Los Angeles. At 38, he was studying law and working to keep kids out of gangs. All that ended Saturday night, when he was shot to death, apparently in retaliation for his anti-gang efforts.

The main rebel group fighting government forces and militia in the war-torn Darfur region of Sudan signed on to a peace agreement earlier this month. Madeleine Brand speaks with the U.S. State Department's Jendayi Frazier, assistant secretary for African affairs, about the next steps in the peace process.

A new report from the U.S. Census Bureau finds that the population of the United States is becoming much more diverse, due in part to a significant increase of American-born Hispanics. Farai Chideya talks about the report with Greg Harper, a demographer at the Census Bureau, Roberto Suro, director of the Pew Hispanic Center, and William Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution.

Everybody has an ideal type of beauty. Some people like them thin or athletic or round. And some people like them big -- real big. I learn to incorporate weights into my workout with help from champion female bodybuilder Dianne Solomons.

Everyone suddenly wants to learn Mandarin Chinese. The problem is that there are few credentialed teachers. Now the Chinese government is making plans to develop teaching partnerships with U.S. public school districts.

A report in Thursday's USA Today reveals that the National Security Agency (NSA) has been secretly collecting records from AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth documenting phone calls within the United States. The agency reportedly wants to create a database of calls to help track terrorist activity. Madeleine Brand speaks with USA Today reporter Leslie Cauley, who broke the story.

John Ydstie talks with Amanda Congdon, the host of Rocketboom. It's an online newscast of the weird and wonderful. Congdon and Rocketboom have gained a cult following for its offbeat look at the news and the Internet.

According to former Wyoming Sen. Alan Simpson, it helps to have a sense of humor in politics. He recently gave a lecture on the lighter side of public life at the Library of Congress.

The government's National Security Agency is building a giant database of all phone calls placed by Americans within the U.S., according to a report published in USA Today. The article says that the spy agency has been helped by major phone companies, including AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth.

The Bush administration says its program to monitor international financial records has a number of safeguards that prevent violation of privacy rights. But critics note that those safeguards are voluntary because this particular type of data tracking isn't covered by U.S. laws against government intrusion into private financial records.

Revelations that a Brussels-based company has been collecting international financial records to aid the CIA's anti-terrorism efforts have led to many questions about the cooperative, called SWIFT.

The Sangam Trio melds the musical traditions of American jazz with East Indian influence. The group made its New York debut this past week. Two members of the trio — jazz saxophonist Charles Lloyd and Indian tabla master Zakir Hussain, join host Debbie Elliott for a performance.

Sergeant Bilko cheated and conned officers and underlings alike -- and TV audiences loved him. The producer of a new DVD set of The Phil Silvers Show, aka "Segeant Bilko," explains what made the 1950s show so beloved.

Children who suffer from depression often perform poorly in school and may have difficulty in college. Guests explain the importance of providing good mental health care for children, and offer tips on what questions parents should ask.

Cretin is a word derived from an 18th century Swiss-French word meaning "Christian." The connection is basically pious, asserting that a mentally innocent person so-labeled is possessed of a Christian soul by way of baptism and is worthy of our mercy and pity.

Germany, the World Cup host country, lost 2-0 to Italy in a semi-final match Tuesday. The Italians scored twice in the match's waning moments after 118 minutes of scoreless play. The defeat left some German fans in a philosophical mood, looking forward to the next World Cup.

A California judge recently struck down a state law requiring high school students to pass an "exit exam" before graduating. A group sued the state to suspend the exam requirement after thousands of students failed. The fight about this issue mirrors a larger nationwide debate over how to make a high school diploma more meaningful.

A growing demand for building projects that use environmentally friendly and energy-efficient materials has spurred a green movement in the construction industry. An estimated $10 billion of "green buildings" are in the process of construction this year in the United States.

Juan slipped across the U.S.-Mexico border in the middle of the night nine years ago. Now he's a student in New York. As part of the personal history project Crossing the Boulevard, he explains the challenges he has faced as an illegal immigrant.

When the World Cup begins in Germany next month, fans from England will be faced with the task of not being too rude to the host country. Part of the problem: a lingering bitterness about World War II. Comic actor and writer John Cleese has a song to help: "Don't Mention the War."

Many Africans, enslaved in the colonies, were offered freedom by the British to fight their American masters. What became of the thousands who accepted? Historian Simon Schama tells the story in Rough Crossings: Britain, the Slaves, and the American Revolution.

With the arrivals of Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito, the Supreme Court shifted to the right, as expected, in its just-completed term. But the shift was less dramatic because Justice Anthony Kennedy assumed a swing role.