Search results for

Opponents to embryonic stem cell research point out its moral cost: the destruction of human embryos. Two couples discuss the different choices they made about the embryos they left at a fertility clinic.

Michele Norris talks with Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah about the fight over President Bush's judicial nominees. Sen. Hatch is hopeful that a showdown over these nominees can be averted. But he maintains that any compromise must allow each nomination to be put before the full Senate.

The Senate confirms Priscilla Owen to the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals by a vote of 55-43, ending a four-year struggle. A compromise worked out by a bipartisan group of 14 senators resulted in a process by which at least three Bush court nominees will receive an up or down vote, starting with Owen.

Melissa Block talks with reporters Anthony Shadid and Steve Fainaru of The Washington Post about their article describing the three days they spent traveling with Iraqi and American soldiers in northern Iraq. Fainaru traveled with the Americans and Shadid with the Iraqis. They described the fear, mistrust and resentment existing in both groups.

In a Morning Edition commentary, Melissa Herman describes hearing bad news about Iraq and fearing the worst about her husband, an Army helicopter pilot deployed there. Her essay is part of a project National Endowment for the Arts called Operation Homecoming.

Debates about abortion often center around the issue of when life begins. Some religions say it's at conception. Another says it's with the baby's first breath.

U.S. first lady Jill Biden spent Mother's Day in Slovakia, meeting Ukrainian mothers who have been displaced by Russia's war and assuring them that the "hearts of the American people" are behind them.

Each fall, the Ojibwe tribes of northern Minnesota harvest wild rice by hand. It's a long process that brings families in canoes into the tall grasses. We journey to the rice lakes of White Earth Reservation to investigate how one tribe is using its traditions to support its people.

Andy Martin, a Tulane University medical student who researched a rare and untreatable form of cancer with which he was diagnosed, has died at age 32. Hear NPR's Robert Siegel.

Discover some of the best up and coming Nashville musicians.

South Korean researchers say they've made a significant advance in the production of human embryonic stem cells. They can now use far fewer human eggs to produce usable stem cells — a major step toward mass production. Researchers hope these cells could eventually be used to treat a wide variety of diseases.

Iran is threatening to use trade and oil supplies as weapons against countries that voted against Tehran at a recent meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency. The IAEA approved a resolution referring Iran's suspect nuclear program to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions.

Judge John G. Roberts, President Bush's choice to be a Supreme Court justice, has friends in both parties. His reputation as a bright, questioning lawyer comes with a solid standing as a conservative.

This year the Chinese National Offshore Oil Company made a bid to buy the American oil company Unocal. The bid, later withdrawn, sparked a new controversy between Washington and Beijing and reinforced China's status as a competitor for fuel. Mike Shuster has the third part of his series on China-U.S. relations.

The nation's leading group of pediatricians is advising that babies not sleep in the same bed with adults. In a new set of guidelines regarding Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) released on Monday, the group also stirred up controversy regarding the use of pacifiers.

Mississippi's state legislature has approved legislation to move floating casinos to dry land; Gov. Haley Barbour plans to sign the bill. But to make room for the casinos and hotels, many older coastal communities may never rebuild.

Ed Gillespie, former chairman of the Republican National Committee and adviser to the president, discusses the growing chorus of Republican voices that oppose President Bush's nominee to the Supreme Court, Harriet Miers.

Stuart Bowen, the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, tells Steve Inskeep about audits of billions of dollars worth of contracts overseen by the U.S. government. Bowen says the rebuilding work is on track, though his office continues to uncover fraud in spending.

Monday marks the 25th anniversary of the first report of AIDS. But only recently have scientists come to conclusions about where HIV came from. The current thinking is that the colonial horrors of mid-20th-century Africa allowed the virus to jump from chimpanzees to humans and become established in human populations around 1930. But there is still uncertainty as to why AIDS was first discovered in Los Angeles and New York, and not Cameroon, where scientists say it surely started.

Many hungry Americans choose not to use food stamps -- what does that mean for our nation's emergency food banks? Farai Chideya is joined by Ertharin Cousin, chief operating officer at America's Second Harvest, and Mary Summers, senior fellow with the University of Pennsylvania's Fox Leadership Program.

Free after 27 years in a Louisiana prison for a murder he didn't commit, Gregory Bright has seen one big dream come true. For the new year, he may write about his experiences. "I think it's going to be revealed to me in what direction I need to go," he says.

Food writer John T. Edge tells Debbie Elliott about his plans for Super Bowl Sunday. No chips and beer for him. He's in search of the perfect steak.

Dr. Peter Rasmussen, a doctor of medical oncology, hospice and palliative medicine in Oregon, talks about how the Supreme Court ruling to uphold physician-assisted suicide in his state will affect his practice.

The Islamic Hamas movement appears to have won Wednesday's Palestinian parliamentary elections. An official announcement will be made later Thursday. The apparent victory for Hamas, a sworn enemy of Israel, will have major implications for the Middle East peace process.

Palestinians voted Wednesday in their first parliamentary elections in a decade. The election pits the ruling Fatah Party of President Mahmoud Abbas against the militant Islamic movement Hamas, which is participating in elections for the first time.