Italy’s Lawmakers Rush $99 Billion Austerity Plan

After days of market turmoil, the Italian parliament is rushing approval of an emergency budget to try to reassure international investors that Italy — the world’s seventh-largest economy — will not be overwhelmed by the sovereign debt crisis. The threat to Italy is putting pressure on European leaders to find a comprehensive solution to the [...]

Smoking Down In Movies Kids See

Antismoking advocates have pressed movie makers to cut smoking from films that can be seen by kids, arguing the evidence shows Hollywood’s aura encourages children to light up. And the long-running campaign is paying off. On-screen depictions of smoking in popular movies rated G, PG, and PG-13, dropped 72 percent to 595 in 2010 compared [...]

Spending ‘Friday Night’ With Connie Britton

This interview was originally broadcast on June 23, 2010. Friday Night Lights will end its five-season run on Friday July 15, 2011 on NBC at 8 p.m. ET. On the critically adored NBC drama Friday Night Lights, Connie Britton plays Tami Taylor, the principal at Dillon High and the wife of the school’s football coach, [...]

Behind The Scenes Of ‘Friday Night Lights’

This interview was originally broadcast on April 11, 2007. Friday Night Lights will end its five-season run on Friday July 15, 2011 on NBC at 8 p.m. ET. Guest host Dave Davies talks with Peter Berg, executive producer of NBC’s Friday Night Lights, who also directed and co-wrote the 2004 film of the same title. [...]

Kyle Chandler: Playing A Coach On ‘Friday Night’

This interview was originally broadcast on April 21, 2008. Friday Night Lights will end its five-season run on Friday July 15, 2011 on NBC at 8 p.m. ET. Kyle Chandler plays Coach Eric Taylor on Friday Night Lights, the NBC series about the big drama of small-town Texas high-school football. A drama graduate of the [...]

Embattled CEO Of Murdoch’s British Papers Resigns

The former editor of the News of the World tabloid stepped down Friday as CEO of Rupert Murdoch’s British media company, amid a scandal over hacked cellphones that has prompted investigations on both sides of the Atlantic. Rebekah Brooks was editor of the News between 2000 and 2003 during the time that reporters allegedly hacked [...]

A Facade Of Normal Life In Syria’s Capital

The uprising in Syria is now in its fifth month, and the fierce government crackdown on protesters shows no sign of abating. The provincial capitals, Dera’a, Hama and Homs, have become symbols of the movement to oust the regime of President Bashar Assad. The Syrian capital, Damascus, a regime stronghold, is the center of pro-government [...]

Saving Money with Desmond Mason

A pre-school in Oklahoma City is taking steps to teach its young students about the importance of saving money and financial literacy.

What’s With The Hot Pink In Baghdad?

Iraq War veteran and award-winning poet Brian Turner recently returned to Baghdad for the first time since 2004, this time as a tourist. “I wanted to learn about the place where I’d been, but without a weapon in my hand,” he tells Morning Edition host Steve Inskeep. Turner reflects on his travel experience in the [...]

In Gadhafi’s Tripoli, Libyans Cautiously Voice Dissent

The Libyan government maintains that the capital, Tripoli, is a stronghold of support for leader Moammar Gadhafi. The government routinely organizes pro-Gadhafi demonstrations, and state-run TV channels keep up a steady flow of videos that portray Libyans as victims of NATO aggression. But for reporters who manage to slip away from their government minders, pockets [...]