Day One in Terrill/Leftwich Hearing

A second day for a preliminary hearing against two lawmakers, one former and one current takes place later today at the Oklahoma County Courthouse.

Mindy Kaling On Diets, High School And Other American Pastimes

Much of Mindy Kaling’s humor is rooted in something that might seem unfeasible: using logic to explore American culture. But it works — and works well — because Kaling uses a type of circular logic that’s all her own. Just consider this recent Tweet: “Can everyone buy my book please? I wanna quit the business [...]

Supreme Court To Weigh Case Of False Testimony

The U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments Tuesday in a case that sounds more like a John Grisham novel than a Supreme Court case. The issue is whether police investigators have total immunity from being sued for giving false testimony before a grand jury. The case has all the elements of a spooky saga, involving power, [...]

Calif. County Yearns For ‘The Way It Used To Be’

Part of a monthlong series There’s a lot to like about Solano County, Calif., a collection of bedroom communities between San Francisco and Sacramento: great climate, diversity and until recently, very stable neighborhoods. But it also has the second-highest foreclosure rate in the country. Its largest city, Vallejo, went bankrupt. And unemployment here is 11 [...]

Sorrowful ‘Blue Nights’: Didion Mourns Her Daughter

In The Year of Magical Thinking, Joan Didion wrestled with the death of her husband, John Gregory Dunne. The book was published in 2005, months after their daughter Quintana Roo Dunne — their only child — died at age 39. In her new book, Blue Nights, the 76-year-old author has pieced together literary snapshots, retrieved [...]

In The Hills Of Rio, Shantytowns Get A Makeover

On a recent day in Rio de Janeiro, police radios crackle in Providencia, a warren of cinder-block homes and narrow walkways where drugs and violence were once common. But these days, it’s just routine chatter. All is safe in this favela, one of the hundreds of slums built chock-a-block on the city’s steep hills. A [...]

As Population, Consumption Rise, Builder Goes Small

The planet may not feel any different today, but there are now 7 billion people on it, according to the United Nations. That number will continue to rise, of course, and global incomes are likely to rise as well. That means more cars and computers, and bigger homes: the kinds of things Americans take for [...]

At 101, And 15,000 Babies, An OB-GYN Works On

As this week began, the word from the United Nation’s was to expect the birth of the world’s 7 billionth baby. That led us to call a 101-year-old man who has delivered more than 15,000 babies over the years. NPR’s Morning Edition reached Dr. Walter Watson at his home in Augusta, Ga., on Monday. Watson [...]

Official Admits ‘Mistake’ In Gun-Trafficking Case

A top political appointee in the Obama Justice Department says he made a “mistake” when he didn’t flag questionable tactics used by federal agents in a gun-trafficking case for his superiors last year. Lanny A. Breuer, assistant attorney general in charge of the criminal division, told NPR he found out in April 2010 that agents [...]

Starbucks Hopes To Kick-Start Job Creation

Starbucks is teaming up with a network of community-based financial institutions to help create jobs. Beginning Tuesday anyone can make a tax-deductable contribution at a Starbucks store or online to the Create Jobs for USA Fund. The money will go to companies so they can hire or retain American workers. Mark Pinsky heads the Opportunity [...]