Who Gives The Long-Term Jobless A Helping Hand?

More than 40 percent of the long-term unemployed say they’ve received a lot of help from family and friends. But only 1 in 10 reports getting much help from churches or community groups, according to an NPR/Kaiser Family Foundation poll. While family may be the first stop for help, these groups say they’re indeed seeing [...]

Lack Of Autopsies After Elderly Die Conceals Health Flaws

Abuse in nursing homes and suspicious deaths among seniors often go undetected because postmortem examinations are becoming few and far between. Earlier this year, an NPR News investigation found that many jurisdictions stopped doing autopsies on people who died over the age of 60, unless it was obvious that a violent death occurred. A lack [...]

NewtGingrich.com Goes Anywhere But; Democratic Group Offers To Sell Name

When he launched his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, Newt Gingrich said he planned to run it differently than such efforts in the past since he would rely on the Internet to get his message out and engage voters. But the Internet can be a double-edged sword, especially if your campaign doesn’t own all [...]

Callin’ Oates: The Hotline You Don’t Need (But Might Call Anyway)

Is it pure whimsy that makes something like “Callin’ Oates” appealing? If you pick up your phone and call 719-26-OATES — at least as of this writing — you’ll get a computerized woman’s voice telling you what numbers to press to hear one of four Hall & Oates songs. The question, of course, is … [...]

NewtGingrich.com Is Sending Surfers To Sites And Stories He Wouldn’t Like

Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich’s official campaign website — at newt.org — is working fine. But if anyone types “newtgingrich.com” and hits enter right now, they’re not going to see things that the former House speaker would find very funny. In the last few minutes when we’ve done that we’ve been directed to: – “Gingrich [...]

Revisiting The First ‘Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy’

John Le Carre’s Cold War espionage novel Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is enjoying a resurgence among today’s audiences. Gary Oldman stars in a 2011 film adaptation of the book — often called Le Carre’s finest — as master spy George Smiley, recalled from forced retirement to root out a traitor in the top ranks of [...]

Finding Bright Spots In A Lackluster 2011

2011 was a tough year in many ways: the economy is still struggling, Europe is dealing with a debt crisis that threatens the entire European Union system and Japan is still recovering from a devastating tsunami. But from gold and protests to TV dramas and HIV treatment, there are many ideas and products that had [...]

Stirring Adventures, At Home (In A Zoo) And Abroad

After being force-fed a steady diet of Oscar hopefuls for almost a month, I may just be ready for empty-calorie time at the cineplex. But I have to confess a sense of relief this week, as I watched entertainments that didn’t seem to want to do anything other than show an audience a good time. [...]

Let’s Weigh The Internet (Or Maybe Let’s Not)

It’s an odd question, but the answer is startling. A few years ago, a physicist named Russell Seitz asked himself, “How much does the Internet weigh?” By which he meant, how much does the whole thing, this vast interlocking web of content pulsing through 75 to 100 million servers staggered all over the world, what’s [...]

After 25 Years In Woman’s Stomach, A Pen Still Writes

You might have heard about the case on Wednesday’s Morning Edition. Twenty-five years ago, a British woman who saw a spot on a tonsil tried to get a better look using a pen and a mirror. She slipped and the pen went down her throat. Neither the woman’s husband nor her doctor believed her. X-rays [...]