Talk of the Nation from NPR

In his book The Hockey Stick And The Climate Wars, Michael Mann discusses what he calls a well-funded campaign to discredit climate change. He describes efforts by opponents with ties to the fossil fuel industry to harass climate scientists and create doubt about climate change.

F. Murray Abraham stars in a new off-Broadway production of Bertolt Brecht's classic "Galileo." Brian Kulick, artistic director of the Classic Stage Company and the director of the play, discusses Galileo, (the scientist and the play) and tells why he thinks the themes in the work are still relevant today.

In Space Chronicles: Facing the Ultimate Frontier, astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson writes of how space exploration--especially human voyages--can profoundly inspire scientists and technologists of the future, and charts the path for missions to Mars and beyond.

In Beautiful Souls: Saying No, Breaking Ranks, And Heeding The Voice of Conscience In Dark Times, journalist Eyal Press writes about "unexceptional people who took great risks" to help others.

The book profiles four individuals — a Serbian solider, a financial whistle blower, a Swiss police officer and an Israeli soldier — all unlikely resisters who end up going to great lengths to challenge authority.

Press talks with NPR's John Donvan about the things that inspire ordinary people to take a stand.

Patience is a virtue that can be hard to recover when you're trapped in rush-hour traffic or stuck in a long line at the bank.

In Patience: The Art of Peaceful Living, Allan Lokos explains the importance of abandoning anger and unhappiness and walking the path to patience.

Lokos, founder and guiding teacher at The Community Meditation Center in New York, talks with NPR's John Donvan about how to master the art of patience.

Google combined more than 60 privacy policies in order to streamline the information that it collects about its users. Google says it hopes to create a "beautifully simple, intuitive user experience across Google." Critics say the new policy digs deeper into users' lives.

Transcript

JOHN DONVAN, HOST:

When we speak to one another, word order counts. For example, I'm speaking to you right now in pretty conventional word order - subject before verb before object. But what if I took what I just said and I moved the words around like this: For example, now speaking pretty, I'm conventional, verb, object before, and now you order before subject to word. Maybe you followed that. But is the concept really different when it comes to spelling? Recently, a debate broke out between Wired columnist Anne Trubek and Lee Simmons, a copy editor there.

Singer Davy Jones, of The Monkees, died Wednesday at the age of 66. A spokesman for the singer said he died of a heart attack. NPR's John Donvan remembers the pop star who sang lead in hits like "Daydream Believer."

Presidential debates can provide a boost to a candidate, thwart a lead in polls or prompt a decision to leave the race. NPR's Ken Rudin and Alan Schroeder, author of Presidential Debates: 40 Years of High-Risk TV, look at game-changing moments in the 2012 election cycle.

After U.S. military officers in Afghanistan accidentally burned Qurans while disposing of other Islamic texts, two American military officers were killed and protests broke out throughout the country. The violent responses have raised concerns about the U.S. strategy.