Music

Pages

Planet Money
3:22 pm
Wed May 30, 2012

What Air Traffic Can Teach Us About Kidney Transplants

Credit David McNew / Getty Images
Waiting their turn.

Originally published on Thu June 7, 2012 4:11 pm

This is the second of two stories we're doing this week on organ transplants. See the first story, Who Decides Whether This 26-Year-Old Woman Gets A Lung Transplant?

Nikolaos Trichakis is a Harvard Business School professor who studies air traffic. He was watching the news one night when a segment came on about the waiting list for kidney transplants.

Read more
American Dreams: Then And Now
2:50 pm
Wed May 30, 2012

Sizing Up The American Dream

Originally published on Wed May 30, 2012 3:29 pm

In a nation as diverse as the United States, the idea of "the American dream" means different things to different people. Many associate the dream with intangible ideals like freedom of expression, freedom of religion, optimism and family ties. But the American dream has also long been associated with attaining a higher standard of living, particularly one that surpasses that of the previous generation.

Read more
The Two-Way
2:47 pm
Wed May 30, 2012

Pakistani Court Did Not Connect Doctor's Conviction To Bin Laden Hunt

The Pakistani doctor who American officials say was recruited by the CIA to help in the hunt for Osama bin Laden, and has since been sentenced to 33 years in prison, was convicted of having ties to a banned militant group, not for alleged treason.

Read more
American Dreams: Then And Now
2:46 pm
Wed May 30, 2012

With The American Dream Comes The Nightmare

Credit Bill Clark / CQ Roll Call
Unemployed circus clown Tim Torkildson, aka Dusty the Clown, sits on a bench on the north side of the U.S. Capitol in May.

Originally published on Mon August 6, 2012 11:34 am

One American's dream can be another American's nightmare.

Consider: Some people long to live in big cities; others think cities have ruined the landscape. Some Americans love to drive big old honking SUVs; others see huge cars as pollution-producing monsters. For some people, the American dream is a steady office job. For others, the office is a sinkhole and the real dream is freedom from the office.

Read more
The Two-Way
2:30 pm
Wed May 30, 2012

New Mexico Wildfire Now Biggest In State History

A wildfire that has burned 265 square miles of the Gila National Forest in New Mexico is now burning across 170,000 acres. That makes it the biggest wildfire in state history.

As the AP reports, this fire eclipses a blaze last year that burned 159,593 acres in Las Conchas and threatened the Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Read more
Politics
2:18 pm
Wed May 30, 2012

Former 'Car Czar' Takes On Auto Bailout And Bain

Originally published on Wed May 30, 2012 2:24 pm

Transcript

NEAL CONAN, HOST:

This is TALK OF THE NATION. I'm Neal Conan.

Steven Rattner now finds himself in the middle of two debates that will be key parts of this presidential campaign. President Obama's former car czar dismissed Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's claims about the auto bailout as complete fantasy. But Rattner is also among the Democrats who criticized the president's attacks against Romney and private equity as unfair.

Read more
Your Health
2:16 pm
Wed May 30, 2012

With Prostate Cancer, Is It Better Not To Know?

Originally published on Wed May 30, 2012 2:24 pm

Transcript

NEAL CONAN, HOST:

This is TALK OF THE NATION. I'm Neal Conan in Washington. For years, many doctors questioned the value of the PSA screening test for prostate cancer. Yes, it can catch dangerous cancers and save lives, but last week a federal task force recommended against routine PSA tests.

The panel concluded that too often the blood test leads to unnecessary procedures that can leave patients impotent, incontinent or both. Essentially, the panel concludes, that men are better off not knowing. Some experts cheered, others were outraged.

Read more
Around the Nation
1:58 pm
Wed May 30, 2012

'My RV': On The Road In A Rolling Home

Originally published on Thu May 31, 2012 12:36 pm

Freelance writer and photographer Andy Isaacson rented a 19-foot motor home in the summer of 2011. He enlisted two friends, and together they spent eight days traveling from California to Oregon and back.

Read more

Pages