All Things Considered

Change Is On The Horizon For London's Famous Skyline

Christopher Werth — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 22:18:00 +0000

Cities are defined by their skylines — while Paris is composed mostly of low-rise apartment buildings, New York is a city of tall office towers. But London is a city in transition.

A Look Back At How Newspapers Covered The Civil Rights Movement

Audie Cornish — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 22:18:00 +0000

This week Audie Cornish travels to Birmingham, Ala., to revisit some of the stories that shaped that city and the nation in the summer of 1963. Today she talks with Hank Klibanoff, co-author of The Race Beat about how the newspapers covered the civil rights struggle fifty years ago.

Home-Schooled Students Fight To Play On Public School Teams

Steve Walsh — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 22:13:00 +0000

Legislative battles are being fought around the country over whether or not to let home-schooled students play on public high school teams.

Roughly half of U.S. states have passed laws making them eligible to play on the teams.

Letters: Mozart's Violin And The Price Of Potatoes

editor — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 20:55:00 +0000

Robert Siegel and Melissa Block read emails from listeners about Mozart's violin and the price of potatoes.

Patients Lead The Way As Medicine Grapples With Apps

editor — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 20:51:00 +0000

Christine Porter is hooked on the MyFitnessPal app. In October, after deciding to lose 50 pounds, Porter started typing in everything she eats, drinks and any exercise she gets.

"This is my main page here," says Porter. "It's telling me I have about 1,200 calories remaining for the day. When I want to record something I just click the 'add to diary' button.

Mexico's Tech Startups Look To Overcome Barriers To Growth

editor — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:52:00 +0000

In the past decade, Mexico's tech industry has flourished, growing three times faster than the global average. Most of that growth has been fueled by demand from the United States. But as Mexico's startups strive to make it in foreign markets, they say they need more engineers and ways to finance their growth.

Softtek, Mexico's biggest technology services company, spans four continents and provides software support to a client base that includes Fortune 500 companies.

Kanye's 'Yeezus' Packs A Bite

Oliver Wang — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:04:00 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuhl6Ji5zHM

Dirty Spuds? Alleged Potato Cartel Accused Of Price Fixing

editor — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 22:17:00 +0000

Editor's Note: Many of you noted that the price for a 10-pound bag of potatoes cited in the lawsuit seems ridiculously high. So we look into the matter further — you can read what we found in this follow-up post.

High-tech spying with satellites. Intimidation. Price fixing.

Sound like the makings of a Hollywood thriller?

The Human Voice May Not Spark Pleasure In Children With Autism

Jon Hamilton — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 22:03:00 +0000

The human voice appears to trigger pleasure circuits in the brains of typical kids, but not children with autism, a Stanford University team reports. The finding could explain why many children with autism seem indifferent to spoken words.

The Stanford team used functional MRI to compare the brains of 20 children who had autism spectrum disorders and 19 typical kids.

Teens Find The Right Tools For Their Social-Media Jobs

Trey Graham — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 21:18:00 +0000

Once upon a time, it was MySpace. (Huh. Turns out you can still link to it.) Then Facebook happened. And Twitter. And beyond those two dominant social-media platforms, there are a host of other, newer options for staying in touch and letting the digital universe get a look at your life.

How Do You Teach The Civil Rights Movement?

editor — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 21:12:00 +0000

Note: As part of NPR's series on the summer of 1963, reporter Cory Turner headed to Jackson, Miss. to take a look at how folks are teaching the Civil Rights movement to kids who weren't a part of it — and making the lessons stick.

Much has changed in the past 50 years, since the height of the Civil Rights movement. But how do you teach the Civil Rights to kids who haven't ever experienced it? In Jackson, Miss., Fannie Lou Hamer Institute's Summer Youth Workshop tackles that question.

Take 13-year-old Jermany Gray, for instance.

Netflix Partners With Dreamworks To Make Kids' Programming

Neda Ulaby — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 21:03:00 +0000

Transcript

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Melissa Block.

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

And I'm Robert Siegel. Netflix announced a deal today with Dreamworks Animation. The cartoon powerhouse says it will produce 300 hours of original content for the video streaming service.

California Braces For Closure Of San Onofre Nuclear Plant

editor — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 20:26:00 +0000

Transcript

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

In Southern California, the power grid is always a hot topic. It's a part of the country that is all too familiar with the rolling blackouts. And now there is more reason for concern about the region's capacity to generate electricity. The San Onofre nuclear power plant is shutting down for good, thanks to worn-out parts. It's been off-line for more than a year after a pipe was found leaking radioactive steam.

Some Colorado Wildfire Evacuees Briefly Allowed Back Into Homes

editor — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 20:26:00 +0000

The Black Forest Fire near Colorado Springs, Colo., has pushed about 4,500 evacuees out of their homes. Police are escorting some of them back in to pick up critical medications or rescue pets.

NSA Leaker Snowden Defends Actions In Live Web Chat

editor — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 20:26:00 +0000

The man who leaked secret National Security Agency documents, Edward Snowden, defended his decision to reveal details of U.S. surveillance programs in a web chat on Monday. Snowden said he's still in Hong Kong and claims he wouldn't get a fair trial in the U.S. He also said he has not been in contact with the Chinese government and that there are more disclosures to come.