All Things Considered

Topics from the Most Recent Show

• Don't Freeze Out The Winter Olympics Yet
  As the Olympics kick off in Vancouver on February 12th, author David Sax gives us reason to embrace the wild games of ice and snow.
• Seeking A Kinder, Gentler Image For Israel
  The U.N.'s Goldstone Report accused both Israel and Hamas of war crimes during last winter's conflict in the Gaza Strip. Now, some say Israel needs to launch an offensive of a different kind: a public relations drive to disassociate itself from words like "occupation" or "conflict."
• Congressman John Murtha Dies
  Democratic Congressman John Murtha of Pennsylvania has died. He was 77. He had been suffering complications from gallbladder surgery. The retired Marine Corps officer was an outspoken critic of the war in Iraq.
• Digital Tears: Breakups And Social Networks
  Separations are hard enough. But then there's the question of what to do when it comes to the social networking ties you share with your former significant other. To break or not to break? It's a question many people are grappling with as they examine their digital personas.
• Texas Nurse On Trial After Reporting Doctor
  A nurse in Texas is standing trial for reporting a doctor she thought was practicing bad medicine. Prosecutors have charged 52-year-old Anne Mitchell with making inflammatory statements about a doctor at a rural hospital in Kermit, Texas. She faces up to 10 years in prison. Mitchell says she was just trying to protect her patients. Kevin Sack of <em>The New York Times</em> says much of the case stems from local politics.
• 'Avatar' Success Prods Theaters On 3-D Tech
  The box-office success of <em>Avatar</em> is making movie theaters consider upgrading to 3-D projection systems. Cleveland Cinemas is one chain that has converted some screens to the format. Jon Forman, president of Cleveland Cinemas, talks about converting to 3-D digital.
• After Saints Win, Trash Piles Up
  Thousands of ecstatic fans packed New Orleans' French Quarter on Sunday to watch the Saints win their first Super Bowl. One measure of just how happy Saints fans were is the garbage. Calvin Jones, French Quarter Supervisor for SDT Waste and Debris, says it was like a small Mardi Gras.
• Two New Novels Based On Homer's Work
  Two new novels this month are based on motifs from Homer's great poems, the <em>Iliad</em> and the <em>Odyssey</em>. Alan Cheuse reviews <em>Ransom</em> by David Malouf and <em>The Lost Books of the Odyssey</em> by Zachery Mason.
• Mid-Atlantic Recovers From Record-Setting Snow
  The mid-Atlantic states are trying to put themselves back together again after a record-setting snowstorm over the weekend. Snowfall totals in some parts of Maryland were over three feet; parts of the Washington and Baltimore metro areas got more than two feet.
• Government, Supermarkets Cope With Snowstorm
  The winter storm disrupted work and life in the Washington, D.C., area. John Berry, director of the Office of Personnel Management, says closing the federal government on Monday has an opportunity cost of $100 million. Greg Teneick, spokesman for Safeway grocery stores, says his stores were busy on Thursday and Friday, but the challenge was getting them open once the snow hit.
• Ill. Democrats Seek Lieutenant Governor Candidate
  Democrat Scott Lee Cohen dropped out of the Illinois lieutenant governor race after facing accusations that he had abused his ex-wife and held a knife to the throat of a former girlfriend. The governor, who would have been his running mate, and one of the state's senators had called on Cohen to step aside. The party will try to fix the damage to its statewide ticket.
• Iran Takes Next Step In Uranium Enrichment
  Iran said Monday it will begin enriching uranium to a higher grade than it has in the past. The U.S. and its partners say they are left with few options than to try to tighten the financial screws over Iran's suspected nuclear weapons ambitions.
• Obama Seeks Bipartisan Health Care Summit
  President Obama told CBS on Sunday that he wants to host a bipartisan summit meeting on health care later this month. But Republicans, who have one more Senator on their side, thanks to last month's special election in Massachusetts, have little incentive to cooperate.
• New Data Point To Huntington's Disease Hope
  A study being published Monday offers hope for those with Huntington's disease. The <em>Archives of Neurology</em> has a report about a drug aimed at the serious cognitive deficits that people with Huntington's also suffer.
• Observations Of China, From Behind The Wheel
  In summer 2001, <em>New Yorker</em> Beijing correspondent Peter Hessler got his Chinese driver's license. For the next seven years, he traveled thousands of miles through China, reporting on how the car is transforming the country.