NPR News

Pages

It's All Politics
3:33 pm
Thu October 4, 2012

Obama's Top Advisers Have Dissed His Debate Chops Before

Originally published on Thu October 4, 2012 4:03 pm

Despite President Obama's celebrated gift for oratory, the Obama supporters least surprised by his underwhelming performance against Mitt Romney may have been two of his top advisers.

Senior strategists David Plouffe and David Axelrod have long doubted Obama's debating skills. Their concerns date back to the 2008 presidential campaign, as Plouffe wrote in his book, The Audacity to Win. He put it plainly: "Historically, Obama was not a strong debater."

Read more
JazzSet
3:32 pm
Thu October 4, 2012

Bill Charlap And Renee Rosnes On JazzSet

Credit Courtesy of the artist
Bill Charlap and Renee Rosnes.

Originally published on Wed December 12, 2012 1:37 pm

From the Family Theater at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., it's Renee Rosnes on the left, Bill Charlap on the right and — in Charlap's words — "a unique sound that is the sum of both of us."

Read more
Author Interviews
2:58 pm
Thu October 4, 2012

Colbert: 'Re-Becoming' The Nation We Always Were

Originally published on Tue October 9, 2012 9:56 am

Stephen Colbert has no idea how other news pundits find time to write books. But he felt certain that his character on his Comedy Central show, The Colbert Report, needed to have another one.

"My character is based on news punditry, the masters of opinion in cable news, and they all have books," he tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross. "We don't have time to write a book and feed and wash ourselves, so something has to go out the window. And [for me] it was family, friends and hygiene for the past year."

Read more
Planet Money
2:16 pm
Thu October 4, 2012

The Accountant Who Changed The World

Originally published on Fri October 5, 2012 3:04 pm

The story of the birth of accounting begins with numbers. In the 1400s, much of Europe was still using Roman numerals, and finding it really hard to easily add or subtract. (Try adding MCVI to XCIV.)

But fortunately, Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, 4, etc.) started catching on, and with those numbers, merchants in Venice developed a revolutionary system we now call "double-entry" bookkeeping. This is how it works:

Read more
Shots - Health Blog
1:28 pm
Thu October 4, 2012

Scientists Create Fertile Eggs From Mouse Stem Cells

Credit Katsuhiko Hayashi
Each of these mouse pups was born from an egg scientists created using embryonic stem cells. It's possible the technology could change future treatment for human infertility.

Originally published on Thu October 4, 2012 7:45 pm

Scientists in Japan report they have created eggs from stem cells in a mammal for the first time. And the researchers went on to breed healthy offspring from the eggs they created.

While the experiments involved mice, the work is being met with excitement — and questions — about doing the same thing for humans someday.

Read more

Pages