Now Playing

Loading streams...

Podcasts & RSS Feeds

All ContentRSS
View all podcasts & RSS feeds

NPR News

Pages

Food
5:08 am
Sun July 8, 2012

Since When Does Summer Taste Like Doughnuts?

Credit iStockphoto.com
Share
E-mail
Comments
By

Originally published on Sun July 8, 2012 1:59 pm

I get saltwater taffy. You're at an ocean that is made of salt water. But doughnuts?

I'm clearly missing something, because many summer communities have doughnut shops, often open just for the season. Critical summer doughnut mass seems to be concentrated in the north and east — maybe because it's always summer in California, where they have their own different doughnut culture.

The summer shops usually are simple shacks with awnings and screen windows, no inside seating and a picnic table outside in the hot sun.

Read more
U.S.
5:08 am
Sun July 8, 2012

Texas Seeks New Water Supplies Amid Drought

Next imagePrevious image
Credit Joshua Lott / Reuters/Landov
Receding water at Lake Travis near Austin, Texas, has the state concerned about its water supply. In 2011, Lake Travis had the lowest inflow since it was created about 70 years ago.
Credit John Burnett / NPR
Connie Ripley stands 30 feet below the normal water line in front of her house on Lake Travis, which is half full because of the ongoing drought.
Credit John Burnett / NPR
For the first time in their farm's history, brothers G.W. (from left), Derril and Wesley Franzen can't plant rice on their land because the drought forced Texas to cut off their agriculture water.
Share
E-mail
Comments
By

Originally published on Sun July 8, 2012 1:59 pm

The punishing seven-year drought of the 1950s in Texas brought about the modern era of water planning. But the drought of 2011 was the hottest, driest 12 months on record there.

Though only a handful of towns saw their water sources dry up last summer, it got so bad that cities, industries and farmers began to think the unthinkable: Would they run out of water?

Read more
All Songs Considered Blog
5:07 am
Sun July 8, 2012

The Shredder Behind '100 Guitar Licks' Speaks

Credit YouTube
Alex Chadwick, an employee of the Chicago Music Exchange, recorded a 12-minute video that chronicles the history of rock in one take and 100 songs.
Share
E-mail
Comments
By editor

Originally published on Tue September 18, 2012 7:47 pm

Read more
Presidential Race
5:07 am
Sun July 8, 2012

Urgency Reigns At Vote-Focused NAACP Convention

Share
E-mail
Comments
By

Originally published on Sun July 8, 2012 1:59 pm

The NAACP, the nation's oldest civil rights organization, holds its annual convention in Houston this week. As in any election season, the group is focused on voting rights and voter turnout. But this year, there's another issue that's front of mind: the dramatically high rate of unemployment rate among African-Americans.

Presidential candidate Mitt Romney will address the NAACP convention on Wednesday, and Vice President Joe Biden is scheduled to speak the following day. NAACP members are ready to hear their plans.

The Race To Register

Read more
Afghanistan
5:06 am
Sun July 8, 2012

Kabul, A City Stretched Beyond Its Limits

Next imagePrevious image
Credit Ahmad Jamshid / AP
An Afghan boy pushes a wheel on the Naderkhan hill in Kabul, Afghanistan, in May. As more people have crowded to Kabul, the city center has become like a buoy floating in a sea of sprawl.
Credit Rahmat Gul / AP
An Afghan girl stands among garbage near her home in Kabul on May 17. Some 5 million people live in Kabul, but the Afghan capital is woefully short of the infrastructure needed to support the large population.
Credit Sean Carberry / Sean Carberry
Kabul continues to sprawl in all directions, and a brown haze often hangs over the dusty city.
Credit Sean Carberry / Sean Carberry
Poorly constructed houses cling precariously to hillsides in Kabul. Such neighborhoods often lack electricity and running water.
Share
E-mail
Comments
By editor

Originally published on Sun July 8, 2012 7:54 pm

Kabul was once a relatively lush haven for several hundred thousand residents. But decades of war, migration and chaotic sprawl have turned the Afghan capital into a barely functioning dust bowl.

The tired infrastructure is crumbling under the weight of nearly 5 million people. And 70 percent of Kabul is now a cramped, ad hoc development where water, sewers and electricity are in short supply.

Somehow, life goes on. But the city seems to be nearing its breaking point.

Read more

Pages