Search results for

Host Jacki Lyden talks with NPR's Julie Rovner about the health care proposals from presidential candidates Al Gore and George W. Bush. Rovner says that while Universal Health Care Coverage was the buzz word in health care reform some years ago, there's been little mention of it this election season - except from Green Party candidate Ralph Nader.

Host Jacki Lyden talks with NPR science reporter David Kestenbaum about whether or not the hottest item of Olympic clothing will really help athletes swim faster or just make them look faster.

NPR reporter Martin Kaste visits the beachs of Copacabana and Ipanema where Brazil's beach volleyball teams practice for the Olympics. The women's team is the favorite going into the games, which will be played for the first time this year on real sand.

US immigration is at its highest level in decades. Many of those are arriving are women and children -- and groups that work with domestic violence shelters say they are increasingly receiving pleas for help from these women. This week, the Senate takes up the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act, which strengthens previous domestic violence legisation and gives refuge, counseling and legal status to foreign women married to American citizens or residents. Host Jacki Lyden follows one woman's journey from New Delhi to New York, from abused bride and spouse to safety and self-empowerment. This piece was produced by Davar Ardalan. There is more on our special page.

Most people don't think of rivers when they think of Los Angeles, but in fact, the city does have one. And as Laura Sydell reports, activists are working hard to beautify that body of water which has become much more closely associated with scary scenes in movies than a bucolic retreat for local residents.

One member of Congress has apparently lost his bid for re-nomination in yesterday's primary. New York's Michael Forbes, who was elected in the Republican sweep of 1994 and who voted to impeach President Clinton, switched to the Democratic Party last year following an ongoing feud with GOP leaders in Washington. Now it looks as if Forbes has been voted out of office by members of his new party. If the count does not change, Forbes was defeated by Regina Seltzer, a 71-year-old former librarian who raised just 40-thousand-dollars to Forbes' one-point-four million. Beth Fertig from member station WNYC reports on the result, which no one saw coming.

Commentator Marion Roach recalls the first year she rode on a float in Troy, New York's annual Uncle Sam Parade. Sam Wilson is the local man who became known as Uncle Sam for his role in providing provisions to troops in the war of 1812. Roach found herself tossing candy to ungrateful people along the parade route, who simply tossed it back.

NPR's Eric Westervelt reports scores of abandoned houses in Philadelphia have crumbled in recent weeks, and engineers say many more are near collapse. The problem has sparked a spate of emergency demolition. Some residents fear their neighborhoods will never be the same.

Libertarian Candidate Harry Browne speaking in Iowa City, Iowa last night explained he is running for President because he wants to get government out of people's lives. Browne says there should be no income tax, no government oversight of education or wages. He believes individuals should decide for themselves.

Fired nuclear scientist Wen Ho Lee is free after pleading guilty to one count of mishandling national defense information at Los Alamos nuclear laboratory. He has also agreed to tell the federal government in detail what he did with the data. Lee was sentenced to time served and released. NPR's Guy Raz reports.