Search results for

Essayist Shoba Narayan recalls spending "quality time" with family on the Internet...where they recently held a wake for a deceased relative.

Jacki talks to Vikki Spruill, executive director of the environmental group Seaweb, about the group's decision to release chefs from their pledge to not serve swordfish. Due to the recent dwindling of the swordfish population, dropping to alarming levels, environmental groups spent the past two years convincing more than 700 chefs to take swordfish off their menus. Spruill explains why the ban has been lifted.

President Clinton spent the weekend in Los Angeles hobnobbing with celebrities and raising money for his Presidential Library, as well as appearing at functions that raised money for wife Hillary's Senate campaign. NPR's Brian Naylor reports from Los Angeles on whether the President is stealing thunder from Gore's impending arrival at this week's Democratic National Convention.

This week Tipper Gore, will introduce her husband, Vice President Al Gore, the presumptive presidential candidate, at the Democratic National Convention. NPR's Pam Fessler takes a look into the life of the woman who may be the next First Lady.

UN Peacekeeping forces have begun to deploy along Israel's the border with Lebanon. Since the Israeli troop pull-out earlier this year, the border strip had been under the control of the Hizbollah Guerillas. Reporter Kate Seelye has more on what the arrival of peaccekeeping forces mean for the people of Southern Lebanon.

Jazz trumpeter and singer extraordinaire Louis Armstrong was born on this day in 1901, in New Orleans, Louisiana. We hear a note on his accomplishments on the 99th anniversary of his birthdate.

Commentator Gary Beach argues a pending bill to grant H1B visas to an additional 200,000 mostly Asian high tech workers won't solve the problem of a persistent shortage. He says drawing high tech workers from Asia also antagonizes that region, which needs people to start its own industries.

Linda talks sportswriter Stefan Fatsis about the NBA, its free agents, and salary caps. Grant Hill, for example, signed on with the Orlando Magic for a 97-million-dollar contract, rather than stay with the Detroit Pistons for 100-million-dollars. Stefan explains why Hill's making less as a free agent.

NPR's Michele Kelemen reports from Moscow that the collapse of the Soviet sports establishment --and the financial hardships that accompanied it -- haven't dampened the desire of Russian athletes to compete. Even in the frozen reaches of Siberia, they're practicing beach volleyball...hoping one day to play on an actual beach and, perhaps, make it into the Olympics!

NPR's Brooke Gladstone reports on how the nation's broadcasters and cable channels covered the Republican National Convention, and who watched.

NPR's Sylvia Poggioli reports from Rome that L'Unita, the official mouthpiece of the Italian communist party, folded this month amid dwindling sales and mounting debt. At the end of the Cold War, the Italian Communist party changed its name, but even so the Italian left lost its political clout. With the closing of L'Unita, Italy has lost a cultural institution that for decades featured the writings of leading western intellectuals, as well as East European dissidents.

Linda talks with Washington Post Columnist and Brookings Institution Senior Fellow E.J. Dionne, and Weekly Standard Senior Editor David Brooks, who were both in Philadelphia for the Republican Convention.

We hear an excerpt from Vice President Al Gore's campaign appearance in Chicago today, where he responded to charges made by Republicans at their convention that the last eight years have been wasted by the Clinton-Gore administration.

Commentator Douglas Rushkoff says if the endless field of jokes, trivia and information on the Web is good for anything, it's good for starting conversations.

NPR's Michael Sullivan reports that the Taliban, which governs most of Afghanistan, has lost much of the goodwill it enjoyed when it came to power six years ago. The Afghan people initially thought the Taliban would bring peace and stability to a country engulfed by war. But the Taliban has continued to pursue an offensive against the military alliance that still controls the northern part of the country. The Taliban also has failed to address the problems that make life in Afghanistan a misery for most people. The economy is in shambles, opium production is rampant and the strict version of Islamic law enforced by the Taliban has greatly restricted the lives of women who previously had enjoyed wide freedom.

NPR's Julie McCarthy reports on today's lavish celebrations of the 100th birthday of the Queen Mother. The Queen Mum is still adored by millions of Britons who remember her refusal to leave London during the blitz. But today's extravagant festivities have prompted more criticism of the royals and the institution of the monarchy.

Writer and essayist Beverly Donofrio made a pilgrimage to Mexico from Los Angeles last year and she found redemption in part by hearing a song by Aaron Neville on her car's cassette tape machine. Donofrio's latest book is Looking for Mary, or The Blessed Mother and Me.

Host Jacki Lyden talks with journalist Jim Robbins about the latest developments in the wildfires in Montana. Evacuation orders were lifted south of Helena and as many as 270 families can return home. FEMA director James Lee Witt toured fire damage yesterday and promised federal money. However, danger still looms for many families just outside of Helena including that of Jim Robbins. Robbins , who has been reporting on the fires for the New York Times. New fires are just eight miles from his door.

More and more people are leaving the suburbs behind for the conveniences of urban life in America's cities. The middle class return is having a negative effect, some say an inevitable effect on some of the people who never left. NPR's Byron Henderson reports.

A class action lawsuit was launched today against Bridgestone/Firestone. It's likely to be the first of many such suits following the recall last week of more than six-million tires. The tires are suspected of causing dozens of road deaths and NPR's Jackie Northam reports the recall is sparking a fusillade of blame-trading.