Talk of the Nation on WYPR
Talk of the Nation, the daily call-in talk program from NPR, links the headlines with what's on people's minds, providing a springboard for listeners and experts to exchange ideas and pose critical questions about major events in the news and the world around them. The program reaches more than 3 million listeners a week on more than 200 NPR member stations.
Monday through Thursday, host Neal Conan invites callers to discuss areas of topical interest, including politics and public service, education, religion, music, and healthcare. On Fridays, journalist Ira Flatow hosts the program and explores science-related topics ¿ from subatomic particles and the human genome to the Internet and earthquakes.
To be on the program, listeners may call (800) 989-TALK.
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Nikky Finney won the National Book Award for her poetry collection Head Off & Split in 2011. Two years later, she is on the other side as a judge and the chair of the award panel. As part of TOTN's "Looking Ahead" series, Finney discusses the future of poetry as a profession.
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Are you afraid of the dark? In his latest children's book, The Dark, Daniel Handler — who writes under the pen name Lemony Snicket — takes on darkness itself, with the story of a young boy who confronts his biggest fear.
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Ken Rudin recaps the week in politics. Boston Globe political reporter Jim O'Sullivan previews the special election between Mass. Senate candidates Edward Markey and Gabriel Gomez on June 25. NPR senior Washington editor Ron Elving looks to the future of Congress.
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A New York Federal District Court judge ruled that Fox Searchlight Pictures broke the law by not paying two interns for work on the film Black Swan. As a result, private employers may be considering revising their internship programs, or scrapping them altogether.
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NPR's Neal Conan reads from listener comments on previous show topics, including research into rare diseases and the joys and myths of having an only child.
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Parents have always had to break hard news to kids, from family hardships to national tragedies. Now there are more ways for children to learn about news faster — through 24 hour news and social media. So, what's changed in how parents broach these subjects? How can media help, or hurt?
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Twelve years after the war began, Afghanistan's president announced Tuesday that Afghan forces officially assumed control of security for the country. U.S. and NATO troops will remain until the 2014 deadline, but the Afghan military is now expected to fight without NATO support.
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Nearly half of the 7,000 languages spoken in the world are expected to vanish in the next 100 years. One of them is Athabaskan, a language of the Siletz tribe in the Pacific Northwest. Bud Lane, vice chairman of Siletz tribal council, explains the importance of language diversity.
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Harold Koh, who was a legal architect for President Barack Obama's drone policies, criticized the administration's lack of transparency on its use of drones. In a speech at Oxford University, the former legal adviser for the State Department suggested the U.S. "discipline drones."
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Journalist Judith Schwartz believes that the key to addressing carbon issues and climate change lies beneath our feet. In her book Cows Save The Planet, she argues that proper management of soil could solve a long list of environmental problems.
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From the AIDS movement to the Sept. 11 attacks to Occupy Wall Street, NPR's Margot Adler has covered important issues facing New York City for more than three decades. As part of TOTN's "Looking Ahead" series, Adler reflects on her years in the business and the future of New York City.
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The Supreme Court ruled in June that police can routinely take DNA samples from people who are arrested for comparison against a national database. The decision raises major questions about how law enforcement and criminal justice processes will change.