archive

October 30, 2012 Sandy, which knocked out power to some 8 million people in 18 states, painted a bull's-eye on the oldest and most fragile part of the nation's power grid. Engineering experts say the grid is inherently vulnerable even as damaging weather events seem to be occurring more frequently.

Summary

September 2, 2011 We're with the East Coast whiners. There was serious impact. But the talk of the nation remains divided on the news media's handling.

Summary

September 2, 2011 While hundreds of thousands of people are still working to recover from last weekend's major weather event (Hurricane Irene) residents of Louisiana, Mississippi and neighboring states are preparing for a tropical storm.

Summary

September 1, 2011 "Look in the eyes of Vermonters who've lost their homes, who've lost their businesses, who've seen their husbands and children killed by the storm and see the kind of response that FEMA is giving us," says Democrat Peter Shumlin.

Summary

September 1, 2011 In the first hour of Talk of the Nation, the future of Afghanistan, and the media coverage of Hurricane Irene. In the second hour, the author of Blur talks about the blurred line between news and spin, and what can be learned from romantic comedies.

Summary

September 1, 2011 FEMA chief tells The Wall Street Journal that one way to gauge a disaster's damage is to track how quickly Waffle House restaurants reopen.

Summary

August 31, 2011 At this point the roads are only for use by emergency vehicles and National Guard delivery trucks. Helicopters will continue to bring supplies to stricken communities.

Summary

August 31, 2011 When the New York City mayor switched to Spanish during his Hurricane Irene-related news conferences, many found his efforts rather amusing. And they've flocked to Twitter to have some fun at his expense. Bloomberg, or @ElBloombito, is OK with that.

Summary

August 31, 2011 The idea that money spent on fixing the billions in damages will be good for the overall economy is known as the "broken window fallacy," Planet Money's Adam Davidson says. In reality, spending is just shifted around.

Summary

ListenPlaylist

August 30, 2011 Meanwhile, flood waters are still rising in several Northeastern states. Vermont has been hit particularly hard.

Summary

ListenPlaylist

August 29, 2011 As they did during Hurricane Isabel in 2003, the Washington-area blizzards in 2009-10 and other extreme weather events, soldiers of The Old Guard continued to march at Arlington National Cemetery's Tomb of the Unknowns.

Summary

August 29, 2011 "It's a system of bureaucratic central economic planning, which is a policy that is deeply flawed," the congressman and Republican presidential candidate says.

Summary

August 29, 2011 So far as we know, know prominent politicians along the East Coast appear to have weathered Hurricane Irene; it doesn't appear Irene has harmed any of their careers like Hurricane Katrina hurt others. They appear to have learned the 2005 hurricane's lessons well.

Summary