Accessibility links
U.S. News and National Top Stories NPR coverage of national news, U.S. politics, elections, business, arts, culture, health and science, and technology. Subscribe to the NPR Nation RSS feed.

National

Friday

Navy Lieutenant Swims To Gold In London Paralympics, Months After Injury

U.S. swimmer Bradley Snyder poses with his gold medal after winning the men's 100m freestyle - S11 final at the London 2012 Paralympic Games. Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images

The Two-Way

Navy Lieutenant Swims To Gold In London Paralympics, Months After Injury

Less than one year after being blinded by an explosion in Afghanistan, U.S. swimmer Bradley Snyder has won a gold medal in the men's 100m freestyle at the 2012 Paralympics. The medal came hours after Snyder set a Paralympic record in a preliminary heat at the London Aquatic Center.

From A Single Charter School, A Movement Grows

City Academy in St. Paul, Minn., became the nation's first charter school in 1992. Its founders were convinced troubled students would thrive in a small school with rigorous instruction and caring teachers. The school inspired similar projects nationwide, and now there are 5,600 schools in 41 states.

From A Single Charter School, A Movement Grows

Listen · 6:26
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/160409742/160457787" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Battle Over Michigan's New Swine Rules Goes Hog Wild

A Russian sow on Mark Baker's farm. Four other parties have joined Baker's lawsuit against the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Courtesy of Long Haul Productions hide caption

toggle caption
Courtesy of Long Haul Productions

The Salt

Battle Over Michigan's New Swine Rules Goes Hog Wild

Michigan officials and pig farmers are locked in an escalating debate over new rules that make wild boars illegal in the state. The state maintains that the animals can destroy natural ecosystems, but some farmers say that the rules will destroy their livelihoods.

Battle Over Michigan's New Swine Rules Goes Hog Wild

Listen · 11:21
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/160394513/160400091" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
What's A Charter School If Not A Game Changer?

In less than 20 years, charter schools have grown to the point where more than 2 million students will be attending this fall. But not all of the schools are living up to expectations. iStockphoto.com hide caption

toggle caption
iStockphoto.com

Education

What's A Charter School If Not A Game Changer?

The publicly funded, privately run schools are at a crossroads. The initial goal was to experiment with alternative ways of educating children, but as charter schools spread rapidly, not all are making the intended impact.

What's A Charter School If Not A Game Changer?

Listen · 6:17
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/160401996/160426017" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Gas Prices Expected To Retreat As Isaac Fades

A man fills his gas tank Wednesday in Lyndhurst, Ohio. Gas prices surged as Isaac approached, but are expected to ease after Labor Day. Tony Dejak/AP hide caption

toggle caption
Tony Dejak/AP

Gas Prices Expected To Retreat As Isaac Fades

With the remnants of Isaac dissipating, economists are saying the storm's national economic impact will be relatively muted and short-lived. After the Labor Day weekend, gasoline prices are expected to begin easing down from their storm-related run-up.

Buffalo Cleans Up From Dirty Industrial Past

City leaders are attempting to increase public access to Buffalo's waterways, long blocked by aging industrial ruins and polluted land. Daniel Robison for NPR hide caption

toggle caption
Daniel Robison for NPR

Buffalo Cleans Up From Dirty Industrial Past

The Western New York Public Broadcasting Association

Waterfront revitalization projects in this upstate New York area are breathing new life into the once-thriving port city. Green space development and cleanup efforts to remove the toxic remnants of the city's glory days are bringing people and wildlife back to the harbor.

Buffalo Cleans Up From Dirty Industrial Past

Listen · 4:02
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/160393704/160441140" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
It's All Politics, Aug. 30, 2012
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

'It's All Politics': NPR's Weekly News Roundup

It's All Politics, Aug. 30, 2012

NPR's Ron Elving and Ken Rudin discuss highlights of the Republican National Convention — the speeches, the delegates, and what it all means for this year's election. In other news, Rep. Ben Quayle loses the GOP congressional primary in Arizona. Does that signal the end of his political career?

last week's podcast

  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/160386608/160346991" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Right-Wing Filmmaker: Obama's An Anti-Colonialist

Movie poster for 2016: Obama's America. Rocky Mountain Pictures hide caption

toggle caption
Rocky Mountain Pictures

Movie Interviews

Right-Wing Filmmaker: Obama's An Anti-Colonialist

Conservative author Dinesh D'Souza directed and stars in the new movie, 2016: Obama's America. The film, which proposes that the president is weakening the country deliberately, has earned $12.4 million, making it the sixth highest grossing political documentary of all time.

Right-Wing Filmmaker: Obama's An Anti-Colonialist

Listen · 5:44
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/160389675/160441139" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript