Opinion : NPR

The World's Architecture: An Uninspiring Identity?

January 31, 2007 • Philosopher Alain de Botton bemoans the way much of the architecture in the world looks the same, wherever one goes. De Botton is the author of The Architecture of Happiness.

The World's Architecture: An Uninspiring Identity?

Listen

Download
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/7104712/7104715" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Transcript

How to Get Potential In-Laws On Your Side

January 31, 2007 • Commentator Lori Gottlieb likens winning potential in-laws over to a political campaign. After years in the dating trenches and a couple of near-misses at the altar, she offers this advice.

How to Get Potential In-Laws On Your Side

Listen

Download
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/7104719/7104721" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Transcript

Political Junkie

Tough Battles for Governor Highlight of '07 Races

January 31, 2007 • Obama, McCain, Hillary, Rudy — they're not going away any time soon. There's plenty to say, and plenty of time to say it. Meanwhile, below the radar is something called the 2007 elections, many of which are pretty compelling. And they are coming up pretty soon.

LL Cool J and the Buffest Generation

January 31, 2007 • LL Cool J's new workout book shows that the hip-hop generation is aging gracefully. Commentator Jimi Izrael is a commentator for the Web site "AOL Black Voices."

LL Cool J and the Buffest Generation

Listen

Download
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/7094809/7094810" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Transcript

Analysis

Roundtable: New Orleans Schools, Fla. Hazing Law

January 31, 2007 • Tony Cox is joined by John McWhorter, Manhattan Institute senior fellow in public policy; E.R. Shipp, Hofstra University journalism professor; and Jeff Obafemi Carr, host of the radio show Freestyle. They talk about the devastating effect Hurricane Katrina has had on the New Orleans educational system; whether New Orleans rebuilding efforts were short-changed by the federal government, and a follow-up on the new fraternity hazing law in Florida.

Roundtable: New Orleans Schools, Fla. Hazing Law

Listen

Download
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/7094804/7094807" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Transcript

Sweetness And Light

The Super Bowl, Testing Survival Instincts

January 31, 2007 • Forget all the hype about the announcers, the commercials and the half-time show. There's another reason people tune in to the Super Bowl: they want to see who survives. It's the great American reality show.

The Super Bowl, Testing Survival Instincts

Listen

Download
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/7092792/7092793" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Transcript

Koppel On The News

How Honest Is the Debate over Iraq?

January 31, 2007 • An examination of reasons for pulling U.S. troops from Iraq exposes a number of problems with how the debate over the war is being conducted.

How Honest Is the Debate over Iraq?

Listen

Download
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/7092775/7092776" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Transcript

A Return Home Leads to New Questions on Race

January 30, 2007 • Ravi Howard spent the last few years investigating a murder that happened in Mobile, Ala., where Howard is originally from. He had gone to school up North and made a home there, but found himself pulled back to the South to raise a family. The same thing is happening to many of his friends, too.

A Return Home Leads to New Questions on Race

Listen

Download
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/7085657/7085658" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Transcript

SoundClips: Audio Experiences

A Stone Tower That Vibrates with Sound

January 30, 2007 • Listener Jim Milstein of Pagosa Springs, Colo., built a stone tower. When he strums the steel guard rails inside, the parts of the cylindrical structure vibrate, making the whole thing a musical instrument.

A Stone Tower That Vibrates with Sound

Listen

Download
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/7085629/7085630" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Transcript

Analysis

Talabani's Role in Iraq: Mr. Big?

January 30, 2007 • Robert Siegel talks with New Yorker writer Jon Lee Anderson about his profile of the Iraqi president, Jalal Talabani. Titled "Mr. Big," the piece examines Talabani's impressive management of his numerous and often conflicting allegiances — including those with the United States and Iran.

Talabani's Role in Iraq: Mr. Big?

Listen

Download
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/7085624/7085627" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Transcript

Hearing Voices

Saving the World in Ethiopia: One Child at a Time

January 30, 2007 • Independent producer Jake Warga visits a friend who is doing health-relief work in Ethiopia. The woman makes sacrifices and finds herself in odd situations. To Warga, she is a real –- flawed — hero.

Saving the World in Ethiopia: One Child at a Time

Listen

Download
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/7085617/7085619" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Transcript

From Our Listeners

Letters: State of the Union, Privacy and Classical Radio

January 30, 2007 • Listeners comment on the President's State of the Union address, privacy and the growing number of surveillance cameras in the country, and classical music radio stations.

Letters: State of the Union, Privacy and Classical Radio

Listen

Download
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/7082092/7082093" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Transcript

The Wealth of Resources

January 30, 2007 • An assistant professor of Political Science at Johns Hopkins University shares a recent string of events that left him and his family falling on hard times.

The Wealth of Resources

Listen

Download
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/7079886/7079887" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Transcript

What Can We Learn from Barbaro's Story?

January 30, 2007 • The author of a children's book about the thoroughbred racehorse Barbaro says he was one of a kind. She hopes fans will take lessons from the life and death of a true champion.

What Can We Learn from Barbaro's Story?

Listen

Download
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/7077207/7077208" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Transcript

Analysis

Iran Plays Delicate Game in Forging Ties with Iraq

January 30, 2007 • Iran is developing trade and diplomatic ties with Iraq ... and offering military and security support to Iraqi forces. Yet Shiite-dominated Iran's involvement in Iraq is alarming Sunni-dominated neighbors in the Middle East.

Iran Plays Delicate Game in Forging Ties with Iraq

Listen

Download
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/7077198/7077199" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Transcript