NPR: Story of the Day
Funny, moving, exceptional, or just offbeat -- the NPR story people will be talking about tomorrow. The best of Morning Edition, All Things Considered and other award-winning NPR programs.
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Rough Road For Military Families With Special Needs
Deployments are usually hard on families. Spouses must become single parents for months on end, managing households with little outside help. These challenges become even more daunting for families with special needs children.
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Gore Urges Obama To Take Lead On Climate Change
In his new book, Al Gore argues that consumers have "all the tools we need" to solve climate change. But unless the United States takes a leadership role, "it would be impossible to resolve this crisis," he tells NPR.
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Differing Views On What U.S. Should Do Next
Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, is calling for a counterinsurgency strategy based on more U.S. troops and more training of afghan troops. Max Boot, of the Council on Foreign Relations, backs this strategy. But Vice President Joe Biden instead wants the focus to be cou …
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Gay-Marriage Advocates Weigh Next Move
Same-sex marriage supporters are vowing to continue their fight after a loss at the polls in Maine on Tuesday. Voters there passed a measure blocking gay marriage, dealing a major blow to the cause of same-sex marriage around the nation.
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Magic And Bird: A Rivalry Gives Way To Friendship
In the 1980s, the "golden era" of the NBA, basketball superstars Larry Bird and Earvin "Magic" Johnson had an intense rivalry that elevated the entire league. But after years of hating each other, they developed a close friendship, chronicled in a new book, When The Game Was Ours.
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Marco Rubio: Conservatives' New Man in Florida?
A former Florida state House speaker, Rubio is challenging former Gov. Charlie Crist for the Republican nomination in next year's Senate race. Rubio is confident and gifted on the stump, but some local GOP officials worry his message is too extreme to attract moderate voters.
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Facing Identity Conflicts, Black Students Fall Behind
Why do middle-class black and Latino teens often have lower test scores and college attendance rates than their white peers? Some researchers suggest media stereotypes might be to blame; others point to a peer culture of underachievement.
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New Cubs Owner Feels Fans' Pain, Promises Relief
There's an old joke: How do you become a millionaire? Have $1 billion — then buy the Chicago Cubs. Well, Tom Ricketts did buy the storied franchise and its famous ballpark, Wrigley Field, spending almost $900 million. And it's a team that hasn't won a World Series for more than a century.
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Cases Show Disparity Of California's 3 Strikes Law
Not everyone who has been put away for 25 years to life under California's three strikes law has committed a violent crime, including two people convicted of stealing. Both challenged the law — and while one was released, the other wasn't as lucky.
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Democrats Unveil Health Care Bill
House Democrats bowed toward their more conservative members with their new health care overhaul bill, which was unveiled Thursday. Throughout the negotiations, Republicans remained firmly on the sidelines, leaving Democrats to cobble together a bill that can satisfy enough of their own members to m …
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Two Torn Families Show Flip Side Of 3 Strikes Law
California voters passed the nation's strictest three strikes law in 1994. The "third strike" carries a mandatory 25 years to life. Mike Reynolds, whose daughter was murdered in 1992, brought the ballot initiative and has fought to uphold it since. But Sue Reams, whose son is in prison because of it …
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Former NBA Coach Switches Gears At Charter School
Joe Carbone is the gym teacher at a small New York Charter School called The Equity Project, based in Manhattan's Washington Heights. The former NBA strength coach has given up the big league to teach gym at the innovative charter school where the kids are only somewhat impressed with his NBA creden …
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Planners Contemplate Phoenix's Post-Boom Future
The vast majority of the Phoenix metropolitan area — 90 percent — was built after 1950. It's been a pell-mell push for growth. But like many places, that growth came to a screeching halt during the recession. Planners now wonder whether the area can build a more sustainable economy.
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Recession Squeezes Mexican Workers In U.S.
The vast majority of undocumented Mexican workers in the U.S. are staying put. They are working less and hoping that an economic recovery restores jobs. Besides, they say, the recession back home in Mexico is even worse. Immigrant economic ties are strong between New York City and the Mexican city o …
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At Great Lakes, Tom Hanks Gets Back To His Roots
The star of The Da Vinci Code and Toy Story visits the Cleveland theater where he got his professional start to speak with host Scott Simon about his early years in theater — and the ups and downs of working in the movies.
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A Brain Battered By Football
The years of hard hits have left former NFL player George Visger with severe memory loss. His doctors warn his brain problems could get worse quickly. While he struggles with his short-term memory, his days as a star high school lineman are vivid and special.
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Accidents Of History Created U.S. Health System
Since the 1960s, Americans have looked at employer-based health insurance as though it were the natural order of things. But economic historians say there was never any central logic at work in building that system.
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On Rural Navajo Reservation, Jobs Are Still Scarce
Many rural tribes of the nation's 500 Indian tribes are struggling despite $3 billion in stimulus money earmarked for Indian country. The money hasn't started flowing, and even when it does, it won't have a huge impact, according to a Harvard economist. Shonto, Ariz., is trying to find "different av …
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Bionic Eye Opens New World Of Sight For Blind
Implanting an electronic retina can help restore some vision to people who've been blinded by retinal diseases, scientists reported Tuesday at the Neuroscience 2009 conference. Other researchers partially restored sight by growing new retina cells from stem cells.
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Ore.'s Fly-Fishing Governor Aims To Hook Green Jobs
Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski, a Democrat who is in his second and final term, has two passions: fly fishing, and bringing the renewable energy jobs of tomorrow to his state, where unemployment currently hovers near 12 percent.
NPR: Story of the Day
