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National Security
11:47 am
Wed November 14, 2012

What's The Punishment For Adultery These Days?

Originally published on Thu November 15, 2012 7:35 am

A half-century ago, President John Kennedy could count on the press to be part of a conspiracy of silence when it came to his marital infidelities.

Today, as the David Petraeus case illustrates, it's a mad dash to see who can publish the latest salacious details when a famous, rich or powerful person is publicly entangled in an affair.

There's no rewinding the clock when it comes to exposing private indiscretions of public figures. But what are the ground rules these days when it comes to punishment and redemption?

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World
11:46 am
Wed November 14, 2012

U.S. Rethinks Security As Mideast Oil Imports Drop

Originally published on Wed November 14, 2012 4:00 pm

Within the next two decades, the United States may barely need any oil from the Persian Gulf, due in large part to increased domestic production. That dramatic shift could shake the foundation of U.S. interests in the Middle East.

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Author Interviews
11:41 am
Wed November 14, 2012

A Young Reporter Chronicles Her 'Brain On Fire'

Credit Julie Stapen / Free Press
Susannah Cahalan is a reporter and book reviewer at the New York Post.

Originally published on Wed November 14, 2012 2:47 pm

In 2009, Susannah Cahalan was a healthy 24-year-old reporter for the New York Post, when she began to experience numbness, paranoia, sensitivity to light and erratic behavior. Grasping for an answer, Cahalan asked herself as it was happening, "Am I just bad at my job — is that why? Is the pressure of it getting to me? Is it a new relationship?"

But Cahalan only got worse — she began to experience seizures, hallucinations, increasingly psychotic behavior and even catatonia. Her symptoms frightened family members and baffled a series of doctors.

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Book Reviews
11:28 am
Wed November 14, 2012

Ian McEwan's 'Sweet Tooth' Leaves A Sour Taste

Originally published on Wed November 14, 2012 1:49 pm

Ian McEwan's Sweet Tooth is that oddest of literary achievements: an ingenious novel that I compulsively read, intellectually admired and increasingly hated. By the time I got to McEwan's last sneer of a plot twist, I felt that reading Sweet Tooth is the closest I ever want to come to the experience of watching a snuff film. Think that's harsh? Open up Sweet Tooth and find out what McEwan thinks of you, Dear Reader, particularly if you're a woman, as most readers of fiction are.

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Law
11:17 am
Wed November 14, 2012

What Lies Ahead In The Same-Sex Marriage Debate

Originally published on Wed November 14, 2012 11:20 am

Maine, Maryland, and Washington passed same-sex marriage on the ballot in the 2012 election. Minnesotans struck down a proposed constitutional amendment that would define marriage as the union of a man and a woman. Now, people on both sides of the issue are reevaluating their strategies.

Politics
11:11 am
Wed November 14, 2012

Lessons From The 2012 Election

President Barack Obama takes questions from reporters at the White House today, in his first press conference since March. NPR's Ken Rudin and political strategists Vin Weber, a former Republican congressman, and Anna Greenberg, a democratic pollster, analyze the President's remarks.

Sports
10:45 am
Wed November 14, 2012

Out of Bounds: High Schools Should Ban Football

Originally published on Wed November 14, 2012 11:39 am

Transcript

NEAL CONAN, HOST:

There's been plenty of discussion about head injuries in professional football, new equipment, new lawsuits and new rules as well. Inevitably, the conversation came to include high schools, most prominently when a school board member in - near Philadelphia proposed to end the football program. There's also been, sometimes, angry pushback. Last month, the discussion opened again in Dover, New Hampshire.

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The Two-Way
10:34 am
Wed November 14, 2012

Protests, Strikes Spread Across Europe In Opposition To Austerity Measures

Originally published on Wed November 14, 2012 11:32 am

From Spain and Portugal to Greece and Italy and on north to Belgium and Germany, strikes and protests spread across Europe today.

While this is the first time that the protests have gone pan-European, the message hasn't changed: Demonstrators were protesting the austerity measures put in place by many European countries to bring an end to the sovereign debt crisis that has dogged the continent.

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Shots - Health News
10:28 am
Wed November 14, 2012

Signs Of Drug-Resistant Malaria Emerge In Vietnam And Myanmar

Credit Ben de la Cruz / NPR
Health workers take a blood sample from an infant to test for the malaria at a clinic along the border between Thailand and Myanmar.

Last spring, the global health community got some alarming news about its last, best treatment for malaria. The artemisinin-based drugs were losing their potency at two different places in Southeast Asia: in western Cambodia and along the border between Thailand and Myanmar.

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The Two-Way
10:14 am
Wed November 14, 2012

Live Blog: President Obama's News Conference

Credit Mandel Ngan / AFP/Getty Images
President Obama during his news conference at the White House today.

Originally published on Wed November 14, 2012 6:44 pm

  • Listen to NPR Coverage of the News Conference

Eight days after his re-election — with the fiscal cliff looming, questions being raised about the deadly attack on the U.S.

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