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Shots - Health Blog
11:01 pm
Thu February 2, 2012

Addicts' Brains May Be Wired At Birth For Less Self-Control

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Credit Simon Jones / Science/AAAS
The red areas show gray matter that is abnormally increased in drug users. Blue shows gray matter that is abnormally decreased in drug users. Yellow shows white matter tracts, called fractional anisotropy or FA. FA is significantly reduced in both the drug users and in their siblings, which suggests that the white matter tracts work less efficiently.
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Originally published on Tue February 7, 2012 4:37 pm

Many addicts inherit a brain that has trouble just saying no to drugs.

A study in Science finds that cocaine addicts have abnormalities in areas of the brain involved in self-control. And these abnormalities appear to predate any drug abuse.

The study, done by a team at the University of Cambridge in the U.K., looked at 50 pairs of siblings. One member of each pair was a cocaine addict. The other had no history of drug abuse.

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Your Money
11:01 pm
Thu February 2, 2012

Cheap Chic: Couture Comes To Discount Retailers

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Credit Target
A design by Jason Wu, who will launch a limited-edition line for Target on Feb. 5. Wu is among the latest high-end designers to work with a discount retailer.
Credit Selena Simmons-Duffin / NPR
When luxury label Versace launched a collection for H&M last November, customers lined up on the sidewalk to wait for the chain's Washington, D.C., store to open.
Credit Paul Weber / Target
Design house Missoni created this bicycle and other products for Target last year. On the day of the launch, a huge spike in traffic crashed the retailer's website.
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By Asma Khalid

On Feb. 5, fashion designer Jason Wu is launching a limited-edition line for Target. Wu became famous for designing Michelle Obama's inaugural gown. He's the latest high-end designer to partner with a mainstream retailer and offer his chic couture at cheap prices for the masses.

On a bitterly cold morning in Washington, D.C., last November, hundreds of fashionistas flooded the street in front of the low-priced fashion chain H&M. Italian luxury label Versace was launching a collection there, and customers were waiting for the doors to open.

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Shots - Health Blog
5:40 pm
Thu February 2, 2012

As Komen Defends Itself, Planned Parenthood Rakes In Substitute Funds

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Originally published on Fri February 3, 2012 2:03 pm

Leaders of the breast-cancer charity Susan G. Komen for the Cure tried in vain Thursday to contain the controversy stemming from its decision to end its grants to Planned Parenthood.

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Fine Art
5:05 pm
Thu February 2, 2012

The Mona Lisa's Twin Painting Discovered

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Credit Jean-Pierre Muller / Getty Images
The original Mona Lisa is on permanent display at the the Musee du Louvre in Paris.
Credit Javier Soriano / Getty Images
Conservators at the Museo del Prado in Madrid recently discovered that this copy of the Mona Lisa was painted by a pupil working alongside Leonardo da Vinci.
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By NPR Staff

The Mona Lisa is one of the most enigmatic and iconic pieces of Western art. It has inspired countless copies, but one replica at the Madrid's Museo del Prado is generating its own buzz: conservators say that it was painted at the same time as the original — and possibly by one of the master's pupils, perhaps even a lover.

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U.S.
4:50 pm
Thu February 2, 2012

Families Suffer Through Chicago Morgue Backlog

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Credit Scott Olson / Getty Images
Workers fill a pauper's grave at Homewood Memorial Gardens, south of Chicago, with remains from the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office, which is now catching up on its backlog of indigent burials.
Credit David Schaper / NPR
Sisters Bernice Terry (from left), Kim Dent and Sheila Hostetler hold pictures of their brother, Brian Warren, from his memorial service as well as a flier they distributed during the more than two weeks they believed he was missing.
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Originally published on Thu February 2, 2012 6:08 pm

Losing a loved one in any circumstance can be a painful experience, but for some families in Chicago, that pain is being compounded by what's been happening at the Cook County morgue in recent weeks. In the words of one observer, it's "a moral travesty."

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It's All Politics
4:04 pm
Thu February 2, 2012

Axelrod Argues Obama Economic Policies Worked, Though There's More To Do

Credit Brian Kersey / AP
David Axelrod.
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David Axelrod, President Obama's political strategist, has what appears to be — from outside the president's re-election campaign, at least — a problem.

Back in early 2009, when the Obama presidency was still brand new, the president gave that NBC News interview in which he talked about his administration being a "one-term proposition" if the economy didn't snap back in time for his re-election.

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Fresh Air Weekend
1:02 pm
Thu February 2, 2012

Fresh Air Weekend: Baratunde, Stew, Leonard Cohen

Credit Courtesy of the author
Baratunde Thurston is an American comedian and the digital director of The Onion. He co-founded the black political blog Jack & Jill Politics. He is also a prolific tweeter.
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By editor

Fresh Air Weekend highlights some of the best interviews and reviews from past weeks, and new program elements specially paced for weekends. Our weekend show emphasizes interviews with writers, filmmakers, actors, and musicians, and often includes excerpts from live in-studio concerts. This week:

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Economy
12:00 pm
Thu February 2, 2012

The Future Of America's Manufacturing Jobs

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Transcript

NEAL CONAN, HOST:

This is TALK OF THE NATION. I'm Neal Conan in Washington. The good news, even in the recession, came from American manufacturing. Output is up one-third over the past decade. But over just about that same period of time, six million manufacturing jobs disappeared. About as many people work in manufacturing now as did at the end of the Depression, though our population has more than doubled.

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Sports
12:00 pm
Thu February 2, 2012

Mike Pesca's Guide To Super Bowl XLVI

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Transcript

NEAL CONAN, HOST:

After a few more days of escalating hoopla, the Super Bowl between the New York Giants and the New England Patriots kicks off on Sunday evening, but whether you've got a small financial interest in the game or if you're just waiting for the ads, there are stories on the field in Indianapolis - the Brady legacy, salsa dancer Victor Cruz, hometown boy Mathias Kiwanuka, and of course the medical epic of the high-ankle sprain. What story will you follow in Super Bowl XLVI?

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Books
12:00 pm
Thu February 2, 2012

Celebrating The Legacy Of Langston Hughes

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NEAL CONAN, HOST:

This is TALK OF THE NATION. I'm Neal Conan in Washington. From the Harlem Renaissance to black power, Langston Hughes spoke to the life of African-Americans. The neglected son of a famous abolitionist family, he immersed himself in books. Eighteen years old and just out of high school, he saw sunset on the muddy Mississippi from a train and wrote the poem that introduced the world to Langston Hughes, "The Negro Speaks of Rivers."

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