It's often assumed that even in tough times, lawyers can find good jobs. But that proposition is being overturned by a tight legal market, and by a glut of graduates.
The nation's law schools are facing growing pressure to be more upfront about their graduates' job prospects. Many students say they were lured in by juicy job numbers, but when they got out, all they ended up with is massive debt.
Reaching Behind Bars:Prison Show host and former inmate David Babb takes to the air every Friday night at 9 p.m. to deliver news about the Texas penal system and to take calls from listeners, who often have messages for their incarcerated loved ones.
Credit Eric Kayne / for NPR
John Chris Hernandez listens to The Prison Show from his cell at the Eastham Unit penitentiary in East Texas. Hernandez is currently serving a life sentence for murder.
Credit Eric Kayne / For NPR
Janice Oeffner places a ring on the finger of Dawn Williams during an on-air proxy wedding between Williams and a Texas inmate. On-air proxy weddings have become so common that The Prison Show has a wedding coordinator to help guide couples through the paperwork.
Every Friday at 9 p.m., thousands of prisoners across East Texas settle into their bunks, pull out their hand-held radios and tune in to The Prison Show, the only radio show in the country that caters to prisoners and the families they've left behind.
These days, memoirs are often the target of contempt. A scathing slam in New York Times Book Review this year inveighed against "oversharing"; and in the New Yorker, the memoirist was likened to "a drunken guest at a wedding... motivated by an overpowering need to be the center of attention." If the narrative deals with socially unacceptable matters like abuse, addiction, family dysfunction, or even poverty, the scorn gets even thicker.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is considering a bill that would eliminate the state's 6 percent tax on cosmetic medical procedures like Botox by July 2013.
If you watch much TV, you probably know that the Real Housewives of New Jersey are no strangers to the surgeon's knife. And if the state's plastic surgeons get their way, those housewives may be able to save a few dollars on their next procedure.
New Jersey's legislature has voted to phase out the so-called "Botax" — a 6 percent tax on cosmetic surgery and elective procedures like Botox — and the bill is currently on Gov. Chris Christie's desk for approval.
The search for survivors of the Costa Concordia disaster continues Thursday in Giglio Porto, Italy. At least 11 people were killed after the vessel ran aground last week. More than 20 people are still missing.
Credit DigitalGlobe / AP
This satellite image taken Tuesday shows the hulk of the luxury ship.
Credit Laura Lezza / Getty Images
Workers prepare to recover fuel from the damaged ship on Wednesday. The ship was carrying about a half-million gallons of fuel. So far, there is no sign that it has leaked.
Credit Giacomo Aprili / AP
Coast Guard Capt. Gregorio De Falco (center) arrives Tuesday at the Grosseto court in Italy for a hearing. In a dramatic phone conversation, De Falco was heard ordering Francesco Schettino, the captain of the stricken cruise liner, to get back onboard and oversee the evacuation.
Credit Giacomo Aprili / AP
Capt. Francesco Schettino (right) is taken into custody by police in Porto Santo Stefano, Italy, on Jan. 14. Schettino was released Tuesday and is under house arrest in southern Italy. He is being investigated on possible manslaughter charges and abandoning his ship.
Credit Guardia di Finanza / AP
This photo, released by the Italian border police, shows the Costa Concordia last week, after it ran aground.
Credit Gregorio Borgia / AP
Survivors were transported by ferry to Porto Santo Stefano, Italy. At least two of the missing passengers are American.
Credit Gregorio Borgia / AP
Passengers disembark at a ferry in Porto Santo Stefano, Italy, on Saturday.
Credit Italian Coast Guard / AP
A scuba diver makes his way through floating pieces of furniture while searching for people inside the cruise ship.
Credit Gregorio Borgia / AP
A rope, a life vest, a helmet and other recovered items are displayed on an altar during Mass in Giglio on Sunday.
Credit Gregorio Borgia / AP
Rescuers exploded four holes in the hull of the ship to gain easier access to areas that had not yet been searched. Here, a scuba diver recovers a body Tuesday.
Credit Filippo Monteforte / AFP/Getty Images
The Costa Concordia lies stranded in the Giglio harbor on Sunday.
Credit AP
The Costa Concordia sails from Limassol, Cyprus, in April 2009. The ship ran aground off the coast of Giglio Island, Italy, on Saturday, forcing the 4,200 passengers onboard to evacuate.
When Joshua Bell was 21, he recorded an iconic piece of chamber music for piano and violin — the Sonata in A major by Cesar Franck. Today, Bell is 44 and he's recorded it again. It's on his new album, French Impressions, with pianist Jeremy Denk.
All Things Considered host Robert Siegel invited Bell to listen to his old recording for a little session of compare-and-contrast.
"Do you hear the same violinist?" Siegel asks, after playing for Bell the opening bars of his 1989 recording.
As nations tighten economic sanctions and Iran threatens to close the Strait of Hormuz, tensions between U.S. and Iran are mounting. Former Ambassador and trustee of the National Committee on American Foreign Policy Thomas Pickering argues that military action isn't the solution in Iran.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found that binge drinking, usually associated with young people, seems to be an issue among adults as well. And the University of Connecticut recently found Dr. Dipak Das, who studied on an ingredient in red wine, had falsified data on its benefits.
The nation celebrates the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday. As millions honor his legacy with a national day of service, we take a moment to reflect on his legacy with the original "I Have a Dream" speech, delivered on August 28, 1963, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
The Supreme Court's 2010 Citizen's United ruling loosened campaign finance restrictions, enabling corporations to spend unlimited amounts of money on elections. As a result, super PACs — political action committees — can solicit large corporate contributions and produce a plethora of attack ad campaigns.
