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NPR Story
2:15 pm
Tue April 17, 2012

Scandal Puts Secret Service Culture In The Spotlight

Originally published on Wed April 18, 2012 1:06 pm

Transcript

NEAL CONAN, HOST:

This is TALK OF THE NATION. I'm Neal Conan, in Washington. Over the weekend, scandal overshadowed the president's visit to a hemispheric summit in Colombia. Reports accused 11 U.S. Secret Service agents of cavorting with prostitutes ahead of the president's arrival.

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NPR Story
2:15 pm
Tue April 17, 2012

What Makes Games Like Angry Birds So Addictive?

Originally published on Tue April 17, 2012 2:31 pm

Angry Birds — a mobile phone game in which players use a slingshot to propel birds at tiny little green pigs — has been a runaway hit since its 2009 release, with more than 700 million downloads, a TV show and a feature film in the works. It isn't alone. NPR's Neal Conan talks with New York Times Magazine critic-at-large Sam Anderson about people's fascination with — and addiction to — what Anderson calls "stupid games."

NPR Story
2:15 pm
Tue April 17, 2012

Drones Move From War Zones To The Home Front

Originally published on Tue April 17, 2012 2:45 pm

Congress recently passed the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, which — along with funding the Federal Aviation Administration's budget through 2015 — encourages the acceleration of unmanned aircraft programs in U.S. airspace. Drones have taken on a large role in military operations in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia. The new legislation could make the technology more prevalent in several arenas, from local police departments to farmers monitoring crops.

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NPR Story
2:15 pm
Tue April 17, 2012

Letters: Baseball, Finances And Intimacy

Originally published on Tue April 17, 2012 3:02 pm

NPR's Neal Conan reads from listener comments on retirement, procrastinating on filing our taxes, advice on intimacy and the New York Yankees.

All Tech Considered
1:10 pm
Tue April 17, 2012

Greenpeace: How Clean (And Green) Is Your Cloud?

Credit szaz / iStockphoto.com
Greenpeace's annual report ranks Internet companies based on the efficiency of their cloud facilities.

Originally published on Tue April 17, 2012 3:22 pm

Greenpeace released its latest report today asking, "How clean is your cloud?"

The annual report examines the server farms built by the largest Internet companies — including Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Yahoo — and ranks them according to how efficient their cloud facilities are, and where they get their electricity.

Yahoo — which has struggled to please investors in recent years — was the only major Internet company in the study to get most of its electricity from renewable or clean energy sources, according to the report.

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The Two-Way
1:04 pm
Tue April 17, 2012

At Scandal-Ridden Federal Agency, All Sorts Of Abuses

How bad are things at the General Services Administration, where the scandal over extravagant spending at a Las Vegas conference has led to resignations, firings and could end up with criminal charges for some officials?

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The Two-Way
12:36 pm
Tue April 17, 2012

Former 'Car Czar' Rattner Gives Dodd-Frank A Qualified Endorsement

Steven Rattner — the "car czar" when the Obama administration was restructuring the auto industry in 2009 — today spoke in favor of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.

But it wasn't exactly a double thumbs up.

On a panel at an ideas conference in New York City, Rattner noted that before the financial crisis began in 2008, Wall Street was the "global leader in finance. ... But of course, it got out of control."

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Health
12:19 pm
Tue April 17, 2012

The Race To Create The Best Antiviral Drugs

Originally published on Tue April 17, 2012 3:42 pm

If you've ever had a bacterial infection like staph or strep throat, your doctor may have prescribed penicillin. But if you've had the flu or a common cold virus, penicillin won't work. That's because antibacterials only kill bacteria, and both the flu and the common cold are viruses. So for illnesses like the flu, doctors prescribe antiviral drugs, which target the mechanisms that viruses use to reproduce.

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Music Interviews
12:16 pm
Tue April 17, 2012

The Jazz Drummer Who Makes Music Out Of Everything

Originally published on Tue April 17, 2012 3:04 pm

Around the Nation
12:12 pm
Tue April 17, 2012

War Of The Worlds: When Science, Politics Collide

Originally published on Tue April 17, 2012 7:36 pm

Roger Cone is a microbiologist, not a politician. He struggles with a basic truth: For all the scientific acceptance of evolution, many Americans simply don't believe it is factually accurate.

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