The Record
4:15 pm
Thu May 23, 2013

Georges Moustaki, Who Wrote Songs For Edith Piaf, Dies

Credit Keystone-France / Getty Images
Georges Moustaki with Edith Piaf in New York in 1958. Moustaki wrote the lyrics to "Milord," one of Piaf's biggest hits.

Originally published on Thu May 23, 2013 7:23 pm

Movie Reviews
4:03 pm
Thu May 23, 2013

To 'Fill The Void,' A Choice With A Personal Cost

Originally published on Fri May 24, 2013 3:25 pm

Driving home from a screening of the ravishing new Israeli film Fill the Void, I caught sight of a young man in full Hasidic garb, trying to coax his toddler son across a busy Los Angeles street. My first thought was, "He's a boy himself, barely old enough to be a father, and they both look so pale."

My second was, "I wonder what his life feels like?" This is the more open mindset that director Rama Burshtein asks from audiences going into her first feature, a love poem to the ultra-Orthodox world as seen from within.

Read more
National Security
3:56 pm
Thu May 23, 2013

Breaking Down Obama's New Blueprint For Fighting Terrorism

Credit Larry Downing / Reuters/Landov
At the National Defense University in Washington on Thursday, President Obama outlined plans to limit the use of U.S. drone strikes, and pledged to shut down the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Ever since the Sept. 11 attacks, the U.S. search for a coherent counterterrorism strategy has revolved around three basic questions:

1. How do we locate suspected terrorists?

2. Once located, how do we go after them?

3. If captured, what do we do with them?

In a major speech at the National Defense University in Washington on Thursday, President Obama addressed all three questions that have been the source of shifting policies and fierce national debates for over a decade.

Read more
The Two-Way
3:53 pm
Thu May 23, 2013

For Second Time, Moore Family Loses Home To A Tornado

Credit Steve Gooch / AP
An aerial photo shows destroyed houses in Moore, Okla., after Monday's tornado. Rena and Paul Phillips, who lost their home in the storm, also lost a house to a tornado in 1999.

The tornado that devastated Moore, Okla., Monday destroyed some 12,000 homes, according to Oklahoma City Police. And for one family, it was the second house they've lost to a tornado in the past 14 years. Rena and Paul Phillips say that the recent loss won't make them move.

The Phillipses told their story to Rachel Hubbard of Oklahoma member station KOSU, who reports on how they're coping with the loss — and the search for belongings in the rubble of their home — for Thursday's All Things Considered.

Read more
The Salt
3:47 pm
Thu May 23, 2013

This 9-Year-Old Girl Told McDonald's CEO: Stop Tricking Kids

Credit Jamie Robertson / Courtesy Jamie Robertson
Hannah Robertson, 9, and her mom, blogger Kia Robertson — with the makings for kale chips, of course.

It's not every day that a 9-year-old girl chastises the CEO of one of the world's biggest fast-food chains.

Yet that's exactly what young Hannah Robertson did Thursday morning at McDonald's annual shareholders meeting in Chicago. When the meeting opened up to questions, Hannah was first up at the mic with a pointed criticism.

"It would be nice if you stopped trying to trick kids into wanting to eat your food all the time," she told McDonald's CEO Don Thompson.

Ouch.

Read more
Around the Nation
3:44 pm
Thu May 23, 2013

In La., Families Still Searching For Storm-Scattered Remains

Originally published on Thu May 23, 2013 7:23 pm

Lionel Alverez is in the Promised Land Cemetery again, taking inventory. He has been coming to this cemetery in Plaquemines Parish, La., all his life. The graveyard is hemmed in between the Mississippi River and the marsh on a lonely stretch of highway.

Promised Land has been the final resting place for the Alverezes for generations. Alverez, 61, points out several graves, one by one. "Albert Alverez. Huey Alverez and Harold Alverez. My brother Allen is near the rear, back there."

Read more
NPR's Backseat Book Club
3:44 pm
Thu May 23, 2013

'Lunch Lady' Author Helps Students Draw Their Own Heroes

Originally published on Thu May 23, 2013 7:23 pm

Author and illustrator Jarrett Krosoczka is just 35 years old, but he's already published 20 books, including the popular Lunch Lady graphic novel series, NPR's Backseat Book Club pick for May.

Read more
A Blog Supreme
3:38 pm
Thu May 23, 2013

Duke Ellington: Highlights Of His Twilight

When Duke Ellington received the news that Billy Strayhorn, his songwriting and arranging partner of 28 years, had died, Ellington reportedly cried and told a friend, "No, I'm not all right! Nothing is going to be all right now."

Read more
The Two-Way
3:10 pm
Thu May 23, 2013

NOAA Predicts Above-Average Hurricane Season

Credit NOAA
Satellite image of Hurricane Sandy in October of last year.

With memories of last year's Superstorm Sandy still fresh, NOAA is warning East Coasters and those farther inland to brace for another active Atlantic season, predicting that as many as six major storms will develop between the beginning of June and the end of November.

Read more
Shots - Health News
2:52 pm
Thu May 23, 2013

Researchers Find Bird Flu Is Contagious Among Ferrets

Credit iStockphoto.com
Of ferrets, men and bird flu.

Scientists have completed the first assessments of how readily the H7N9 flu virus in China can pass among ferrets and pigs. The mammals provide the best inkling of how dangerous these bugs may become for humans.

The news is both bad and good. They've found the new bird virus is easily passed between ferrets sharing the same cage.

Read more

Pages