Feb 16th, 2010 · France is riveted by a battle between former Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin and President Nicolas Sarkozy. Onlookers call it a confrontation between two models of French society: the traditional vision and the modern way.
Jan 10th, 2010 · The American Dialect Society's New Words Committee meets to nominate, vote and announce Words Of The Year. The annual list highlights new words, usages and linguistic trends. Categories include Word (Or Phrase) Of The Year, Most Creative Word and Most Outrageous Word. Host Liane Hansen speaks to society chairman Grant Barrett, host of the independent public radio program A Way With Words, about this year's winners.
Dec 22nd, 2009 · This time of year, companies are raising money for charities — in part because they gain business for giving. But Harvard professor Richard Weissbourd says the country has "lost a sense of morality" around giving, and it sends a bad message to kids. Others say the net benefit to society outweighs morality.
Dec 6th, 2009 · To celebrate its 350th birthday, the Royal Society of London selected 60 of the most notable scientific papers it's published over the past four centuries. And it's posting them online — with images of the original manuscripts. These are many of the biggest names in scientific history — Isaac Newton to Ben Franklin to Stephen Hawking. Host Guy Raz reviews a few of them with Michael Thompson, the man in charge of choosing from the society's 60,000-paper collection.
Nov 26th, 2009 · In the second installment of our book series, "Backstory," Steve Inskeep talks with author Bonnie Jo Campbell. Her latest book, American Salvage, is a short story collection that explores the lives of people at the bottom of American society.
Nov 24th, 2009 · On Nov. 24, 1859, Darwin's On the Origin of Species first appeared in print and had a tremendous impact on society and science alike. Despite having more media access today, science has gotten so complex that it's hard for people to keep up, let alone evaluate the significance behind science stories.
Nov 21st, 2009 · While President Obama weighs his options on Afghanistan, one thing is clear: The U.S. is beefing up its civilian presence there. The aid effort has been hobbled from the start, and many experts consider it a weak link in the struggle to build a stable society in the conflicted country. Deputy Secretary of State Jack Lew insists that the U.S. is now recruiting the right kind of people, but before those people head to Afghanistan, they get trained to work with the military at a base in Indiana. NPR's Michele Kelemen travels with Lew to see how civilians are getting ready.
Nov 16th, 2009 · President Obama told Chinese students Monday that open Internet access strengthens a society. Qian Jin, a former news assistant at NPR's Shanghai Bureau who was in the audience, says Internet access in China is improving, and broader now than it was a few years ago.