Shots - Health News
12:07 pm
Thu May 16, 2013

Swell Of Goodwill For First Medicare Chief Confirmed Since 2004

Credit Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP
Presenting Marilyn Tavenner, the first official official in charge of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in years.

Originally published on Thu May 16, 2013 12:12 pm

When the Senate voted Tuesday to make Marilyn Tavenner the official administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, it was the first time the world's greatest deliberative body had approved someone to head the huge health agency since 2004.

That's right, you have to go way back to the Bush administration to find Dr. Mark McClellan, the last person to be officially put in the post.

Read more
NWPR Books
11:52 am
Thu May 16, 2013

From Fame's Leroy To Jay-Z

Credit Courtesy New York University Press

Looking for Leroy is a new book by Mark Anthony Neal that takes a look at how high profile black men like Jay-Z, Denzel Washington and Barack Obama shape our perceptions of black masculinity in America. He sat down with Tell Me More's Michel Martin.

Inspired by Fame

Read more
All Tech Considered
11:45 am
Thu May 16, 2013

Google's Privacy Shift Powers New Customized Maps

Originally published on Fri May 17, 2013 8:15 am

This week, Google, already a leader in mapping, created more space between itself and its competitors by more deeply mining the data users provide the company when using its various services.

At the Google developers' conference in San Francisco on Wednesday, Daniel Graf, director of Google Maps, crowed about the company's mapping app for the iPhone — and couldn't quite stop himself from taking a dig at Apple.

"People called it sleek, simple, beautiful, and let's not forget, accurate," he said.

Read more
Music + Culture
11:31 am
Thu May 16, 2013

Andris Nelsons Named Music Director Of The Boston Symphony

Credit Marco Borggreve / courtesy of the Boston Symphony Orchestra
Conductor Andris Nelsons, the newest music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Your Money
11:04 am
Thu May 16, 2013

The Tricky Business Of Retirement: Hidden 401(K) Fees

A couple generations ago, when older Americans retired they could rely on pension plans to support them. Then, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, many companies switched their retirement plans over to 401(k) accounts. The security of workers' retirement savings suddenly became subject to the vagaries of the stock market.

Read more
NPR Story
10:52 am
Thu May 16, 2013

Ex-Ambassador To Iraq Weighs In On Talking To 'Monsters'

Originally published on Thu May 16, 2013 11:01 am

As the death toll in Syria climbs and critics blast the Obama administration for not taking more decisive action, former ambassador Christopher Hill points instead to a failure of diplomacy in an op-ed in the New York Times. Hill talks about what the U.S. faces in facilitating talks between the regime and Syrian rebels.

NPR Story
10:52 am
Thu May 16, 2013

Managing The $30 Million 'One Fund' To Aid Boston Victims

Originally published on Thu May 16, 2013 10:59 am

Days after the marathon bombing, officials established the One Fund for Boston to assist victims and their families. Attorney Ken Feinberg, who managed similar funds after Sept. 11 and Virginia Tech and is managing this fund, says there's no easy way to decide who gets how much of the $30 million that's been donated.

NPR Story
10:52 am
Thu May 16, 2013

Will Strong Summer Travel Be A Turning Point For Airlines?

Originally published on Thu May 16, 2013 1:56 pm

As the summer travel season approaches, air travel provides a barometer for the health of the U.S. economy — and airlines report they're having a good year. After years of financial troubles, industry representatives hope U.S. travelers are more willing to fly. NPR senior business editor Marilyn Geewax explains what summer travel tells us about the health of the economy.

The Two-Way
10:27 am
Thu May 16, 2013

Obama: 'I Certainly Did Not Know' What The IRS Was Doing

Credit Saul Loeb / AFP/Getty Images
Rain fell Thursday during part of President Obama's joint news conference with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the Rose Garden of the White House.

Originally published on Thu May 16, 2013 4:39 pm

Update at 5:38 p.m. ET. One More IRS Official To Leave

Another official is out at the embattled agency.

The Associated Press reports that Joseph Grant, commissioner of the IRS' tax exempt and government entities division, will retire June 3. The division scrutinized Tea Party groups when the applied for tax-exempt status.

Update at 4:45 p.m. ET. Obama Names New IRS Acting Chief

Read more
The Salt
10:15 am
Thu May 16, 2013

How Trace Amounts of Arsenic End Up In Grocery Store Meat

Credit iStockphoto
Roxarsone, a drug linked to elevated levels of inorganic arsenic in chicken meat, is no longer used in broiler chicken farming, producers say. But another arsenic-based drug is still used to raise turkeys.

Originally published on Fri May 17, 2013 8:18 am

A study published online recently in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives documented slightly elevated levels of arsenic in samples of chicken purchased at grocery stores in 10 cities in the U.S.

So how did trace amounts of this toxin end up in supermarket poultry?

Read more

Pages