The Sequester: Cuts And Consequences
5:12 pm
Wed February 27, 2013

Sequester Spells Uncertainty For Many Public Schools

Credit John Moore / Getty Images
Children eat breakfast at a federally funded Head Start program. Many Head Start administrators are concerned they may have to cut back on the number of enrolled children if the sequester moves ahead.

Originally published on Wed February 27, 2013 5:57 pm

If Congress and the Obama administration can't agree on a budget deal by Friday, the federal government will be forced to cut $85 billion from just about every federally funded program. Every state could lose federal aid, and a myriad of government programs could shut down or curtail services — and that includes the nation's public schools.

Read more
WMUK News
4:50 pm
Wed February 27, 2013

WMU union protests "political bullying"

Credit WMUK
WMU PIO member at WMU Board meeting

The union that represents part-time Western Michigan University instructors says university trustees should stand up to what it calls political "bullying" in Lansing. Union members packed Wednesday's meeting of Western's Board of Trustees to drive the point home.  

Read more

Bill Zeeble has been a full-time reporter at KERA since 1992, covering everything from medicine to the Mavericks and education to environmental issues. He’s won numerous awards over the years, with top honors from the Dallas Press Club, Texas Medical Association, the Dallas and Texas Bar Associations, the American Diabetes Association and a national health reporting grant from the Kaiser Family Foundation. Zeeble was born in Philadelphia, Pa. and grew up in the nearby suburb of Cherry Hill, NJ, where he became an accomplished timpanist and drummer. Heading to college near Chicago on a scholarship, he fell in love with public radio, working at the college classical/NPR station, and he has pursued public radio ever since.

His first real radio gig was with a classical station in Corpus Christi, where the new Texan was dubbed “Billy Ted”; he was also a manager at WWNO-FM in New Orleans. Several stories he covered on television for KERA 13 helped homeowners avoid losing their homes. Zeeble remains dedicated to radio, however, and spends time working with NPR to teach students how to do radio journalism. His radio pieces have aired on nearly every national news show carried on KERA, from NPR and American Public Media to the BBC. He and his wife have 2 dogs and 2 cats, adopted and rescued. His home desk is messy with vintage fountain pens and parts to aid his passion to make them work again.

Deceptive Cadence
4:28 pm
Wed February 27, 2013

Remembering Van Cliburn, A Giant Among Pianists And A Cold War Idol

Credit Courtesy of the Van Cliburn Foundation
A youthful Van Cliburn, captured mid-concerto.

Originally published on Fri March 1, 2013 11:37 am

The Salt
3:47 pm
Wed February 27, 2013

Do Parents Really Know What Their Kids Are Eating?

Originally published on Thu February 28, 2013 11:21 am

After school and evening are "crunch time" for most families. It's the time when crucial decisions get made that affect kids' fitness and weight. And that includes snacking.

To get an idea of what parents thought their kids were doing during this time, NPR conducted a poll with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health. Youth Radio's Chantell Williams talked about the findings with teens and their parents.

Read more
Health Care
2:04 pm
Wed February 27, 2013

The Changing Politics Of Health Care

Originally published on Wed February 27, 2013 2:30 pm

Transcript

NEAL CONAN, HOST:

And now it's a supersize edition of the Political Junkie. Ken Rudin, of course, is staying with us. John Kasich, Rick Scott, now, Chris Christie - three high-profile Republican governors and outspoken critics of Obamacare - have all decided to accept federal money to expand Medicaid coverage. The governor of New Jersey explained his reasoning yesterday.

(SOUNDBITE OF SPEECH)

Read more
Remembrances
2:04 pm
Wed February 27, 2013

Remembering Classical Pianist Van Cliburn

Originally published on Wed February 27, 2013 2:43 pm

Transcript

NEAL CONAN, HOST:

Tomorrow in this hour, we'll talk with Ron Elving about the looming automatic budget cuts. What questions do you have about the sequester? We'd especially like to hear from those of you who maybe affected. You can email questions to us now: talk@npr.org.

Read more
Business
2:04 pm
Wed February 27, 2013

Presence Vs. Productivity: How Managers View Telecommuting

Originally published on Wed February 27, 2013 2:34 pm

Transcript

NEAL CONAN, HOST:

This is TALK OF THE NATION. I'm Neal Conan, in Washington. The buzz has been building since the leak of an internal Yahoo memo last week on telecommuting. New Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer decided to end the company's work-from-home program. The memo, made public on the website AllThingsD, declares that communication and collaboration will be important, and that starts with physically being together.

Read more
Music Interviews
1:53 pm
Wed February 27, 2013

Richard Thompson: The Acoustics Behind 'Electric'

Credit Claire O'Neill / NPR
Richard Thompson performs live at the All Things Considered studio.

Originally published on Wed February 27, 2013 6:03 pm

Guitar players will hear the pure, ringing tones conjured by 10 fingers that seem to be doing the work of 20 and say, "Oh, for sure — that's Richard Thompson."

Read more
Music Reviews
1:28 pm
Wed February 27, 2013

Aretha Franklin Before Atlantic: The Columbia Years

Credit Express Newspapers / Getty Images
Aretha Franklin became a star on the Atlantic record label after leaving Columbia.

Originally published on Wed February 27, 2013 6:01 pm

Aretha Franklin made her first record when she was 14, singing some gospel standards in the church of her father, Rev. C.L. Franklin, an easygoing Detroit pastor who was friends with Martin Luther King and just about every gospel singer you could name. One of the stars who visited a lot was Sam Cooke, who convinced Aretha that she could be a hit singing popular music.

Read more

Pages