5:34am

Fri May 24, 2013
Digital Life

Viewers To Decide If Amazon's Sample Shows Make The Cut

Originally published on Fri May 24, 2013 8:01 am

Transcript

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

The popular series "Arrested Development" returns this Sunday with 15 new episodes, released all at once. They're coming from Netflix, which earlier this year, released "House of Cards." Online video companies are producing more of their own shows - not just Netflix, Hulu and Yahoo are getting into the act, as well.

Now, Amazon also wants to join, but they're doing things differently, letting viewers help choose the new lineup. Here's what TV critic Eric Deggans thinks of that approach.

Read more

5:31am

Fri May 24, 2013
Around the Nation

Besides Predicting Weather, Okla. Storm Center Attracts Tourists

Originally published on Fri May 24, 2013 9:58 am

Credit Katie Hayes Luke for NPR

Monday's tornado in Moore, Okla., killed 24 people and caused an estimated $2.2 billion worth of damage. As the community reflects on what happened, one question is: How did so many manage to survive such devastating destruction?

Lifelong Oklahoman Kristi Freeman has seen her share of tornadoes, but she says the twister that tore through her neighborhood Monday was something else.

"This tornado was like a monster. It was like something that was alive. It destroyed your peace, your comfort," she says.

Read more

5:31am

Fri May 24, 2013
Politics

Political Attacks Ramp Up In U.S. Senate Race In Mass.

Originally published on Fri May 24, 2013 8:01 am

In Massachusetts, what's been a relatively lackluster campaign to fill the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Secretary of State John Kerry is heating up. Veteran Democratic Rep. Ed Markey is running against Republican Gabriel Gomez, a businessman and former Navy SEAL. Gomez is a political newcomer.

4:11am

Fri May 24, 2013
Parallels

China's Air Pollution: Is The Government Willing To Act?

Originally published on Fri May 24, 2013 11:55 am

Denise Mauzerall arrived in Beijing this year at a time that was both horrifying and illuminating. The capital was facing some of its worst pollution in recent memory, and Mauzerall, a Princeton environmental engineering professor, was passing through on her way to a university forum on the future of cities.

"I took the fast train from Beijing to Shanghai, and looking out the window for large sections of that trip, you couldn't see more than 20 feet," Mauzerall recalled.

To Mauzerall, the lesson was surprising and inescapable.

Read more

3:18am

Fri May 24, 2013
Planet Money

Can This Man Bring Silicon Valley To Yangon?

Originally published on Fri May 24, 2013 9:29 am

Like a proud father, Nay Aung opens up his MacBook Air to show me the Myanmar travel website he has built. But we wait 30 seconds for the site to load, and nothing happens.

"Today is a particularly bad day for Internet," he says. This is life in Myanmar today: Even an Internet entrepreneur can't always get online.

Read more

2:49am

Fri May 24, 2013
Food

Guava Paste And Tamarind? What To Do With Weird Food Gifts

Originally published on Fri May 24, 2013 8:59 am

This is an installment of NPR's ongoing Cook Your Cupboard, a food series about improvising with what you have on hand. Have a food that has you stumped? Submit a photo and we'll ask chefs about our favorites.

Harrison Gowdy of Dayton, Ohio, has developed a reputation among friends and family of liking everything and wasting nothing.

"Sometimes I'll even find things like Swiss chard dropped off on my doorstep," she says. And sometimes she receives foods that stump her.

Read more

2:46am

Fri May 24, 2013
StoryCorps

Military Moms: A Bond Borne From Shared Loss

Originally published on Fri May 24, 2013 8:22 am

In 1991, Kentucky residents Sally Edwards and Lue Hutchinson had sons serving in the Gulf War. Sally's son, Jack, was a Marine captain. Lue's son, Tom Butts, was a staff sergeant in the Army. The two men never knew each other, but today, their mothers are best friends.

Both soldiers were killed in February of 1991. Jack was 34. "They were the cover for a medical mission. The helicopter lost its top rotor blade, and they didn't make it back," Sally says.

Read more

2:03am

Fri May 24, 2013
Deceptive Cadence

Igor Stravinsky's 'Rite Of Spring' Counterrevolution

Originally published on Fri May 24, 2013 8:54 am

Credit Erich Auerbach / Getty Images

As the 100th anniversary of Igor Stravinsky's ballet The Rite of Spring approaches, commentator Miles Hoffman reminds us that — as earthshaking as that infamous debut was — the composer soon branched out into a variety of musical styles that would surprise his fans and critics.

Read more

7:47pm

Thu May 23, 2013
Around the Nation

Boy Scots Vote To Allow Gay Members, But Not Leaders

Originally published on Fri May 24, 2013 6:01 am

Transcript

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

The Boy Scouts ban on openly gay scouts is coming to an end. That's the result of a vote held today by the leadership of the Boys Scouts of America.

WAYNE PERRY: Our vision is to serve every kid. We want every kid to have a place where they belong, to learn and grow and feel protected.

Read more

6:27pm

Thu May 23, 2013
Shots - Health News

Why You Have To Scratch That Itch

Originally published on Fri May 24, 2013 11:20 am

Credit Oktay Ortakcioglu / iStockphoto.com

Everybody itches. Sometimes itch serves as a useful warning signal — there's a bug on your back! But sometimes itch arises for no apparent reason, and can be a torment.

Think of the itchy skin disorder eczema, or the constant itching caused by some cancers. "A very high percentage of people who're on dialysis for chronic kidney disease develop severe itch that's very difficult to manage," says Dr. Ethan Lerner, an associate professor of dermatology at Harvard Medical School.

Scientists now say they've got a much better clue as to how itch happens.

Read more

Pages