Search results for

Attorney General John Ashcroft took office amid controversy over his hard-line social conservatism. But events have conspired to give him unusual public exposure -- and popularity. NPR's Mara Liasson reports for All Things Considered. Also, in a Web-exclusive analysis, NPR Washington Editor Ron Elving puts Ashcroft's remarkable tenure into a historical context.

Research suggests more than 1.1 million teens need treatment for drug abuse. Only one in 10 get help. Experts in the field acknowledge that effective treatment for teens is difficult to find, hard to obtain, and often unaffordable. In a two-part series, NPR examines challenges and pitfalls for teens on the road to recovery. Explore Web resources that suggest avenues of help.

The world's nerve center for disease detection is located in Geneva, Switzerland, at the World Health Organization. They've found a new way of combating disease, trying to spot it at its earliest stages and nip it in bud. WHO looks at what's going on everyday everywhere, assisted heavily by the Web. No longer can countries hide and obfuscate outbreaks, or even minimize them. NPR's Richard Knox reports.

Confusion continues to grow over Medicare's discount-drug program, which had its official start Monday. The new plan provides seniors with a choice of discount drug cards, but reports arose late last week that many of the discounts listed on the government's Web site were not accurate. NPR's Julie Rovner reports.

For hundreds of years, only scholars and museum curators have had access to the "Quartos," the earliest printed editions of Shakespeare's plays. But the British Library has just put 93 Quartos on the Internet, leading to what NPR's Bob Mondello says is much ado about Shakespeare on the Web.

Music reviewer Tom Manoff listens to a new recording of the eighth symphony by Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich by Andrew Litton and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. He says that this symphony expresses some of the darkest mo ments in Russia's experience in World War II. (3:30) ((STEREO)) (STATIONS: The CD is "Shostakovich Symphony No.8" by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Andrew Litton, Conductor. It is available on Delos Records. The company can be contacted on the World Wide Web at http://www.delosmu

NPR's John McChesney reports that the competitive struggle between upstart Netscape Communications and software colossus Microsoft escalated this week. It's become known as the battle of the browsers. Browsers are the software that provide access to the World Wide Web. At a gala bash in San Francisco on Monday, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates released the latest version of his Internet Explorer, and this coming Monday, Netscape will release version 3 of its Navigator.

Lisa visits with Ray Materson, one of the artists featured in the exhibition Treasures of the Soul: Who is Rich? at Baltimore's Visionary Art Museum. The show focuses on art made from things that have little value in themselves -- telephone wires, sock threads, or plastic beads. Materson crafts intricate tiny pictures from sock threads. Check out Materson's Web site at: www.avam.org

A new study released today found that more than 70% of Americans with access to the Internet are using it to inform their medical decisions. Web users say they surf over 17,000 health related sites to answer questions about their health and to formulate questions for their physicians. Although there are concerns over privacy, many see this as the wave of the future. Host Lisa Simeone talks with Lee Rainie, Director of the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

Reports emerge on an Islamic militant Web site that insurgents in Iraq have beheaded another U.S. hostage, Jack Hensley. The group led by Jordanian-born terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi killed one American captive Monday. Hear NPR's Robert Siegel and NPR's Peter Kenyon.