© 2026 KVNF Public Radio
THE COMMON THREAD
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Search results for

  • One change that privacy advocates have been pushing for is that the NSA no longer store the records from millions of phone calls — including those of Americans. Officials are telling Reuters and NPR that the president will endorse the idea of having a third party, not the NSA, hold that data.
  • For regular drinkers, the New Year's resolution tradition may involve what's known as a dry January: giving up booze for a month. But could such a short-term breakup with alcohol really impart any measurable health benefits? A small but intriguing study suggests yes.
  • Lanny and Tracy Barnes competed on the U.S. Olympic team in 2006, and Lanny competed in 2010. This year, Tracy gave her spot on the team to Lanny, who was ill during the selection races and just missed qualifying. "The Olympics are about more than just competing," Tracy says.
  • Ever since there have been puddles of water, human beings have gazed at their reflections. Our need to primp and preen, whether we lived in the Bronze Age or the Space Age, is on display in a new exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum in New York.
  • A potentially landmark lawsuit goes to trial Monday in California. At issue: whether job protections for public school teachers undermine a student's constitutional right to an adequate education. The students and parents who filed the lawsuit see it as a potential model for challenging teacher protection laws in other states. Unions and state officials say the lawsuit demonizes teachers and has no merit.
  • Much has been made of the need for young, healthy people to sign up if the Affordable Care Act is going to work. But it may be that the key word here is not young, but healthy. Insurance companies get paid more for older people, regardless of their health.
  • Istanbul inaugurated the world's first continent-connecting train line this week. It's not the Orient Express, but the subway does make real an idea first proposed in the mid-19th century.
  • The Chinese government had hoped the high-profile corruption trial of Bo Xilai this week would prove that China operates under the rule of law, and that the Communist Party is not afraid to punish its own. But the trial of the former politburo member hasn't quite worked out that way.
  • By the standard of normal golfing mortals, Tiger Woods has had an incredible summer. He's won multiple tournaments and millions of dollars in prize money. What he didn't do was win any of golf's four major championships. And those major wins are his measure of success.
  • At auto plants, the tension is typically between the workers and the management. But not at Volkswagen in Chattanooga, where it's Republican officials who are trying to stand in the way. One of them is the Tennessee governor, who says a unionized plant might discourage other companies from coming to his state.
2,977 of 6,713