All Things Considered

Melissa Block and Robert Siegel

In-depth reporting and transformed the way listeners understand current events and view the world. Every weekday, hear two hours of breaking news mixed with compelling analysis, insightful commentaries, interviews, and special - sometimes quirky - features.Melissa Block and Robert Siegel

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U.S.
4:53 pm
Thu December 6, 2012

Crime-Ridden Camden To Dump City Police Force

Originally published on Thu December 6, 2012 6:54 pm

As the New Jersey city of Camden blasts through its all-time-high homicide record — exceeding 60 murders so far this year — city officials have an unusual solution to rising crime: laying off the entire police department.

Year after year, Camden ranks as one of the most dangerous cities in America based on several categories: murders, rapes, assaults and robberies. But the city says it's too poor to hire more police officers. So it's dissolving its municipal police force and letting the county set up a bigger, cheaper force to replace it.

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It's All Politics
4:21 pm
Thu December 6, 2012

Boehner Faces Conservative Backlash Over Fiscal Cliff Talks

Credit Alex Wong / Getty Images
House Speaker John Boehner appears at a news conference after a House Republican conference meeting Wednesday on Capitol Hill.

Originally published on Thu December 6, 2012 5:40 pm

The Internet has not been kind to House Speaker John Boehner in recent days. On Twitter, there are some new, not-so-subtle hashtags going around: #boehnermustgo, #fireboehner and #purgeboehner.

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Middle East
3:54 pm
Thu December 6, 2012

U.S., Russia Try To Find Common Ground On Syria

Credit Kevin Lamarque / AFP/Getty Images
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton delivers a speech at Dublin City University in Ireland on Thursday. She also met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to discuss Syria.

Originally published on Thu December 6, 2012 5:40 pm

As Syrian fighting intensifies in Syria, diplomatic efforts are also heating up.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and the main international envoy to Syria were all in Dublin for an international gathering Thursday. The meeting came as Syria's opposition tries to get better organized to offer a real alternative to President Bashar Assad's regime.

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Around the Nation
3:02 pm
Thu December 6, 2012

To Trim Down, Spelman Trades Sports For Fitness

Credit Courtesy of Spelman College
Spelman College has dropped NCAA athletics in favor of a comprehensive fitness program. The school now offers classes like Zumba to help encourage all students to exercise more.

Originally published on Thu December 6, 2012 5:40 pm

For the past decade, Spelman College, a historically black women's school in Atlanta, has fielded NCAA teams in basketball, volleyball, soccer, softball and other sports. But when its small Division III conference started dwindling, college President Beverly Tatum says the school decided it was time to change focus.

"We have to ask ourselves: What is the cost of the program and who is benefiting? How many people are benefiting? Is the benefit worth the cost?" Tatum asks.

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Shots - Health News
2:57 pm
Thu December 6, 2012

Perfection Is Skin Deep: Everyone Has Flawed Genes

Credit iStockphoto.com
When researchers looked at the genetic sequences of 179 individuals, they found far more defects in the patterns of As, Ts, Gs, and Cs than they expected.

Originally published on Thu December 6, 2012 9:19 pm

We all know that nobody's perfect. But now scientists have documented that fact on a genetic level.

Researchers discovered that normal, healthy people are walking around with a surprisingly large number of mutations in their genes.

It's been well known that everyone has flaws in their DNA, though, for the most part, the defects are harmless. It's been less clear, however, just how many mistakes are lurking in someone's genes.

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