Talk of The Nation

Neil Conan

Each day, Talk of the Nation combines the award-winning resources of NPR News with the vital participation of listeners. The result is a spirited and productive exchange of knowledge and insight that delves deeply into the news and ideas of the day.

Genre:

News/Talk

Composer ID:

5182a94de1c876c64647170a|5182a93be1c876c6464716bd

Segment 3

Originally published on Sat March 30, 2013 8:19 am

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When does a story about science become science fiction? Cosmologist Lawrence Krauss and theoretical physicist Brian Greene discuss how to spin a yarn about string theory or the Big Bang, without hyping the science. And novelist Ian McEwan, whose books touch on neurosurgery and quantum field theory, talks about what science offers to fiction.

NPR Story

8:02 pm

Fri March 29, 2013

Segment 1

Originally published on Sat March 30, 2013 8:26 am

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The Sonoran Desert, which spans some 100,000 square miles in southwestern North America, is one of the most diverse desert ecosystems in the world. Host Ira Flatow and guests discuss some lesser known desert creatures, and explore the secret life of that American southwest icon, the saguaro cactus.

Law

1:14 pm

Thu March 28, 2013

The Road To The Supreme Court Arguments On Gay Marriage

Originally published on Fri March 29, 2013 10:27 am

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Transcript

CELESTE HEADLEE, HOST:

This is TALK OF THE NATION. I'm Celeste Headlee in Washington. Yesterday the Supreme Court heard the last of two cases involving the issue of same-sex marriage, one case on the constitutionality of California's Proposition 8. That proposition banned same-sex marriage in the state of California. The other case is on the Defense of Marriage Act.

1:01 pm

Thu March 28, 2013

Catching Up With The World's Youngest Female Cannonball (And She's From St. Louis)

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Credit Feld Entertainment

Elliana Grace Hentoff-Killian is on tour with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey show Built to Amaze!

Credit Feld Entertainment

She is shot out of a cannon that is about 24 feet long.

Credit Feld Entertainment

She travels nearly 100 feet, passing through three rings before landing in an air bag.

Credit Feld Entertainment

At 20, she is the world's youngest female human cannonball.

Credit Feld Entertainment

She deferred entry to college to spend a semester at circus school in Quebec.

Credit Feld Entertainment

She goes about 65 mph.

Credit Feld Entertainment

Elliana Grace Hentoff-Killian is on tour with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey show Built to Amaze!

Originally published on Tue April 9, 2013 2:00 pm

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Elliana Grace Hentoff-Killian grew up in the circus.

She made her circus debut at age 2 and mastered her first circus act at 6, when she learned the Spanish web — an aerial act performed on a rope. Now, at 20, she is currently the youngest female human cannonball in the world.

"I never thought I was going to be doing the cannon. I was always the one sitting there saying, 'You've got to be insane to get shot out of a cannon,' " she tells NPR's Celeste Headlee. "And, of course, that's what I'm doing now."

1:01 pm

Thu March 28, 2013

Exploring The World's Highest Peaks From Your Couch

Originally published on Fri March 29, 2013 10:27 am

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Transcript

CELESTE HEADLEE, HOST:

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