Search results for

NPR's Jack Speer reports on the aging Woodrow Wilson Bridge in Washington, D.C. It's just one of the thousands of bridges considered obsolete in the U.S. The Federal Highway Administration is citing structural problems and the strain of increased use as its reasons for replacing the Wilson Bridge and others like it on schedule.

The Alliance Defense Fund is one of the leading Christian public-interest law firms fighting hot-button social issues in the courtrooms. The ADF has funded more than 1,300 cases, including the legal battle over Terri Schiavo and the successful effort to invalidate same-sex marriage licenses in Oregon.

Noah is joined by best-selling novelist, Barbara Kingsolver, author of Prodigal Summer. They discuss how Kingsolver researches the settings and characters of her novels. This one is set in southern Appalachia - a place that the novelist knows well. Kingsolver says she must spend a considerable amount of time getting to know the character and rhythm of a location before writing about it. Kingsolver has also written The Poisonwood Bible, The Bean Trees, Animal Dreams, and Pigs in Heaven. (7:45) Prodigal Summer, by Barbara Kingsolver, is published by Harper Collins, October 2000, ISBN # 0-06-019965-2.

A centennial exhibit at the Smithsonian Institution's Arts and Industries Building celebrates the work of American artist Walter Inglis Anderson. NPR's Liane Hansen takes a tour.

Years ago, the tombstones of Richard Hickock and Perry Smith -- the two killers portrayed in Truman Capote's In Cold Blood -- mysteriously disappeared. Now they have resurfaced at a museum that won't put them on display. Harriet Baskas reports on a Kansas museum's dilemma as part of the "Hidden Treasures" series.

The stars of the 1980s TV series Cagney & Lacey Sharon Gless (Christine Cagney) and Tyne Daly (Mary Beth Lacy). The two played New York City Police detectives. C&L was the first TV crime show in which the two central characters were female. The TV series won 14 Emmy Awards and one Golden Globe Award. Tyne Daly is currently starring in the CBS series Judging Amy. (REBROADCAST from 4

With Major League Soccer playing its championship game this Sunday, sportswriter Stefan Fatsis takes the opportunity to examine the league's overall performance -- both on and off the field. There's been little audience growth, and it appears the league has not yet broken through in popularity. But ownership's deep pockets are keeping it going. On the field, the Kansas City Wizards and the Chicago Fire face off in Washington D.C. this weekend in a game which features Chicago's high powered offense against Kansas City's tight defense. Stefan also makes brief mention of England's difficulty in World Cup qualifying matches and the approach this spring of the new women's soccer league in the U.S.

Renee Montagne talks to Michelle Feynman, daughter of Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard P. Feynman, who was just 24 when he began working on the atomic bomb with the Manhattan Project. A new collection of his letters, Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten Track, was published recently.

The MacArthur Foundation announces this year's winners of "genius grants," $500,000 awards — with no strings attached — that recognize exceptional creativity. The 23 recipients include a ragtime pianist and a human rights activist. NPR's Robert Siegel and NPR's Michele Norris speak with five of the winners.

NPR's Rebecca Perl marks the 10th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act by examining the impact the law has had on Pat Broderick, a resident of Washington D.C. Broderick lost the use of her legs in a car accident. She is now a judge in the District of Columbia and says the ADA has helped her do things many Americans take for granted. The ADA prohibits discrimination against people with physical or mental disabilities.