Search results for

NPR's Scott Simon speaks with New York Magazine film critic Bilge Ebiri about the year's best achievements in stunts, and why the Academy Awards should include an Oscar for stunts.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates is recommending the nation's top naval officer, Adm. Michael Mullen be nominated as the new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Gen. Peter Pace will not be reappointed to a second term. Jacki Lyden speaks with Chris Cavas, a reporter with Defense News.

Gubernatorial races in Kentucky, Louisiana and Mississippi are heating up. It could be a chance for Democrats to get a foothold in these states with Republican supermajorities.

Author Juliet Eilperin says that while sharks are efficient, relentless killers, humanity's fear of the animals at the top of the ocean's food chain is overblown. "They're incredibly good at what they do," she says, but "they're not targeting us."

A year ago, California voters rejected Arnold Schwarzenegger's vision for the state's future by defeating his entire slate of referenda. He then apologized for battling with nurses, police officers and teachers, not to mention assorted Democrats in Sacramento. Now Schwarzenegger's back on top.

The pop duo Wham! was only around for four years, but its songs have lasted decades. Chris Smith's Netflix documentary tells its history from the viewpoints of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley.

President-elect Barack Obama nominated Gen. James Jones to be his national security adviser. Best known as a former Marine commandant and supreme allied commander in Europe, Jones is part of a group of military and business leaders trying to raise the profile of energy dependence as a national security threat.

The U.S. director of national intelligence says al-Qaida will continue to try to attack the U.S. until its two top leaders are dead. Dennis Blair was briefing a congressional panel Tuesday on the assessment of global threats.

The nation's top military officer told senators Tuesday he supports overturning the law barring gays from serving openly in the ranks. Adm. Mike Mullen's comments were the first time a senior active-duty officer has called for ending what's known as don't ask don't tell, which has forced thousands of gay servicemen from the ranks since it was enacted in 1993.

Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, told Congress Tuesday that he's confident he now has both the strategy and resources he needs in Afghanistan. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry, initially wary of a troop increase coming before a crackdown on corruption, said he's satisfied that Afghan President Hamid Karzai has expressed the right intentions.