Shots - Health Blog
11:28 am
Mon April 2, 2012

Health Insurers Move Ahead, With Or Without Individual Mandate

For the health policy world, the Supreme Court's tough questioning of the individual mandate last week was a seismic event.

But in Hartford, Conn., the city sometimes called the epicenter of the insurance industry, David Cordani isn't quaking.

Cordani is the CEO of Cigna, the nation's fourth-largest health insurer. He says the insurance industry started changing itself before the Affordable Care Act became law in 2010. And the changes will continue regardless of what happens at the high court.

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Krulwich Wonders...
11:08 am
Mon April 2, 2012

To Map Or Not To Map The Brain? That's Tonight's Question

"Mind is such an odd predicament for matter to get into," says the poet Diane Ackerman. "If a mind is just a few pounds of blood, dream and electric, how does it manage to contemplate itself? Worry about its soul? Do time and motion studies? Admire the shy hooves of a goat? Know that it will die?

...How can a neuron feel compassion?"

Yes, how?

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Arts & Life
11:05 am
Mon April 2, 2012

Fashion's New 'It' Girl ... And Boy: Andrej Pejic

Credit Richard Drew / AP
During a recent photo shoot, Andrej Pejic poses on a rooftop in New York City. The 20-year-old has modeled both menswear and women's wear for some of the world's top designers.
The Two-Way
11:00 am
Mon April 2, 2012

'Kony 2012' Sequel Due Tuesday

Credit Facebook.com/invisiblechildren

The activist group behind the "Kony 2012" movement and Web video that went viral in March says it will release "Kony 2012, Part II" on Tuesday.

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Technology
10:47 am
Mon April 2, 2012

Fixing The Cutting-Edge: Innovation Meets Table Saw

When you think of cutting-edge technology, power tools don't generally come to mind. Take the table saw: Many woodworkers are using 30-year-old saws in their wood shops and, among the major tool companies, there hasn't been much innovation since those decades-old tools came out.

But more and more inventors are trying to make these saws safer — and David Butler is one of them. At his home in Cape Cod, Mass., Butler flips on the fluorescent lights in his basement turned wood shop.

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The Two-Way
10:15 am
Mon April 2, 2012

Construction Spending Dips, But Manufacturing Expands

There was a 1.1 percent decline in spending on construction in February vs. January, the Census Bureau just reported. But spending was still 5.8 percent above the level of February 2011.

According to the bureau, spending on home construction was unchanged in February from the month before. Public construction spending was down 1.7 percent.

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Programming
9:55 am
Mon April 2, 2012

Morning Edition April 3rd: "Be Different: My Adventures with Asperger's...." by John Robison

April is National Autism Awareness Month and this very special book, written by a man with Asperger's Syndrome - a form of Autism - will make you understand much more about the complexities and challenges faced by those with Autism or Asperger's, and the people who come into contact with them every day. "Be Different: My Adventures with Asperger's and My Advice for Fellow Aspergian's, Misfits, Families and Teachers", was written by John Elder Robison.

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The Two-Way
9:50 am
Mon April 2, 2012

Irish Protest Against Household Tax As Austerity Pain Bites Further

Credit Shawn Pogatchnik / AP
Phyllis O'Toole joined an estimated 5,000 demonstrators in the streets of Dublin on Saturday (March 31, 2012).

House prices have crashed. Banks and businesses have failed. Jobs have been axed. People are struggling to make the mortgage.

The Republic of Ireland's 4.6 million people have suffered considerably since the financial crisis began four years ago, forcing their government to turn to the European Union and International Monetary Fund for a $90 billion bail-out.

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World Cafe
9:00 am
Mon April 2, 2012

World Cafe Looks Back: The Sound Of Memphis

Credit Sean Gardner / Getty Images

Al Green performs during the 2009 Essence Music Festival at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans.

Today's episode of World Cafe celebrates the iconic sound of Memphis, Tenn., and Stax Records by looking back at past conversations with some of its key players.

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