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World Cafe

2:53 pm

Thu November 15, 2012

Titus Andronicus On World Cafe

Credit Kyle Dean Reinford

Titus Andronicus.

By editor

The New Jersey band Titus Andronicus doesn't shy away from big ideas: It's named for Shakespeare's first tragedy, and its last record (2010's The Monitor) is a concept album drawing on the history of the Civil War. The group's big, shambling rock 'n' roll doesn't mess around with the everyday, opting instead for life-and-death urgency.

The Salt

2:31 pm

Thu November 15, 2012

Cheaper Fruit And Vegetables Alone Can't Save Food Deserts

By editor

Originally published on Thu November 15, 2012 4:12 pm

Tens of millions of Americans can't follow the government's guidelines for healthful eating because they can't afford or access enough fresh fruits and vegetables. Sometimes it's because they live in what's known as a "food desert," places devoid of markets with a good variety of quality fresh foods.

Environment

2:31 pm

Thu November 15, 2012

Loophole Lets Toxic Oil Water Flow Over Indian Land

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Credit Elizabeth Shogren / NPR

Dirty water from the oil wells flows through oil-caked pipes into a settling pit where trucks vacuum off the oil. A net covers the pit to keep out birds and other wildlife. Streams of this wastewater flow through the reservation and join natural creeks and rivers.

Credit Elizabeth Shogren / NPR

More than 40 years ago, the EPA banned oil companies from releasing wastewater into the environment, but made an exception for the arid West. If livestock and wildlife can use the water, companies can release it. Cows like these grazing near a stream of waste on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming are supposedly the reason the EPA lets oil companies release their waste into the environment.

Credit Elizabeth Shogren / NPR

The EPA requires that the wastewater streams show no obvious sheen and no solid deposits. But both were visible near oil fields on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming.

Credit Elizabeth Shogren / NPR

White crystal-like deposits line a streambed where this oil field water is flowing. Researchers for the tribes have also found black oozes, purple growths, dead ducklings and lifeless stretches of streams.

Credit Elizabeth Shogren / NPR

In most oil fields, the water that companies pump up with the oil gets reinjected deep underground. But the federal government allows a dozen oil fields on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming to pump streams of this wastewater onto the land.

Credit Elizabeth Shogren / NPR

Rancher Darwin Griebel says his cows need the oil field water, and his business depends on it.

Credit Elizabeth Shogren / NPR

Wes Martel, vice chairman for the Eastern Shoshone Business Council, stands near a murky gray stream full of oil field wastewater. He's concerned about the effects the wastewater has on wildlife, water quality and, since cows drink it, he wonders: "What's in your steak?"

Credit Elizabeth Shogren / NPR

Internal EPA documents released to NPR show some EPA staffers have been trying to figure out what is in the wastewater released by oil companies. There are lots of chemicals. Some leave solid residues like these white and gray mounds. Danger signs near this outflow pipe warn that poisonous gas fumes from the water can cause respiratory irritation or suffocation.

Credit Elizabeth Shogren / NPR

Dirty water from the oil wells flows through oil-caked pipes into a settling pit where trucks vacuum off the oil. A net covers the pit to keep out birds and other wildlife. Streams of this wastewater flow through the reservation and join natural creeks and rivers.

By Elizabeth Shogren

Originally published on Fri November 16, 2012 10:55 am

Listen

The air reeks so strongly of rotten eggs that tribal leader Wes Martel hesitates to get out of the car at an oil field on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming. He already has a headache from the fumes he smelled at another oil field.

Shots - Health News

2:13 pm

Thu November 15, 2012

Computer Issues May Complicate Launch Of Health Insurance Exchanges

Credit iStockphoto.com

Problems with a computer system could delay work on health insurance exchanges.

By Julie Appleby

Originally published on Thu November 15, 2012 2:34 pm

Online insurance markets set to begin selling health coverage to consumers next October may be hampered by software delays.

State regulators learned late last week that an electronic system most insurers will use to submit their policies for state and federal approvals won't be ready for testing next month, as originally planned. The lag is being blamed on the wait for several regulations from the Obama administration that are needed to update the software.

Books

1:49 pm

Thu November 15, 2012

Doris Kearns Goodwin On Lincoln And His 'Team Of Rivals'

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By editor

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This interview was originally broadcast on Nov. 8, 2005.

When Tony Kushner and Steven Spielberg were working on the film Lincoln, they had many conversations with historian Doris Kearns Goodwin. Her book, Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, is about Lincoln's relationship with his cabinet. Both her book and the film showcase Lincoln's remarkable political skills.

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