NPR News

In Sandy's Wake, New Yorkers Don't Sweat Small Stuff

Credit Timothy A. Clary / AFP/Getty Images

People wait to charge cellphones and laptops Thursday at a generator set up in the West Village. Superstorm Sandy left large parts of New York City without power.

By Margot Adler

Originally published on Thu November 1, 2012 1:05 pm

NPR's Margot Adler is covering the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy in New York.

I walked out of my apartment at 5 this morning in a part of Manhattan -– the Upper West Side — that never lost power. Still, I skirted around downed trees on my way to the subway. Across the street, a car was crushed by a tree. Almost no one was on the street.

12:19 pm

Thu November 1, 2012

University Of Alabama Names First Woman President

Credit Mike Theiler / UPI /Landov

Judy Bonner, the University of Alabama's new president, when the school's championship football team visted the White House in April.

By Mark Memmott

For the first time in the school's 181-year history, the University of Alabama has named a woman to be its permanent president.

12:09 pm

Thu November 1, 2012

Sandy's Damage Under The Sea, Through The Eyes Of Oyster Farmers

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Credit Jeff Cohen for NPR

What they pull up is discouraging. Normally, 30 seconds under water would bring up a cage full of mostly healthy oysters. This time, Jimmy Bloom pulls up a cage that is barely one-third full. And it's haul is a mix of broken, chipped, meatless oysters.

Credit Jeff Cohen for NPR

Jimmy Bloom lowers two cages with rakes on the front to drag the bottom of the sound, about 30 feet below. Then he brings it up and dumps it on deck to check the oysters. "You know, if the storm hit, you'll see the shells will be all polished or the oysters could be all gapped. So it would be nothing to lose 80 to 90 percent of your oysters," Norman Bloom says, looking on.

Credit Jeff Cohen for NPR

The loss won't put them out of businesses, but it will make life harder and leaner as they try to both keep up with demand and rebuild what was destroyed. "We just pick up the pieces, start sorting the mess out, and move on. Take it from there. Not much you can do about it, you just go to work the next day," Jimmy Bloom says.

Credit Jeff Cohen for NPR

They're not out here to farm, they're just here to survey. So the Bloom men pump seawater onto the boat and wash the shells back into the water.

Credit Jeff Cohen for NPR

Norman Bloom takes his boat out to meet his son, Jimmy, whose boat is idling over the company's oyster beds, about a mile offshore from Norwalk. They worry that the waves and the turbulence may have suffocated the oysters under silt. They could have been banged around, which would break them. And they may have just cracked open and died, Jimmy fears.

By editor

Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy wrapped up a post Hurricane Sandy news briefing earlier this week by talking about sewage discharges into Long Island Sound. "Suffice to say in the immediate time being, no one should eat the clams or oysters," he said.

That's right. Because of water quality issues, the state put a temporary stop to oyster farming, but that's usually a short-term thing and it happens fairly regularly after a big storm.

11:37 am

Thu November 1, 2012

'Race-Baiter": Media Feeds On Fear And Prejudice

Credit Carrie Pratt / Simply Blue Studios

Eric Deggans is the TV and media critic for the Tampa Bay Times.

By NPR Staff

Originally published on Fri November 2, 2012 8:20 am

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In his new book, Race-Baiter, media critic Eric Deggans says modern media outlets trade in bigotry and bias to build audience and sell advertising.

Deggans dissects media coverage of events such as Hurricane Katrina, the Trayvon Martin case and the 2012 presidential election to build an argument that Americans lack the right vocabulary for having important conversations about race, and that the echo chambers of our fractured media landscape aren't helping. The fix, he says, is a more savvy audience that demands better conversations.

11:26 am

Thu November 1, 2012

Ricks: Firing 'The Generals' To Fight Better Wars?

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Credit Penguin Group USA

Credit Foreign Policy Magazine

Thomas E. Ricks is also the author of the best-seller Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq and its follow-up, The Gamble: General David Petraeus and the American Military Adventure in Iraq, 2006-2008.

By editor

Originally published on Thu November 1, 2012 2:17 pm

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When Thomas Ricks first learned that Terry Allen, the successful general in charge of the 1st Infantry Division during World War II's Sicily campaign, had been fired, he says, his jaw dropped.

11:05 am

Thu November 1, 2012

Afghanistan: When Should Longest U.S. War End?

By editor

Originally published on Thu November 1, 2012 2:15 pm

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Transcript

NEAL CONAN, HOST:

This is TALK OF THE NATION. I'm Neal Conan in Washington. The war in Afghanistan has gone largely unmentioned by both presidential campaigns. When it does come up, conversations focus not so much on what happening now but withdrawal.

If timetables hold, the U.S. and NATO will hand over combat operations to Afghan forces by the end of 2014, but plans call for American troops to stay on for many years in support and counterterrorism roles.

11:05 am

Thu November 1, 2012

Sandy Especially Tough On Vulnerable Populations

By editor

Originally published on Thu November 1, 2012 2:15 pm

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Transcript

NEAL CONAN, HOST:

11:05 am

Thu November 1, 2012

Well-Liked Leaders Know The Secret: Make Us Laugh

By editor

Originally published on Thu November 1, 2012 2:15 pm

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Transcript

NEAL CONAN, HOST:

Last week, after Donald Trump asked President Obama to produce more records to prove his citizenship, the president used an appearance on "The Tonight Show" to dismiss the issue with a one-liner. Host Jay Leno asked, what's this thing between you and Trump?

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO")

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: This all dates back to when we were growing up together in Kenya.

10:42 am

Thu November 1, 2012

Bloomberg Businessweek's Cover: 'It's Global Warming, Stupid'

Credit Bloomberg

Bloomberg Businessweek's latest cover.

By Eyder Peralta

Originally published on Thu November 1, 2012 10:22 am

Climate change is one of those important topics that has remained under the radar this election cycle.

Without a doubt, Superstorm Sandy has brought it back to the spotlight. That's evident when New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo linked Sandy to global warming.