NPR Topics: Story of the Day Podcast

Sandy is just the latest in a series of powerful storms to wallop the East Coast in recent years. The toll may cause insurance companies to consider how they will assess future risks.

The federal agency has received praise from politicians and storm survivors alike for being prepared before the storm and responsive immediately afterward — two things the agency was not when Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast in 2005.

The Obama administration's health law envisions reductions in some Medicare spending. And some of the money saved on Medicare will help pay for other parts of the law. But those changes are unconnected with doctors in some areas not being willing to accept Medicare patients.

The market shutdown is a reminder that if human beings can't travel to Wall Street — the actual street, not the metaphor — the financial system can't function.

In the second of a three-part series, All Things Considered asks several Americans with incomes solidly in the mid-five figures why they feel they've landed on the middle of the nation's economic ladder.

Mitt Romney spent years lining up endorsements, donors and state-by-state victory networks. His meticulous strategy paid off in a long GOP primary and has kept him competitive in the general election campaign. It also has revealed glimpses of Romney's loyalty and how he handles mistakes.

NPR's Jacki Lyden grew up with the Bark River in her backyard. She left the Wisconsin waterway unexplored, until recently. Floating down the river in a canoe with a historian, Lyden discovered a story that stretches from the Ice Age and the Black Hawk War to churning 19th-century mills.

In bright-red Alabama, the race for chief justice of the state's Supreme Court is surprisingly heated, pitting a controversial and archconservative former justice against a relatively unknown Democrat.

The ornithomimus dinosaur was built like a 400-pound ostrich and lived about 75 million years ago. But recent research suggests the adult dinos had big, showy, colorful feathers with quills that were most likely used for sexual displays or courtship.

Beef heart, once a common dish for the poor, has been rediscovered by chefs and eaters of all ages. All Things Considered speaks with cookbook authors Jody Eddy and Christine Carroll about the stories behind their recipes.

Early on in American history, before radio and television, charisma wasn't particularly useful, one scholar says, since most decisions were made behind closed doors. Not so today. But how much difference do personality characteristics and charisma make?

A judge threw out Santae Tribble's murder conviction earlier this year, after Tribble had spent decades in prison. Now, Tribble is fighting for a finding of actual legal innocence that would help him get compensation for the years he spent behind bars. Two jurors who convicted him have written to the court on his behalf.

Former Sen. George McGovern died Sunday morning. He was best known as the Democratic Party's ill-fated nominee against President Nixon in 1972, a textbook case of how not to run for the White House. Even so, as a proud liberal, McGovern was an inspiration to many political figures. He was 90.

Not knowing whom you're voting for may just mean you haven't had time to think about it yet. Regardless, one political scientist says, the power of the undecided voter might be a myth, too.

For all the attention on female voters, the gender gap is no less among white men. They voted in large numbers against Barack Obama four years ago, and are expected to do so again this year. At a motorcycle festival in Florida, some of these voters weigh in on the GOP ticket and the election.