NPR Topics: Story of the Day Podcast

Some voters in the swing state's Larimer County say too much federal regulation is keeping the U.S. overly reliant on foreign oil. Others argue the government should help businesses move toward sustainability.

Many cities spend millions on prisons annually, and often those moving in and out of jail come from the same neighborhoods. The Justice Mapping Center maps those costs, block by block, to help policymakers visualize where those public dollars are going — and determine if they could be better spent.

Fifty years ago, James Meredith, the first black student at the University of Mississippi, had to be escorted by federal marshals to his mostly empty classes. Today, black and white Ole Miss students sit together in a class about the school's integration. Still, students say there's more to be done.

Both President Obama and his GOP rival, Mitt Romney, have spent weeks preparing for the debates by facing off against fake versions of their challengers played by stand-ins. Though easily overlooked, the work of a debate stand-in is grueling.

The city is surprisingly diverse, with more than 90 languages spoken in its public schools. Local officials and residents are working to turn that diversity into an economic advantage — but creating a sense of community among such diverse groups is no small challenge.

How do we pick what to eat and what to wear? It's not comfort or hunger — it's all in the label. Food and clothing labeled small appeal to most of us, even when the labels lie, a marketing professor says.

Thirty years ago, shouting, sweating traders thronged the trading pits of Chicago's exchange markets in barely controlled chaos. Today, a lot of the trading has left the pits and gone electronic, leaving Chicago's trading pits tamer places.

In Colorado Springs, advertising for the presidential race has tripled compared with the same time four years ago. It's enough to drive even the most fervent political partisans over the edge.

The campaign still has a chance to brush off recent stumbles, according to political strategist Steve Schmidt. He says Mitt Romney's team needs to refocus and make its case more effectively, with the upcoming debates as a key platform.

Arefa, 6, suffered a life-threatening wound on her head as well as severe burns when her family's tent in Afghanistan was engulfed in flames from an IED. Doctors treating her at a hospital in Los Angeles say her struggle to stay alive for three years is nothing short of a miracle.

Both presidential campaigns are focusing on just a few swing states, and the relatively few undecided voters remaining. One of those states is Virginia, where a key swing constituency is military veterans.

How do you turn average teachers into great teachers? One unusual field experiment suggests the answer may lie in giving bonuses to teachers upfront — with a catch: They have to give back the money if student performance doesn't improve.

In a study, researchers found that among white kids and teens, higher BPA levels were associated with more than twice the risk of obesity. But higher BPA levels didn't affect childhood obesity risk for blacks and Hispanics.

After a mild winter and a late-April freeze, Michigan's apple harvest was decimated. Less fruit means fewer picking jobs. It also means little to no income from apples in storage that growers rely on to get them through to next year's harvest.

An attempt to purge tens of thousands of "dead" voters from its election rolls has spawned a backlash across the state, involving the registrar in the state's biggest county, the secretary of state and the Texas Democratic Party.