Stories of the Week | PBS NewsHour Podcast | PBS

President Barack Obama announced a sweeping proposal to curb climate change and cut emissions. Gwen Ifill gets two reactions on the plan and its potential impact from Frances Beinecke, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council and attorney Scott Segal, who represents companies pushing for the Keystone extension.

The NHL and NBA seasons have led up to dramatic and exciting endings. NPR's Mike Pesca joins Jeffrey Brown from Miami to discuss how the last-second shots and overtime goals have made 2013 NBA finals and the Stanley Cup games major sports moments to remember.

Usually, as a country's GDP goes up, that nation's well-being tends to rise as well. But for the last 35 years, as GDP has grown in the United States, Americans' average happiness hasn't increased. Economics correspondent Paul Solman talks to researchers about how they study the connection between money and happiness.

The prevalence of the most common STD -- and the leading cause of cervical cancer -- among teenage girls has been cut in half, thanks to the HPV vaccine. Margaret Warner talks with Dr. Anne Schuchat of the Centers for Disease Control for more on a new study.

It was a bad day for global markets, whose stocks fell over worries about a credit crunch in China and comments by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke that the fed may begin paring back stimulus efforts. Jeffrey Brown gets reactions from The Wall Street Journal's David Wessel and James Paulsen of Wells Capital Management.

In other news Thursday, the U.S. House of Representatives failed to pass a five-year, half-trillion dollar farm bill. The bill would have cut food stamps by $2 billion annually. Also, Afghan President Hamid Karzai has changed his mind and says he will participate in peace talks with the U.S. and the Taliban.

The Senate continues to work on a sweeping bill to overhaul the nation's immigration system, moving toward a final vote before the July 4 deadline. In a one-on-one conversation, Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., talks with Ray Suarez about his immigration bill priorities and working with the House on comprehensive reform.

The life cycle of the cicada is unique in the insect world. They bring a chorus of deafening noise before spending 17 years underground. What's all the buzz about? Science correspondent Miles O'Brien reports on the swarms of spectators and scientists who emerge in search of the noisy insects.

President Barack Obama said the U.S. could reduce its stockpile of long-range nuclear weapons by up to a third, and called upon Russia to make similar cuts. Margaret Warner gets reactions to Mr. Obama's call from former State and Defense Department official Eric Edelman and Joseph Cirincione of the Ploughshares Fund.

Milk production is a nearly $8 billion business in California. Meanwhile, Chinese milk consumption tripled in the last decade and the dairy industry there wants to produce more. In another report in the "Food for 9 Billion" series, special correspondent Suzanne Rust examines the complex exchange of resources and money over milk.

Syndicated columnist Mark Shields and New York Times columnist David Brooks analyze the week's top political news with Judy Woodruff, including the Obama administration's decision to provide aid to Syrian rebels, NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden and American attitudes towards domestic surveillance.

The Obama administration says it will send help to the rebels after determining that the Syrian government has used chemical weapons. Jeffrey Brown assesses the decision and the risks with Vali Nasr, former State Department official, and former National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski.

The city of Detroit is facing difficult decisions in the face of billions of dollars of debt. Emergency manager Kevyn Orr laid out a last-ditch plan to 150 creditors to accept pennies on the dollar to keep the city running. Some residents are skeptical of Orr's approach. Ray Suarez talks to Matt Helms of the Detroit Free Press.

Having concluded that the Syrian government has used chemical weapons against rebels in the last year, the White House announced that the U.S. will dramatically increase military assistance to opposition forces. Jeffrey Brown reports on the Assad regime's response to the American findings and requests from the rebels.

The last time readers heard from detective Easy Rawlins, he was driving off a cliff. But Rawlins, one of the best-known characters in American literature, returns -- alive -- in a new novel called "Little Green." Jeffrey Brown talks to author Walter Mosley about his new book and more.