Talk of the Nation

'Nightmare bacteria,' strains of superbugs resistant to even the most powerful antibiotics, have quadrupled in number in the last decade--and have been found lurking in hospitals in 42 states. NIH epidemiologist Tara Palmore and infectious disease specialist Brad Spellberg discuss how to find and contain these bugs, and a few ways we might outsmart them.

Can red wine slow down the aging process? According to a new study published in Science, a compound found in the skin of grapes activates an anti-aging gene in mice that promotes longevity. Harvard Medical School's David Sinclair discusses the research findings.

Last week a Florida man was swallowed by the Earth as he slept, the victim of a sinkhole. In 1981, another Florida sinkhole ate a swimming pool and a Porsche repair shop. Randall Orndorff, a geologist for the U.S. Geological Survey, discusses this mysterious phenomenon, and whether technology exists to predict when--and where--the surface might crumble.

Water bears, a.k.a. tardigrades, can withstand boiling, freezing and the vacuum of space. Biologist Bob Goldstein, of University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, studies these millimeter-long creatures to try to understand how organisms develop.

In his new book The Future: Six Drivers of Global Change, former vice president Al Gore takes a sweeping census of the variables affecting the future of life on Earth, including everything from robosourced labor and millisecond stock trading to genetic engineering and water shortages, and of course, climate change.

With warmer weather (hopefully) just around the corner, what can we expect this spring from some of nature's most important pollinators? Plus, new research on the electric fields in flowers and the effect of caffeine on honeybees offers fascinating glimpses into bee behavior.

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) held the Senate floor for more than 12 hours on Wednesday in protest of the White House drone policy. His action delayed the vote on the confirmation of John Brennan as CIA director. NPR's Ken Rudin discusses the use of the filibuster throughout history.

Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, held a press conference Tuesday to announce the need to "sound an alarm" on the advance of CRE, a highly drug-resistant bacteria. CRE and other superbugs are found mostly in hospitals and long-term care facilities.

As former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush made the media rounds for his book Immigration Wars, he also addressed what he sees as the biggest structural challenge facing America. "We're no longer socially mobile as a country," he told MSNBC, voicing the concerns of many Americans.

In her 20s, Amy Boesky lived a double life. By day, she was a Harvard graduate studying English at Oxford. By night, she was a ghostwriter for the popular teen series Sweet Valley High. In a piece in The Kenyon Review, Boesky, who now teaches at Boston College, revealed her past.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez died Tuesday after struggling with cancer for nearly two years. The polarizing leader will be remembered both as a champion of the poor, and as a leader who consolidated power in his office. New Yorker staff writer Jon Lee Anderson talks about what life was like during his nearly 14 years in power.

Both parties are pointing fingers and laying blame for sequestration, a series of automatic government spending cuts went into effect last week. Political Junkie Ken Rudin and Rob Levinson, senior analyst with Bloomberg Government, discuss the political fallout from the across-the-board cuts.

Venezuela's president Hugo Chavez died Tuesday in Caracas, leaving many unanswered questions about the future of the country. Julia Sweig, director for Latin America studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, talks about the impact "Chavismo" had on Venezuela and the world.

An elderly woman at a California retirement home died in February after a staff person refused to perform CPR, despite the pleas of a 911 dispatcher. The nurse says she was following company policy. This incident raised many questions about the role of dispatchers in medical emergencies.

For the first time, scientists believe a child infected with the HIV virus has been cured. NPR health correspondent Richard Knox explains this case and other developments in HIV research presented at the 2013 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections.