Talk of the Nation

When the lights went out in the stadium at Super Bowl XLVII, Twitter lit up. Advertising teams from various companies capitalized on the break in play with Twitter ad campaigns. Advertising professional Bob Dorfman explains why Oreo's ad was so successful and how social media has changed strategy.

NPR's Neal Conan reads from listener comments on previous show topics, including the new temp economy, the world through the eyes of Vietnam veterans, and coping with mental illness at work.

After eating at Applebee's with a large group, St. Louis pastor Alois Bell — frustrated that gratuity was already included — wrote this comment on the receipt: "I give God 10%. Why do you get 18?" A sympathetic co-worker posted a picture of the receipt online, and it soon went viral.

Undergoing chemotherapy is an unpleasant and often disruptive experience that can radically transform a cancer patient's life. From nausea and hair loss, to so-called "chemo-brain" and "metal mouth," the side effects can vary drastically and many are unexpected.

Civil rights activist Rosa Parks would have been 100 years old today. NPR's Celeste Headlee talks with listeners about the first time they learned about Parks and what she signifies today.

After Islamic extremists seized parts of Mali, the country's former colonial ruler, France, intervened with a ground and air offensive. This action raises questions about the role of former colonial powers in modern conflicts.

A mystery of the animal kingdom: how do owls turn their heads 270 degrees without damaging their blood vessels? At last an answer, published this week in Science. Fabian de Kok-Mercado and Philippe Gailloud dissected and x-rayed owls to discover how the birds do the twist.

When the sun goes down, dung beetles rely on a galactic source--light from the Milky Way--to navigate, according to a recent report in Current Biology. Study co-author Eric Warrant, of Lund University in Sweden, explains how dung beetles see the starry night sky.

How can journalists and bloggers avoid some of the pitfalls of communicating science in an online world? Should a website's comments section be moderated, or removed altogether? How has social media changed the blogosphere? A panel of experts joins Ira Flatow to discuss.

China burns nearly as much coal as the rest of the world combined--and has 300 more coal plants in the works. But China also leads the world in solar panel exports and wind farms, and has a national climate change policy in place. Is the U.S. falling behind on climate? Ira Flatow and guests discuss how the world is tackling global warming--with or without us--and what it might take to change the climate on Capitol Hill.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) told Fox News that Secretary of State Hilary Clinton "got away with murder" for her handling of the attacks on the U.S. consulate in Libya. Ambassador Thomas Pickering, who led the independent investigation into the attacks, talks about the future of diplomatic security.

When protests broke out across the Arab world, NPR senior strategist Andy Carvin followed the events in real time online. In his book Distant Witness, Carvin explains how he cultivated social media sources into a new form of journalism where people on the ground controlled the news.

The New York Times announced late Wednesday that they have been warding off cyber attacks from Chinese hackers since September. Wired senior reporter Kim Zetter explains who the hackers target, how they do it, and why.

President Barack Obama says he hopes that the immigration reform plan designed out by a bipartisan Senate committee will become a bill as soon as March. The president also warned, that this debate will become more heated and emotional as it moves ahead.

NPR's Ken Rudin recaps the week in politics, from the new proposals for immigration policy, to the Senate testimony on gun control legislation. Kathie Obradovich, political columnist for the Des Moines Register, about the retirement of Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and the politics of Iowa in 2014.