Talk of the Nation

The territorial dispute over islands in the East China Sea continues to create tensions between China and Japan. Joseph Nye, former chair of the National Intelligence Council, says that the U.S. efforts in the region are seen as an extension of the Cold War containment policy.

After Elyn Saks was diagnosed with schizophrenia, she thought she'd never be able to hold a job. Saks explains how she went on to become a law professor at the University of Southern California. Dr. Richard Friedman, of Weill Cornell Medical College, discusses balancing work and mental illness.

In an interview with former Middle East peace negotiator Aaron David Miller in 2006, then-Sen. Chuck Hagel made a controversial statement about the "Jewish lobby." On the eve of Hagel's confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Miller argues that it's time to let those comments go.

Egypt's defense minister warned that the rising conflicts and chaos in the country could result in "the collapse of the state." Ongoing violence highlights the continued tensions between the government and the opposition, and raises questions about the prospects of Egypt's transition into a democracy.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmed Sen. John Kerry as the next secretary of state. Former Sen. Chuck Hagel is set to become the next secretary of defense. Critics and supporters of the men point to their service in Vietnam as a critical qualification.

Throughout the debate over the debt and deficit, New York Times columnist Paul Krugman has argued that the deficit isn't so bad in the short run. Krugman, who received the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2008, explains why he believes fiscal austerity is not the solution to debt problems.

The deadly nightclub fire in Brazil that claimed more than 230 lives is a tragic addition to an all-too long list of historic incidents. Ray O'Brocki, of the Baltimore Fire Department, explains how night clubs and other high-capacity facilities deal with fire safety.

NPR's Neal Conan reads from listener comments on previous show topics, including the challenges of memory loss, snapshots from around the country on Inauguration Day, and the 125th anniversary of the National Geographic Society.

Nearly 13 million people head to work as temporary and contract employees each year, according to the American Staffing Association. In an opinion piece for The New York Times, sociologist Erin Hatton argues that it's time to get rid of the "anti-worker ideology that has come to accompany it."

Responding to tightened sanctions and a new United Nations Security Council resolution condemning their December rocket launch, North Korea has threatened a new nuclear test, explicitly warning that the North Korean weapons program will target the United States.

A bipartisan group of senators is released a proposal for immigration reform. The plan specifically addresses creating a path to citizenship, employment verification systems and worker recruitment programs and raises many questions about potential changes for immigrants and employers.

Reporting in Nature, researchers write of encoding a variety of files--jpg, mp3, txt and pdf--in strands of DNA. Lead author Nick Goldman says DNA is extraordinarily long-lasting, compared to today's hard drives and magnetic tapes. And if all the world's information were written in DNA, he says, it would fit in the back of a station wagon.

Dogs were the first animals to be domesticated, but scientists have long debated precisely how--and when--it happened. With archaeological records and genetic research leading to different hypotheses, are we any closer to understanding how dogs became man's best friend?

Unusual activity in the atmosphere over the Arctic Circle is triggering snow and frigid temperatures across Canada, the U.S. and parts of Europe. Climatologist Jeff Weber, of the University Corporation of Atmospheric Research, explains why this winter could pack a punch.

This month, the book club discusses Michael Crichton's 1969 best-selling science fiction thriller The Andromeda Strain. Writer Richard Preston joins the club to talk about Crichton's writing style, and what it was like to work on Crichton's unfinished final manuscript, Micro.