Talk of the Nation

Lawmakers in Washington extended some provisions of the farm bill that expired in October. Subsidies for grain cotton and soybeans will be renewed, and budgets for some organic and environment initiatives will be cut. Since the extension only lasts nine months, many farmers are left with uncertainty.

President Obama nominated Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb) for Secretary of Defense and tapped John Brennan, his top counterterrorism advisor, to lead the CIA. NPR's Ari Shapiro reads from a number of opinion pieces about those decisions talks with NPR's Tom Bowman about Obama's national security goals in his second term.

Catfish eating pigeons, water travelling uphill, a blue whale barrel roll — where can one see such things? The scientific journals! Flora Lichtman and Ira Flatow look back on the year's best moments in science cinema. What was your favorite science video of the year?

In Full Planet, Empty Plates: The New Geopolitics of Food Scarcity, Lester Brown says the world's food supply is tightening, and the reasons are many. People in developing countries are eating more meat, a grain-intensive food; farmers are overpumping, causing water tables to fall; and crop yields have plateaued, despite technological advances.

In 2012 the Higgs boson was spotted at CERN, private company SpaceX began supply flights to the International Space Station, and the world bade farewell to the Galapagos tortoise Lonesome George. A panel of journalists discusses the year's top stories in science.

The sleek and efficient F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is scheduled to replace as many as ten planes currently in service. As Congress looks to make budget cuts, some question the value of the world's most expensive fighter jet.

In How To Be A Woman, British columnist and critic Caitlin Moran describes her journey — thus far — through womanhood. She shares stories of the awkwardness of puberty, and the perils of fashion, career, marriage and childbirth. Along the way, she explores what it means to be a feminist today.

In political discourse, debates about polarizing topics often evolve into conversations about what is and isn't protected by the Constitution. In a piece for The New York Times, Mike Seidman writes that it's time to reexamine the role the document plays in American society.

Mike Shuster has been reporting for NPR for more than 30 years, most recently as the network's diplomatic correspondent. From Tehran to Islamabad, Berlin to Moscow, he has had a front row seat to some of the most significant events in recent history. As he prepares to move on, he reflects on his years in the field.

Talk of the Nation kicks off the new year by taking time to follow up on some stories from 2012. NPR's Neal Conan talks with some of the memorable guests and callers from 2012, including a farmer devastated by drought and a new mom evacuated from a hospital during Superstorm Sandy.

NPR's Political Junkie Ken Rudin recaps the week in politics from the winners and losers of the 'fiscal cliff' deal to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's health concerns. Incoming freshman representatives Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-NM), Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) and Doug LaMalfa (R-CA) share their expectations as new members of Congress.

Early this morning, the Senate passed tax and spending measures in an effort to avoid the fiscal cliff. House Republican leadership meets this afternoon to discuss the deal and a possible vote. Host Neal Conan checks in with NPR's senior Washington editor Ron Elving about the current status of the agreement and today's potential outcomes.

As the new year started, the Senate adopted a bipartisan agreement that, while temporary, may help ease concerns about America's economic stability. The House considers the deal today. Host Neal Conan talks with NPR senior business correspondent Marilyn Geewax, and then with Yale economics professor Robert Shiller about how the crisis has affected the housing market.

The Tournament of Roses Parade is an annual tradition for Pasadena, Calif., and television viewers around the country. But it's more than a pretty spectacle of floats bedecked in blooms, says Los Angeles Times columnist and special correspondent for KPCC Patt Morrison. In her latest column, she writes, "its huge cultural shadow has been as much about what you didn't see on display as what you did."

For the 150th birthday of the Emancipation Proclamation, the National Archives is displaying the original document for members of the public to visit. A'Lelia Bundles, chair and president of the board of directors of the Foundation for the National Archives, viewed the Proclamation Sunday; she discusses what the document did — and did not do — for slaves.