Talk of the Nation

After the attack that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans in Benghazi, Libya, President Barack Obama said yesterday that the United States would "work with the Libyan government to bring to justice" the people involved.

As the conflict in Syria rages on, thousands of refugees — some 200,000 in total — are fleeing to neighboring countries. The United Nations estimates that there are over 85,000 refugees currently in Jordan, the most of any neighboring country.

Some 15 percent of the U.S. population lived below the poverty line in 2011, according to a report from the Census Bureau. Tavis Smiley and Cornel West, co-authors of The Rich and the Rest of the U.S., argue that both political parties virtually ignore the issue of poverty.

NPR's Political Junkie Ken Rudin, Vin Weber, former Republican congressman and adviser to the Romney campaign, and Anna Greenberg, democratic pollster and senior vice president of Greenberg Quinlan Rosner, discuss the convention outcomes and what each campaign must do in the months before the election.

Ambassador Chris Stevens and four other Americans died Tuesday after a mob attacked the U.S. embassy in Benghazi, Libya in protest of a film that mocks Islam. In Egypt, protesters stormed the U.S. embassy in Cairo. These attacks raise concerns about U.S. policy in the region.

As tensions mount between China and several neighboring countries over control in the Asia-Pacific region, U.S. Sen. James Webb talks with NPR's Neal Conan about the role the United States can and should play in the growing disputes in the South China Sea.

For 18 months, while undergoing treatment for esophageal cancer, Christopher Hitchens chronicled his experience of "living dyingly" in a series of essays for Vanity Fair. Those essays and never-before published notes from Hitchens' final days, are compiled in the posthumous book Mortality.

Sixteen members of a conservative Amish church group have been charged with hate crimes after forcibly cutting off the beards of members of a breakaway Amish group. In a piece for Bloomberg View, Harvard law professor Noah Feldman argues that while the attacks should be punished, they aren't hate crimes.

A report from the International Atomic Energy Agency shows that Iran has continued its efforts to enrich uranium. Ever-tightening sanctions appear to be putting a strain on the Iranian economy, but have done little to deter Iran's enrichment program.

More sea ice in the Arctic Ocean melted in the summer of 2012 than at any time since scientists began tracking the phenomenon. NPR science correspondent Richard Harris discusses how the historic loss of ice cover could affect weather conditions around the world.

On the eleventh anniversary of the World Trade Center terror attacks, NPR's Neal Conan listens to sounds from anniversary events across the country.

Nineteen states have laws that allow corporal punishment in public schools, according to the Center for Effective Discipline. Critics argue paddling does not stop bad behavior, while supporters say paddling teaches discipline and respect. StateImpact Florida education reporter Sarah Gonzalez outlines the debate.

NPR's Neal Conan reads from listener comments on previous show topics including what doctors tell patients about getting healthy and who acts and who freezes in a crisis.

Several colleges and universities have adopted a common read program, where freshmen read the same book during the summer and discuss it once on campus. Author Max Brooks discusses what students can learn from his book World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War.

Following several years of decline, home prices are beginning to rebound in many regions of the country. Recent reports show fewer foreclosures in several of the hardest hit states. Many analysts believe it's safe to finally use the word "recovery."