National

College loan debt isn't easing up, and students are struggling to navigate a plethora of obligations.

Loan Education Becomes Prerequisite As Student Debt Balloons

4:55pm April 06, 2013

by NPR Staff

Americans hold about $1 trillion in student loans, and the debt burden is only getting heavier. One financial aid counselor says students are starting to smarten up and asking questions he'd never considered himself before the recession hit.

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Construction Jobs Take A Hit In March After A Fall Boost

6:04pm April 05, 2013

The latest employment numbers showed far fewer jobs were created in March than in February, disappointing those who had hoped robust growth from the winter months would hold into spring. The news overshadowed an effort from the White House to reach out to Republicans on the tax-and-spend front. The president said he would trim the growth in retirement programs if the GOP would accept some higher taxes. NPR's Scott Horsley talks to Robert Siegel about how the two issues are related.

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This photo of the J. Edgar Hoover Building was taken in November 2001. After the Sept. 11 attacks, the FBI stopped offering tours of its headquarters.

National

FBI Building May Soon Be 'Put Out Of Its Misery'

6:04pm April 05, 2013

by Brian Naylor

With D.C. real estate booming, it's no surprise that the government is thinking about unloading a building seen by many as an eyesore. The J. Edgar Hoover Building, headquarters of the FBI, sits on a valuable spot along Pennsylvania Avenue, not far from the Capitol and the White House.

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Vice founder Shane Smith attends the premiere screening for the MTV series The Vice Guide To Everything in New York City in December 2010. Vice's new documentary series on HBO launches Friday.

National

Is The Company Behind Rodman's Korea Visit The Future Of Media?

3:17pm April 05, 2013

by Dan Bobkoff

Brooklyn-based Vice Media has gone from a small Canadian magazine to figuring out the holy grail of media: how to capture an international audience of aloof 18- to 24-year-olds. From magazines to the Web to film, Vice's CEO says, "We do it weirder, and we do it younger, and we do it in a different way and in a different voice."

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The U.S. Navy's Blue Angels soar over the Florida Keys during a March 23 air show. The group has canceled several air shows in April and May, reportedly owing to budget cuts.

Sequester Scorecard: A Month Later, Effects Still Up In Air

10:09am April 05, 2013

by NPR Staff

Automatic federal budget cuts that kicked in March 1 have had little initial impact in many parts of the government. In a few programs, however, the effect has been real and painful as the government has begun cutting $85 billion from its spending through the end of September.

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'A Lovely Feeling': Celebrating Older Women With Fabulous Style

8:50am April 05, 2013

by Ina Jaffe

The fashion industry is sometimes criticized for unrealistic portrayals of young women. But if you're a woman older than 60, there are almost no portrayals, realistic or otherwise. Now a fashion blog called Advanced Style has made stars of some of these older fashionistas, including a 93-year-old who says the spotlight makes her feel like she's "part of the world."

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National

For Pulitzer-Winning Critic Roger Ebert, Films Were A Journey

8:20pm April 04, 2013

by Cheryl Corley

He was a print journalist initially, but Ebert's "thumbs up" TV critiques were just as influential as his essays, and he later carved out a prodigious digital presence. Ebert died Thursday after struggling for years with cancer. He was 70 years old.

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Gun rights supporters rally at the Oregon Capitol in February.

Oregon Weighs Own Gun Measures After Mall Shooting, Newtown

8:20pm April 04, 2013

by Chris Lehman

The measures include a ban on guns in schools and criminal background checks for private gun sales. They follow a shooting at a crowded shopping mall in a Portland suburb just days before the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut.

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Demonstrators from the Fast Food Forward rally protest Thursday outside a Wendy's restaurant in New York City.

National

NYC's Fast-Food Workers Strike, Demand 'Living Wages'

8:20pm April 04, 2013

by Joel Rose

Fast-food workers in New York City are on strike for the second time in six months, demanding higher wages that they can live on. Workers complain that $7.25 an hour, New York's current minimum wage, is not enough to live in the city.

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National

The Least Bad Options For Guantanamo Bay

5:46pm April 04, 2013

At the Guantanamo Bay detention center, 166 prisoners remain detained. U.S. officials say nearly a fourth of the captives are on hunger strike, though lawyers for the prisoners say the strike is more widespread. Meanwhile, President Barack Obama has re-declared his desire to close the facility.

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