Around the Nation

NPR's Steve Inskeep interviews President Obama in the Cabinet Room of the White House on Dec. 15. The president said Democrats have "ceded too much territory" to Republicans in local races.

Politics & Government

To Rehabilitate Democratic Party, Obama Plans To 'Coach' Young Talent

11:03am December 19, 2016

by Scott Detrow

The president said Democrats have "ceded too much territory" to Republicans in local races. Obama sees his role after leaving office as helping a new generation "rise up."

Russian-Americans Wary Of Trump's Relationship With Putin

5:08pm December 18, 2016

by Charles Lane

In the Russian-American neighborhood of Brighton Beach, N.Y., many people support the GOP, but they're concerned about Vladimir Putin having too much influence in the Trump administration.

Janet (left) and Jackie Carter's wedding in August 2015. They set up a crowdfunding site to help defray the considerable costs of IVF.

Please, Baby, Please: Some Couples Turn To Crowdfunding For IVF

4:30pm December 18, 2016

by Stephanie O'Neill

Infertility is often a private struggle. But some couples are going public — via crowdfunding sites — to help subsidize in vitro fertilization treatments that can cost as much as $20,000 each time.

Queue Listen Now

Men check pipes on Dec. 17, where Corpus Christi's city-owned water main connects with the asphalt plant where a suspected chemical leak led to a citywide ban on tap water use. The ban was lifted Sunday, Dec. 18.

Tap Water In Corpus Christi Is Safe, Authorities Say

3:30pm December 18, 2016

by Rebecca Hersher

Water tests by the state environmental agency did not find dangerous levels of a corrosive chemical, after a leak from an asphalt plant led to a citywide drinking water ban beginning Dec. 14.

Colin Ozeki, a high school student with autism, is on track to graduate this year from Millennium Brooklyn High School with an advanced diploma.

Getting Students With Autism Through High School, To College And Beyond

3:07pm December 18, 2016

by Yasmeen Khan

Nationwide, students with autism are enrolling in college in relatively low numbers, even compared to students with other disabilities. One program in New York City is trying to change that.

National

Toddler Dies After Road-Rage Gunfire Hits Car, Little Rock Police Say

2:07pm December 18, 2016

by Bill Chappell

The boy is the second toddler to die in a car-related shooting in the city in the past month. He had been on a shopping trip with his grandmother, police say.

A Lego figure in a wheelchair was introduced at the 67th International Toy Fair in January 2016. He comes in the "City" set, a community of figures shown playing and working in an urban park setting.

Dolls With Disabilities Escape The Toy Hospital, Go Mainstream

11:08am December 18, 2016

by Neda Ulaby

Longtime toymakers are broadening their horizons — offering dolls and other figures with hearing aids, wheelchairs and insulin pumps in city scenes, not just hospitals. That's a start, activists say.

Queue Listen Now

National

In Defense Of 'Identity Politics'

8:29am December 18, 2016

Some say Hillary Clinton's overemphasis on voters' ethnic or gender identities cost her the election. NPR's Ailsa Chang talks with Christine Emba of the Washington Post, who defends "identity politics."

National

Drag Kings And Queens Find Their Tribe In Annual 'Homo For The Holidays'

8:29am December 18, 2016

by Matt Baume

Everyone celebrates the holidays differently. For some, the holidays mean stuffing men into sparkling dresses, using a giant candy cane as a stripper poll, and making the yuletide as gay as possible.

A 1935 recommendation to sterilize a 23-year-old male patient at Pacific Colony, based a supposed IQ of 75. His foster mother refused the sterilization. The outcome of this case is unknown, but in some instances medical superintendents disregarded such ap

On A 'Eugenics Registry,' A Record Of California's Thousands Of Sterilizations

8:29am December 18, 2016

by NPR Staff

NPR's Ailsa Chang speaks with University of Michigan professor Alex Stern, who has completed a database of the thousands of people recommended for sterilization when California had eugenics laws.