Talk of the Nation on AM 870 NewsTalk

"Do I freak you out?" It's a question that haunts writer Mary Elizabeth Williams and others whom she describes as "physically different, in ways both small and large."

Williams' surgery to remove cancer more than a year ago left a 5 centimeter bald spot on the back of her head. She doesn't mind it — it's a badge of survival — but her daughter, Beatrice, fusses about it from time to time.

Transcript

JENNIFER LUDDEN, HOST:

This is TALK OF THE NATION. I'm Jennifer Ludden, in Washington. Neal Conan is away. The man who Florida police first declined to arrest now faces second-degree murder charges for the shooting death of Trayvon Martin. George Zimmerman claims he is not guilty under Florida's Stand Your Ground law, which allows for the use of force in self-defense.

Transcript

JENNIFER LUDDEN, HOST:

Transcript

JENNIFER LUDDEN, HOST:

This is TALK OF THE NATION. I'm Jennifer Ludden, in Washington. Neal Conan is away. Baby boomers are the first generation with large numbers of dual-earner couples heading into retirement. That means negotiating the golden years is all the more complicated. Now there are two careers, two hard-earned nest eggs and quite possibly two competing visions of how and when to retire.

The uproar over what critics call "pink slime" in some ground beef refocused attention on what's in the food we eat. Most packaged foods contain at least one item you wouldn't recognize. But many food experts caution that just because you don't know an ingredient doesn't mean you shouldn't eat it.

Rick Santorum ended his presidential campaign Tuesday. It clears the way for Mitt Romney to capture the nomination, though many conservatives have yet to rally around the former Massachusetts governor. The Romney campaign now shifts into the general campaign, with a focus on President Obama.

It's time to kill the penny. That's what Daniel Akst argues in a recent op-ed on Newsday.com. "Pennies," he writes, "are a pain in the neck, only more so because they're worthless." While the penny isn't quite worthless, it does cost more than two cents to create each one.

NPR's Neal Conan reads from listener comments on past Talk of the Nation shows, including the emergence of robots across the country, the racial history of Sanford, Florida, and the new balance of power in retail.

The April deadline comes around at about the same time every year. Still, with just a few days left before taxes are due, many people continue to put off filing.

The boxes of receipts, stacks of W-2s and 1099s are daunting enough. Add in row after row of fill-in boxes on the 1040, and it's no wonder so many people procrastinate.

Rick Santorum, Republican candidate for president, has suspended his campaign. From his home state of Pennsylvania and surrounded by his family, Santorum told the assembled crowd that though his race was over, the fight to defeat President Obama would continue.

Transcript

NEAL CONAN, HOST:

Ozzie Guillen's interview with Time magazine begins with the quote, "I love Fidel Castro" - controversial for any Major League Baseball manager, a flash point for the new manager of a team that just opened a new stadium in Miami's Little Havana. Earlier today, the Miami Marlins suspended Guillen for five games, and he appeared at a news conference to repeat apologies for what he called the biggest mistake I've made so far in my life.

(SOUNDBITE OF PRESS CONFERENCE)

Dan Savage has made a career offering advice on relationships and sex in his nationally-syndicated column, "Savage Love." Now he's taking his act on the road for his new show, Savage U, in which he travels to college campuses across the country giving students advice on sex and relationships.

The White House announced Tuesday that there are "no signs yet" that President Assad has pulled back troops and stopped attacks on civilians. Monday, the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said violence spilled across the border when Syrian forces fired shots into a refugee camp in Turkey.

On April 10, 1912, the Titanic set sail for New York City from Southampton in England. Four days later, the ship struck an iceberg and sank in the frigid waters of the Atlantic.

The rest of the story has been the subject of countless books, shows and films about the thousands of people who traveled on the ship's maiden voyage, the dramatic events of the final few hours, and the legend of the "unsinkable" Titanic.

Transcript

NEAL CONAN, HOST:

This is TALK OF THE NATION. I'm Neal Conan in Washington. Over the past few years, several teachers have been disciplined and even fired for comments or photos posted online. A Philadelphia high school teacher was suspended in February after posting on her blog that students acted like rude, disengaged, lazy whiners. A Georgia teacher was forced to resign in 2009 after a complaint over a Facebook photo that showed her drinking alcohol.

The New York Yankees may be the most polarizing team in the U.S. In a new collection, Damn Yankees: Twenty-Four Major League Writers on the World's Most Loved (and Hated) Team, writers share the stories behind their passions.

Transcript

NEAL CONAN, HOST:

There is some evidence to suggest that citizens monitoring their communities can reduce crime. But the Trayvon Martin shooting focused new attention on neighborhood watch programs. Many neighborhoods have them, but the Martin case has brought questions about what they can and can't do to the fore.

In 2011, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction banning Los Angeles police from confiscating and destroying the belongings of homeless people on Skid Row. In the Los Angeles Times, Carol Schatz argues that the ruling, intended to protect the homeless, puts them in greater danger.

New York City has been referred to as a concrete jungle. But researchers say it is more 'jungle' than you might think. A panel of experts discuss the plant and animal life found in city waters and green spaces. They also discuss the impact of urbanization and climate change on a city's biodiversity.