Search results for

In May, President Bush signed an executive order that declared "null and void" any legal decisions that would claim Iraqi oil money. The administration says it just wants to guarantee money for Iraqi reconstruction. But critics say the words in the executive order could allow oil companies to act with impunity. NPR's Peter Overby reports.

Months before war in Iraq began, there was a fierce turf battle in Washington, D.C., over who would write the final script for the nation's reconstruction: the State Department or the Pentagon. The Pentagon won, but the political fallout hurt U.S. efforts to restore postwar order. NPR's Jacki Lyden reports.

The first 400 recruits for the new Iraqi army begin basic training under U.S. supervision at a base east of Baghdad. The recruits are under heavy guard for fear that Iraqi resistance fighters might attack. U.S. officials say they hope to have a division of 12,000 troops within a year. NPR's Anne Garrels reports.

Guest host Steve Inskeep interviews Walter Becker and Donald Fagen of the group Steely Dan. They discuss the group's tour in New York and their music.

Edward Weston's photographs from a year he spent traveling through Death Valley and the West are at the heart of a major exhibition now at the Huntington Library in San Marino, California. NPR's Renee Montagne reports on the exhibit.

The U.N. Security Council approves a U.S.-backed resolution that recognizes the creation of an interim governing council in postwar Iraq and mandates a formal U.N. mission to provide humanitarian aid to the Iraqi people. Syria, the only Arab member of the council, abstains from the vote. Hear NPR's Vicky O'Hara.

Surfers travel all over the world in search of the perfect wave. In Step Into Liquid, filmmaker Dana Brown captures the surfing culture and lifestyle. NPR's Melissa Block talks with Brown.

Would you sample a grape in the produce aisle without paying for it? Would you notify the cashier if she undercharged you? NPR's Susan Stamberg poses these and similar questions to shoppers at a supermarket. She then talks to Tom Morris, a self-described "public philosopher," about supermarket ethics, and ethics in the wider world. Morris, a former philosophy professor at Notre Dame, explains why he thinks taking even one grape in the supermarket "makes you a thief."

Junior Senior's single "Move Your Feet" has spent nine weeks on Britain's top 10 pop charts and sold more than 200,000 copies. Now the Danish musical duo hopes to take America by storm. Their CD, Don't Stop the Beat, makes its U.S. debut Tuesday. Charles de Ledesma reports.

Film critic David Edelstein reviews the new film American Splendor.