Analysis and Commentary

May 20, 2013 — How could a barrage of controversies over Libya, the IRS and reporters' phone records affect President Obama's agenda and the 2014 elections. The president and his team have spent much of the past week answering questions, or deflecting questions, about three controversies.

May 18, 2013 — With the White House embroiled in three concurrent scandals this week, Weekends on All Things Considered host Jacki Lyden speaks with James Fallows, national correspondent with The Atlantic, about the way forward for the president and for Congress, with recent history as their guide.

May 17, 2013 — A new poll finds 42 percent of Americans aren't sure that the Affordable Care Act is actually a law. Guest Host Celeste Headlee discusses this and other health care-related issues with Mary Agnes Carey, senior correspondent at Kaiser Health News, and NPR's Senior Washington Editor, Ron Elving.

May 21, 2013 — Religion is often organized in terms of a god, or gods. It's a system of beliefs embodied in a being or beings. But that's not always the case. It can mean more, a lot more, says Adam Frank after finding inspiration in the writing of Ronald Dworkin.

May 20, 2013 — It's the end of the academic year and students everywhere are taking tests. What for? Commentator Tania Lombrozo suggests we should shift our focus from testing for assessment to testing for learning.

May 19, 2013 — Author Ethan Rutherford started reading Daphne du Maurier's collection of stories, Don't Look Now, while it was still light out and didn't move from his chair until dark. Each one features characters who endure the strange and the extreme, and who are forever changed by the events that befall them.

May 21, 2013 — After the announcement that David Beckham is retiring, there's been much discussion about how good of an athlete he's really been. Sports commentator Frank Deford says Beckham's talents have been overlooked.

May 22, 2013 — When a few humble elements are combined in perfect balance, butterscotch is born. And food writer Deena Prichep says she turns this childhood favorite into a dinner-party star with counterpoints like flaky salt or crunchy nuts.

May 12, 2013 — For our series on the Changing Lives of Women, we're asking NPR women about their careers — and inviting you to join the conversation. We asked Cokie Roberts, who was NPR's longtime congressional correspondent, to reflect on how women get support.