Search results for

Robert Siegel talks to MIT professor Marvin Minksy about Dr. Claude Shannon, a mathematician who wrote about communications theory. Shannon died Saturday. Shannon's theories led to "packet" switching, which makes the Internet possible. Minsky says Shannon ranks on a level with Einstein. The two worked together years ago. Shannon did his work at AT&T Labs in the 1940s and '50s.

NPR's Don Gonyea reports on what's at stake for President Bush tonight as he prepares to make his case for his tax-cut proposals to a joint session of Congress -- as well as the American people. Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, lawmakers are already battling over the president's plan.

Commentator Matthew Rothschilde says the battle over the estate tax is just a money grab for the wealthiest Americans. He says repealing it will create an "aristocracy of wealth." Rothschilde is editor of the Progressive Magazine in Madison, Wis.

More people look to the Web for information about religion than for auctions or online banking. Commentator Steve Waldman thinks that this is because the Internet offers anonymity.

Linda Wertheimer talks with Congressman Christoper Cox (R-47th) from California about why he supports a bigger tax cut than President Bush's proposal.

NPR's Don Gonyea reports on how the administration readies for tomorrow night's speech by President Bush before a joint session of Congress on his budget. Mr. Bush is trying to win approval of his tax-cut program. But for most Americans, this will be their first real opportunity to see the president in action since the inauguration.

Robert Siegel talks with NPR's Jennifer Ludden in Jerusalem about today's vote by members of Israel's Labor Party to join a national unity government with supporters of Prime Minister-elect Ariel Sharon.

NPR Diplomatic Correspondent Michele Kelemen reports the ongoing violence in the Middle East figured prominently in the State Department's annual report on Human Rights, issued today in Washington. Israel is criticized in the report for a disproportionate use of force against Palestinian protestors, but human rights activists say the criticism was too mild.

NPR's Jennifer Ludden reports from Jerusalem. Israel's Labor Party has voted to accept Prime-Minister-elect Ariel Sharon's invitation to join a national unity government. The decision clears the way for Sharon to start coalition talks with other parties.

Host Bob Edwards talks with Khidhir Hamza, former head of Saddam Hussein's nuclear weapons program. After defecting from Iraq, he wrote a memoir -- in collaboration with Jeff Stein -- called Saddam's Bombmaker, in which he tells how close Iraq came to building a working bomb.