NPR Topics: Story of the Day Podcast

Science isn't known as a career field that attracts showboats. But academics must give seminars, pharmaceutical researchers present results, and graduate students defend their work. In San Diego, one of the country's science hubs, a group aims to teach scientists the art of small talk and public speaking.

Thanksgiving before 1863 was something of a moveable feast, with states honoring the holiday at various times. But 150 years ago, with the Civil War raging, President Abraham Lincoln declared the last Thursday of November a national holiday — thanks in part to the persistence of Sarah Josepha Hale.

Voters in three Colorado communities passed measures this month limiting the practice of hydraulic fracturing. A close vote in a fourth community means a recount next week. Companies say the measures are creating an uncertain business environment.

Across the developing world, 1 in 3 girls marries before age 18. Some are wed and become mothers by the time they reach their teens. In Malawi, some villages have started to punish parents who marry off their young daughters.

Indeed, the gaming industry is not recession-proof. The financial collapse hit Las Vegas hard, and casino revenues dropped for 22 straight months. The city is now taking steps to claw its way back. In doing so, it may emerge as more than a one-economy town.

The Shenzhen-based company BYD started producing cellphone batteries and then moved to electric cars. Now, it's rolling out a fleet of electric buses in the U.S., a first for a Chinese auto manufacturer.

Walter Cronkite anchored the CBS News coverage during the first hours after bullets hit President Kennedy in Dallas 50 years ago Friday. Cronkite returned to that day many years later in a piece for NPR, weaving together audio from the archives and his own reminiscences.

The orchestra was mid-performance when news of the president's assassination reached the symphony hall in 1963. The musicians had to decide: suspend the concert or continue? Their decision transformed a moment of shock into a moment of shared consolation.

In communities grappling with high unemployment, grocery stores serve many customers who rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to get by. Some stores are estimating that their sales might fall between 5 and 10 percent now that the government has reduced the benefits.

Lewis Henry Bailey was freed from slavery in Texas and began his journey back to Virginia by foot 150 years ago. The jail where he was sold to slave dealers as a child is now a museum and the offices of a local Urban League chapter just outside of the nation's capital.

The U.S. landline network was once the best in the world. But these days, phone companies see them as a burden, an old technology too expensive to maintain. AT&T wants to start replacing the system with cheaper options. Some call it a hasty abandonment of the tried-and-true traditional network.

A study of DNA extracted from wolf and dog fossils suggests that ancient wolf populations in Europe are the direct ancestors of most modern-day domestic dogs. The study suggests wolves became dogs between 18,800 and 32,100 years ago, before the start of agriculture.

Just over 100,000 people managed to get signed up for health insurance through the state and federal health exchanges, the Obama administration reported. But barely a quarter of those — 26,794 — signed up through the faltering HealthCare.gov website.

New ordinances adopted in the South Florida city require that new homes feature freshwater cisterns and be built higher than the current flood plain level. Says Key West's planning director, "We are, in all senses of the word, vulnerable to sea level rise."

A New Jersey fire department has hired 43 military veterans on to the force this year. The fire chief says their background makes them well-suited to the job, and the recruits say firefighting gives them the sense of camaraderie and responsibility they've missed.