Stories of the Week | PBS NewsHour Podcast | PBS

Former Gov. Mitt Romney, Republican presidential candidate, concedes the 2012 election to Democratic incumbent President Barack Obama at a rally of his supporters at the Boston Convention Center in Massachusetts. Romney lost key swing states including Ohio, Colorado, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Iowa, Wisconsin and Virginia.

The campaigns are pushing their last get-out-the-vote drive on social media and via email. If you're online, you are probably being tracked by the Romney and Obama campaigns, who use browsing history to target voters. Margaret Warner gets the scoop from Daily Download's Howard Kurtz.

Former U.S. Surgeon Gen. Richard Carmona hopes to achieve what no Arizona Democrat has done in more than 15 years: Win a Senate seat. Special correspondent Axel Gerdau reports on the race between Carmona and Republican challenger Rep. Jeff Flake to win the open seat, which is being vacated by retiring Sen. Jon Kyl.

For the 2012 elections, Democrats and Republicans are focused on taking control of the Senate by winning a majority of seats. Jeffrey Brown talks to NPR's Tamara Keith, who breaks down the money -- millions of dollars -- being poured into competitive Senate races by political parties and, significantly, by outside groups.

National polls show Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama in a dead heat. For every last minute until Election Day, the candidates will be on the trail fighting for an edge in the states considered too close to call. Judy Woodruff gets analysis from Politico's Jonathan Martin and Bloomberg's Margaret Talev.

Up and down the New Jersey coast, towns begin what is expected to be a long process of recovery and rebuilding in the wake of devastating destruction from Hurricane Sandy. Jeffrey Brown and Ray Suarez report on challenges for affected communities. Plus, Hari Sreenivasan reports from Manhattan on the storm's impact on businesses.

In the business of modern mapmaking, there are high stakes for customer satisfaction. When Apple released its iPhone5, it replaced Google Maps with its own mapping technology -- and users were not happy. Spencer Michels reports on the challenges of creating digital maps and how crowdsourcing is making them more accurate.

Green Bay residents may love the Packers more than anything else, but politics comes at a close second. With a strong independent electorate, Wisconsin had the most counties in the U.S. vote for Bush in 2004 and then swing to Obama in 2008. Jeffrey Brown reports on the 2012 campaigns' attempts to woo these tough-minded voters.

Extreme storms of recent history have made local governments take notice both of their preparedness and the likelihood that climate change is making such disastrous events more and more common. Joseph Romm of Center for American Progress and American Enterprise Institute's Kenneth Green share their perspectives with Ray Suarez.

Though foul weather cleared in the Northeast, the death toll rose to at least 63, people faced property destruction and suspension of transportation and millions still had no power. Judy Woodruff reports on Sandy's aftermath and Gwen Ifill talks to Warren Levinson of The Associated Press for more on the situation in New York.

The brunt of Hurricane Sandy's powerful winds, surf and rain hit the New Jersey coastline and the nation's most populous city. NewsHour examines the situation in New York and in the greater Northeast region, where schools and public transportation closed down, flights were canceled and an estimated 6.2 million people lost power.

The recording is just 78 seconds long, featuring a cornet solo and a man reciting nursery rhymes. Dated back to 1878, experts say it may be the oldest playable recording of an American voice. Ray Suarez talks to Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's Carl Haber who helped uncover the significance of this tiny piece of tin foil.

With a federal budget of $3.6 trillion, a deficit of $1 trillion and a total debt of $16 trillion, it can be difficult to fully comprehend where all this money comes from and what the U.S. government spends it on. Paul Solman talks to The Wall Street Journal's David Wessel about his new book "Red Ink," a primer to the budget.

In other news Thursday, Hurricane Sandy hit Cuba and the eastern Bahamas, bringing heavy rains and winds topping out at 105 miles per hour. Four deaths have been attributed to the storm so far. Tropical storm conditions are likely to hit southeast Florida, while the Northeast may get hit with a wintery superstorm.

Ohio voters greeted visits from Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama, who also made stops in Florida and Virginia. Jeffrey Brown reports on the neck-and-neck polls and the money race -- both to earn and to spend. Margaret Warner talks to NPR's Mara Liason about the money the candidates are spending on ads and in swing states.