Stories of the Week | PBS NewsHour Podcast | PBS

With 30 million acres of forestland, Oregon has a lucrative timber industry that makes $13 billion each year. But some residents are worried about health and environmental risks posed by a common practice to increase tree growth: chemical spraying. Correspondent Ingrid Lobet reports for the Center for Investigative Reporting.

Though Apple remains a giant in the smartphone and tablet industry, the company unveils the new iPhone5 in a fiercely competitive market. Jeffrey Brown talks to the Washington Post's Cecilia Kahng and Forrester Research's Charles Golvin about the challenges Apple faces to stay at the top of the pyramid in the tech world.

The two major presidential candidates responded to news of attacks on the U.S. Embassy in Libya, emphasizing their foreign policy differences in the process. Judy Woodruff talks to former Minnesota senator Norm Coleman and former ambassador to NATO Nicholas Burns about the campaigns' responses.

Since Libya established a secular democracy, conservative Muslims in Libya known as Salafists have felt disenfranchised. Gwen Ifil speaks to Frederic Wehrey of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and journalist Robin Wright about the link between Salafi Muslims and the latest attacks in the Middle East.

U.S. Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens and three others were killed after gunmen launched a rocket attack on the American consulate in Benghazi, setting it on fire. The attacks in Libya and protests in Cairo, Egypt, are reportedly in response to an Internet film defaming the Islamic Prophet Muhammad. Margaret Warner reports.

President Barack Obama accepted his party's nomination for president and addressed the Democratic National Convention on Thursday. Drawing on a top theme from his 2008 campaign, Mr. Obama said, "The election four years ago wasn't about me. It was about you. My fellow citizens -- you were the change."

NewsHour political analysts Mark Shields and David Brooks join Judy Woodruff and Gwen Ifill to look at excerpts of President Obama's nomination acceptance speech and discuss what he must accomplish: a specific plan for America's advancement that is both realistic and aspirational.

David Maraniss, author of "Barack Obama: The Story," compares Bill Clinton, "the great explainer," with President Obama the day after the former president delivered a rousing address on behalf of his Democratic successor. While Clinton enjoyed the politics of his term, posits Maraniss, Obama is more of a reflective learner.

Syndicated columnist Mark Shields and New York Times columnist David Brooks talk to Gwen Ifill and Judy Woodruff about the "two exceptional nights" at the Democratic National Convention, and the very high bar set by Michelle Obama and Bill Clinton going into President Obama's nomination acceptance speech.

Judy Woodruff and Gwen Ifill talk to NewsHour political analysts Mark Shields and David Brooks about their impressions of Bill Clinton's speech at the 2012 Democratic convention. David Brooks says it was "infectious." Mark Shields says the speech, "makes the strongest case for Barack Obama" he has heard since the campaign began.

Former President Clinton nominated President Obama as the the Democratic Party's 2012 presidential candidate at the close of the DNC Wednesday. In his speech, he countered the Republican Party's main criticisms of Mr. Obama, heavily emphasizing the president's economic successes and plan for the next four years.

NewsHour political analysts Mark Shields and David Brooks discuss why neither party is trying to appeal to voters outside their base, how united the Democrats seem at this convention and the rhetorical emphasis on "protection."

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, Houston Mayor Annise Parker and Antonio Villaraigosa, mayor of Los Angeles and chair of the Convention, talk to Judy Woodruff and Gwen Ifill about the boom of city migration in the last few decades, how major metropolitan centers drive the U.S. economy and how local governments resolve major conflicts.

Margaret Warner talks to Ret. Army Lt. Col. John Nagl, who commanded training of Afghan soldiers, about the challenge of enforcing the 2014 deadline to get combat troops out of Afghanistan, "basic human infrastructure" and educational hurdles, and how the Iraq war diverted resources from training Afghan forces for years.

Syndicated columnist Mark Shields and New York Times columnist David Brooks talk to Judy Woodruff and Gwen Ifill about the critical consensus on the success of Michelle Obama's speech, and how Bill Clinton, a "brilliant advocate," knows how to crystalize an argument.