NPR Topics: Story of the Day Podcast

President Obama has gotten mixed reviews in his gift-giving to foreign leaders. But those gifts are chosen by a staffer. When it comes to personal gifts to members of his inner circle, the president sets a very high bar.

Supplies of oil have been surging this year, and U.S. drivers, who have been switching to more fuel-efficient cars, are using less gasoline. That would seem to be the right economic combination to push down prices at the pump, but gasoline prices have remained stubbornly high this summer.

Last fall, Heather Liljengren was collecting the seeds of New York's native dune grasses. Within days, Hurricane Sandy wiped out the Rockaways' dunes and all their flora. Now, those seeds are growing plants likely to be used to restore the dunes and other natural environments around New York City.

There's a stark difference between how the national press covered the events of 1963 in Birmingham and how Birmingham's papers covered their own city. Audie Cornish talks with Alabama journalist Hank Klibanoff, co-author of The Race Beat, about the disparity.

Scientists and parents have long been baffled by the fact that children with autism often don't pay attention to human voices. Researchers say that may be because speech doesn't activate a reward system in the brain for those children the way it does for typical children.

We tend to think we have our parents figured out, but we often don't. Reporter Monique Parsons knew her dad as a mild-mannered avocado farmer who rarely strayed from home. On this Father's Day, Parsons tells the story of how she discovered that her father was actually a fearless pilot.

Sarah Murnaghan's family took up a legal fight to push the 10-year-old higher on the adult organ waitlist. In addition to trying to secure new lungs, mother Janet Murnaghan says the system needs to change.

Coca-Cola is returning to Myanmar after 60 years. They'd been kept out of the country by international sanctions. This week they officially opened their new plant outside of Yangon.

Coastal fish farms are a major source of the seafood we eat, but all the fish waste they generate takes a toll on the environment. So a researcher in Canada is trying to clean up fish farms by creating an ecosystem where fish waste gets taken up by other valuable seafood commodities, like shellfish and kelp.

Some financial experts say the fees charged by actively managed mutual funds are not worth it. Over the long haul, they could cost a retirement account tens of thousands of dollars. So NPR's Uri Berliner explores funds that have minimal expenses.

Neda Ulaby looks at a new summer drama about foster families, which — perhaps surprisingly — strikes real foster kids as getting a lot of things right.

Research shows suspensions are disproportionately applied to minorities and give students a fast track to dropping out and to the juvenile justice system. The Los Angeles Unified School District recently instituted a ban on certain suspensions, but finding a viable alternative is a complex task.

When you're caught in a tornado's path, should you run or hide? The tornado in Moore, Okla., and the storms that tore through the Oklahoma City area Friday provide contradictory answers.

Marc Fucarlie left the hospital this week, after 45 days of surgeries and skin grafts, induced comas and dozens of tests. His right leg was amputated and it's uncertain how functional his left leg will be. His rehabilitation will take years, and he's worried about how he'll pay for it.

The Standard Heights neighborhood sits next to the nation's second-largest gasoline refinery. Recently, residents learned a new truth about the plumes of exhaust they see every day: Exxon Mobil's aging refinery and petrochemical facilities — like many others — are pumping out far more pollution than the law allows.