Search results for

American movies have been telling stories that idealize hard work, strong character and the rise of the little man for decades. But there's always a catch. NPR's Bob Mondello looks at what Hollywood means when it talks about the American dream.

The White House didn't do a great job selling the health care overhaul. But the media didn't help, either, according to a new analysis of media coverage between June 2009 and March 2010.

Advocates for prisoners have long argued that confinement conditions in prisons violate the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment. On Tuesday, they made their case before a Senate Judiciary subcommittee, complete with a replica prison cell in the hearing room.

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee will meet Wednesday to consider a report holding Eric Holder in contempt of Congress for failing to turn over documents related to Operation Fast and Furious, a botched gun-trafficking operation. A meeting between the committee's head and Holder on Tuesday failed to resolve differences.

On Capitol Hill Tuesday, Sen. Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican and the Senate minority leader, told reporters he would let the all-but-official Republican presidential nominee first announce a position on Obama's decision before offering his own position publicly.

It's been 40 years since the adoption of Title IX, the gender equity law that changed college athletics for both women and men. Commenting on the law's future, Frank Deford says that as women dominate college rolls, football fans might be in for a rude shock.

Teachers in the country's third-largest school district have voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike if the city and their union can't come to terms this summer. The vote is just the latest example of the gulf between teachers, Chicago school officials and Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

Among the dozens of athletes hoping to leap, throw or run their way to London as part of the U.S. track and field team is St. Louis native Shannon Leinert. The 24-year-old runner has dreamed of the Olympics since she was 10. If that weren't enough, Leinert is also working on a doctoral degree.

One privilege — or burden — of the Oval Office is that each inhabitant gets to decide how dirty to get his hands in wartime. Although the CIA program is classified, published accounts say President Obama has decided to take personal responsibility for making decisions about whom drones will target and kill.