2012 Election
Economy
American Voices: David Kipen
David Kipen, essayist and former Director of Literature at the National Endowment for the Arts, talks about the value of volunteerism — and the threat it poses to working people.
Loans on the line
In Missouri, there’s an effort to put an initiative on the ballot this November that would cap payday loan interest rates. But will capping rates mean no credit at all for some Missourians? Stacey Tisdale reports.
Health
American Voices: A combat doctor on caring for our returning veterans
Dr. Todd Baker, who ran an emergency room in a military hospital in Baghdad, offers ideas about how to care for returning vets.
Immigration
Brain drain
Should the government make it easier for foreign-born, hi-tech workers to stay in the United States, as companies like Google, Facebook and Microsoft argue? Or are these workers already undercutting the job market for Americans? Need to Knows Rick Karr travels to Silicon Valley and to New York City to investigate.
American Voices: Jon Meacham
A Jon Meacham essay about how the federal legislation passed in 1965 under President Johnson fueled immigration.
Infrastructure
Parking meter rates rise again in 2012
As the year starts, Chicagoans have gotten another reminder of why the parking meter lease has been so deeply unpopular.
City for sale: The politics of privatizing infrastructure
As communities across the country struggle to make ends meet, leasing public assets to private investors is an increasingly attractive way to generate much needed cash. Need to Know correspondent Rick Karr travels to two cities that are doing just that.
Military
Joshua Foust on the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan
Need to Know host Maria Hinojosa talks to Joshua Foust to discuss the war in Afghanistan, Obama’s speech and our exit strategy.
American Voices: Dan Savage
Nationally syndicated columnist Dan Savage speaks to NTK about life for gay and lesbian members of the military after the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, and about how these changes might affect the larger fight for LGBT equality.
Religion
Presidentiality: Are colleges encouraging atheism?
Are colleges anti-religion? Our “Presidentiality” series examines a claim by Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum that higher education breeds secularism.
Tim Tebow, Bill Maher and me
In a bifurcated, dichotomized, red-blue America, is it possible to be a fan of both Tim Tebow and Bill Maher? Need to Know’s Tom Casciato makes the case for how both men are more alike than some might think.
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