Morning Edition Videos

Is it unconstitutionally cruel and unusual punishment to send a juvenile away to prison for life, without the possibility of parole, for a non-homicide crime? The Supreme Court on Monday will examine two cases, including that of Joe Sullivan, who was convicted of rape when he was 13 years old.

Twenty years ago, the Berlin Wall that divided the city and served as the symbol of a Europe divided between communist East and democratic West fell. For one young German, that momentous day held both political and personal significance.

The House of Representatives passed a bill to overhaul the nation's health care system Saturday night. The vote was close, 220-215, and it only included a single Republican. To pass the bill, Democrats also had to allow a controversial amendment banning abortion funding in both public and private plans in the new marketplaces the bill would create. But as NPR's Julie Rovner reports, passage represents a major hurdle cleared for President Obama's top domestic priority.

Despite the economy, hotel companies have been on a building spree especially when it comes to creating new specialty hotels. Hyatt, Marriott and Starwood are all rolling out new brands and locations to cater to guests who don't want to stay in what they think of as a generic chain.

To mark Liane Hansen's 20th anniversary hosting Weekend Edition Sunday, this puzzle is a game of categories using the word "radio." Will Shortz names the categories, and the guest names something in the categories beginning with each of the letters in "radio."

This week, President Obama is scheduled to begin a 10-day tour of Asia. He is expected to visit Japan, Singapore, China and South Korea. A variety of topics will be on the agenda, including trade relations, North Korea's nuclear ambitions and climate change. When the president visits Japan, he'll have several issues in mind, including a dispute over U.S. military bases in that country. Host Liane Hansen speaks with Japanese Ambassador Ichiro Fujisaki about U.S.-Japan relations.

Deployments are usually hard on families. Spouses must become single parents for months on end, managing households with little outside help. These challenges become even more daunting for families with special needs children.

So many voices have already figured out what caused an Army major to open fire on his fellow soldiers, despite the absence of key facts.

In the West Bank, Palestinian relatives of the alleged Fort Hood shooter are shocked and saddened by the mass killings in Texas. Born in Virginia, Nidal Malik Hasan made his first visit to the Palestinian territories a dozen years ago, and had been in touch with relatives in the town of El Bireh on numerous occasions since then.

The U.S. Department of Energy is offering $10 million to the first individual or company to develop an energy-efficient LED replacement for the standard 60-watt incandescent bulb. DOE lighting program manager James Brodrick discusses the L Prize, and what makes a better bulb.

Faced with declining fish stocks, many nations are looking for sustainable ways to have their fish and eat it too. But how much fishing is too much? Oceanographer Sylvia Earle discusses this and other topics in her book The World is Blue: How Our Fate and the Ocean's Are One.

At the 2009 International Genetically Engineered Machine competition, undergraduates from all over the world unveiled the living machines they'd created with snippets of DNA, from bacteria that change color when they detect pollutants to ones that secrete non-toxic superglue.

Football players take a lot of hits, but when does hard-headed play go too far? New research suggests that head trauma can do lasting damage. Two brain researchers talk about what happens in the brain when a player gets hit, and how athletes can better protect themselves.

As health care legislation moves through Congress, bioethicist Thomas H. Murray asks if enough attention is being paid to concepts such as justice, fairness and liberty. Murray and health care economist Len Nichols discuss the role of values in the health care debate.