Talk Of The Nation

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NEAL CONAN, HOST:

This is TALK OF THE NATION. I'm Neal Conan in Washington. In a piece in The Atlantic, neuroscientist Daniel Levitin describes the day a teacher, a famous neuropsychologist, told the class that his colleague, a close friend, had just called him to say he had a brain tumor, would gradually lose his memory and, the teacher said, would soon no longer understand who he was.

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NEAL CONAN, HOST:

We didn't have a chance on Monday to get to our opinion page, so now a special Thursday edition of the opinion page. This week marks the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court decision. In a recent piece for The New York Times, that newspaper's former Supreme Court correspondent, Linda Greenhouse, wrote that the ruling that legalized abortion across the entire country was much more about the rights of doctors than the rights of women.

Nearly two years after the crisis in Syria began, the humanitarian situation in the country remains dire. Shinjiro Murata, head of the Doctors Without Borders mission in northern Syria and NPR foreign correspondent Deborah Amos, discuss the efforts to address growing medical needs.

A decade after news of the sex abuse scandal in the Boston archdiocese of the Catholic Church broke, reports of abuse continue to emerge. The number of priests in the U.S. is in rapid decline, raising questions about who still chooses the job and how the work has changed after high-profile abuse scandals.

NPR's Neal Conan reads from listener comments on previous show topics, including reaction to the movie Django Unchained, Florida's python problem and rereading high school classics.

In his second inaugural address, the president surprised many listeners by mentioning Stonewall in the same breath as Seneca Falls and Selma — giving the struggle for gay rights the historical weight of the fights for gender and racial equality.

January 2013 marks the 125th birthday of the National Geographic Society. Over the decades, the magazine has transported readers to faraway places, introduced the world to new species and provided a window into a world of exploration and discovery.

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NEAL CONAN, HOST:

This is TALK OF THE NATION. I'm Neal Conan in Washington. Over the weekend, Algerian troops stormed a gas facility in a remote area near the country's eastern border and ended a four-day standoff with Islamic militants who seized the production complex and dozens of hostages.

President Barack Obama faces a number of pressing domestic and foreign policy issues as he begins his second term. A sluggish economy at home, regional conflicts and threats of terrorism abroad and a political stalemate in Washington all pose unique challenges for the president.

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NEAL CONAN, HOST:

This is special coverage from NPR News. I'm Neal Conan, in Washington. Just over two hours ago, President Barack Obama took the oath of office on the west steps of the Capitol before a throng gathered on the National Mall and millions listening on radio and TV. As he begins his second term in the White House, he leads a nation deeply divided on the size and purpose of government, on gay marriage, on guns.