All Things Considered on KCCU-HD2

For Greeks, Painful Cuts Keep Tearing At The Social Fabric

Credit John Kolesidis / Reuters/Landov

Georgia Kolia, 63, has two adult children, both unemployed. She works as a volunteer distributing loaves of bread at the Agia Zonis Orthodox church soup kitchen for the poor in Athens, Greece, in April 2012.

Credit Louisa Gouliamaki / AFP/Getty Images

Unpaid for five months, nurse Paraskevi Petropoulou holds her unpaid electricity bill outside the Ministry of Health in Athens during an anti-government protest on Sept. 28, 2012.

By Sylvia Poggioli

Originally published on Wed February 6, 2013 5:12 pm

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Greeks are feeling the squeeze. The social repercussions of three years of austerity measures imposed by international lenders are hitting hard. Thousands of businesses have shut down, unemployment is nearly 27 percent and rising, and the once dependable safety net of welfare benefits is being pulled in.

With further cutbacks and tax hikes about to kick in, Greece's social fabric is being torn apart.

Nowhere are cutbacks more visible and painful than in health care.

5:41 pm

Sun February 3, 2013

Home Care Aides Await Decision On New Labor Rules

By editor

Originally published on Thu February 7, 2013 3:11 pm

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Home health care aides are waiting to find out if they will be entitled to receive minimum wage. A decades-old amendment in labor law means that the workers, approximately 2.5 million people, do not always receive minimum wage or overtime.

The Obama administration has yet to formally approve revisions to the Fair Labor Standards Act that would change that classification.

3:37 pm

Sun February 3, 2013

'Disaster Diaries' Will Help You Survive The End Of The World

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Credit Courtesy Penguin Press

Credit Mark Mikita / Courtesy Penguin Press

Sam Sheridan, shown here with his son Asa, is an amateur boxer and MMA fighter. He has worked in construction in Antarctica and as a cowboy and farmhand in Montana.

By editor

Originally published on Sun February 3, 2013 5:16 pm

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From movies about outbreaks, to television shows about zombies, to books about Armageddon, we're in love with the end of the world.

Author Sam Sheridan wants to teach you how to survive it, no matter the catastrophe. His new book is called Disaster Diaries: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Apocalypse.

He's got the skill set to prepare us: Sheridan's resume includes wilderness firefighting, construction work in the South Pole, and everything in between.

2:26 pm

Sun February 3, 2013

Got A Superbug? Bring In The Robots

Credit Rebecca Hersher/NPR

Disinfecting robots at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore spray rooms with toxic doses of hydrogen peroxide to kill dangerous drug-resistant bacteria.

By editor

Originally published on Sun February 3, 2013 5:16 pm

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Drug-resistant bacteria are a growing problem at hospitals across the country. The bacteria, such as Staphylococcus and Clostridium difficile, are difficult to prevent and impossible to treat.

"The problem is expanding, and it's going up and up and up," explains Dr. Trish Perl of Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. "We're running out of antibiotics to treat, and so the challenge is can we prevent?"

2:13 pm

Sun February 3, 2013

Wood Stork's Endangered Status Is Up In The Air

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Credit Peter Andrew Bosch / MCT /Landov

A wood stork soars over its nest in Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary near Fort Myers, Fla., in 2008, as baby wood storks wait in their nest for an adult to bring food.

Credit Wilfredo Lee / AP

A wood stork prepares to land in a tree at Big Cypress National Preserve in Florida in 2005. The bird's wingspan can reach more than six feet.

By Greg Allen

Originally published on Sun February 3, 2013 5:16 pm

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The last few years have been especially tough in South Florida for wading birds such as egrets, herons, ibises and wood storks that feed and nest in the region's wetlands.

The problem is there are fewer wetlands, and the last few years have been dry, reducing water levels in critical areas.

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Weekdays at 6 p.m. and Sundays at 4p.m.

All Things Considered debuted on 90 public radio stations at 5:00pm on May 3, 1971.

In the 40 years since, almost everything about the program has changed, from the hosts, producers, editors and reporters to the length of the program, the equipment used and even the audience.

However there is one thing that remains the same: each show consists of the biggest stories of the day, thoughtful commentaries, insightful features on the quirky and the mainstream in arts and life, music and entertainment, all brought alive through sound.

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9:45 am

Mon February 4, 2013