Apple CEO Steve Jobs Going on Medical Leave from The Takeaway: Early Edition by feedback@thetakeaway.org (Public Radio International and WNYC Radio)

For the second time in the company’s history, Apple CEO Steve Jobs is going on medical leave. A year and a half ago, Jobs underwent a liver transplant, and recovered from pancreatic cancer in 2004. The company's most recent earnings report will also be released today. Both announcements come at a time when Apple is facing some of its toughest competition from smaller tech challengers as well as fellow titans like Google. Thus far Steve Jobs has been synonymous with Apple — an often essential part of the brand. What is the possible future of Apple without Steve Jobs? We talk about the legacy of Steve Jobs and the future of the world's most valued technology company with Ken Auletta, author of the Annals of Communications column for The New Yorker Magazine and author of “Googled: The End of the World as We Know It.” We also talk with Steven Levy, journalist for Wired magazine. The podcast will be posted on this WNYC webpage, shortly.

Alone Together from WNYC's Brian Lehrer Show by listenerservices@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio)

MIT professor Sherry Turkle discusses her new book Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other, in which she examines how technology is diminishing our face-to-face contact and why that matters. The podcast will be available shortly, on this webpage.

King's New York Connection: MLK Jr's Friendship With Stanley Levison from News from WNYC New York Public Radio by listenerservices@wnyc.org (WNYC Radio)

One of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s most important political advisors, Stanley Levison, has remained largely hidden from public view — even 40 years after King’s death. A white Jewish lawyer from New York, Levison probably would have wanted it that way: his interest in the civil rights movement was largely selfless, and associations from his past meant that it was in the best interest of the civil rights movement to pretend that he wasn’t involved. King and Levison met sometime in 1956. King was just coming off of the successful bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama, an episode that made him a sudden star in some circles. One of King’s biographers, David Garrow, said the civil rights leader would come to New York frequently to raise money — and likely stopped in at some fundraisers where Levison was present. It was during the run-up to the 1963 March on Washington that a piece of Levison’s past resurfaced and complicated his involvement. Jones, who has just published a book about the march, “Behind the Dream: The Making of the Speech that Transformed the Nation,” recalled that King and other civil rights leaders gathered at the White House in the summer of that year.

Author Sees Parallel In Giffords Shooting And JFK Assassination from NPR Blog Shots

In an email to NPR, regarding Friday’s Morning Edition piece on the possible motives of the Giffords shooting in Arizona, author James Reston Jr. drew a parallel between that incident and the JFK assassination. I was fascinated by your report on assassinations this morning for a personal reason. In my 1988 biography of John Connally of Texas [The Lone Star: The Life of John Connally] I had three chapters on the Dallas assassination. There I developed a theory, based upon intensive research in the back volumes of the Warren Commission, that Lee Harvey Oswald's principal target was not Kennedy, but Connally. It would take too much time to lay the theory out in detail here. But essentially, the idea is that Oswald, schleppy little guy that he was, had an intense personal grudge against Connally, because he (Oswald) believed that Connally as Secretary of the Navy (before becoming governor) was complicit in changing his discharge from the Marine Corps from honorable to dishonorable, or at least, not redressing the outrage of that change. Oswald's letters to Connally are deep in the background volumes of the Warren Commission. In those back volumes, Oswald's wife, Marina, testified to the Warren Commission that Connally was her husband's target. It's always interested me that the Warren Commission ultimately argued that Oswald's motive was grand and epic: to decapitate the U.S. government. But little people, with 9th grade educations, rarely have such cerebral thoughts.The Commission felt, I think, that it had to have a motive that was as grand as the crime itself. If my theory is right, President Kennedy was an accidental victim in Dallas.

Visual Biography Explores Love And Radium from NPR: Science Friday Podcast

The story of Marie and Pierre Curie is one of love, scientific partnership and one of the most important discoveries of the 20th century. Artist and author Lauren Redniss discusses her new book, Radioactive, an illustrated biography of the pair and a look at their complicated legacy. Listen to podcast.

#243: The Frankenstein Mortgage from NPR: Planet Money Podcast

The 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage -- the bedrock of American home ownership -- is a weird loan. In an ordinary market, you'd have to pay a really high interest rate to get a 30-year fixed, if you could get it at all. Only the intervention of the government -- and the creation of Fannie Mae -- turned the loan into America's plain-vanilla mortgage. On today's Planet Money, Bethany McLean and Joe Nocera (authors of All the Devils Are Here, a book on the financial crisis) walk us through the 30-year-fixed and the history of Fannie and Freddie. And they talk about where we go from here. Listen to the podcast.

Please Explain: Salt from Please Explain from WNYC New York Public Radio Podcast

Salt is found on most dining tables and in most kitchens--but this ubiquitous household item has a long and curious history. It's a flavor enhancer, an ice melter, has been used as a currency, and has shaped civilization. Mark Kurlansky, author of ?Salt: A World History, and Dr. Sonia Angell, Director, Cardiovascular Disease Prevention and Control, New York City Health Department, explain what salt is, where it comes from, and discusses its influence on history and on our health. Listen to the podcast here.

Marian Anderson from WNYC's Soundcheck by listenerservices@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio)

2009 marked the 70th anniversary of Marian Anderson's historic performance on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Today, we look at her legacy -- as a civil rights figure and as a singer -- with African American opera star Denyce Graves and Raymond Arsenault, author of the book The Sound of Freedom. The podcast will be posted on this WNYC webpage, shortly.

Visual Biography Explores Love And Radium from NPR Podcast Talk of the Nation

The story of Marie and Pierre Curie is one of love, scientific partnership and one of the most important discoveries of the 20th century. Artist and author Lauren Redniss discusses her new book, Radioactive, an illustrated biography of the pair and a look at their complicated legacy. Listen to the podcast of this show, here.

[01.14.11] Reader’s Corner from New Horizons in Education by Boise State Public Radio

Episode: January 14th, 2011: Guest: Dan Wetzel: National sports columnist and co-author of “Death to the BCS: The Definitive Case Against the Bowl Championship Series”. Listen to the podcast.

Inside 'The Startup Game' from KQED's Forum Podcast

We talk with Silicon Valley venture capitalist William Draper about his new book, "The Startup Game." One of the West Coast's first venture capitalists, Draper was an early investor in such iconic companies as Hotmail and Skype, among many others. Listen to the podcast.

The Anti-Vaccine Movement from WNYC's Leonard Lopate Show by listenerservices@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio)

Dr. Paul A. Offit, Chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases and Director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and a founding advisory board member of the Autism Science Foundation, discusses the debate over vaccines and why the link between autism and vaccines has been discredited. His book Deadly Choices: How the Anti-Vaccine Movement Threatens Us All explains the origins of the anti-vaccine movement and how it has affected public health. Listen to the podcast.

That's Crazy from WNYC's Brian Lehrer Show by listenerservices@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio)

The mental health of the Tucson shooter has become central to the conversation about the deadly incident in Arizona last weekend. Slate.com senior editor Dahlia Lithwick looks at how mental health becomes political and the history of the insanity defense. Plus: Seth Mnookin, author of the new book The Panic Virus: A True Story of Medicine, Science, and Fear; Money U continues with a conversation about debt collection; and Nassau County’s money problems.

What is a Chinese Mother? from The Takeaway: Early Edition by feedback@thetakeaway.org (Public Radio International and WNYC Radio)

Author, mother, and law professor Amy Chua is creating a firestorm with an essay published in this past weekend’s Wall Street Journal titled, "Why Chinese Mothers are Superior.” The essay, which was given its title by the Journal, included excerpts from her new book “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother.” Both showcases Amy’s strict parenting style — from forcing her daughters to practice the piano well into the night without bathroom breaks, to forbidding them to attend sleepovers. We’ve invited Amy on the show today — not to discuss whether her parenting methods are good or bad or right or wrong - but to talk about whether or not her methods are really Chinese. And if they're not Chinese, what they are instead. The podcast will be posted on this webpage, shortly.

What Will Obama 2.0 Look Like? from On Point with Tom Ashbrook Podcast

President Obama 2.0 after hard times, midterm setbacks, and Tucson. We look at how the President leans now. Guests: Richard L. Wolffe, journalist and author of "Revival: The Struggle for Survival Inside the Obama White House"; Clark Judge, speechwriter and special assistant to President Reagan and Vice President Bush, now managing director of the White House Writers Group; Vinca LaFleur, speechwriter for President Clinton, now a partner at West Wing Writers. Listen to the podcast.

Debating Cordelia Fine's "Delusions of Gender" from On Point with Tom Ashbrook Podcast

A new attack on the theory of a "hardwired" difference, in the brain, between men and women. Guests: Cordelia Fine, author of "Delusions of Gender: How Our Minds, Society, and Neurosexism Create Difference"; Leonard Sax, family physician and psychologist and author of "Boys Adrift." Listen to the podcast.

JFK & the Speech That Changed America from KERA's Think Podcast

[2011-01-13 12:00:00] How does a leader unite a divided country when political rancor is business as usual? We'll examine of the most powerful such moments in American history this hour with author Thurston Clarke. His book "Ask Not: The Inauguration of John F. Kennedy and the Speech That Changed America" (Penguin, Paperback, 2010) has just been re-released in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Kennedy's inauguration. Listen to the podcast.

The Amazing Story of Quantum Mechanics from PRI: Science and Creativity from Studio 360 by interact@pri.org

When science fiction was just catching on in the early 20th century, writers looked to the field of quantum mechanics for ideas. They sensationalized scientific advancements and sparked public fear. Physics professor James Kakalios — author of The Amazing Story of Quantum Mechanics — tells Kurt about the real science behind death rays and atomic radiation. Listen to the podcast.

The Inside Story of Cloning Man's Best Friend from KERA's Think Podcast

[2011-01-13 13:00:00] What would you pay to keep your favorite pet forever? We'll explore the possible future world of pet cloning this hour with Pulitzer Prize winning journalist John Woestendiek, author of the new book "Dog, Inc.: The Uncanny Inside Story of Cloning Man's Best Friend" (Avery, 2011). Listen to the podcast.

Who Will Be the Next RNC Chair? from The Takeaway: Early Edition by feedback@thetakeaway.org (Public Radio International and WNYC Radio)

Conservatives from across the country have convened in Washington this week to elect the next Republican National Committee Chair. With the 2012 presidential election right around the corner, Republican officials are looking for a leader who can rally the base, attract new voters and, of course, raise money. Michael Steele, the current RNC chair, doesn't seem to have enough support to win a second term, although he has in some ways raised the profile of the office during his term. What else does the RNC Chair need to ensure a GOP win in 2012? Joining us is Ron Christie, Republican political strategist, CEO of Christie Strategies and author of Acting White: The Curious History of a Racial Slur. Listen to the podcast.