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NPR's Neal Conan reads from listener comments on previous show topics, including the epidemiology of gun violence, what it means to be a 'Southerner' and going off the map.

About 1.2 million people die prematurely every year in China from exposure to outdoor air pollution. Smog has dogged the country as it grows at an explosive rate and burns huge quantities of fossil fuels. But there are signs that the government is beginning to take the issue more seriously.

Last year there were just over 200 cases of polio in remote parts of Nigeria, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Now, a new $5.5 billion plan aims to eliminate the disease for good by 2018.

The White House is asking Congress for $100 million to develop new tools for "eavesdropping" on millions of cellular conversations, as individual neurons interact to form thoughts or create memories. The goal is more ambitious than the Human Genome Project, researchers say.

For years, non-baseball experts have been ringing the death knell for this game. But sports commentator Frank Deford says popular team games are so deeply ingrained in our culture that they're here to stay.

The editor in chief of Newsweek and the Daily Beast joins NPR's Steve Inskeep to talk about women taking on big cultural challenges, and the stories of how they got there.

Residents of an apartment building in Camden, N.J., racked up more than $1 million a year in hospital admissions and trips to the ER over about a decade. In response, a community group opened a doctor's office on the ground floor. But at first, residents weren't as eager to go as doctors had hoped.

One of the busiest airports in the country is in the midst of a major upgrade that will bring local restaurants into a space typically reserved for mega-corporate chains. Nearly two dozen Phoenix culinary landmarks have landed space at Sky Harbor. But there is a cost. Rent at the airport is 10 times more expensive in some cases, and some small businesses have gone into a lot of debt to get their foot in the door.

The dispatcher in Washington state sent an officer to rescue the stranded kayaker on the Colombia River. Fearing the kayaker wouldn't be reached in time, the dispatcher called an experienced kayaker living nearby: her mother.

The chill in the Chesapeake has left the water too cold for the crabs to come out of the mud. It turns out this is extending their lifespan — since it means watermen can't catch them.