Talk of the Nation

Transcript

NEAL CONAN, HOST:

If you have an email account, you've almost certainly received a message that sounds something like this.

(SOUNDBITE OF RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: I am Mr. Edward Impoya(ph), a member of the Movement for Democratic Change in Zimbabwe.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #1: We are members of the special committee.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #2: I am Mr. Ahmed Guraba(ph), the bills and exchange director at the Foreign Remittance Department.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #3: I am David Mapalay(ph), the first son of Dr. Jonathan Mapalay(ph).

Transcript

NEAL CONAN, HOST:

This is TALK OF THE NATION. I'm Neal Conan.

Transcript

NEAL CONAN, HOST:

This is TALK OF THE NATION. I'm Neal Conan, in Washington. Immigration reform heads to the Senate floor, ex-congressman Weiner guns for Gracie Mansion, and Senator Inhofe on the distinction between disaster aid for a superstorm and tornados. It's Wednesday, and time for a...

SENATOR JAMES INHOFE: Totally different...

CONAN: ...edition of the Political Junkie.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDINGS)

PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN: There you go again.

Apple CEO Timothy Cook made a rare appearance on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, testifying after congressional investigators revealed that Apple avoided billions in taxes. Reporter Charles Duhigg of The New York Times and guest host Jennifer Ludden talk about how, as Duhigg writes, "technology giants have taken advantage of tax codes written for an industrial age."

Monday's tornado tore through parts of Oklahoma City at 200 miles per hour and killed at least 24 people. Many more are missing orinjured. Guest host Jennifer Ludden talks to KOSU reporter Michael Cross and to meteorologist Paul Douglas about why it's so hard to track tornadoes.

The National Transportation Safety Board has recommended reducing the legal limit for blood alcohol content for drivers from .08 to .05. Critics say it won't significantly help prevent drunken driving. Guest LZ Granderson argues that without more checkpoints, a lower threshold would do nothing.

As the populations in big cities increase and more people choose to live alone, a new trend of living in very small spaces has emerged. But the tiny living movement is not without controversy as growth of these multi-unit buildings puts pressure on established neighborhoods.

As membership in private-sector labor unions has continued to nosedive, traditional labor groups have been forced to reevaluate — just as non-union worker groups have emerged. Guest host Jennifer Ludden talks to writer Josh Eidelson about what he calls 'alt-labor.'

During Argentina's so-called Dirty War, thousands were abducted and taken to secret prisons like a place known as "the little school," where many were tortured and killed. Guest host Jennifer Ludden talks to a former prisoner, Alicia Partnoy, about her disappearance and her time there.

Generations of physicists have claimed that time is an illusion. But not all agree. In his book Time Reborn: From the Crisis in Physics to the Future of the Universe, theoretical physicist Lee Smolin argues that time exists--and he says time is key to understanding the evolution of the universe.