State and National News

A new Obama campaign ad says the Massachusetts economy actually fared poorly during Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's four years as governor, challenging the notion that Romney knows how to fix the nation's ailing economy.

The ad says that between 2003 and 2007, Massachusetts had one of the worst economic records in the country, lost 40,000 manufacturing jobs at "a rate twice the national average, and fell to 47th in job creation."

Four years ago, Evelyn Stevens was working as a Wall Street investment banker and just starting to race bicycles. But she rose through the cycling ranks quickly, and next month she will represent the United States at the Olympic Games in London.

On a recent muggy morning in busy Central Park, Stevens easily weaves her bicycle through many obstacles.

"There's the horse carriages, there's the bike buggies, there's the Rollerbladers," she says, "the people on their bikes training, the five gajillion joggers, the hot dog stands, the dogs — there's a lot going in."

Transcript

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

From NPR news, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Audie Cornish.

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

And I'm Robert Siegel.

The Obama administration and a handful of college presidents have agreed on a deal that's supposed to take the mystery out of financial aid. President Obama has been critical of colleges for not being more transparent, and he's made the cost of higher education an election-year issue.

But NPR's Claudio Sanchez reports it's not clear when or if more schools will sign on to the agreement.

Depression can be treated effectively over the phone, and a test of the approach showed that patients are more likely to maintain treatment telephonically.

Researchers at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine offered 18 weeks of cognitive behavioral therapy, a kind of talk therapy, to more than 300 patients with major depression. Half received treatment in person and half over the phone.

Adam Davidson grew up in Greenwich Village when the rent was cheap and the neighborhood was full of funky small businesses. Today, the Village is super gentrified and full of luxury boutiques. But a few mom-and-pop shops have managed to hang on. In his New York Times Magazine column this week, Davidson returns to the neighborhood, and tries to figure out how the mom-and-pop stores hang on. Here's an excerpt.

All Things Considered continues its "Mom and Dad's Record Collection" series with former Arkansas governor and presidential candidate Mike Huckabee. The politician currently hosts a TV show on Fox News and plays bass guitar in his rock band, Capitol Offense. His musical tastes are similarly multifaceted: Huckabee says he grew up listening to big-band jazz.

Transcript

NEAL CONAN, HOST:

Transcript

NEAL CONAN, HOST: