Talk of the Nation

Transcript

LYNN NEARY, HOST:

Late last summer, Mary Elizabeth Williams got some devastating news: her cancer had returned. A year after recovering from malignant melanoma on her scalp, it had resurfaced, this time in her lungs and back. News can't get much worse than that, but then Williams learned that the FDA had recently approved clinical trials for first new melanoma drug in decades. She qualified for the trial several months ago and has been writing about her experiences for Salon. Mary Elizabeth Williams joins us in a moment.

St. Louis, Mo. held a parade for veterans of the Iraq War in January 2012 that drew an estimated 20,000 participants and 100,000 spectators. Fifteen other cities are considering similar parades, but some argue that such celebrations should not be held while the war in Afghanistan continues.

In 2006, thieves stole writer Patrick Symmes' bike in broad daylight on a crowded, New York City street. This inspired Symmes to set out to catch a bike thief — any bike thief.

He tells the tale of this revenge-fueled, cross-country journey in the Outside magazine piece "Who Pinched My Ride?" The story is filled with GPS trackers, police stake-outs and undercover stings.

The Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation reversed its controversial decision to stop providing funding to Planned Parenthood. Rodger Jones, an editorial writer for the Dallas Morning Star, says that to retain the support of abortion rights opponents, Komen needs to consider different fundraising options.

After the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, world leaders vowed that such mass atrocities could never be allowed to happen again. In 2005, the U.N. adopted the Responsibility to Protect, a set of principles to guide the response of the international community if a government fails to protect its population.