NPR

This is TALK OF THE NATION. I'm Neal Conan in Washington.A year ago today, Katrina loomed just off the Gulf Coast. When it came ashore, the gigantic storm would batter 90,000 square miles, an area the size of Great Britain. We've all seen the pictures of houses reduced to matchsticks in Mississippi and survivors clinging to rooftops above the rising water in New Orleans.According to the Office of the Federal Coordinator for Gulf Coast Rebuilding, Katrina… more

The working poor face a huge disadvantage because they lack a basic financial tool -- a bank account. Anne Stuhldreher comments. (more)

CURWOOD: The Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution says that private property shall not be taken by the government without compensation. And for years, advocates of property rights have argued that governments should pay if they impose regulations that diminish the value of private property.

So far, the U.S. Supreme Court hasn't been willing to rule that zoning and other land use restrictions amount to violations of the Fifth Amendment, most recently letting a construction ban stand at Lake Tahoe.… more

TOOMEY: In Great Plain states like Oklahoma, wind is a fact of life. The skies give rise to dust bowls, twisters and even song lyrics. Yet this region, sometimes called the "Saudi Arabia of wind," captures little of the energy that blows across its prairies and fields.

Oklahoma may be the only state whose official anthem salutes the wind. Yet it has no commercial wind power projects. But just to the south, Texas has ushered in the biggest explosion of… more

STEVE CURWOOD: The archipelago of Indonesia has many threatened species of birds. Many live in Wallacea, which is home to more than 250 birds found nowhere else on Earth. Little is known in the West about the region, and its first field guide to birds was not published until 1997. But there are plenty of experts on Wallacean wildlife if you look in the right places. John Ryan found some on the eastern Indonesian island of Flores.

(Bird calls)

RYAN:… more

STEVE CURWOOD: John Ryan is a journalist who travels the world looking for a good story and a good time. Recently, he found both on a small island just off the coast of Indonesia.

RYAN: I admit it, I went to Gililawa Laut Island for the sex, but I promise, I only wanted to watch. Let me explain. Gililawa Laut is a harsh and uninhabited speck of land in Indonesia's Komodo National Park. But just beyond its blistering shores are… more