Transcript

LYNN NEARY, HOST:

This is TALK OF THE NATION. I'm Lynn Neary, in Washington. Neal Conan is away. It's an American story as old as Horatio Alger: Hard work, determination and presto, you can change your station in life. But increasingly many Americans find themselves stuck where they are on the economic ladder, that American dream just out of reach.

China's citizens do not report as much as $2.34 trillion of what they make every year, hiding "gray income" that would represent nearly 20 percent of the country's GDP, Chinese economics scholar Wang Xiaolu says, in a report from the news site Global Voices.

Rand Paul has gained new prominence in ways that inevitably lead to speculation about his political future, including the possibility of a presidential run in 2016.

The Kentucky Republican's marathon filibuster that began Wednesday raised his profile above those of other junior but ambitious conservatives in the Senate, says GOP consultant David Carney.

The city of Detroit has been in the headlines after the state announced plans to appoint an emergency financial manager. But how are smaller cities dealing with a budget that's in the red? To find out more, host Michel Martin speaks with Diana Garza, mayor of Floresville, Texas. Garza is new to the job — a position that pays $100 a month.

If someone's heart suddenly stops beating, a quick shock can be a lifesaver.

By the time a person can get to the hospital, though, it's often too late. The chances of survival are best, in fact, if the shock is given within three minutes of a person's collapse.

Liberal arts colleges are trying hard to attract minority students and faculty. But what happens when they get on campus? Host Michel Martin talks to the dean and chief diversity officer of Middlebury College, Shirley Collado, and her former student Sheyenne Brown, about initiatives to make schools more inclusive for people of color.

Every two years, the Oklahoma Municipal League surveys hundreds of its member cities and towns about their water rates.

StateImpact got an early look at the 2012 data, and found Fort Towson, just across the Red River in Choctaw County, has the highest residential water rate of any community that responded to the OML survey.