Health

AIDS activist Martin Delaney died from liver cancer Jan. 23 at the age of 63. Delaney was a former Jesuit seminarian and the founder of Project Inform, an organization that speeds access to AIDS treatments.

While both John McCain and Barack Obama agree that the American health care system needs reform, the candidates differ markedly in their vision of the remedy. Political scientist Jonathan Oberlander offers an in-depth comparison of the candidates' proposals.

Health care advocate Carol Levine has looked out for the interests of the housebound both at work and at home. For 17 years, she cared for her husband, who had been seriously injured in a car accident. He died recently, and Levine is left coping with a renewed sense of loss.

If there's one thing the presidential primary candidates agree on, it's that the American health-care system could use some treatment — if not a complete overhaul. Political scientist Jonathan Oberlander diagnoses the ailments and examines the remedies offered by each candidate.

Suzanne Geffen Mintz, president and co-founder of the National Family Caregivers Association (NFCA), talks with Terry Gross on how to make caregiving easier. Mintz speaks from experience. Her husband has multiple sclerosis.

Investigative reporter Mark Schapiro explains in a new book that toxic chemicals exist in many of the products we handle every day — agents that can cause cancer, genetic damage and birth defects, lacing everything from our gadgets to our toys to our beauty products.

The star of Friends and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip is featured in the new film Numb; he plays a screenwriter plagued by feelings of anxiety, detachment and panic. The story is based on an autobiographical script by Harris Goldberg (Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo), who also made his directing debut with the film.

Composer and writer Allen Shawn is the author of the new memoir, Wish I Could Be There. The book documents his many phobias. Shawn is deathly afraid of a lot of things, including heights, water, fields, parking lots and unknown streets.

Country singer Bradley Walker is making his recording debut with Highway of Dreams. Walker's vocal style "harkens back to an earlier generation of vocalists, such as George Jones and bluegrass pioneer Bill Monroe." The record's producer is Carl Jackson who worked with Emmylou Harris and Glen Campbell. Walker has performed at the Grand Ole Opry, and sung at leading bluegrass festivals. Born with Muscular Dystrophy, he has been in a wheelchair all his life.

New York Times reporter Alex Kuczynski's new book is Beauty Junkies: Inside our $15 Billion Obsession with Cosmetic Surgery. No stranger to "beauty maintenance," Kuczynski has had botox, an eye-lift, and liposuction, but gave it up after a bad experience with lip augmentation.