NPR News

Mitt Romney accepted the GOP nomination for president Thursday night at the Republican National Convention, promising to create jobs and boost the economy. Host Michel Martin checks in with Corey Ealons; he's a former communications adviser to the Obama administration; and with Ron Christie, a former aide to Vice President Dick Cheney.

Throughout this election, both Republicans and Democrats have focused on a common theme: a successful America. But that vision seems to be different for each party. Host Michel Martin hears from delegates and others at the Republican National Convention about what success for America means to them.

President Obama was the first Democrat in a generation to win in North Carolina, in 2008. Now, the city of Charlotte, North Carolina is gearing up to launch the Democratic National Convention, beginning Tuesday. Host Michel Martin speaks with Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx about how his city is preparing.

It's probably no exaggeration to say that Rep. Todd Akin, the Republican nominee for the senate race in Missouri who caused an uproar with his comments about abortion, became one of the least popular figures within the GOP.

How unpopular? Just look at the joke Republican master strategist Karl Rove made during a fundraiser:

This interview was originally broadcast on April 23, 2012. Jack Black's Bernie is now out on DVD.

Power-pop icon Matthew Sweet returns to Mountain Stage, recorded live in Charleston, W.V. To music fans who spent time watching MTV or listening to FM radio in the fall of 1991, Sweet needs no introduction: His song "Girlfriend," along with its innovative video, was inescapable — and, most importantly, sounded like nothing else on the airwaves at the time.

When you can't beat the slowness of late summer as an entertainment season, you can at least embrace it, and that's what we did this week. Dog days of summer winding down, you say? We say it's time to talk about pop culture dogs. Not dogs in the "lousy product" sense, but dogs in the sense of literal, actual dogs. Faithful, friendly, silly, whether the size of an ottoman or the size of a wallet.

Among the little treasures, Stephen is fond of this slightly obscure dog — at least these eight minutes of him.

As the AP reads it, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke stopped just short of "committing the Fed to any specific move, such as another round of bond purchases to lower long-term interest rates."

Bernanke gave a speech at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City Economic Symposium in Jackson Hole, Wy. today. As with all his speeches, it was being closely watched for signs on what the Federal Reserve would do next.

Just hours after accepting the presidential nomination of the Republican party, Mitt Romney is headed to Louisiana for a more sober occasion: He will tour the damage left by Hurricane Isaac.

Update at 11:42 a.m. ET. President Obama also announced that he would visit the affected areas on Monday.

NPR's Ari Shapiro reports Romney hopes to console the victims of the floods. Ari filed this report for our Newscast unit:

"This New Orleans trip was a last-minute addition to the schedule.