Need to Know

E1 Episode 1: Foster Care, A ‘Lost Boy’ of Sudan

• Now playing
• Jan 7, 2011

On the eve of Sudan’s historic elections, we profile a “lost boy” who returned to aid his hometown. Plus: medicating foster kids, more “fixing America” and advice from Peter Sagal.

E2 Episode 2: Gun Control, Haiti, High-Speed Rail

• Jan 14, 2011

In light of the Arizona shooting, we revisit a story on gun rights. Also: Two Haitian children treated in Boston after the earthquake, a look at high speed rail and author Peter Bergen on al Qaeda.

E3 Episode 3: Care for Disabled Adults, Michael Vick’s Dogs, China

• Jan 21, 2011

This week, we visit with parents struggling to maintain care for their developmentally disabled adult children in the face of budget cuts. Plus: where are Michael Vick’s dogs now? And: the Amy Chua phenomenon.

E4 Episode 4: Aging in the Car-Happy Suburbs, Congo, A New 'New Deal'?

• Jan 28, 2011

Getting older in the car-dependent suburbs, the State of the Union and the state of the Congo. Plus: an animated editorial by Steve Brodner.

E5 Episode 5: Egypt, End-of-Life Care, Alzheimer’s

• Feb 4, 2011

Amid the upheaval in Egypt, we turn our attention to the political tension between Egypt and the U.S. Also, the defunct “death panel” provision, a new scan for Alzheimer’s, and “Reagan.”

E6 Episode 6: Ahead of the Class

• Feb 11, 2011

As the nation debates how to get the best performance out of students and teachers, Need to Know presents an hour devoted to success stories in teaching.

E7 Episode 7: The Universe(s), Egypt’s Future, and Fracking

• Feb 18, 2011

How many universes are there? Author Brian Greene explains. Plus: A fracking update, a look at what’s next in Egypt and an interview author Parag Khanna.

E8 Episode 8: Sea level rise, National Guard bonuses, Somali pirates

E9 Episode 9: Libya’s uprising, the high cost of college sports, Wisconsin’s unions

E10 Episode 10: Public unions and state budgets, blood transfusions

E11 Episode 11: Crisis in Japan, stories of academic transformation

E12 Episode 12: Wounded in war, Arne Duncan, breast cancer research

E13 Episode 13: Haiti and the Dominican Republic, Medicare, Edwidge Danticat

E14 Episode 14: The BP oil spill and the Grand Isle one year later, fixing American education

E15 Episode 15: Chinese drywall, ‘Capitalism 4.0,’ right-sizing Detroit

E16 Episode 16: Joe Nocera on the Charlie Engle story, Tavis Smiley, free music education in Chicago

E17 Episode 17: Adoptions in Nepal, Bin Laden economics, the united states of women

E18 Episode 18: Detainee abuse, broadband in Europe, crisis mappers

E19 Episode 19: Climate change and tropical disease, Upper Big Branch mine disaster, Stuxnet

E20 Episode 20: Political storm over tornadoes, Paralympics, shrinking Youngstown

E21 Episode 21: Paying for war, medicating foster children, childhood obesity

E22 Episode 22: Clinical trials overseas, legacy of nuclear waste, Brian Greene and the multiverse

E23 Episode 23: New voter laws, the anti-abortion movement, therapy for Tourette’s syndrome

E24 Episode 24: Combating IEDs, the ramifications of the Wal-Mart case, the science of happy marriages

E25 Episode 25: Greece’s debt crisis, congressional redistricting, ‘Page One’ and the New York Times

E26 Episode 26: Congo’s orchestra, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Sudan, workplace safety

E27 Episode 27: California nuclear safety, population control, Gloria Steinem

E28 Episode 28: Famine in Somalia, nuclear waste storage, Eric Cantor and the debt ceiling

E29 Episode 29: Adult autism, food safety, wealth inequality

E30 Episode 30: Breast cancer trials, Rick Perry’s ambitions, cyberweapons

E31 Episode 31: The history of debt, detainee abuse, living with Chinese drywall

E32 Episode 32: Urban farming in Detroit, consumer finance protection, gold mining in the Amazon

E33 Episode 33: Texas textbooks, wild horses, hurricanes and climate change

E34 Episode 34: Water contamination at Camp Lejeune, polls and markets, crisis-mapping

E35 Episode 35: 9-11, Ten Years Later

• Sep 9, 2011

A special edition on the ten-year anniversary of 9/11. We visit three military families to see how the nation’s longest war effort has affected military children. Also: Six-word memoirs on 9/11, and an “In Perspective” essay from Jon Meacham.

E36 Episode 36: Privatizing infrastructure, government and the private sector

E37 Episode 37: Creating ‘green jobs,’ the American garage sale

E38 Episode 38: Chemical pollution and the EPA

E39 Episode 39: Help wanted

E40 Episode 40: The politics of resentment

E41 Episode 41: The nuclear question

E42 Episode 42: Jobs in the balance

E43 Episode 43: Creating opportunity

E44 Episode 44: Coming home: The enduring sacrifice

E45 Episode 45: The Pentagon: Hard times, hard choices

E46 Episode 46: Resisting Alabama’s immigration crackdown

E47 Episode 47: Help wanted: Revisiting Ohio

E48 Episode 48: Making Congress work

E49 Episode 49: Mayor under siege

E50 Episode 50: Christian-Muslim relations in Iraq

E51 Episode 51: Eye on Iowa