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Hours after President Obama delivered his speech at the Democratic convention, the latest unemployment report provided a reminder of what's at stake. The unemployment rate dropped, but the number of jobs created was below expectations for August. For more on the latest economic data and a close read of Obama's speech, Steve Inskeep and Renee Montagne talk with NPR's Ari Shapiro, Julie Rovner and Yuki Noguchi.

At the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., NPR digital journalists asked delegates, politicians and other attendees to react to the statement: "Why I'm a Democrat." Here are some of those responses.

Whether it's their ability to charm, defy convention and appear hip or an unflappable and seemingly detached manner, these seven men personify the meaning of c-o-o-l.

Sandra Fluke found herself in the center of a media storm earlier this year. She became a political target after she testified in favor of President Obama's policy to require most employers' insurance plans to cover contraception. Fluke spoke at this week's Democratic convention, and talks about it with host Michel Martin.

President Obama's acceptance of the Democratic nomination capped two weeks of speeches at the political conventions. Host Michel Martin discusses hits and misses with Mary Kate Cary, former speechwriter for President George H.W. Bush; and Paul Orzulak, former speechwriter for President Clinton and Vice President Al Gore.

You can't make this stuff up. After being falsely accused of bringing an explosive on board a plane, a man is arrested on an outstanding warrant. On his birthday. But the guy who allegedly made the false report may be in more trouble.

Tiny, uninhabited island chains that ring the South China Sea and reach even farther north are at the center of bitter, multinational battles — many dating to the end of World War II.

From the West Nile virus outbreak in Texas, to hantavirus in Yosemite, to the newly-discovered tickborne 'Heartland' virus in Missouri, viruses that cross from animals to people are in the news. Maria Diuk-Wasser, who studies the ecology and epidemiology of zoonotic diseases, helps explain the science behind the headlines.

Science isn't always about new drugs or robots on Mars. In his new book, This is Improbable: Cheese String Theory, Magnetic Chickens, and other WTF Research, Marc Abrahams shows us what we can learn from a man who swallowed a shrew, and other unlikely experiments.

A curious legal case is playing out in a Cleveland courtroom. Sixteen members of a conservative Amish church group are charged with attacking spiritual transgressors by cutting off their beards. The trial has brought international news coverage to the Amish --- a reclusive population better known as a quaint tourist attraction. So far testimony has mixed allegations of sex and interstate crime, with the religious significance of facial hair.