All Things Considered

Charlotte, N.C., host of the 2012 Democratic National Convention, is the nation's biggest financial center outside of New York. But Charlotte and surrounding Mecklenburg County have the highest foreclosure rates in the state, and many thousands of homeowners owe more on their homes than the properties are worth.

As thousands of Democrats converge in Charlotte for the convention, some troubled homeowners have also gathered, lamenting that the foreclosure crisis has not been sufficiently front and center in the presidential campaign.

The number of U.S. families struggling to put enough food on the table remains at record-high levels, according to new figures out today from the government. Last year, 1 in almost 7 households were what the government calls "food insecure." That's about the same level as in 2010, but still far higher than before the recession.

OK, let's get the elephant out of the room right away. John Cage's most famous, or infamous, work is "4'33"," in which a musician walks onstage and sits at the piano for 4 minutes and 33 seconds.

Archaeologists in Britain have begun looking for the remains of the last English king to die in battle. They believe King Richard III was buried under what is currently a parking lot in the city of Leicester. Robert Siegel talks to Philippa Langley of the Richard III Society, who has been at the dig site.

Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley spoke Tuesday night at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C. O'Malley, who's in his second term, is considered a likely contender for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016. In a routine pilgrimage for candidates considering a presidential run, O'Malley spoke before the Iowa delegation Wednesday morning. But remarks he made this past Sunday, when asked about whether the U.S. economy of "better off" than for years ago, have overshadowed his week in Charlotte.

Scientists unveiled the results of a massive international project Wednesday that they say debunks the notion that most of our genetic code is made up of so-called junk DNA.

The ENCODE project, which involved hundreds of researchers in dozens of labs, also produced what some scientists are saying is like Google Maps for the human genome.