All Things Considered

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LYNN NEARY, HOST:

Here's another challenge for traditional retailers. Companies like Amazon and eBay now offer apps for your Smartphone that take a lot of the legwork out of comparison-shopping. While you're in a store, just take a picture of an item or scan the barcode on the box. You'll find out where else to get it and you might even get an extra discount for buying it on the spot.

Stephen Hoch teaches marketing at the Wharton School of Business and consults for some retailers.

Robert Siegel and Lynn Neary read emails from listeners.

The case of a former FBI agent who disappeared from an Iranian resort island nearly five years ago has come back into the headlines. His family has decided to tell the media, for the first time, about some developments in the case that occurred last year — including a video of the former agent, Robert Levinson, who is shown asking the government to work for his release. NPR's Dina Temple-Raston talks to Lynn Neary about the questions surrounding the case and the family's efforts to bring Levinson home.

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LYNN NEARY, HOST:

This is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Lynn Neary.

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

And I'm Robert Siegel.

The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 runs hundreds of pages. It authorizes hundreds of billions in defense spending. And as it stands, the version of the bill approved by the Senate is facing a veto by President Obama.

Lynn Neary speaks with Lerone Graham, reporter for the Roanoke Times, for the latest about reported shootings on the campus of Virginia Tech.

Lynn Neary speaks with Sarah Weinman, the news editor for Publishers Marketplace, about the antitrust probe of Apple and six publishing houses over the prices of e-books. It is being investigated by the Department of Justice and the European Commission.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has for the first time implicated a connection between "fracking" and contamination of ground water. The controversial method of natural gas and oil extraction consists of injecting high-pressure water and chemicals into the ground in order to more easily access the oil and gas. Robert Siegel speaks with NPR's Elizabeth Shogren about the report.

Robert Siegel speaks with Robert Holmes, Boston Globe high school sports editor, about the controversial call on Massachusetts high school football player Matt Owens. Owens raised his arm at the 24-yard line as he ran for a touchdown during a game, but the touchdown was nullified because Owens displayed unsportsmanlike conduct.