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AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

It's ALL THINGS CONSIDERED, from NPR News. I'm Audie Cornish.

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

And I'm Melissa Block, with news tonight that six-term veteran Republican Sen. Richard Lugar has been defeated. The Indiana politician lost the Republican primary there to State Treasurer Richard Mourdock, who was backed by the Tea Party - and who said that Lugar was not conservative enough.

Before Paul Thorn made his living as a singer, he was a professional boxer. He also spent 12 years working at a furniture factory in his hometown of Tupelo, Miss.

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AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

For reaction now, we turn to writer and political blogger Andrew Sullivan. He is gay and married, and for years has been a leading advocate of same-sex marriage. He's the editor of the blog "The Dish" at The Daily Beast website. And, Andrew, I take it from what I've seen on your blog this afternoon you have mixed feelings about this development.

Here's a clip of President Obama's interview with ABC News:

Copyright 2012 National Public Radio. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

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MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

The beauty industry has lost one of its titans. The hair stylist Vidal Sassoon died today at his home in Los Angeles after suffering an undisclosed illness. He was 84. NPR's Neda Ulaby has this remembrance.

NEDA ULABY, BYLINE: Vidal Sassoon was emblematic of an era.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SHE LOVES YOU")

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: One, two...

THE BEATLES: (Singing) She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah. She loves you...

Once upon a time, CIA operations were secret.

But as the latest bomb plot in Yemen shows, little stays hidden for long these days.

In the post-Sept. 11 world, even the most sensitive intelligence operations quickly become daily fodder as the 24-hour news cycle, the Internet and media-friendly politicians give the story momentum. And it's often senior government officials and the intelligence community who spread the juiciest details.

The ancient year marked seasonal changes with special festivals and rituals. Beltane, one of four quarter-day festivals, is recreated today in the modern Scottish capital with festivities to re-establish Edinburgh residents' links with the natural year. Join in our celebration with a Beltane-themed hour of music.

The planned downsizing of the U.S. Postal Service, which wants to shed thousands of jobs and reduce hours at post offices, struck Baltimore native Eric Easter at his core.

For him, it will mark the end of an era in which a post office job has meant stability and a path to a better life, as it did for him and his six siblings living in public housing in the 1960s.