Carsen & Ott: Weekly Interviews on Education in Alabama
Carsen & Ott Talk Explosions and Explosive Issues Several Alabama school communities are reeling after incidents last week shook things up. E.P.I.C. Elementary School in Birmingham had to be evacuated Friday after a propane tank exploded. No one was hurt, but down in Mobile County, a teacher was taken to the hospital after an incident with a student. Nice, tame topics like charter-school propaganda, same-sex prom dates, and Louis Farrakhan round out this week’s interview, which ends on a positive note.
In the snow, these salamanders get supercool
Blue spotted salamanders have been seen walking across snow and new research suggests how they get by in the cold.
When porch pirates steal medicine instead of holiday gifts
Mail theft can happen around the holidays, but sometimes, instead of getting a new iPad, the thief swipes a mail order medicine. Here's what to do about it.
U.S. and Ukraine reach consensus on key issues aimed at ending the war
The United States and Ukraine have reached a consensus on several critical issues, but sensitive issues around territorial control in Ukraine's eastern industrial heartland remain unresolved.
Despite Vatican-Israel tensions, Catholics and Jews work to build trust in Haifa
Religious leaders started getting together after Oct. 7, 2023, in the hope of preventing a repeat of Arab-Jewish violence that erupted after a previous conflict in Gaza two years earlier.
The strangers who guided her home — and returned with Christmas dinner
Mary Klein had just moved to a new city when she got lost. A couple stopped to help and guided her home. They returned the next day with Christmas dinner.
Crime in the U.S. fell in 2025. Will the trend continue?
Crime rates dropped across much of the U.S. in 2025. That was true for both property and violent crime. And it declined nearly everywhere: In big cities and small towns, and in red and blue states.

