(http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/files/2010/10/Transportation-Desk-Badge.gif) An emerging school of thought among urban planners suggests (http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2010/urban_health_20100407/en/index.html) that our decisions about infrastructure have a direct impact on our health. For example, Americans spend an average of 46 minutes a day commuting (http://www.gallup.com/poll/28504/workers-average-commute-roundtrip-minutes-typical-day.aspx) to and from work by car....

(http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/files/2010/10/karronculture-badge1.gif) This week on our Karr on Culture podcast: Former Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman discussed the tug-of-war between good nutrition and good farm policy. On the most recent Need to Know, we followed up (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/health/video-mixed-signals-why-is-the-usda-promoting-nutrition-and-pushing-cheese/5296/) on a New York Times report (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/07/us/07fat.html) on...

(http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/files/2010/10/karronculture-badge1.gif)We've been hearing for a decade about problems with voting machines nationwide -- it's an issue that Karr on Culture tackled in May (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/culture/audio-ballot-boxing/714/) and that we address on this week's Need to Know. But progressive blogger Matthew Yglesias (http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/) says there are at least three other problems with the way we cast our ballots. We cast...

(/wnet/need-to-know/files/2010/10/Library.jpg)This week on our Karr on Culture podcast: An NPR librarian considers all facts (/wnet/need-to-know/files/2010/10/karronculture-badge.gif)Kee Malesky (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=2100844) has spent more than 20 years answering questions for the talking heads (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yY-5WGfOtoc&feature=related) at National Public Radio (http://www.npr.org): How much junk...

This week on our Karr on Culture podcast: What does it take to be the best university in the country -- advantages or merit? (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/files/2010/05/karronculture-badge.gif)Last month, Washington Monthly (http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/) magazine published its annual ranking of the top colleges and universities in the U.S. The list looked almost nothing like the more commonly-cited one published annually by U.S. News and World Report...

This week on our Karr on Culture podcast: Will steep cuts to arts funding leave British culture reeling -- or help usher in a new age of creativity? (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/files/2010/05/karronculture-badge.gif)Britain's creative class has had it pretty good over the past few decades: government (http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/) arts (http://www.artswales.org.uk/) subsidies (http://www.creativescotland.com/) have built (and rebuilt) theaters, concert halls, and galleries....

(http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/files/2010/05/karronculture-badge.gif)This week on our Karr on Culture podcast: A look at "pop-up" restaurants, supper clubs, and other unusual ways of dining out in London The economic slump hit the restaurant business hard: diners cut back, and investors practically stopped putting money into startups. In London, that led to a boom in "pop-up" dining — places where top-notch chefs temporarily took over alternative spaces, from friends' apartments to...

This week on our Karr on Culture podcast: An insider's guide to the world's largest collection of arts festival, which kicks off this week in Scotland's capital (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/files/2010/05/karronculture-badge.gif)Edinburgh is a beautiful, if reserved city — it's one of the birthplaces of the Enlightenment, after all. But it's about to go crazy. This week marks the start of its prestigious music and performance festival (http://www.eif.co.uk/), as well as festivals...

This week on our Karr on Culture podcast: A followup on the World Cup's lousy officiating — and what could be done about it (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/files/2010/05/karronculture-badge.gif)A few of you wrote in after our World Cup setup podcast (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/culture/audio-the-world-what/1542/) asking why soccer doesn't allow instant replay — especially after officials denied apparent goals scored by the USA...

This week on our Karr on Culture podcast: Will the 2012 Olympic Games improve life in London's down-at-heel East End -- or will the International Olympic Committee pocket the profits after Britain pays the bills? (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/files/2010/05/karronculture-badge.gif)Two years from this week, the Games of the XXX Olympiad (http://www.olympic.org/en/content/Olympic-Games/All-Future-Olympic-Games/Summer/London-2012/) will commence in London...

This week on our Karr on Culture podcast: How is the Internet changing the way politics work? (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/files/2010/05/karronculture-badge.gif)Has the Internet made our country ungovernable? Need to Know's culture correspondent Rick Karr talks to John Perry Barlow, co-founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and former Grateful Dead lyricist, about a speech he recently gave at the Personal Democracy Forum (http://personaldemocracy.com/) regarding the political...

This week on our Karr on Culture podcast: Last month, the FDA declined to approve a drug called Flibanserin as a treatment for low female sex drive. Media coverage leading up to the decision focused on the potential for a "female Viagra," but some important details were lost in the publicity blitz. (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/files/2010/05/karronculture-badge.gif)Since Viagra entered the market 12 years ago, treating male sexual dysfunction has become a $4.4 billion-per-year...

This week on our Karr on Culture podcast: The world's most popular sport owes something to the U.S. — and Americans could stand to learn a thing or two about soccer (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/files/2010/05/karronculture-badge.gif)This year's World Cup (http://www.fifa.com/) is proving to be a big hit (http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/tv/la-et-world-cup-20100617,0,3002069.story) among American TV viewers. The last time this many of us watched the world's most popular...

(http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/files/2010/06/pinkpill2.jpg)This week on our Karr on Culture podcast: Pharmaceutical firms are hoping for a "female Viagra," while critics say the proposed cures may be snake-oil. (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/files/2010/05/karronculture-badge.gif)A small pharmaceutical firm hired filmmaker Liz Canner to help with tests of an experimental drug that was designed to increase sexual desire in women. It was also designed to increase profits at the...

(http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/files/2010/05/ashestoashes.jpg)This week on our Karr on Culture podcast: One of television's best shows just wrapped up — but viewers in the U.S. had to resort to illegal means to watch it. (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/files/2010/05/karronculture-badge.gif)Detective Chief Inspector Gene Hunt was a misogynist, a bully, fond of torture, and quite possibly an alcoholic. But he was, for the past five years, possibly the most popular television...

This week on our Karr on Culture podcast: Nearly 10 years after hanging chads and butterfly ballots decided the presidential election, the way we vote still hasn't changed. (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/files/2010/05/karronculture-badge.gif)Ten years ago, American voters learned about the perils of hanging chads and butterfly ballots (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election_in_Florida,_2000#Recount) -- and the Supreme Court ended up deciding...

Three things you need to know about l'affaire iPhone (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/files/2010/05/karronculture-badge.gif)When the technology website Gizmodo (http://gizmodo.com/) paid $5,000 for a secret prototype of Apple's next-generation iPhone, it attracted the interest of California prosecutors. But the authorities' response may also be tainting Apple's image — in part because the company has a representative on the board of the law-enforcement task force...