Talk of the Nation on KSTX

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JOE PALCA, HOST:

This is SCIENCE FRIDAY. I'm Joe Palca.

You know the theory that a big collision, a comet or an asteroid, something like that, helped kill off the dinosaurs? The idea has been around for a while. But this week, new research published in journal Science provides more accurate dates for the giant impact and the dino demise.

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JOE PALCA, HOST:

This is SCIENCE FRIDAY; I'm Joe Palca. Do you ever get the feeling you're being watched? These days if you're not careful, your phone knows where you are, and there's a good chance somebody else does, too. Or you've noticed that the ads on sites you visit are starting to look a little too personalized, like how did they know I was planning a vacation to New Orleans.

When electorates in Colorado and Washington State voted to legalize recreational marijuana, they thrust their states into uncharted territories. While it's one thing to say pot is legal, it's another to set up regulatory, law enforcement and business practices that work for the industry.

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NEAL CONAN, HOST:

This is TALK OF THE NATION. I'm Neal Conan in Washington. This afternoon, the Senate Intelligence Committee takes up the nomination of John Brennan to be the next director of the CIA, a hearing that will feature a festival of euphemisms. One man's targeted killing is another man's assassination.

NPR's Political Junkie Ken Rudin discuss the week in politics from Ed Koch's passing to Ashley Judd's political future. John Collegio, communications director for American Crossroads, discusses the group's new campaign to beat far right candidates in Republican primaries.

The Supreme Court is expected to rule on two cases involving detector dogs and the limits of reasonable search and seizure. Surrounding the cases are larger questions about the effectiveness of detector dogs and the legal questions that arise when they are used for law enforcement.

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NEAL CONAN, HOST:

Elizabeth and Phillip Jennings, two kids, split level in the Virginia suburbs. They're on a travel agency and drive a big boxy Oldsmobile - a typical American family in Ronald Reagan's America, except for their other job as Soviet spies.

Last Wednesday night, when "The Americans" debuted on FX, an FBI agent moved in next door, which prompted Phillip, played Matthew Rhys, to suggests to Kerri Russell's Elizabeth it might be a good time to defect.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE AMERICANS")

The Pew Hispanic Center estimates that there are millions of people living in mixed-immigration-status families in the U.S. Immigration attorney Kamal Essaheb and Center for Public Integrity reporter Susan Ferriss discuss the challenges these families face.

In the debate on gun control, self-protection and the protection of others are commonly cited justifications for gun ownership. NPR's Neal Conan talks with guests about what happens when a person draws a gun on another individual.