The Story on WUNC

Hundreds of people are now attempting to climb Mt. Everest every year. National Geographic writer Mark Jenkins says the mountain, once tackled only by professional climbers, has become accessible to anyone who can afford to pay to go up and down. And as a result, the mountain is being ruined by garbage, human excrement, and even bodies of deceased climbers.

Also: In a World War II era blimp hangar in California, a prototype of a new kind of aircraft, the “Aeroscraft” is being tested. It’s a space-age looking machine that’s almost as big as a football field and able to carry 50 tons or more.

Young-gum Kim was starving in her home country of North Korea. She lost two children to the famine of the 1990s, and her husband was killed in a mining accident. Eventually, she fled to China in search of safety and refuge.

Over the course of 13 years, Joe Brewster and Michele Stephenson filmed their son’s progress through the elite New York City prep school called Dalton. As an African-American family in a predominantly white school, the years were challenging for everyone, as seen in the family’s documentary American Promise.

Hear Dick Gordon's conversation with the Joe Brewster and Michele Stephenson on The Story's site. 

A man in London – who shall remain anonymous – took leave from work earlier this year, and undertook a six-month mission of offering help to anyone who asks for it.

Chris Dancy keeps metrics on himself for every moment of every day.

He knows the number of steps he travels in a day, his average heart rate, and the amount of food he’s eaten. The “Quantified Man,” says keeping statistics makes him a better employee and it’s in the future of everyone’s work.

Host Dick Gordon of The Story speaks with David Cooper, the part-sleuth, part-mechanic who restored a rare 1937 Delage Aerosport Coupe.

There were only 12 ever built in the 1930’s in France.They were made by hand, and the interior was handpicked by the few customers.

Cooper says that finding the oversize chrome fenders and original chassis meant researching the story of Millicent Rogers, the American heiress who owned the car and outlined her specifications with her lipstick.

When philanthropist Melinda Gates travels the world, she looks for opportunities to have personal conversations with women. And she listens: about children’s health, about parenting, and about infectious diseases.