National

In all of American history, only one woman has been awarded the Medal of Honor — and Congress tried to take it back.

Her name was Mary Edwards Walker, and she was a doctor at a time when female physicians were rare. She graduated from the Syracuse Medical College, and at the outbreak of the Civil War traveled to Washington with the intention of joining the Army as a medical officer. When she was rejected, she volunteered as a surgeon and served in that capacity for various units through the war years, continually agitating for a commission.

Walk through downtown Chicago and you experience modern architecture to its fullest. There's the Auditorium Building by Louis Sullivan, the Federal Center by Mies van der Rohe and Marina City by Bertrand Goldberg — two towers made even more famous after starring on an album cover by the Chicago band Wilco.

The Department of Homeland Security is examining its policy on deadly force along the U.S.-Mexico border. In less than two years, U.S. Border Patrol agents have killed 18 Mexican citizens there — including eight people who were throwing rocks.

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

John Gagliardi is hanging up his clipboard. He announced his retirement this week, as the winningest coach in the history of college football. Over the course of 64 seasons - that's also a record; most of them at the St. John's University in Collegeville, Minnesota - Coach Gagliardi has racked up 489 wins, 138 losses and 11 ties. He's now 86 years old. Coach Gagliardi joins us from his home. Thanks very much for being with us.

JOHN GAGLIARDI: It's my pleasure.

Host Scott Simon talks to retail analyst Patty Edwards of Trutina Financial about the escalating holiday-retail battle: Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and this year, the big-box stores which opened on Thursday night.

StoryCorps' National Day of Listening encourages people to take advantage of the days following Thanksgiving to talk to a family member or friend and have a conversation. This year, host Scott Simon speaks with Marine Corps veteran Kevin Hermening about his time as a captive in the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, during the Iran hostage crisis of 1980-81.

Thanksgiving weekend, football is as American as pumpkin pie. Host Scott Simon talks about the week in sports with ESPN's Howard Bryant.

This week the San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved a pilot program to build apartments as small as 220 square feet. The experimental ordinance is prompted by rocketing real estate values in the city.