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Noah Adams travels to Southwestern Virginia to talk to people there about the pain-relief drug OxyContin. Now is the best selling narcotic pain medication in America, the drug has proven to be highly-effective for many users, but OxyContin is also being abused for fun and profit, and reports of overdoses and addiction to the drug have been steadily increasing.

As part of the Changing Face of America Series, NPR's Wendy Kaufman reports on the way the power to sue has changed both companies and consumers. The number of lawsuits filed hasn't really gone up, but more people are becoming comfortable with them as a way to attack the companies they see as irresponsible or dangerous. And the threat of litigation has businesses on the defensive.

Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews Del and the Boys by the Del McCoury Band.

Polls show that Americans are worrying more about their personal privacy. With easy access to personal information via the Internet and computer databases, are threats to privacy worse than ever? NPR's Bob Garfield ponders privacy issues.

From the Midwest to the East Coast, millions of Americans are feeling the dog days of summer. High temperatures combined with high humidity -- the so-called "heat index" -- are pushing the mercury into the triple digits across much of the nation.

NPR's Joanne Silberner reports on the dangers of multitasking. While working on several projects at once has become a workplace standard, experts now say that multi-tasking actually takes longer than doing things one at a time.

A small but significant number of people are getting sick and finding the usual antibiotics don't work, because the strain of bacteria that's making them sick has become resistant to the drug. The cause is widely believed to be the common practice of feeding antibiotics to farm animals.

NPR's Allison Aubrey examines the danger that common food allergies pose to some Americans. Common allergens, such as peanuts and certain grains, are often unlisted as ingredients on food packaging, or contaminate other food prepared in the same factory. Such problems lead to product recalls every year and have prompted the Food and Drug Administration and food processors, to find ways to test for allergens.

In the final installment of the favorite summers series, NPR Special Correspondent Susan Stamberg talks with a kayaking couple, Jason Hale and Dixie-Marie Prickett, who are taking this summer to fulfill a dream -- paddling some of America's most challenging rivers.

NPR's Van Williamson reports on the declining blue crab population in the Chesapeake Bay. As this regional symbol grows scarce, Marylanders may have to change more than their eating habits. (6:52 -