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Movie Interviews
3:41 am
Sun May 19, 2013

One Couple, Nearly 20 Years, All 'Before Midnight'

Originally published on Sun May 19, 2013 12:11 pm

In 1995, an unintended cult-classic trilogy was born with a film that centered on a simple, romantic premise. Two strangers in their early 20s spend a spontaneous night together in Vienna. The characters, Jesse and Celine, split ways in Before Sunrise, but they reunited nine years later for a sequel, Before Sunset.

In that sequel, Jesse and Celine, played by Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, find each other in Paris for another brief rendezvous. Even though both are now in other relationships, they can't shake their connection.

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Sunday Puzzle
2:28 am
Sun May 19, 2013

Put On Your Thinking Hat

Credit NPR Graphic

Originally published on Sun May 19, 2013 12:11 pm

On-air challenge: Every answer is a familiar two-word phrase or name in which the first word starts with H-A and the second word starts with T.

Last week's challenge: From listener Al Gori of Cozy Lake, N.J. Name a famous American man — first and last names. Change the first letter of his first name from T to H. The result will sound like a term for an attractive person. Who is it?

Answer: Ted Turner; head turner

Winner: Vernon Cole, Brownsboro, Ala.

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Business
10:51 pm
Sat May 18, 2013

Tesla Rides High, But Faces Formidable Foe: Car Dealers

Credit Stan Honda / AFP/Getty Images
The Tesla Model S, Motor Trend Car of the Year, is introduced at the 2013 North American International Auto Show, in Detroit in January. Tesla's attempts to sell its cars without going through dealerships is meeting resistance.

Tesla Motors, the American maker of luxury electric cars, has been riding a wave of good publicity.

Its Model S sedan (base priced at $62,400, after federal tax credits) was just named Motor Trend Car of the Year. Reviewers at Consumer Reports gave the lithium-ion battery powered vehicle a rave.

And the company, headed by billionaire innovator Elon Musk, 41, posted a profit for the first time in its 10-year history — powered in part by zero-emission environmental credits.

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Movie Reviews
4:14 pm
Sat May 18, 2013

New 'Trek' Goes 'Into Darkness,' But Not Much Deeper

Credit Zade Rosenthal / Courtesy Paramount Pictures
Zachary Quinto as Spock, with Chris Pine as Kirk, in Star Trek: Into Darkness.

Originally published on Sat May 18, 2013 5:47 pm

The opening sequence of J.J. Abram's new entry in the Star Trek universe has all the ingredients of the classic franchise.

There's Kirk and his crew bellowing on the bridge, everyone worrying about the prime directive and our favorite Vulcan trapped in a volcano.

OK, I'm in. I may not be a fanboy anymore, but I sure was in my youth, and having these guys in their youths again is just as cool at the outset as it was last time.

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Mental Health
3:27 pm
Sat May 18, 2013

Alzheimer's Cases Rise, But Hope Remains

Credit Sarah Brodzinski
Amy Goyer moved back to Phoenix to look after her father, Robert, when he began to show signs of Alzheimer's. He is just one of 5 million Americans living with the disease.

Originally published on Sat May 18, 2013 5:47 pm

More than 5 million Americans are currently living with Alzheimer's disease, and the National Institute on Aging estimates that that number is going to triple by 2050 — in part due to aging baby boomers.

The cost of coping with the disease — currently estimated at $215 billion — is projected to rise to half a trillion dollars by 2050. That amount will likely tax our overburdened health care system, the economy and the families of those affected.

Amy Goyer realized her 84-year-old father Robert's health was deteriorating one night while watching a movie with him.

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The Two-Way
3:09 pm
Sat May 18, 2013

Prominent Pakistani Politician Shot, Killed On Re-Election Eve

Originally published on Sun May 19, 2013 1:25 am

On the eve of a re-vote, a prominent Pakistani politician was shot and killed on Saturday.

Pakistan's Dawn newspaper reports that Zahra Shahid Hussain, who was the senior vice president of Pakistan's Movement for Justice (PTI), was shot in the head during "an attempted robbery incident."

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Around the Nation
2:42 pm
Sat May 18, 2013

Impossible Choice Faces America's First 'Climate Refugees'

Originally published on Sun May 19, 2013 3:59 am

Climate change is a stark reality in America's northernmost state. Nearly 90 percent of native Alaskan villages are on the coast, where dramatic erosion and floods have become a part of daily life.

Perched on the Ninglick River on the west coast of the state, the tiny town of Newtok may be the state's most vulnerable village. About 350 people live there, nearly all of them Yupik Eskimos. But the Ninglick is rapidly rising due to ice melt, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says the highest point in the town — a school — could be underwater by 2017.

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Business
2:41 pm
Sat May 18, 2013

Internships: Low-Paid, Unpaid Or Just Plain Illegal?

Credit Seth Perlman / AP
Students fill out applications during a job fair at the University of Illinois Springfield in February. Fed up with working for free, some interns are suing their employers.

Originally published on Sat May 18, 2013 5:47 pm

Summer is almost here, and with it comes the army of interns marching into countless American workplaces. Yet what was once an opportunity for the inexperienced is becoming a front-line labor issue.

More and more, unpaid and low-paid interns are feeling their labor is being exploited. Some are even willing to push back — with lawsuits.

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From Our Listeners
2:41 pm
Sat May 18, 2013

Three-Minute Fiction Reading: 'Plum Baby'

Credit  

Originally published on Sat May 18, 2013 5:47 pm

NPR's Susan Stamberg reads an excerpt of one of the best submissions for Round 11 of our short story contest. She reads Plum Baby by Carmiel Banasky of Portland, Ore. You can read the full story below and find other stories on our Three-Minute Fiction page or on Facebook.

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Author Interviews
2:41 pm
Sat May 18, 2013

'Waiting To Be Heard' No More, Amanda Knox Speaks Out

Credit Oli Scarff / AP
Amanda Knox enters an Italian court on Oct. 3, 2011, just before being acquitted of murdering her British roommate, Meredith Kercher.

Originally published on Sat May 18, 2013 5:47 pm

When 20-year-old Amanda Knox left for Italy in August 2007, it was supposed to be a carefree year studying abroad.

No one could have foreseen it ending in her being accused, tried and convicted in the murder of her roommate, Meredith Kercher.

The case, and Knox, became an international media sensation.

"I think that there was a lot of fantasy projected onto me," she tells weekends on All Things Considered host Jacki Lyden. "And that resulted in a re-appropriation and re-characterization of who I am."

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Parallels
2:20 pm
Sat May 18, 2013

Spaniard's Song Brings YouTube Fame ... And Maybe A Job

Credit mrenzovic/youtube.com
Enzo Vizcaíno, a 24-year-old unemployed Spaniard, isn't singing for his supper. He just wants a job.
The Two-Way
1:14 pm
Sat May 18, 2013

Bashar Assad: A Political Solution In Syria is 'Unreal'

Credit Louai Beshara / AFP/Getty Images
Syrian President Bashar Assad made it clear in an interview with the Argentine newspaper El Clarin that he was not resigning.

Originally published on Sat May 18, 2013 1:22 pm

Syrian President Bashar Assad essentially dismissed attempts by the United States and Russia to bring the civil war in the country to a political solution.

"Believing that a political conference will stop terrorism on the ground is unreal," Assad said in an exclusive interview with the Argentine newspaper El Clarin. Assad also took the usual stance on a wide range of issues.

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Fresh Air Weekend
11:09 am
Sat May 18, 2013

Fresh Air Weekend: Gerwig, Baumbach, Dawes And Polley

Credit Roadside Attractions
For her latest film, Stories We Tell, Sarah Polley turns her camera on her own family.

Fresh Air Weekendhighlights some of the best interviews and reviews from past weeks, and new program elements specially paced for weekends. Our weekend show emphasizes interview with writers, filmmakers, actors and musicians, and often includes excerpts from live in-studio concerts. This week:

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The Two-Way
10:58 am
Sat May 18, 2013

Afghan Parliament Halts Debate On Women's Rights Bill

Credit Nicolas Asfouri / AFP/Getty Images
A boy holds the burqa of his mother as they walk down a street in the old city of Kabul on November 1, 2009.

Originally published on Sat May 18, 2013 8:58 pm

After protests from some MPs and after only about 15 minutes, the Afghan parliament halted debate Saturday on a bill aimed at curbing violence against women.

As the BBC reports, the bill would have solidified a law passed by presidential decree in 2009, which banned "violence against women, child marriages and forced marriages."

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Music News
10:03 am
Sat May 18, 2013

Draco Rosa: A Pop Survivor Returns From The Brink, With Friends

Credit John Parra / Getty Images
Former bandmates Draco Rosa and Ricky Martin, seen here on stage at Univision's 2013 Premio Lo Nuestro awards celebration, reunite on Rosa's new album, Vida.

Originally published on Sat May 18, 2013 5:47 pm

Code Switch
9:44 am
Sat May 18, 2013

'Scandal': Preposterous, Unmissable, Important

Credit Frazier Moore / AP
Kerry Washington from ABC's Scandal is shown on a TV monitor as an iPad displays the show page.

Originally published on Sat May 18, 2013 12:15 pm

OK, let's get this out of the way: Scandal is a ridiculous show.

The hit ABC drama about a Washington "fixer" named Olivia Pope just wrapped up its second season with one of its trademark cliffhangers.

(Assume spoilers, y'all.)

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The Two-Way
8:43 am
Sat May 18, 2013

WATCH: NASA Spots Brightest Lunar Explosion Ever Recorded

Credit NASA
NASA's lunar monitoring program has detected hundreds of meteoroid impacts. The brightest, detected on March 17, 2013, in Mare Imbrium, is marked by the red square.
The Two-Way
7:31 am
Sat May 18, 2013

Russian Official Names CIA Station Chief In Moscow

Credit Sergei Ilnitsky / EPA /Landov
In Moscow's Red Square, people still line up to visit Lenin's tomb. Though the Cold War is over, Russia and the U.S. keep watchful eyes on each other. Tuesday, Russian officials claimed to have uncovered a CIA spy.

Breaching protocol, a Russian official let a name slip during an interview with Interfax, the state news agency.

The interview was with a representative of the FSB, the Russian security agency, and the name he made public was of the person Russia believes is the CIA station chief in Moscow.

The Guardian explains:

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Shots - Health News
6:38 am
Sat May 18, 2013

The Unsafe Sex: Should The World Invest More In Men's Health?

Credit Noah Seelam / AFP/Getty Images
A man smokes a cigarette as he takes a break at a fruit market in Hyderabad, India. Smoking tobacco is eight times more prevalent among Indian men than women.

Originally published on Sat May 18, 2013 11:37 am

On average, men aren't as healthy as women.

Men don't live as long, and they're more likely to engage in risky behaviors, like smoking and drinking.

But in the past decade, global health funding has focused heavily on women.

Programs and policies for men have been "notably absent," says Sarah Hawkes from the University of London's Institute of Global Health.

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The Two-Way
5:33 am
Sat May 18, 2013

North Korea Fires Three Short-Range Missiles, Says The South

Originally published on Sat May 18, 2013 12:04 pm

After a relatively calm few weeks, North Korea fired three short-range missiles Saturday, a South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman said.

NPR's Louisa Lim reports that North Korea fired the missiles in defiance of international sanctions. She filed this report for our Newscast unit:

"North Korea launched two guided missiles this morning and a third in the afternoon, according to South Korea's defense ministry — all landed in waters off the eastern coast of the Korean peninsula."

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Africa
5:23 am
Sat May 18, 2013

In Zimbabwe, Will Next Election Be More Peaceful?

Host Scott Simon talks with NPR's Ofeibea Quist-Arcton about Zimbabwe's upcoming presidential election and efforts to alleviate its international isolation.

Politics
5:23 am
Sat May 18, 2013

Highly Charged IRS Case Pulls In Political Agendas

NPR's Peter Overby reports on the Congressional testimony of IRS officials in response to the scandal over special scrutiny of tea party groups. Underneath all the politics, there's a policy question that hasn't been addressed.

Books
5:12 am
Sat May 18, 2013

Author Elliott Holt says: 'Go West, Young Woman'

Originally published on Sat May 18, 2013 12:52 pm

In Elliott Holt's beautifully subtle debut novel You Are One of Them, the protagonist, an American in her 20s, moves to Moscow shortly after the Cold War. After a few months, she returns to the U.S. a changed woman.

Holt, who is 39, also lived in Moscow where she worked as a copywriter at an advertising agency, as well as in London and New York. Currently, she resides in Washington, D.C., and writes full time.

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Three-Minute Fiction
4:24 am
Sat May 18, 2013

Plum Baby

Credit iStockphoto.com

Originally published on Sat May 18, 2013 12:56 pm

There isn't enough time in this world to grow your own tree. That tree is a plum baby still, never mind it's tall as the house those men are taking from us. It grew up with me. I say this to Mama Lee as she rests her hand on my shoulder like another shoulder. She nods and nods some more. She's been nodding all day like she's got two weights, one in her chin and the other in back of her skull that can't lie at rest.

We're standing in the yard facing the house in the dewy grass. The house is as old as Mama Lee's mama who died before I was born.

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Environment
3:18 am
Sat May 18, 2013

Not Your Grandpa's RV: This Roving Lab Tracks Air Pollution

Originally published on Sat May 18, 2013 11:45 am

If you're driving down the road someday and you come across a camper with a 50-foot periscope sticking up into the sky, you just might have crossed paths with Ira Leifer. His quirky vehicle is on a serious mission. It's sniffing the air for methane, a gas that contributes to global warming.

Leifer is an atmospheric scientist at the University of California, Santa Barbara. But you'll more often find him off campus, in a garage, next to a string of auto body shops near the airport.

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Author Interviews
3:18 am
Sat May 18, 2013

Dan Brown: 'Inferno' Is 'The Book That I Would Want To Read'

Originally published on Sat May 18, 2013 5:23 am

Robert Langdon is back. The Harvard art professor in custom tweeds — and an ever-present Mickey Mouse watch — wakes up in a hospital after getting grazed in the head by a bullet, wondering how he ended up in Florence. He's got a sinister artifact sewn into his coat and just a few hours to keep the world from a grim biological catastrophe.

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Media
3:13 am
Sat May 18, 2013

Media Covers Itself In Privacy Debacles

Originally published on Sat May 18, 2013 5:23 am

Host Scott Simon talks to NPR's David Folkenflik about the Justice Department's seizure of phone records of Associated Press reporters and editors, and Bloomberg's secret monitoring of its sources' and customers' activities.

Monkey See
3:13 am
Sat May 18, 2013

Working Women On Television: A Mixed Bag At Best

Credit Kent Eanes / AP
Geena Davis played the president in the 2005 ABC series Commander in Chief. Now, she works on issues involving women in media.

Originally published on Sat May 18, 2013 11:58 am

When actress Geena Davis was watching children's shows with her daughter a few years ago, she became so troubled by the lack of female representation, she started a think tank on gender in the media. The Geena Davis Institute recently partnered with University of California, Los Angeles, professors to conduct a study analyzing gender roles and jobs on screen.

The good news? Prime-time television's pretty decent at depicting women with careers.

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Author Interviews
3:13 am
Sat May 18, 2013

'That's That': A Memoir Of Loving And Leaving Northern Ireland

Originally published on Sat May 18, 2013 9:28 pm

Colin Broderick's first book, Orangutan, told the story of the 20 years — at least, as he could remember it — of being drunk, drug addicted and often desperate struggling to make his way as an Irish immigrant to New York.

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U.S.
3:13 am
Sat May 18, 2013

Prime Challenge Sends Mathematicians On Infinite Search

Originally published on Sat May 18, 2013 5:23 am

University of New Hampshire professor Yitang Zhang announced this week that he has come close to solving a centuries-old problem: proving the twin prime conjecture. Host Scott Simon gets an explanation from Weekend Edition Math Guy Keith Devlin of Stanford University.

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