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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 Mon May 20, 2013 1:36 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 Southern California 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.

Media
3:13 am
Sat May 18, 2013

Local Story Shows 'Plain Dealer' Prowess, But Future's Murky

Originally published on Sat May 18, 2013 6:03 am

NPR's Scott Simon talks to Connie Schultz, former columnist and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist for the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Starting this summer, the paper's owners will be reducing home delivery to three days a week and making huge cuts in the newsroom staff.

NPR Story
3:13 am
Sat May 18, 2013

What A Week: White House Rattled By Controversy

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

NPR's Ari Shapiro joins host Scott Simon to talk about the Obama administration's week. The president was buffeted by revelations that the IRS had targeted Tea Party groups seeking tax-exempt status and that the Justice Department had subpoenaed reporter phone records. On top of that, Republicans continue to allege that the White House engaged in a cover-up of talking points about the attack in Benghazi, Libya.

NPR Story
3:13 am
Sat May 18, 2013

Sports: Playoffs, Hard Hits, Soccer Kicks

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

Host Scott Simon talks to ESPN's Howard Bryant about the NBA playoffs, Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper's collision with a wall, and David Beckham's retirement from soccer.

NPR Story
3:13 am
Sat May 18, 2013

When Alcohol Takes The Wheel: What's Your Limit?

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

This week, the National Transportation Safety Board recommended lowering the legal limit of blood alcohol content for drivers to .05 or even lower. Currently, it's illegal to drive in all states with a BAC of .08 or higher. Host Scott Simon speaks with Dr. Anthony Liguori of Wake Forest School of Medicine about alcohol's impact on driving ability.

Law
3:13 am
Sat May 18, 2013

Turning Up The Heat On Civil Rights-Era Cold Cases

Originally published on Sat May 18, 2013 12:26 pm

Six years ago, the FBI took on a challenge: To review what it called cold-case killings from the civil rights era. The investigation into 112 cases from the 1950s and 1960s is winding down, and civil rights activists are weighing the FBI's efforts.

The review comes with word this week of the death of a man who'd been named, by a newspaper investigation, as a possible suspect in one notorious case.

The Case

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Parallels
3:13 am
Sat May 18, 2013

Afghan Mineral Treasures Stay Buried, Hostages To Uncertainty

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

For years, reports have suggested that Afghanistan is sitting on massive deposits of copper, gold, iron and rare earth minerals valued up to $3 trillion. This provides hope for a future economy that would not have to rely so heavily on foreign donations.

But with an uncertain political, regulatory and security environment, international investors are hesitant. And it could be many years before Afghanistan begins extracting its mineral wealth.

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It's All Politics
3:13 am
Sat May 18, 2013

Immigration Bill Chugs Along, But Some See Deal-Breakers

Credit Michael Reynolds / EPA/Landov
The Senate Judiciary Committee meets to work on immigration legislation on May 9.

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

It's been a long slog already for the bipartisan immigration overhaul proposed by the Senate's Gang of Eight.

The legislation has been the target of more than 300 amendments during days of debate and votes by the Senate Judiciary Committee. But while the bill has largely held its own so far, its prospects for getting through Congress remain uncertain.

In Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy's view, the immigration overhaul is "moving very well."

"It's moving a lot faster than people said it would," says Leahy, a Vermont Democrat.

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Music Interviews
12:03 am
Sat May 18, 2013

Audra McDonald, A Broadway Star Gone Roaming, Comes Home

Credit Autumn de Wilde / Courtesy of the artist
Audra McDonald's new album, Go Back Home, marks a return to her roots in musical theater.

Originally published on Sun May 19, 2013 7:24 am

In the seven years since her last album, Audra McDonald has kept busy. She spent several years in Hollywood, filming the television series Private Practice. She's gotten divorced and remarried, absorbed the shock of losing her father in a plane crash and watched her daughter, Zoe, grow up from a kindergartener to a middle-schooler.

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The Two-Way
11:58 pm
Fri May 17, 2013

French President Signs Same-Sex Marriage Into Law

Originally published on Sat May 18, 2013 12:11 pm

France is officially the 14th country to legalize gay marriage. Saturday, President Francois Hollande signed a bill that Parliament had passed in April, which gives same-sex couples the right to marry and adopt.

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Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!
10:44 pm
Fri May 17, 2013

Not My Job: Three Headless Chicken Questions For Alice Cooper

Credit Courtesy Alice Cooper

Originally published on Sat May 18, 2013 12:41 pm

When you think about heavy metal — the costumes, the makeup, the outfits, the huge stage shows filled with effects and pyrotechnics — pretty much all of that was invented, or at least perfected, by Alice Cooper. If it weren't for him, bands like Slayer and Megadeth would be playing love songs in identical suits and bowl haircuts.

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Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!
10:35 pm
Fri May 17, 2013

Panel Round Two

Originally published on Sat May 18, 2013 10:09 am

More questions for the panel: Fowl Play, Oozy Couture, Up a Tree Without a Paddle.

Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!
10:35 pm
Fri May 17, 2013

Who's Bill This Time

Originally published on Sat May 18, 2013 10:09 am

Bill Kurtis reads three quotes from the week's news: Tax Aversion, Maxwell Stupid, A Wetirement.

Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!
10:35 pm
Fri May 17, 2013

Prediction

Originally published on Sat May 18, 2013 10:09 am

Our panelists predict what failed-spy Ryan Fogle will do next.

The Two-Way
5:43 pm
Fri May 17, 2013

Injuries Reported In 'Major' Train Derailment In Connecticut

Originally published on Fri May 17, 2013 6:57 pm

Two Metro-North Railroad trains have collided on a stretch of track near Fairfield, Conn., causing a "major derailment" and "preliminary reports of injuries," according to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

[Update at 8:55 p.m. ET: The Associated Press quotes Connecticut officials as saying about 50 people have been hurt, four of them seriously.]

According to The Hartford Courant:

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It's All Politics
5:31 pm
Fri May 17, 2013

Why the IRS Scandal Is Built To Last

Credit Charles Dharapak / AP
Ousted IRS chief Steve Miller (right) and J. Russell George, a Treasury inspector general, take the oath before testifying on before the House Ways and Means Committee on Friday.

Originally published on Fri May 17, 2013 6:41 pm

Of all the controversies swirling around the Obama White House, the Internal Revenue Service scandal seems likeliest to have the longest shelf life.

While the Benghazi affair has long been in the news, it's never really taken off as an issue beyond the Republican base.

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The Two-Way
4:16 pm
Fri May 17, 2013

Need A Tattoo Translated? Forget The British Foreign Office

Credit Saeed Khan / AFP/Getty Images
A man gets a tattoo in Bangkok. The British Foreign Office says its citizens abroad have some odd requests.

Originally published on Fri May 17, 2013 4:54 pm

The British Foreign Office is happy to assist its citizens, but officials want to make clear that there are some requests they won't fulfill.

Such as supplying Olympic tickets or doing a background check on that Swedish woman you met online.

Those are just a few of the "often good natured" but distracting requests that the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) says it received over the past year, according to a press release issued Thursday.

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Code Switch
3:58 pm
Fri May 17, 2013

'Venus And Serena': An Extraordinary Story, Told On Film

Originally published on Fri May 17, 2013 4:52 pm

It's Cinderella plus Jackie Robinson times two. When Venus and Serena Williams burst onto the lily-white world of tennis, they changed the game and made history: They were sisters. From a poor neighborhood. Who brought unprecedented power to the game. And both reached No. 1.

Their journey is the subject of a new documentary called Venus and Serena, showing in select theaters around the country.

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The Two-Way
3:21 pm
Fri May 17, 2013

America's Cup Death Raises Concerns Over High-Tech Race Boats

Credit Noah Berger / AP
The Artemis Racing AC72 catamaran lies capsized after a training sail in San Francisco Bay on May 9.

Originally published on Fri May 17, 2013 3:35 pm

America's Cup, the oldest and most prestigious sailing competition, has hit some choppy water.

The death last week of British sailor and gold medal Olympian Andrew "Bart" Simpson when the boat he was crewing capsized and broke up during a practice run off San Francisco, has prompted tough questions about safety.

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Movie Interviews
3:18 pm
Fri May 17, 2013

Quinto Turns Inward To Find Spock's Soul

Originally published on Fri May 17, 2013 4:52 pm

Shots - Health News
3:07 pm
Fri May 17, 2013

Experts Agree: 'Psychiatry's Bible' Is No Bible

Credit iStockphoto.com
The new version of the psychiatric "bible" is more of a dictionary, psychiatrists say.

Originally published on Fri May 17, 2013 5:06 pm

When the American Psychiatric Association releases its new Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders -- DSM-5 -- this weekend, lots of journalists and commentators will refer to it as "psychiatry's bible."

That's a term that makes the manual's authors and other mental experts cringe.

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Around the Nation
3:03 pm
Fri May 17, 2013

Michigan LGBT Youth Center Does Outreach With A Dance 'Hook'

Credit Mercedes Mejia / Michigan Radio
The Ruth Ellis Center helps about 5,000 young people each year.

Originally published on Fri May 17, 2013 4:52 pm

Around the Nation
3:02 pm
Fri May 17, 2013

Boston Bombings Prompt Fresh Look At Unsolved Murders

Credit YouTube
Gerry Leone was the district attorney for Middlesex County in Massachusetts when three people were murdered in a house in the Boston suburb of Waltham. He told reporters that police suspected the assailants and the victims knew each other.

Originally published on Fri May 17, 2013 4:52 pm

An unsolved triple murder in the Boston suburbs is getting a closer look in the wake of the marathon bombings. One of the victims may have been a friend of bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev. That's prompting authorities to revisit the 2011 case.

The murders took place in Waltham, Mass. On Sept. 12, 2011, police responded to a house in the leafy suburb a few miles west of Boston.

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It's All Politics
2:56 pm
Fri May 17, 2013

Obama U: What Graduation Speeches Say About The President

Originally published on Fri May 17, 2013 4:52 pm

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