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Ten years ago, Andres Cortez, a chauffeur in Los Angeles, might have been part of the hordes of people dabbling in day trading or haunting the online stock forums. He might have been bragging to his friends about the money he made in tech stocks, or learning how to margin trade at a night school.

Instead, he keeps his distance from stocks.

As he stands by his car and waits for a passenger downtown, Cortez says he has a little money he's put aside and is keeping it in a savings account, where it earns virtually nothing.

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LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:

This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Linda Wertheimer. It wasn't all quiet on the Democratic front as the Republicans announced Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan as Mitt Romney's running mate. In Detroit, leaders of the Democratic Party met to approve a platform ahead of next month's convention and for the first time, the democrats approved a plank endorsing same-sex unions.

NPR's Sonari Glinton reports from Detroit.

Weekend Edition Sunday guest host Linda Wertheimer talks with speechwriter Eli Attie about the art of crafting little jabs for politicians to pull, such as those used by the presidential campaigns this past week: "Obamaloney" and "Romneyhood."

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LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:

It has become increasing clear that the economies of Europe and the United States are closely linked in ways that have not been especially comfortable lately. Anxiety over Greece has dominated the conversation, but there's also considerable anxiety over Spain and Italy. We're going to talk now with the author of a new book provocatively called, "Good Italy, Bad Italy," which explains why Italy is in such difficulties.

Ahmet Abuhamed runs a fish shop in Perama, a town near the port of Piraeus. He sells the day's catch, including sea bream, mackerel, sardines and octopus. A 40-year-old father of four, he moved to Greece 20 years ago from Rosetta, an Egyptian fishing village near Alexandria.

"All the fishermen [in Greece] are Egyptian," he says. "Go to any island in the country and listen to the conversations on the boats. You'll hear names like Alim and Mohammad."

The Zombies' third studio album, Odessey and Oracle, spawned what may be the band's best-known song, "Time of the Season." But the record wasn't a big success when it first came out in 1968. In fact, The Zombies' original lineup disbanded before Odessey and Oracle even came out.

On-air challenge: You are given the ends of the names of three things that are all in the same category. You name the category. For example, "fur," "dine" and "sten" are all ends of chemical elements (sulfur, iodine, tungsten).

Last week's challenge, from listener Annie Haggenmiller of Chimacum, Wash.: Take the name of a well-known U.S. city in four syllables. The first and last syllables together name a musical instrument, and the two interior syllables name a religious official. What is the city?

News that Paul Ryan was chosen as Mitt Romney's running mate had people in his hometown of Janesville, Wis., abuzz Saturday morning. But the strong feelings Ryan provokes elsewhere for and against his policies were also evident.

On her way into the Janesville post office, Corrine Smith has a smile on her face. She and her husband are both big Paul Ryan supporters, and they were thrilled when they heard the news.

On the last full day of competition in the 2012 Summer Olympics, the athletes are competing in 32 medal events. Many of these athletes are pretty darn fast — making it hard to keep tabs on them. So, here's a rundown of results from this afternoon's events, rolled up into one post:

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GUY RAZ, HOST:

Let's go now to Vin Weber, former Minnesota congressman and a senior adviser to Mitt Romney. Vin Weber, thanks for joining us.

VIN WEBER: Great to be with you today.

RAZ: You have known Paul Ryan for a long time, since before he was a member of Congress. How did you know him?

Mitt Romney's newly announced running mate, Paul Ryan, has long subscribed to the objectivist philosophies of novelist Ayn Rand. Host Guy Raz speaks with James Fallows of The Atlantic about how that approach to public policy will play with voters.

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GUY RAZ, HOST:

So now that we know who Mitt Romney's running mate is, what about the keynote speaker at the Republican Convention later this month? No word yet. Democrats have announced that San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro will get that coveted spot that has, in the past, served as a platform for bigger things.

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GUY RAZ, HOST:

It's WEEKENDS on ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Guy Raz.

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GUY RAZ, HOST:

It's WEEKENDS on ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Guy Raz.

MITT ROMNEY: It's an honor to announce my running mate and the next vice president of the United States, Paul Ryan.

(SOUNDBITE OF CHEERING)

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GUY RAZ, HOST:

It's WEEKENDS on ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Guy Raz.

And as we've been reporting, Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan has joined Mitt Romney on the GOP presidential ticket. The two men launched a multiday, multistate bus tour this morning. They spent much of the day in Virginia where crowds came out to cheer them on, including in Ashland, where Paul Ryan spoke.

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GUY RAZ, HOST:

So what makes Paul Ryan such a bold pick and potentially such a risky one is the detailed budget plan he has now twice passed through the GOP-controlled House. That plan has not passed the Senate, and President Obama says if it reached his desk, he'd veto it. The heart of Ryan's plan calls for dramatic changes to the nation's largest government health programs, Medicare and Medicaid.

With us now to discuss what those changes could mean for the campaign and the country should Romney and Ryan win the race is NPR's Julie Rovner. Julie, hello.

American Brigetta Barrett has won the silver medal in the women's high jump, setting a personal best of 2.03 meters (6 feet 8 inches) to eke out a spot on the podium between two Russian athletes: Anna Chicerova, who jumped 2.05, and Svetlana Shkolina, who tied Barrrett at 2.03 meters.

Barrett, 22, took the silver over Shkolina because she cleared the height on her second attempt, while the Russian managed it on her third try. Neither of them could clear 2.05 to match Chicerova, who came into the games as the reigning world champion.

British runner Mo Farah has won the men's 5,000 meters, sending Olympic Stadium into a frenzy. His time of 13:41.66 barely edged Dejen Gebremeskel of Ethiopia. American Bernard Lagat came in fourth, while Galen Rupp finished seventh.

Farah is now the sixth man in Olympic history to have won both the 5,000m and 10,000m events at the same Summer Games. He emerged at the front of the pack 700 meters from the finish, and held on to stay ahead of Gebremeskel.

GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney's choice of Rep. Paul Ryan as his running mate seems to be uniting both Republicans and Democrats. The GOP is embracing the young, wonky addition to the ticket, while the left seems happy to be taking him on.

Here's a quick look at the pluses and minuses of the decision, from the point of view of the man at the top of the ticket.

PROS:

Mexico shocked Brazil in the Olympic men's soccer final, winning gold 2-1, in a game in which it never trailed. Mexico's Oribe Peralta scored just 29 seconds into the game, after pouncing on a turnover to scorch a ball that tracked low and bounced to elude goalkeeper Gabriel.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu got straight to the point in their joint news conference Saturday. They announced the creation of a new working group that will monitor what's happening next door in Syria and prepare for crises.

One of those crises could include the possibility that the Syrian government decides to deploy chemical weapons against rebels or other perceived enemies.

Saxophonist Branford Marsalis, oldest son of New Orleans pianist and educator Ellis Marsalis, released an album with his quartet this week. He spoke to weekends on All Things Considered host Guy Raz about the failings of modern jazz, his hopes for the next generation and leaving New York City to move back to the South.

Right now, five of us — recent college graduates — are traveling across the country on a big blue converted school bus. Our mission is to showcase news of organizations and people who are doing inspiring things to help their communities in America.

The non-profit web series is called Bus 52. For one year, we are visiting the lower 48 states to show that good news is all around.

Our ultimate goal is to highlight 100 inspiring stories across America. Last week we released our 50th tale — about a non-profit pub in Portland, Oregon.

Kind World, an online experiment at WBUR in Boston, celebrates the effect random acts of kindness can have on others.