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Middle East
12:15 pm
Tue May 22, 2012

The Definition Of Success For Talks With Iran

Originally published on Sun May 27, 2012 6:33 am

Transcript

NEAL CONAN, HOST:

This is TALK OF THE NATION. I'm Neal Conan in Washington. Talks that President Obama calls the last chance for negotiations reconvene tomorrow in Baghdad. The U.S. and five other great powers will meet with Iranian officials to discuss that country's nuclear ambitions.

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The Two-Way
12:14 pm
Tue May 22, 2012

We Should Have Known: Megaseconds Are Much Longer Than Milliseconds

Typos and mistakes are part of the news business — as anyone who regularly reads this blogger surely knows. We don't want them to happen, but they do.

Sometimes they're kind of quirky and educational.

Check out this correction from The New York Times:

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NPR Story
11:59 am
Tue May 22, 2012

Rebuilding Joplin, One Year After Tornadoes

Originally published on Tue May 22, 2012 2:06 pm

Transcript

NEAL CONAN, HOST:

As the sun rose in Joplin, Missouri, today, a sunrise service was held to commemorate emergency workers, hospital staff, survivors and the 161 killed in a monster tornado a year ago. Yesterday, President Obama delivered the commencement address at Joplin High School and praised the town for its spirit of perseverance and resilience. While much of the rubble has been cleared out and new houses and stores sprout up, scars remain, not all of them visible.

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NPR Story
11:59 am
Tue May 22, 2012

Young Voters, Once Buoyed By Obama, Turn Away

Originally published on Tue May 22, 2012 2:06 pm

In 2004, then-candidate Barack Obama campaigned on a message of hope and gained overwhelming support from young voters. In an op-ed in the Los Angles Times, Neal Gabler writes that many of those young voters are disappointed with his tenure, and they've turned to "DIY politics" instead.

From Our Listeners
11:59 am
Tue May 22, 2012

Letters: Cancer In Your 20s And 'Ex-Gay' Therapy

Originally published on Tue May 22, 2012 2:06 pm

NPR's Neal Conan reads from listener comments about previous show topics including the challenges of facing cancer in your 20s, and the controversial treatment known as reparative therapy that some argue can reverse homosexuality.

The Two-Way
11:43 am
Tue May 22, 2012

The Father Of The Couch Potato, Inventor Of Wireless Remote Dies At Age 96

Originally published on Tue May 22, 2012 4:35 pm

Before you sink into your couch, before you flip through channels tonight when you get home, take a minute to think about the guy who made being a couch potato possible:

Back in 1955, Eugene J. Polley invented the "Flash-Matic," or the world's first wireless TV remote control. Back then, you held it like a gun and it acted like a flashlight using visible light to trigger photo cells on the TV to change channels.

Polley, whose engineering career with Zenith spanned 47 years, died on Sunday. He was 96.

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The Two-Way
10:58 am
Tue May 22, 2012

U.S.-Bound Passenger Jet Diverted Due To 'Security Issue' On Board

Originally published on Tue May 22, 2012 12:47 pm

There was a "security issue" aboard a US Airways flight from Paris to Charlotte, N.C., earlier today, and the plane was diverted to Maine's Bangor International Airport, where it landed around noon ET.

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The Two-Way
10:55 am
Tue May 22, 2012

Mexican Police Arrest 'El Loco' In Beheading Of 49

Credit Alexandre Meneghini / AP
Army soldiers flank Daniel Ramírez, alias "El Loco," during his presentation to the media in Mexico City on Monday.

The Mexican military trotted out Daniel Jesus Elizondo Ramírez or "El Loco," yesterday, to face the media. They accused the Zeta leader of directing the mutilation and beheading of 49 people.

Earlier this month, the bodies were dumped at the entrance of the town of San Juan.

The AP reports that Ramírez was directed by the top Zeta leaders to dump the bodies and hang banners around the country that shunned responsibility.

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The Two-Way
10:28 am
Tue May 22, 2012

Auction Of Reagan's Blood Draws Condemnation

Credit Mike Evens / AFP/Getty Images
March 30, 1981: President Ronald Reagan, moments before he was shot.

Originally published on Wed May 23, 2012 12:06 pm

An online auction of a vial said to contain blood drawn from President Reagan on the day he was shot in 1981 is "a craven act and we will use every legal means to stop its sale or purchase," says a spokesman for the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation.

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Theater
10:02 am
Tue May 22, 2012

David Alan Grier's 'Sporting Life' On Broadway

Credit Courtesy of the American Repertory Theater
In Porgy and Bess, David Alan Grier plays the drug dealer Sporting Life, a role closely associated with Sammy Davis Jr. and Cab Calloway.

In 1935, George Gershwin brought the script for his folk opera Porgy and Bess to the opera's original cast, which was entirely made up of African-American actors. "[In the original], every other word was N-word this, N-word that," says actor David Alan Grier. "[And] there's a very famous story: Al Jolson really wanted to play Porgy, in blackface."

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Book Reviews
10:02 am
Tue May 22, 2012

'Right-Hand': A Lush Prequel To 'Mason's Retreat'

Originally published on Tue May 22, 2012 10:22 am

Whenever I think about Christopher Tilghman's writing — and I have many times since his atmospheric novel, Mason's Retreat, came out more than 15 years ago — I think of critic John Leonard. John, among many other distinctions, was my predecessor as book critic for Fresh Air and, every once in a while before his death in 2008, we'd have occasion to talk or exchange e-mails about books. I remember John sending me a note in 1996, in which he mentioned Mason's Retreat and said of Tilghman, "He's the real deal."

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It's All Politics
10:00 am
Tue May 22, 2012

Voters Agree It's The Economy, But Split On Who Best To Fix Things

Credit Rick Bowmer / AP
Don Meikle attends an April job fair in Portland, Ore. A new poll shows the economy remains the most important factor for Americans in deciding who to back for president, but with adults split over who would best lead the U.S. economy.

Originally published on Tue May 22, 2012 11:21 am

President Obama and his expected Republican challenger are tied on the all-important question of who can best deal with the ailing economy, according to a poll released Tuesday.

Among registered voters, 47 percent said Obama and 47 percent said Mitt Romney when asked which candidate they trust to do a better job handling the economy.

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Law
9:53 am
Tue May 22, 2012

Lighter Sentence In Clementi Bullying Case

On Monday, Dharun Ravi was sentenced to a 30-day jail term for using a webcam to spy on his roommate Tyler Clementi. Clementi was having an intimate encounter with another man in their dorm room, and a few days later, he committed suicide. Host Michel Martin discusses the sentence with Paul Butler, a law professor and former federal prosecutor.

Business
9:46 am
Tue May 22, 2012

How Much Can Potential Employers Ask About You?

Originally published on Tue May 22, 2012 12:03 pm

Everyone knows it's tough to get a job these days. The task is that much harder if you have any kind of blemish on your past.

The use of background checks to screen potential employees has become a billion-dollar business. More than 90 percent of employers in the U.S. conduct criminal background checks, at least on some potential hires, according to a recent study by the National Consumer Law Center.

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The Two-Way
9:26 am
Tue May 22, 2012

Facebook's Stock: What Should It Cost?

Credit Emmanuel Dunand / AFP/Getty Images

Originally published on Tue May 22, 2012 2:08 pm

As the downward pressure continues on the price of Facebook's newly issued shares, let's see what our collective financial wisdom tells us.

The initial public offering was priced at $38 a share. After technical snafus on Friday, and only thanks to lots of help from Facebook's bankers, that's about where the stock settled its first day.

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The Salt
9:03 am
Tue May 22, 2012

Tracking The Junk Food The World Eats After Dark

Originally published on Tue May 22, 2012 5:40 pm

People around the world show remarkable similarity in their daily eating habits: meals start off healthy in the morning, but get progressively worse throughout the day – until by nightfall we're deep into junk food territory. Just take a look at these images from mobile startup Massive Health. Focus on the dots over North America in the upper left, which indicate the healthiness (green) or unhealthiness (red) of people's meals at different times of day.

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Shots - Health Blog
8:53 am
Tue May 22, 2012

Trained Interpreters Can Help Prevent Medical Errors

Credit iStockphoto.com

When someone arrives at the hospital who doesn't speak English very well, it's common for workers at the hospital who are fluent in that language —doctors, nurses, even administrative staff — to step in and act as the patient's interpreter.

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The Two-Way
8:43 am
Tue May 22, 2012

Existing Home Sales And Prices Both Rose In April

As sales of existing homes rose 3.4 percent in April from March, prices of those previously owned houses, townhouses, condominiums and co-ops also rose, the National Association of Realtors said this morning.

"The recovery appears to be extending to home prices," NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun says in a report issued earlier.

Sales were 10 percent above the level of April 2011, NAR adds. Last month's pace: a 4.62 million annual rate.

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The Two-Way
7:44 am
Tue May 22, 2012

Europe's Crisis Threatens To Kill Global Economic Recovery, Experts Warn

Unless leaders in Europe act quickly, the financial crisis there could drag down the global economy and kill what appears to be a "fragile, extremely uneven" recovery, the multi-national Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development warned today.

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The Two-Way
7:05 am
Tue May 22, 2012

U.S. Ambassador To Afghanistan To Step Down, Reports Say

Credit Johannes Eisele / AFP/Getty Images
Ryan Crocker, U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, last month in Kabul.

Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, "is expected to step down soon from his post," sources familiar with the matter tell Reuters and a few other news outlets.

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The Two-Way
6:27 am
Tue May 22, 2012

Let's Catch Two: Same Fan Grabs Back-To-Back Home Run Balls

Credit MLB.com
Caleb Lloyd, with the ball in his left hand, celebrates after catching the first of the back-to-back home runs that came his way Monday night in Cincinnati.

Originally published on Tue May 22, 2012 4:02 pm

  • Caleb Lloyd speaking to NPR

"That's just crazy," Cincinnati Reds fan Caleb Lloyd said Monday night after he ended up snagging two home runs balls — from consecutive batters — during the Reds' 4-1 win over the visiting Atlanta Braves.

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The Two-Way
5:48 am
Tue May 22, 2012

Deal Reached On Probe Of Iran's Nuclear Program, IAEA Chief Says

Credit Dieter Nagl / AFP/Getty Images
International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Yukiya Amano earlier today in Vienna, after his return from talks in Tehran.

Originally published on Tue May 22, 2012 3:50 pm

A deal has been agreed to that will facilitate international monitors' effort to investigate whether Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency told reporters in Vienna earlier today.

The Financial Times puts the news this way:

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Around the Nation
5:27 am
Tue May 22, 2012

Minnesota Couple Gets Hitched At a Cemetery

The parents of Diane Waller and Randy Kjarland are deceased. The couple tells the Daily Herald they decided to have their wedding at Oakwood Cemetery in Austin, Minn., to be near their family.

The Two-Way
5:10 am
Tue May 22, 2012

'Picture Perfect Launch' For Private Rocket Headed To Space Station

Originally published on Tue May 22, 2012 8:09 am

Around the Nation
5:08 am
Tue May 22, 2012

Commuting By Kayak Has Multiple Benefits

Two New Jersey men have found a way around high gas prices and traffic jams. The mile long trip from Hoboken across the Hudson River to their Manhattan office takes about a half-hour to paddle. They also get their exercise in for the day.

Middle East
4:25 am
Tue May 22, 2012

Lebanon Clashes Blamed On Spillover From Syria

Intense fighting in Lebanon has killed more than a dozen people over the past week. One deadly battle was sparked by the murder of an anti-Syrian Lebanese cleric. The violence is stoking fears that the conflict in Syria is spreading to its neighbors.

Economy
3:36 am
Tue May 22, 2012

Opposition To Austerity Sweeps Ireland

Originally published on Tue May 22, 2012 4:12 am

A mass tax revolt is under way in Ireland, and hundreds of thousands of people have resolved to break the law and refuse to pay a newly-introduced levy on households. The tax is $125 a year, but protesters say it could lead to larger property taxes in the future.

Law
3:36 am
Tue May 22, 2012

Supreme Court Lets Stand Music Download Verdict

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

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Business
3:36 am
Tue May 22, 2012

The Last Word In Business

Originally published on Tue May 22, 2012 4:44 am

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

And today's last word in business is: a last song.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "CELEBRATE")

WHITNEY HOUSTON AND JORDIN SPARKS: (Singing) Everybody's been so uptight, and forgetting to live the life.

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

This final recording by the 1980s and '90s pop star, Whitney Houston, was released yesterday. "Celebrate" debuted on Ryan Seacrest's radio show.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "CELEBRATE")

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Election 2012
3:36 am
Tue May 22, 2012

Obama Defends Campaign Attacks On Romney

Originally published on Tue May 22, 2012 4:08 am

Transcript

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

It's MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm Renee Montagne.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

And I'm Steve Inskeep.

Think of this as blowback. President Obama's campaign has intensified the questioning of Mitt Romney's business record.

MONTAGNE: That is what candidates often do - work to define the opponent. Republicans are pushing back, defending Romney's record at a private equity firm and attacking the attack.

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