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Politics
3:41 pm
Sat May 12, 2012

For Gay Republicans, Romney Tough To Support

Credit Jim Watson / AFP/Getty Images
Mitt Romney delivers the keynote address at Liberty University's commencement ceremony in Lynchburg, Va., on Saturday. In his speech, Romney told students that "marriage is a relationship between one man and one woman."

Originally published on Mon May 14, 2012 6:28 am

President Obama's support for same-sex marriage has been a hot topic this week. After he announced his position during an ABC News interview Wednesday, it's been difficult for pundits, the media and the public to focus on much else, especially since the news came on the heels of North Carolina's approval of a ban on same-sex marriage.

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Around the Nation
3:23 pm
Sat May 12, 2012

Same-Sex Marriage Back In National Spotlight

Originally published on Sat May 12, 2012 4:05 pm

Gay marriage is back in the headlines: President Obama followed Vice President Joe Biden and Education Secretary Arne Duncan in expressing support for same-sex marriage this week. Meanwhile, voters in North Carolina passed an amendment to their constitution that defines marriage as between a man and a woman only. Weekends on All Things Considered host Guy Raz talks with two supporters of the amendment, Tami Fitzgerald of Vote for Marriage North Carolina and Pastor Patrick Wooden.

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History
3:23 pm
Sat May 12, 2012

How Teddy Saved Football

Originally published on Sat May 12, 2012 4:05 pm

Football is a violent game, but a century ago it used to be a lethal pastime. NPR's Tom Goldman explains how President Teddy Roosevelt stepped in and forced the establishment of new rules that made the game safer.

Author Interviews
3:23 pm
Sat May 12, 2012

The 12 Days Of Disaster That Made Modern Chicago

Originally published on Sat May 12, 2012 4:05 pm

In 1919, Chicago was called the "youngest great city in the world." World War I had just come to a close, troops were coming home, industry was booming and crime was down. Chicago's mayor at the time, William Hale Thompson — known as Big Bill — had just been re-elected and was spearheading an ambitious urban improvement program.

But in mid-July of 1919, just about everything that could go wrong in Chicago did. Among the headlines were a deadly dirigible crash, a bizarre kidnapping, race riots and a major public transit strike.

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Television
2:30 pm
Sat May 12, 2012

How TV Brought Gay People Into Our Homes

Credit ABC via Getty Images
The hit TV show Modern Family features a gay couple trying to adopt their second child.

Originally published on Sat May 12, 2012 4:05 pm

In one of the most talked-about moments from the hit TV show Glee, Blaine declared his love for Kurt and then — they kissed.

Glee is just one of many popular shows on television right now that feature gay characters. Those characters aren't just entertaining us, they're changing Americans' attitudes toward homosexuality.

In five separate studies, professor Edward Schiappa and his colleagues at the University of Minnesota have found that the presence of gay characters on television programs decreases prejudices among viewers.

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Music Interviews
10:03 am
Sat May 12, 2012

Days With Dizzy: Arturo Sandoval On His Trumpet Mentor

Credit Courtesy of the artist
Arturo Sandoval and Dizzy Gillespie on tour in Europe in 1991. Sandoval's new album, Dear Diz (Every Day I Think of You), is a tribute to his friend and mentor.

Originally published on Sat May 12, 2012 4:10 pm

Cuban trumpeter Arturo Sandoval first met Dizzy Gillespie in Havana in 1977, when the American jazzman came to Cuba to play a concert. Sandoval showed him around the city, where the two men listened to the sounds of rumba music echoing through Havana's black neighborhoods. That night, Sandoval managed to play his trumpet for Gillespie — and blew him away.

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Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!
9:25 am
Sat May 12, 2012

Who's Carl This Time?

Transcript

CARL KASELL: From NPR and WBEZ-Chicago, this is WAIT WAIT...DON'T TELL ME!, the NPR News quiz. I'm Carl Kasell, and here's your host, at the Chase Bank Auditorium in downtown Chicago, Peter Sagal.

PETER SAGAL, HOST:

Thank you, Carl.

(SOUNDBITE OF APPLAUSE)

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Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!
9:25 am
Sat May 12, 2012

Opening Panel Round

Transcript

PETER SAGAL, HOST:

We want to remind everybody they can join us here most weeks at the Chase Bank Auditorium in downtown Chicago. For tickets and more information go to wbez.org, or you can find a link at our website, waitwait.npr.org. Right now, panel, time for you to answer some questions about the week's news, of course.

Mo, interesting study this week about climate change. Some scientists are suggesting that 150 million years ago, what contributed to global warming?

MO ROCCA: Sort of gassy dinosaurs.

SAGAL: Yes, that's exactly right.

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Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!
9:25 am
Sat May 12, 2012

Bluff The Listener

Transcript

CARL KASELL: From NPR and WBEZ-Chicago, this is WAIT WAIT...DON'T TELL ME!, the NPR News quiz. I'm Carl Kasell. We're playing his week with Mo Rocca, Tom Bodett and Amy Dickinson. And, here again is your host, at the Chase Bank Auditorium in downtown Chicago, Peter Sagal.

PETER SAGAL, HOST:

Thank you, Carl. Thank you everybody.

(SOUNDBITE OF APPLAUSE)

SAGAL: It is, of course, time again for the WAIT WAIT...DON'T TELL ME! Bluff the Listener game. Call 1-888-Wait-Wait to play our game on the air. Hi, you're on WAIT WAIT...DON'T TELL ME!

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Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!
9:25 am
Sat May 12, 2012

Panel Round Two

Transcript

CARL KASELL: From NPR and WBEZ-Chicago, this is WAIT WAIT...DON'T TELL ME!, the NPR News quiz. I'm Carl Kasell. We're playing this week with Tom Bodett, Amy Dickinson and Mo Rocca. And, here again is your host, at the Chase Bank Auditorium in downtown Chicago, Peter Sagal.

PETER SAGAL, HOST:

Thank you, Carl.

(SOUNDBITE OF APPLAUSE)

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Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!
9:25 am
Sat May 12, 2012

Prediction

Transcript

PETER SAGAL, HOST:

Now, panel, what surprise will Biden blow next? Tom Bodett?

TOM BODETT: He gets out over his skis on this Mother's Day thing and tells Michelle she's just going to love the necklace Barack and the girls got her for Sunday.

(SOUNDBITE OF LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: Amy Dickinson?

AMY DICKINSON: Next week at the John Edwards trial, Joe Biden will reveal that he is really the father of Rielle Hunter's child.

(SOUNDBITE OF LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: And Mo Rocca?

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Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!
9:25 am
Sat May 12, 2012

Limericks

Transcript

PETER SAGAL, HOST:

Coming up, it's Lightning Fill in the Blank. But first it's the game where you have to listen for the rhyme. If you'd like to play on air, call or leave a message at 1-888-Wait-Wait. That's 1-888-924-8924, or you can click the contact us link at our website waitwait.npr.org.

There you can find out about attending our weekly live shows here at the Chase Bank Auditorium in Chicago and our upcoming shows in Cleveland, Ohio and Portland, Maine. Tickets for those shows go on sale this week. Hi, you're on WAIT WAIT...DON'T TELL ME!

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Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!
9:25 am
Sat May 12, 2012

Lightning Fill In The Blank

Transcript

PETER SAGAL, HOST:

Now, on to our final game, Lightning Fill in the Blank. Each of our players will have 60 seconds in which to answer as many fill in the blank questions as he or she can. Each correct answer is worth two points. Carl, can you give us the scores?

CARL KASELL: Tom Bodett has the lead, Peter. He has four points. Amy Dickinson has three. Mo Rocca has two.

SAGAL: Mo, you're in third place. You're up first. The clock will start when I begin your first question. Fill in the blank.

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The Two-Way
6:58 am
Sat May 12, 2012

Breastfeeding Images Turn Heads At Any Age

Credit AP
The cover of the May 21, 2012, issue of Time.

Originally published on Sat May 12, 2012 11:02 pm

Musings on attachment parenting abound in response to the most recent issue of Time magazine, powered by a controversially candid cover featuring a mother breastfeeding her 3-year-old.

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Around the Nation
6:07 am
Sat May 12, 2012

Rosa Parks Etched Into History, And D.C. Cathedral

Originally published on Sat May 12, 2012 7:25 am

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

The National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. is always a work in progress. Although it's more than a century old, and is being repaired from damage caused by last year's earthquake, it always makes room for new statues and carvings of people who inspire.

REVEREND DR. FRANCIS WADE: May God bless the eyes of all who see the likeness we dedicate this evening.

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Europe
5:52 am
Sat May 12, 2012

Europe After The Vote Against Austerity

Originally published on Sat May 12, 2012 7:25 am

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

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Media
5:52 am
Sat May 12, 2012

British Press Inquiry Sheds Light On P.M.'s Circle

Originally published on Sat May 12, 2012 7:25 am

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

The British have been holding a public inquiry into press ethics for the last few months. The government is responding to the outcry over the phone-hacking scandal at Rupert Murdoch's News of the World. The inquiry's investing the way newspapers, the police and politicians may feed off each other and that means shining a light into the secluded world, in particular, of the prime minister's social set. NPR's Philip Reeves has been watching the questioning.

(SOUNDBITE OF INQUIRY)

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House & Senate Races
5:52 am
Sat May 12, 2012

Wisc. GOP Gather For Convention On Key Senate Race

Originally published on Sat May 12, 2012 7:25 am

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Scott Simon.

Republicans in Wisconsin are gathered this weekend for their annual political convention. The delegates could make an endorsement in a key Senate race this year. It is the contest to replace retiring Wisconsin Democrat Herb Kohl.

Now, many believe that George W. Bush's former Health and Human Services Secretary, Tommy Thompson, might essentially breeze through a four-way Republican primary.

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House & Senate Races
5:52 am
Sat May 12, 2012

Indiana Senate Race: The Bigger Picture

Originally published on Sat May 12, 2012 7:25 am

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

From Wisconsin, we head over to Indiana, where this week, six-term Republican Senator Richard Lugar lost by a landslide to State Treasurer Richard Mourdock, who was supported by the Tea Party.

Now, Senator Lugar was known for working with senators on the other side of the aisle to pass legislation. That may not be the political flavor of the month in his party or his state.

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Around the Nation
5:52 am
Sat May 12, 2012

Calling 911? Or Did You Just Sit Down?

Originally published on Sat May 12, 2012 7:25 am

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Are you calling 911 or you just glad to sit down? Mayor Michael Bloomberg released a study this week that shows that 38 percent of the calls received by New York's emergency services are mistakes - mobile phones that dial 911 when a user jostles a phone in their purse or pocket. The popular term for such calls is pocket or butt calls.

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Politics
5:52 am
Sat May 12, 2012

Obama's Gay Marriage Evolution: A Societal Shift?

Originally published on Sat May 12, 2012 7:25 am

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

President Obama made a personal statement in a TV interview this week. He didn't call for any new laws or initiatives. But many Americans seem to hear his statement as a truly significant moment in American history. Novelist and screenwriter Armistead Maupin joins us. Mr. Maupin is best known for his breakthrough "Tales of the City" series. He joins us from member station KQED in San Francisco. Thanks so much for being with us.

ARMISTEAD MAUPIN: Oh, it's a pleasure, Scott.

SIMON: How do you feel about what the president said?

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Remembrances
5:52 am
Sat May 12, 2012

Attorney Katzenbach: A Key Force For Civil Rights

Originally published on Sat May 12, 2012 7:25 am

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

This morning we remember a man who stood up to George Wallace before the eyes of the world. Nicholas Katzenbach became attorney general in the Johnson administration and played a pivotal role in much of the civil rights history of the 1960s. He died this week at his home in New Jersey at the age of 90. NPR's Debbie Elliott looks back at his life.

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Middle East
5:52 am
Sat May 12, 2012

Hope Of Syrian Cease-Fire Dwindles

Originally published on Sat May 12, 2012 7:25 am

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

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Sports
5:52 am
Sat May 12, 2012

Big Game Sevens On Both Coasts

Originally published on Sat May 12, 2012 7:25 am

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Scott Simon. You didn't think we were going to get through this week without talking about sports.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

SIMON: Both New York and L.A. host big game sevens tonight - hoops on the West Coast, pucks on the East Coast. NPR's Tom Goldman can open a can of bean dip, sit on the couch, watch the TV and say, hey, don't bother me, I'm working. He joins us from an undisclosed location.

Morning, Tom.

TOM GOLDMAN, BYLINE: Hi. I wake up eating bean dip.

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Around the Nation
5:52 am
Sat May 12, 2012

A (Purchased) Haiku For You, Mom

Originally published on Sat May 12, 2012 7:25 am

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Tomorrow is Mother's Day and a professor at Washington & Lee University in Lexington, Virginia has a gift idea. She has set up a booth on campus to craft custom haiku.

From member station WVTF, Sandy Hausman reports.

SANDY HAUSMAN, BYLINE: Fifteen students took turns at a long table outside the dining hall, notebooks and pens poised to honor mothers in that spare Japanese style. The haiku is 17 syllables - total. But University Registrar Scott Ditman was confident a small poem could hit big with the mother of his children.

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The Salt
4:58 am
Sat May 12, 2012

Black Pepper May Give You A Kick, But Don't Count On It For Weight Loss

Credit iStockphoto.com
Can you fight fat with a spoonful of these?

Originally published on Sat May 12, 2012 5:02 am

Is black pepper the new secret weapon against fat? A recent paper in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry claims that the piperine, an ingredient in black pepper, has the power to stop the body from making new fat cells, and could be used to treat obesity.

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Health
4:19 am
Sat May 12, 2012

In L.A. Pregnancy 'Hot Spot,' An On-Campus Clinic

Credit Bob Owen / San Antonio Express-News
Sherry Medrano, chief nurse at Roosevelt High School in Los Angeles, hands condoms to a student in her office. The school has teamed up with Planned Parenthood to combat teen pregnancy.

Originally published on Sat May 12, 2012 7:25 am

School nurse Sherry Medrano has more than Band-Aids stored in her cabinets. She has an armory of birth control options: condoms, the pill, the patch, the ring and emergency contraception.

The teen pregnancy rate in the United States is the lowest it's been in nearly 40 years. However, in some communities, the number of young girls getting pregnant remains stubbornly high.

Planned Parenthood On Campus

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Around the Nation
4:19 am
Sat May 12, 2012

Wearing Helmets In Tornadoes Gains Momentum

Originally published on Sat May 12, 2012 11:17 am

Months after safety advocates embraced wearing helmets during tornadoes — the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued guidelines on the practice. The CDC says there's not yet enough scientific evidence to fully endorse the idea. But the agency is warming up to people donning helmets when severe weather threatens.

Since a horrific outbreak of tornadoes killed more than 250 people last year in Alabama, safety advocates have been on a crusade.

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Presidential Race
4:18 am
Sat May 12, 2012

Iowa On Same-Sex Marriage: It's Complicated

Credit Charlie Neibergall / AP
Iowans attend a marriage rally sponsored by The Family Leader on Tuesday at the Statehouse in Des Moines. The head of the organization says President Obama's endorsement of gay marriage could cost him the election.

Originally published on Sat May 12, 2012 7:17 pm

Immediately after President Obama announced his support this week for same-sex marriage, attention turned to politics. The outcome of this year's election will be determined by a handful of states — one of them is Iowa, where the politics of same-sex marriage are complicated.

Same-sex marriage is legal here, but three of the state Supreme Court justices upholding that 2009 decision were removed from office by voters a year later.

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Afghanistan
3:03 am
Sat May 12, 2012

U.S. Military Mission: Pushing Afghans To Take Lead

Originally published on Wed May 23, 2012 8:48 am

The American military has two main jobs now in Afghanistan: sweeping the remaining Taliban from safe havens and getting Afghan security forces to take charge in the fight.

On a recent day, the Afghan National Army, or ANA, is to be out front on a joint Afghan-U.S. patrol in the countryside outside Kandahar in southern Afghanistan. It may seem like a small thing, but it's actually a big deal.

Sgt. Matthew McMurray lets his platoon know.

"ANA is going to lead, too. If they don't want to lead, just stop and make them walk ahead of you," he says.

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