All Things Considered

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

Elizabeth Blair — Fri, 17 May 2013 21:58:00 +0000

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.

"It's not just about sports," says co-director Maiken Baird. "I think of it as the great American story. It's rich with family, sisterhood, race, hard work and tenaciousness."

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

Kyle Norris — Fri, 17 May 2013 21:03:00 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4M8Av-SnPA

Boston Bombings Prompt Fresh Look At Unsolved Murders

Joel Rose — Fri, 17 May 2013 21:02:00 +0000

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.

"They went to the second floor and saw a very graphic crime scene — three dead bodies in the apartment," said Gerry Leone, who was then district attorney for Middlesex County.

Why Is Psychiatry's New Manual So Much Like The Old One?

Jon Hamilton — Thu, 16 May 2013 23:24:00 +0000

The American Psychiatric Association is about to release an updated version of its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. The DSM helps mental health professionals decide who has problems such as depression, anxiety and schizophrenia.

Psychiatry's new manual, DSM-5, has been nearly 20 years in the making. During that time, scientists have learned a lot about the brain.

Daft Punk On 'The Soul That A Musician Can Bring'

editor — Thu, 16 May 2013 23:24:00 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NV6Rdv1a3I

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYDvxo-M0OQ

Some Lawmakers Want Big-Budget Groups Included In IRS Debate

Peter Overby — Thu, 16 May 2013 22:01:00 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1l2s_q_kfrU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdYjp8-RMwA

Women In Combat: Some Lessons From Israel's Military

Larry Abramson — Thu, 16 May 2013 16:51:00 +0000

As the U.S. moves to open up combat positions to women, it's catching up with other countries that have been doing it for years.

But the experience in these countries, including Israel, suggests that access to combat jobs doesn't lead directly to equal treatment within the ranks.

In Israel, most men and women perform compulsory military service.

A Songwriter And An Army Dad Share One Touching Story

NPR Staff — Wed, 15 May 2013 23:52:00 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCSMCgqlc-0

Take Your Seat, The 'No Photography' Sign Is Lit

Martin Kaste — Wed, 15 May 2013 23:39:00 +0000

You probably saw this bit of Internet virality earlier this week — showing a woman getting kicked off an American Airlines flight for channeling Whitney Houston.

What caught our attention was the sound of flight attendants repeatedly ordering passengers not to take pictures or (presumably) videos.

Apparently, it's an official rule at American Airlines:

"The use of still and video cameras, fil

White House Addresses Benghazi Emails, IRS Audits

Scott Horsley — Wed, 15 May 2013 21:57:00 +0000

Transcript

MELISSA BLOCK, BYLINE: This is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Melissa Block.

AUDIE CORNISH, BYLINE: And I'm Audie Cornish.

The Obama administration is doing some intensive damage control this evening. Tonight, the president announced that the acting commissioner of the IRS, Steven Miller, is being pushed out over heightened scrutiny given to Tea Party groups and other conservative organizations.

Earlier today, the White House also released 100 pages of emails in hopes of quieting a lingering controversy over last year's deadly attack at the U.S.

IRS Inspector General Faults 'Ineffective Management'

Scott Horsley — Wed, 15 May 2013 00:02:00 +0000

Audie Cornish talks to Scott Horsley about the IRS Inspector General's report on the agency's audit of conservative groups.

How A Florida Medical School Cares For Communities In Need

Greg Allen — Tue, 14 May 2013 23:15:00 +0000

If it's a Monday, you can usually find Dr. David Brown parked next to a lake in Miami, spending the day inside a 36-foot-long RV. He's not on vacation.

Brown is chief of family medicine at Florida International University's medical school. The RV is the school's mobile health clinic.

Every Monday it's parked at the Royal Country Mobile Home Park in northwest Miami-Dade County. "It's a beautiful place right here," he says.

With No Unified Database, Many Murder Victims Remain Nameless

Daysha Eaton — Tue, 14 May 2013 22:11:00 +0000

A serial killer who committed suicide in an Alaska jail last year confessed to murdering at least 11 people across the country. But Israel Keyes didn't name names, and investigators trying to figure out who he killed are running into a major stumbling block: There is no unified, mandatory national database for missing persons.

One of the few known victims was Anchorage resident Samantha Koenig. She was selling coffee at an espresso stand outside a gym when Keyes abducted and killed her.

Baseball's 'Most Durable Batboy' Marks 55 Years On The Field

editor — Tue, 14 May 2013 21:25:00 +0000

The University of Memphis baseball team plays its final home game of the season Tuesday. In addition to rooting for the players, Memphis fans will cheer for someone else: batboy Stan Bronson Jr.

But "boy" is a relative term. Bronson is 84, and this year he celebrates his 55th year in the honorary position with the University of Memphis Tigers.

A Sign of Disunity? Iranian Candidates Jockey For Position

Peter Kenyon — Tue, 14 May 2013 20:57:00 +0000

Nearly 700 presidential hopefuls have thrown their names into the ring for Iran's June 14 presidential elections. But two last-minute entrants have altered the shape of the already-chaotic race: a former president once dismissed as a has-been and Iran's chief nuclear negotiator.

Although not exactly a free-for-all, analysts say, there's a clear sense that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has failed to unify the political elite behind a single establishment candidate.

U.S. Obtained AP Journalists' Phone Records

Audie Cornish — Tue, 14 May 2013 00:27:00 +0000

Transcript

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

Today we learned of some news from the Associated Press in which the AP is at the center of the story. The newswire service reports that the Justice Department secretly obtained two months of editors and reporters' phone records from last year as part of a government investigation. Late today, the Justice Department issued a statement saying it strives to strike a balance between the need for information in criminal cases and the rights of individuals and news organizations.

NPR's Carrie Johnson joins me now with more.

Supreme Court Sides With Monsanto In Seed Patent Case

Nina Totenberg — Mon, 13 May 2013 22:47:00 +0000

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously Monday that when farmers use patented seed for more than one planting in violation of their licensing agreements, they are liable for damages.

Billed as David vs. Goliath, the case pitted an Indiana farmer against the agribusiness behemoth Monsanto.

Almost all the soybean farmers in the U.S. use seed that is genetically altered to be resistant to weed killers like Roundup. That allows farmers to spray for weeds without killing the soybeans.

ABC's Live Streaming Aimed At Keeping Cable Cords Intact

editor — Mon, 13 May 2013 22:00:00 +0000

There's another way television is moving online. Starting Tuesday, ABC will let viewers in New York and Philadelphia watch their local stations over the Internet.

As Stigma Eases, Single Motherhood In Mexico Is On The Rise

Carrie Kahn — Mon, 13 May 2013 21:15:00 +0000

On her daily route delivering laundry in her working-class neighborhood in southern Mexico City, Maria Carlotta Santa Maria, or Mari, as she is known, seems to know everyone: the mailman, the woman on the corner selling salty nuts, and her favorite greetings are for the guys at the corner gas station.

Mari is the kind of person that can make this inhospitable and overwhelming megacity seem almost small and friendly.

Bloomberg News Apologizes For Tracking Subscribers

David Folkenflik — Mon, 13 May 2013 21:11:00 +0000

Transcript

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

The editor-in-chief of Bloomberg News is apologizing. That's after admitting his reporters tracked how subscribers use the company's famous financial data terminals. The disclosure has caused an uproar in the financial services world. As NPR's David Folkenflik reports, the episode has roots both in Bloomberg's innovations in data management, and its corporate culture.

DAVID FOLKENFLIK, BYLINE: Founder and now New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg was so fixated on data that he liked to know when his employees came and went.

An 'Entrepreneurial Seedling' Sprouts In Detroit

Lizzie O' Leary — Mon, 13 May 2013 21:05:00 +0000

Detroit is littered with empty warehouses — more than 7,000, by one estimate. They've become skeletons of the city's industrial past.

But not this warehouse, where Jennifer Blake is feeding quilted fabric through a sewing machine. She's making a coat. Fashioned with Velcro fastenings, it has a sleeping bag that slips out on the bottom, and is made of recycled car parts, she says.

Blake is one of a half-dozen women doing this in a sunny corner on the second floor of a 30,000-square-foot warehouse not far from downtown Detroit.

Facebook Users Question $20 Million Settlement Over Ads

editor — Mon, 13 May 2013 19:14:00 +0000

A San Francisco judge will decide this month whether to approve a settlement in a class-action lawsuit that could affect more than 70 million Facebook users. The $20 million deal would mark the end of a years-long battle over the social network's "Sponsored Stories" advertising.

But Facebook users' images could still appear in ads if they don't change their settings.

Vietnam's Appetite For Rhino Horn Drives Poaching In Africa

Frank Langfitt — Mon, 13 May 2013 19:05:00 +0000

Africa is facing a growing epidemic: the slaughter of rhinos.

So far this year, South Africa has lost more than 290 rhinos — an average of at least two a day. That puts the country on track to set yet another record after poachers killed 668 rhinos in 2012.

Behind the rise in killings are international criminal syndicates and global economic change.

Five Years After A Quake, Chinese Cite Shoddy Reconstruction

Louisa Lim — Mon, 13 May 2013 19:05:00 +0000

Five years after the massive Wenchuan quake in China's Sichuan province left about 90,000 dead and missing, allegations are surfacing that corruption and official wrongdoing have plagued the five-year-long quake reconstruction effort.

The official press is full of praise for how "all Chinese have a reason to be proud of what the concerted efforts of the entire nation achieved in creating a new life for the survivors."

But an NPR investigation shows that behind the impressive facade the old problems still

Checking More Than One Box: A Growing Multiracial Nation

editor — Sun, 12 May 2013 22:11:00 +0000

Larry Bright holds his 3-year-old son's hand while the boy steps through a leafy playground in Silver Spring, Md., and practices counting his numbers in English.

At the top of the slide, the boy begins counting in his other language: Vietnamese.

Bright, the boy's father, is African-American; his mother, Thien Kim Lam, is Vietnamese.

The Movie Mark McKinney Has 'Seen A Million Times'

editor — Sun, 12 May 2013 19:49:00 +0000

The weekends on All Things Considered series Movies I've Seen A Million Times features filmmakers, actors, writers and directors talking about the movies that they never get tired of watching.

Writer-comedian Mark McKinney's credits include the TV shows Slings and Arrows, Kids In The Hall and Less Than Kind — currently airing on HBO Canada.

Balancing Influences: Saxophonist Mahanthappa Blends Styles

editor — Sun, 12 May 2013 19:49:00 +0000
When a single review compares an artist's work to both Mahavishnu Orchestra and The Stooges, hardcore rock music fans sit up and take notice.
That's the high praise the Los Angeles Times bestowed upon saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa.
You'll find the Indian-American's work filed under jazz, but it's hard to find a style he doesn't touch.

After Long Wait, Novelist James Salter Shares 'All That Is'

NPR Staff — Sun, 12 May 2013 19:40:00 +0000
On the list of great postwar American male novelists — along with Philip Roth, Norman Mailer and John Updike — is James Salter.
With the publication of his first book in 1957, he won the admiration of writers and critics alike. But after 1979, his production slowed. Salter still wrote — essays, short stories, poetry — but nothing on a grander scale.
Now, that long-awaited novel has been published. All That Is sets out to give a sweeping portrait of human experience.
The novel introduces the reader right away to Philip Bowman, the main character.

For Year-Round Buzz, Beekeepers 'Fast-Forward Darwinism'

Katherine Perry — Sun, 12 May 2013 17:47:00 +0000
Beekeepers In Massachusetts are taking the mission to save the bees into their own hands.
There has been a dramatic disappearance of honeybees across the U.S. since 2006. A recent U.S.

In Hollywood Twist, China Gets Its Own 'Iron Man'

editor — Sat, 11 May 2013 22:26:00 +0000
Transcript
(SOUNDBITE OF MOVIE, "IRON MAN 3")
ROBERT DOWNEY JR.: (as Tony Stark) No politics here. Just good old-fashioned revenge.
ARUN RATH, HOST:
That's Robert Downey Jr. in "Iron Man 3," which opened in theaters last weekend and has grossed nearly 800 million worldwide. The movie also broke box office records in China where Marvel Studios tried something new.