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Author Interviews
4:39 am
Sun November 11, 2012

Philip Pullman: Rewriting The Brothers Grimm

Originally published on Tue November 20, 2012 10:02 am

Two hundred years after the Brothers Grimm first published Children's and Household Tales, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm are getting another rewrite.

Philip Pullman, who wrote The Golden Compass of the young-adult fantasy series His Dark Materials, took on the challenge of retelling 50 of the original Grimm stories for his latest book, Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm.

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Politics
4:39 am
Sun November 11, 2012

Leading In Crisis: Lessons From Lyndon Johnson

Originally published on Sun November 11, 2012 10:36 am

Transcript

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Making a deal to avert the fiscal cliff is going to take more than mere consensus on spending and taxes. It'll take political skill on the part of the president; the ability to leverage the power of his office to find new strategies and pressure points to break the gridlock. In short, he'll need to do what appears to be impossible.

ROBERT CARO: Part of the nature of political genius is that you can come along and do something where no one else can do it.

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Politics
4:39 am
Sun November 11, 2012

Challenges Stacked For Obama's Second Term

Originally published on Sun November 11, 2012 10:36 am

Transcript

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Rachel Martin. A newly re-elected President Barack Obama won't officially begin his second term until he is sworn in again on January 20th. But some of the priorities of his next four years in office are already taking shape, and the challenges are becoming more apparent. NPR's national political correspondent Mara Liasson joins us now to talk more about all this. Hey, Mara.

MARA LIASSON, BYLINE: Good morning.

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Economy
4:39 am
Sun November 11, 2012

Congress Barrels Toward Fiscal Cliff

Originally published on Sun November 11, 2012 10:36 am

Transcript

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Rachel Martin.

Here's a term you're going to get really tired of in the next several weeks - if you haven't already: The fiscal cliff. It's a combination of automatic spending cuts and tax increases set to hit at the start of the year. That is, if Congress and the president fail to find a way to avoid it.

NPR's Tamara Keith has this primer.

TAMARA KEITH, BYLINE: Both House Speaker John Boehner and the president made it clear, they don't want to go off the cliff.

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Politics
4:39 am
Sun November 11, 2012

Losing Gracefully In Politics, With Sports In Mind

Originally published on Sun November 11, 2012 10:36 am

Transcript

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

So, we all know losing is part of sports, and it's part of politics too. We asked Mike Danforth and Ian Chillag, our friends from the NPR podcast How to Do Everything to explore some options for Mitt Romney on this recent campaign loss.

MIKE DANFORTH, BYLINE: If you want advice on how to deal with a loss, you got to someone with experience.

IAN CHILLAG, BYLINE: Coach Marv Levy, want to remind us of your Buffalo Bills?

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U.S.
4:39 am
Sun November 11, 2012

Veterans Struggle To Find Jobs, Peace Of Mind

Originally published on Sun November 11, 2012 10:36 am

Transcript

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Finding lasting employment and the peace of mind that goes with it has proved a challenge for many of the men and women who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan in recent years. It's one of the issues we've been covering in our series Home Front.

STAFF SERGEANT JASON COPP: My name is Staff Sergeant Jason Copp.

CORPORAL TERRY NARCIS: I am Corporal Terry Narcis(ph).

CAPTAIN MICHAEL CURRY: I am Captain Michael Curry.

PFC MCCITRICH: PFC McCitrich(ph).

STAFF SERGEANT JEFF BARLOW: Staff Sergeant Jeff Barlow.

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Author Interviews
3:46 am
Sun November 11, 2012

'Heat' Imagines Life After 'Madame Butterfly'

Originally published on Sun November 11, 2012 10:36 am

The second act of Puccini's opera Madama Butterfly opens with the aching aria "Un Bel Di," one of the most famous in the Italian repertoire. Onstage, an abandoned young woman sings longingly for "one fine day" when her lover might return to her and their young son in Nagasaki, Japan.

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The Salt
3:45 am
Sun November 11, 2012

Wild Turkeys Gobble Their Way To A Comeback

Credit Larry Price, National Wild Turkey Federation / NWTF.org
European settlers almost wiped out North America's native wild turkey. But conservation efforts have proved successful. There are now nearly 7 million birds found across 49 states.

Originally published on Thu November 15, 2012 1:38 pm

Wild turkeys and buffalo have more in common than you might guess. Both were important as food for Native Americans and European settlers. And both were nearly obliterated.

There were a couple of reasons for the turkey's decline. In the early years of the U.S., there was no regulation, so people could shoot as many turkeys as they liked. And their forest habitat was cut down for farmland and heating fuel. Without trees, turkeys have nowhere to roost. So they began to disappear.

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Asia
3:44 am
Sun November 11, 2012

Recording The Untold Stories Of China's Great Famine

Originally published on Sun November 11, 2012 7:50 pm

Second of a two-part series. Find the first part here.

A young man trudges doggedly around his village, notebook in hand, fringe flopping over his glasses. He goes from door to door, calling on the elderly.

The young man has one main question: Who died in our village during the Great Famine?

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Superstorm Sandy: Before, During And Beyond
3:44 am
Sun November 11, 2012

Veterans Deploy To Northeast After Superstorm Sandy

Credit Quil Lawrence / NPR
Veterans from around the country have deployed to the Northeast to help after Superstorm Sandy. Jeff Blaney (left) of San Francisco was in the Army and Jamie Havig was a Navy medic attached to the Marines in Iraq.

Originally published on Sun November 11, 2012 12:22 pm

Among the thousands of volunteers helping the victims of Superstorm Sandy in New York and New Jersey are hundreds of military veterans who have turned out to help.

For this group, work like this seems to address a real need for a sense of mission. Former troops who have been cleaning up and rebuilding say that volunteering helps them as much as it supports the local residents.

In front of Sami McFarlanes' house off Rockaway Beach Boulevard in Queens, N.Y., a group of Afghanistan and Iraq veterans take chainsaws to a huge spruce tree hung up on wires.

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All Tech Considered
3:44 am
Sun November 11, 2012

Distracted Driving: We're All Guilty, So What Should We Do About It?

Credit Robert F. Bukaty / AP
Despite the well-publicized dangers and laws against it in many states, texting or emailing while driving remains a huge problem.

Originally published on Sun November 11, 2012 1:02 pm

One of the most dangerous things you can do behind the wheel of your car is text or check your email. Texting and driving is illegal in 39 states, the District of Columbia, the Virgin Islands and Guam.

Despite the danger, millions of us continue to do it. I am ashamed to say that I was one of them.

During the recent presidential campaign, I was on the road — a lot. I was mainly driving on rural roads in places such as Iowa, Indiana and, of course, Ohio. On several occasions I checked my email while driving, and like many people I rationalized my behavior.

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House & Senate Races
3:43 am
Sun November 11, 2012

Senate Win In Wis. A 'Turning Point' For Gay Rights

Originally published on Sun November 11, 2012 12:05 pm

Democratic Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin's sexual orientation was never really a factor in her victorious campaign against Republican former Gov. Tommy Thompson. Advocates for gay rights see that as a watershed moment for the movement.

Baldwin won a seat many thought she couldn't, defeating one of the state's most successful politicians in the process. The celebration Tuesday night in Madison was euphoric.

The enthusiastic crowd was never louder than when Baldwin acknowledged making history.

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It's All Politics
3:40 am
Sun November 11, 2012

Will Fact Checks Always Be Ignored By Politicians?

Credit Michael Reynolds / AP
Moderator Candy Crowley applauds as President Obama shakes hands with former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney during the second presidential debate on Oct. 16.

Just because there's more fact checking, doesn't mean there's more truth telling.

Given this, David Carr of The New York Times declared that journalistic efforts to set the record straight during "the most fact-checked [presidential] election in history" didn't work.

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Books
3:31 am
Sun November 11, 2012

On Veterans Day, Stories Of Heroes And Homecoming

This Veterans Day, NPR Books went into the archives to find stories of combat and coping. A mother describes the emotional minefield of having a child at war, a Marine writes a memoir of a mortuary, and a photojournalist pays tribute to two centuries of Native-Americans in the military.

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Economy
3:30 am
Sun November 11, 2012

How The Fiscal Cliff Would Hit The Economy

Originally published on Sun November 11, 2012 2:05 pm

This week, President Obama will meet with congressional leaders to begin working out a deal to avert a budget calamity commonly known as the fiscal cliff.

Economists are unanimous in saying that if the leaders fail to keep the country from going over the "cliff," both the stock and labor markets will fairly quickly go "splat."

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Sunday Puzzle
1:33 am
Sun November 11, 2012

Saluting The Flag

Credit NPR Graphic

Originally published on Sun November 11, 2012 10:36 am

On-air challenge: Sunday is Veterans Day, so we have a game of categories based on flags. Given some categories, for each one name something in the category beginning with each of the letters F, L, A, G and S.

For example, if the category were chemical elements, you might say fluorine, lead, argon, gold and sulfur.

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U.S.
11:32 pm
Sat November 10, 2012

Petraeus's Fall As Stunning As The Career Before It

Credit Chris Hondros / Getty Images
Gen. David Petraeus greets an Iraqi man at a tea shop in Baghdad in 2007. In 2011, Petraeus left the Army to become CIA director. He resigned Friday, citing an extramarital affair.

Originally published on Sun November 11, 2012 4:25 pm

The resignation of CIA Director David Petraeus, the retired four-star general who stepped down late Friday citing an extramarital affair, brings to an end one of the most storied careers in modern U.S. military history.

Petraeus left the Army in August 2011 after nearly four decades in uniform. Before his retirement ceremony had even begun, he walked up on the empty stage, went over to the podium and tapped on the microphone. The general was doing his own mic check.

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It's All Politics
4:31 pm
Sat November 10, 2012

Republicans Scramble To Repair Breech With Hispanics

Originally published on Sun November 11, 2012 9:16 am

Paging Jeb Bush.

Your party needs you.

In the aftermath of Tuesday's election losses, Republicans have been scrambling to formulate a fix for what went wrong.

A big part of that calculation involves repairing relations with Hispanics, the fast-growing electoral power base that rejected Republican Mitt Romney's "self deportation" immigration solution and voted for President Obama in numbers that exceeded 70 percent.

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Music News
3:32 pm
Sat November 10, 2012

Verdi's 'La Forza,' Born Under A Bad Sign

Credit Ron Scherl / Redferns
Soprano Maria Slatinaru and bass Paul Plishka perform in a 1986 production of Verdi's La Forza del Destino at the San Francisco Opera.

Originally published on Thu November 15, 2012 8:59 am

One hundred fifty years ago today, Giuseppe Verdi first mounted his opera La Forza del Destino ("The Force of Destiny") on a stage in St. Petersburg, Russia. Today, La Forza is considered one of Verdi's masterpieces, but it wasn't always that way. The story of Don Alvaro, whose love for the aristocratic Leonora incurs the wrath of her family, is violent and chaotic, and it flopped on its first run.

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The Picture Show
3:18 pm
Sat November 10, 2012

Gas Lines Evoke Memories Oil Crises In The 1970s

Originally published on Sat November 10, 2012 3:52 pm

Gas lines in America may be rare, but they're not unprecedented.

The gas shortage in the Northeast, the result of Superstorm Sandy, is inflicting plenty of pain. But it's a localized phenomenon that's not expected to last for long.

During two separate oil crises in the 1970s, Americans from coast to coast faced persistent gas shortages as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC, flexed its muscles and disrupted oil supplies.

In 1973 and again in 1979, drivers frequently faced around-the-block lines when they tried to fill up.

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Politics
3:09 pm
Sat November 10, 2012

The Election Is Over, But Fiscal Cliff Still Looms

Originally published on Sat November 10, 2012 6:23 pm

Transcript

GUY RAZ, HOST:

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

There's a competing set of priorities on either end of Pennsylvania Avenue here in Washington, D.C., and the deadline for resolving that competition is fast approaching. At the White House, the president says he won't accept a deficit reduction deal without a tax increase on the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans.

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Politics
3:09 pm
Sat November 10, 2012

Examining The GOP's Latino Problem

Originally published on Sat November 10, 2012 6:23 pm

Transcript

GUY RAZ, HOST:

Since Tuesday night's election, the Republican Party's been doing a little self-reflection of its own. Exit polls show that 71 percent of Latinos voted for President Obama compared with just 27 percent who picked Mitt Romney. Now, that marks the widest gap in Latino support between two presidential candidates in recent history.

Al Cardenas is the chairman of the American Conservative Union, and he says it's time for the GOP to take a long look in the mirror.

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Music News
3:09 pm
Sat November 10, 2012

Love To Hate Nickelback? Joke's On You

Credit Jeff Vinnick / Getty Images
Nickelback's Chad Kroeger performs during halftime of a Canadian football game in Vancouver. On the band's own tours, expensive pyrotechnics are more rare.

Originally published on Sat November 10, 2012 6:23 pm

Nickelback. The name itself is musical shorthand for everything music aficionados love to hate about modern rock.

But with more than 50 million record sales worldwide and a lead singer who earns $10 million a year, the band is laughing all the way to the bank — as reporter Ben Paynter describes in Bloomberg Businessweek Magazine.

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It's All Politics
2:55 pm
Sat November 10, 2012

In Tied Race, Candidate's Wife Didn't Vote

Credit istockphoto
A tied city council race in Kentucky could be decided by a coin flip — after one candidate's wife didn't vote on Election Day.

Originally published on Sat November 10, 2012 6:23 pm

Here's a lighter story to round-out this election week.

On Tuesday, 27-year-old Bobby McDonald ran for one of six city council seats in the town of Walton, Ky., population 3,724.

"The night of Election Day, I was watching the results come in," he told NPR's Guy Raz. "And I ended up in a tie with the other candidate."

McDonald was tied 669-669 with his opponent, Olivia Ballou.

"There're many ways you can tie," McDonald said. "But in my situation, I let my wife sleep in and not go vote that day. And she's mad at me cause I did not wake her up."

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Author Interviews
2:27 pm
Sat November 10, 2012

A Tale Of Fate: From Astrology To Astronomy

Originally published on Mon November 12, 2012 10:44 am

When Katherine Marsh was a young girl, she was mesmerized by the dwarfs of Diego Velazquez's paintings. Years later, that obsession inspired Jepp, Who Defied the Stars, her latest novel for young adults.

Marsh joins NPR's Guy Raz to discuss her book, which is rooted in history, yet speckled with fantasy. It carries her readers to the Spanish Netherlands in the late 16th century to tell the coming-of-age story of Jepp of Astraveld.


Interview Highlights

On Jepp's story

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Movies
2:23 pm
Sat November 10, 2012

Hearing History In The Sounds Of 'Lincoln'

Originally published on Sat November 10, 2012 6:23 pm

In the new movie Lincoln, actor Daniel Day-Lewis is getting a lot of attention for his spot-on portrayal of the 16th president. But Ben Burtt, the sound designer, also deserves credit for the film's authenticity. You may not know his name, but you surely know his work.

Burtt is something of a legend in the movie sound world. He has won numerous Oscars, including for his work on Star Wars.

Burtt invented that iconic swoosh of the light saber, using the hum of an old projector and the buzz of a television set.

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The Picture Show
1:42 pm
Sat November 10, 2012

The Waning Art Of The Projectionist

Originally published on Sat November 10, 2012 3:02 pm

Do you ever look up at the tiny window at the back of the movie theater and wonder who's up there? Photographer Joseph O. Holmes has followed the flickering light to find out.

"I've always had this fascination with private work spaces," he says on the phone.

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The Two-Way
1:16 pm
Sat November 10, 2012

Quick Quake Catches Kentucky, Other States By Surprise

About noon today, people in eastern Kentucky were startled by a novel event - an earthquake. The U.S. Geological Survey says a tremor shook the region near Whitesburg. It's a rural area about 150 miles southeast of Lexington, Ky., and about 140 miles northeast of Knoxville, Tenn. No one was hurt.

The magnitude was 4.3, which the USGS site says triggers a "sensation like a heavy truck striking the building" and is "felt by nearly everyone".

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The Two-Way
11:30 am
Sat November 10, 2012

FBI Discovered Evidence Of David Petraeus' Affair

Credit Dusan Vranic / AP
Gen. David Petraeus in Afghanistan in 2010.

Originally published on Sat November 10, 2012 2:56 pm

A day after the story broke, the news remains stunning — CIA director and retired Gen. David Petraeus resigns in a lightning stroke, admitting he used extremely poor judgment by engaging in an extramarital affair.

It's shocking because Petraeus is considered an extremely able leader who's been judged by this single word, says NPR's Tom Bowman: Iraq.

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The Two-Way
11:29 am
Sat November 10, 2012

Four Days Later, Florida Declares For Obama

Credit Wilfredo Lee / AP
A worker prepares boxes of absentee ballots to be scanned at the Miami-Dade County Elections Department on Tuesday.

Originally published on Sun November 11, 2012 7:52 pm

Four days after the polls closed, Florida has announced that President Obama won the state's 29 electoral votes. As the AP writes:

"That gives the president a total of 332 electoral votes to Mitt Romney's 206. Florida officials said Obama had 50 percent of the vote to Romney's 49.1 percent, a margin of about 74,000 votes."

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