Presidential Race
2:26 am
Sun July 15, 2012

Green Party Pick Gives Democrats Brunt Of Criticism

Originally published on Sun July 15, 2012 11:11 am

The Green Party nominated a Massachusetts physician and a formerly homeless single mother as their presidential and vice-presidential candidates for 2012 on Saturday. They say they are in it to win it, and — at the very least — to expand the electoral conversation to include people they say aren't represented by either Democrats or Republicans.

Amid waving green and white campaign signs in a conference room at a Baltimore Holiday Inn, the room erupted in cheers as Dr. Jill Stein won the delegate count.

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Europe
12:58 am
Sun July 15, 2012

Running With The Bulls, But The Fear Is Financial

Originally published on Mon July 16, 2012 5:07 pm

As a journalist, I came to Pamplona to see if Spain's dismal economy would dampen the spirit of the country's biggest summertime festival, the running of the bulls. Spaniards take their partying very seriously, and if there were even a hint of melancholy in their chants of "Viva San Fermin!" it might mean the economy devils had won.

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NPR's Puzzlemaster Will Shortz has appeared on Weekend Edition Sunday since the program's start in 1987. He's also the crossword editor of The New York Times, the former editor of Games magazine, and the founder and director of the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament (since 1978).

Will sold his first puzzle professionally when he was 14 — to Venture, a denominational youth magazine. At 16 he became a regular contributor to Dell puzzle publications. He is the only person in the world to hold a college degree in Enigmatology, the study of puzzles, which he earned from Indiana University in 1974.

Born in 1952 and raised on an Arabian horse farm in Indiana, Will now lives near New York City in a Tudor-style house filled with books and Arts and Crafts furniture. When he's not at work, he enjoys bicycling, movies, reading, travel, and collecting antique puzzle books and magazines.

Sunday Puzzle
12:03 am
Sun July 15, 2012

Following The Trail

Credit NPR Graphic

Originally published on Sun July 15, 2012 11:11 am

On-Air Challenge: For each category, name something in the category starting with each of the letters in the word "trail." For example, if the category were "books of the Bible," you might say Timothy, Ruth, Amos, Isaiah and Leviticus.

Any answer that works is correct. And you can give the answers in any order.

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Monkey See
12:03 am
Sun July 15, 2012

The Id, The Ego And The Superhero: What Makes Batman Tick?

Credit Ron Phillips / Warner Brothers Pictures
Christian Bale as Batman in The Dark Knight Rises.

Originally published on Sun July 15, 2012 11:11 am

When you look at Batman with a coldly analytical eye — and he's hard to avoid these days, with The Dark Knight Rises set to come out Friday — a few things stand out as potential red flags: the secrecy, the lair, the attraction to danger, the blithe self-sacrifice, the ... cape.

It's unusual, all of it, you have to admit. Sure, he's handy to have around in an emergency, and you can't beat a fella who can be summoned with a giant light in the sky in the event you've got no cellphone reception.

But is he entirely ... well?

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The Picture Show
7:07 pm
Sat July 14, 2012

Rare Photos: One Of Woody Guthrie's Last Shows

Originally published on Mon July 16, 2012 9:25 am

After the dust of the Dust Bowl settled down, American folksinger Woody Guthrie moved to New York City and played more for the leftist East Coast intelligentsia than for migrant workers. Among these performances, one of the better documented was an informal concert in a remarkable carriage house in Lenox, Mass.

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Economy
6:12 pm
Sat July 14, 2012

A Tale Of Two Cities: Too Many Jobs, Or Not Enough

Maria Arvizu continues to fill out job applications even though she has yet to deposit her last paycheck.

Arvizu, 53, relocated to Yuma, Ariz., to become a bus driver for the local school district last year. After school closed for summer break, she was caught off guard when she was laid off. She had expected to get another driving assignment and was denied collecting unemployment because she was still considered a school employee.

"I just keep looking for a job," Arvizu says.

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Guy Raz is the weekend host of NPR News' signature afternoon newsmagazine All Things Considered. Raz was named host of the program in July 2009, after serving as an NPR foreign and domestic correspondent for nearly a decade.

Every Saturday and Sunday, weekend All Things Considered introduces listeners to the stories behind the headlines and the voices of people who are changing the world. Guests of the program are just as likely to include Bill Gates talking about innovation as Eminem explaining his rhyme schemes. The program features music and interviews from artists like Bjork to the maestro of the San Francisco Symphony Michael Tilson Thomas.

Weekend All Things Considered is a different kind of newsmagazine. It's a place where you'll hear Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick discussing his late father's jazz career, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg talking about being awkward or a variety of international leaders discuss the topics of the day. Raz is the creator of the show's popular "Three-Minute Fiction" writing contest. Each round, he invites a well-known author to judge original works of fiction submitted by the listeners.

Raz joined NPR in 1997 as an intern for All Things Considered and he worked his way through the ranks of the organization. His first job was the assistant to NPR's legendary news analyst Daniel Schorr. Raz then served as a general assignment reporter covering stories ranging from the early 2000 presidential primaries to a profile on the Doors' song "Light My Fire."

In 2000, at the age of 25, Raz was made NPR's Berlin bureau chief where he covered eastern Europe and the Balkans. Later, he was transferred to London as the bureau chief and covered the war in Iraq. Raz left NPR in 2004, to work as CNN's Jerusalem correspondent chronicling everything from the rise of Hamas as a political power to the incapacitation of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Israel's 2005 withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. Two years later Raz returned to NPR to serve as defense correspondent where he covered the Pentagon and the US military.

During his six years abroad, Raz reported from more than 40 countries, with a focus on Iraq, Israel and the Palestinian Territories, Afghanistan, Eastern Europe and the Balkans. He profiled and interviewed dozens of world leaders, including former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Shimon Peres, General David Petraeus and Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Michael Mullen.

For his reporting from Iraq, Raz was awarded both the Edward R. Murrow Award and the Daniel Schorr Journalism prize. His reporting has contributed to two duPont Awards and one Peabody awarded to NPR. He's been a finalist for the Livingston Award four times. For his reporting from Germany, Raz was awarded both the RIAS Berlin prize and the Arthur F. Burns Award. In 2008, he spent a year as a Nieman journalism fellow at Harvard University where he studied classical history.

Raz's written work has appeared in Salon, Washington City Paper, The Washington Post, The Christian Science Monitor and the German daily, Sueddeutsche Zeitung.

Energy
5:20 pm
Sat July 14, 2012

Miners Weather The Slow Burn Of Coal's Demise

Originally published on Sat July 14, 2012 8:21 pm

At some point today, you will probably flip on a light switch. That simple action connects you to the oldest and most plentiful source of American electricity: coal.

Since the early 1880s — when Edison and Tesla pioneered the distribution of electrical power into our homes — most of that power has come from the process of burning coal.

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Shots - Health Blog
5:12 pm
Sat July 14, 2012

Pennsylvania Cuts Medicaid Coverage For Dental Care

Credit Erika Beras
Marcia Esters hopes charity will pay for dental work that Medicaid used to cover.

Originally published on Sun July 15, 2012 7:41 am

Marcia Esters needs crowns fused to six of her bottom teeth and new dentures. But because of changes made to Medicaid in Pennsylvania, she now has to pay for it all herself.

"It's thousands of dollars' worth of work that I cannot afford," she says.

Esters also uses a wheelchair. Because she couldn't get get her teeth fixed, she has spent the last few months eating pureed food and avoiding people.

"I don't go anywhere unless I have to," she says. "If you could look or feel halfway decent, it just helps, it really does."

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