Datasets:

sentence-transformers

/

npr

like 1

Morning Shots: Ebert's 20 Top 10 Films, 'Avatar,' And Stealing Books

• Roger Ebert has gone in a new direction for his 2009 Top Ten. Specifically: there are 20 of them. • Avatar had a very big weekend at the box office, but The Giant Snow Dump Of 2009 put a little damper on it. • There is a flat-out brilliant quote in this piece about 94-year-old painter Carmen Herrera, which was pointed out to me by a friend. Find the part where she's talking about whether her late husband orchestrated her success from above. Hilarious. After the jump: The post-Super-Bowl slot on CBS, the three Christmas stories, and stealing books. Read More >> • Recent years have brought post-Super-Bowl showcases for already-successful shows like House and The Office. This year, CBS will be showing a new reality show called Undercover Boss. • Slate looks at the three plots of Christmas. • This piece about stealing books contains a rather shocking reveal about what's the most stolen book of all, according to at least one seller.

BP Earnings Plunge 91 Percent In 4th Quarter

Global oil and gas price drops have shattered BP's profits. The British energy giant said Tuesday that its fourth-quarter "underlying replacement cost profits" (or net income) dropped 91 percent. Profits fell to $196 million, compared with $2.2 billion in the year-ago quarter. The full-year figures were somewhat less dramatic: 2015 profits amounted to $5.9 billion, down from $12.1 billion the previous year. That's a 51 percent drop. The company also announced plans to cut up to 3,000 jobs in its product and services arm by the end of 2017, in addition to 4,000 jobs in its exploration and production arm this year. "We are continuing to move rapidly to adapt and rebalance BP for the changing environment," BP group chief executive Bob Dudley says in a press statement. "We're making good progress in managing and lowering our costs and capital spending, while maintaining safe and reliable operations and continuing disciplined investment into the future of our portfolio." After the announcement, BP shares were down nearly 9 percent as of midmorning Tuesday. The sharply lower quarterly profits were "predominantly driven" by the lower global prices of oil and gas, BP says. The price of Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, averaged $44 a barrel in the fourth quarter of 2015, compared with $77 a year earlier, the company says. Today's reported price was $32.42 a barrel. The Associated Press explains the dramatic drop in crude prices: "Oil prices have plunged because global supply is high at a time when consumption is growing more slowly than expected. Demand is weakening in China, and investors are jittery because economic turmoil there is expected to slow the growth in demand further. "OPEC members, meanwhile, are refusing to cut production for fear of losing market share to non-members such as the U.S. and Russia. Iran, which is trying to emerge from decades of sanctions, wants to start pumping more, adding to global supplies." The news service says some analysts predict crude prices will reach a low of $10 a barrel. BP operates in nearly 80 countries, has 84,500 employees and produces 3.2 million barrels of oil per day.

Syrian Expatriates Discuss Recent Violence

As the tanks roll into to the suburbs of Damascus and opposition activists release reports of more deaths at the hands of President Bashar Assad's regime, Syrians in neighboring countries say their families back home are beginning to turn against Assad.

Strong Earthquake Strikes Off Indonesia's Coast

A huge earthquake shook the ocean floor off the coast of Indonesia Wednesday. Early measurements by the U.S. Geological Survey give it a strength of 8.7. Surrounding nations have issued tsunami warnings.

The U.S. Pivots To Focus On Southeast Asia After The Fall Of Kabul

Vice President Kamala Harris travels to Southeast Asia this week. How do this week's events in Afghanistan resonate in Southeast Asia, and what does it portend for the U.S. as it pivots to the region?

Tiny Desk Concert Judges To Announce Contest Winner

More than 400 performances since the Tiny Desk Concert series began, NPR Music on Thursday will announce the winner of the Tiny Desk Concert Contest to find a great undiscovered musician.

Chemistry Nobel Awards Work on Cells

Two Israelis and an American have won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Their work shows how living cells recycle materials necessary for life. NPR's Richard Harris reports.

Wanted: Trained Teachers

-- NPR's Claudio Sanchez reports the growing school population means two million new teachers will be needed in the coming years... However, there are concerns that new teachers are not being adequately trained

William Claxton, 80, Shot 'Jazz For The Eyes'

California is the land of sunlit beaches, cars and cool jazz. They all play a part in the photography of William J. Claxton, who died in Los Angeles on Oct. 11, one day shy of his 81st birthday. Claxton was born in Pasadena and made his name with photographs of an Oklahoma trumpet player whose career took off in California: Chet Baker. In fact, Claxton's moody images helped propel Baker to stardom. To say that Baker was photogenic would be an understatement. But Claxton got it almost by accident. The photographer told the Irish Times in 2005, "I was up all night developing [in 1951] when the face appeared in the developing tray... an angelic face with pale white skin and, the craziest thing, one tooth missing — he'd been in a fight. I thought, 'My God, that's Chet Baker.' " Claxton's black-and-white images are striking. Some are posed, while others capture spontaneous moments: Duke Ellington smiling at the piano; Mel Torme leaning back, eyes closed, pushing out a song. One of the most haunting shows Baker looking down at a piano's keyboard, the background washed out by the light coming in from behind him, the outline of his head reflected in the closed piano lid. But Claxton also took musicians out of the clubs and recording studios and photographed them on the California beaches, in convertibles, in the mountains. Claxton called his photographs "jazz for the eyes" and likened his camera to the jazz musician's axe. He told music journalist Don Heckman, "It's the tool that you would like to be able to ignore, but you have to have it to convey your thoughts and whatever you want to express through it." Teenage Jazz Fan Claxton started collecting records when he was a kid — 78s by Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Lena Horne and others. He pasted their pictures into scrapbooks. By the time he was 12, he was sneaking into jazz clubs and photographing musicians with his obsolete 4x5 Speed Graphic camera. In one of his books, Claxton recalled hanging out with Charlie Parker and some fans early into the morning and then taking them all to his parents' house for an impromptu shoot. The photographer began making money from his pictures when Richard Bock, co-founder of the Pacific Jazz record label, hired Claxton to shoot album covers. His work got noticed and Claxton started getting calls from Time, Life, Vogue and other magazines to take celebrity photos. He said he drew on his degree in psychology to deal with difficult personalities such as Barbra Streisand, George C. Scott or Anita O'Day. Claxton told the Irish Times that the first thing Steve McQueen said to him was, "I hate photographers. Stay in the background." The two eventually became friends. Claxton helped make news in the early 1960s with his fashion photographs of Rudy Gernreich's groundbreaking topless swimsuit. The model was Claxton's wife, Peggy Moffitt. The pictures created a sensation. Claxton won numerous awards for his work and published more than a dozen books. A short film that he made, Basic Black, is credited as the first fashion video and now appears in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. But William James Claxton will always be associated with the light of California and the sound of the jazz that was made there in the 1950s and '60s. JACKI LYDEN, host: And we end tonight's show with a tribute to a luminary of the music world, though not a musician. William Claxton took some of the most recognizable photos in jazz. He died a week ago of congestive heart failure, just one day shy of his 81st birthday. (Soundbite of music) LYDEN: Chet Baker was perhaps William Claxton's primary subject. The photographer took many moody images of the trumpeter and helped propel him to stardom. In one, Baker looks down at a piano keyboard, the background washed out by the light coming in from behind him, the outline of his head reflected in the closed piano lid. Claxton went on to shoot Billie Holiday, Miles Davis, Sarah Vaughan, the list is exhaustive. But in these photos, you won't find just shining trumpets and cigarette smoke. Claxton was a California boy and often took musicians out of the clubs and recording studios to photograph them on California's beaches, mountains, and deserts. The cool sounds of jazz captured in the state's vivid light. He called his photography "Jazz for the Eyes." In 1999, he told NPR he saw big similarities between the two art forms. He said they both require an instrument that the musician or the artist has to learn very, very well, so it's almost second nature to them. Then the musician has to improvise in jazz for it to be jazz, and the photographer has to improvise too because everything happens in a split second. Those parting words tonight from the late photographer William Claxton. That's All Things Considered from NPR News. I'm Jacki Lyden.

What The Flooding In Texas Teaches Us About The Recovery From Hurricane Harvey

Houston Chronicle reporter Mike Morris talks with Michel Martin about the recent flooding in Texas and what Houston has done to improve infrastructure since Hurricane Harvey two years ago.

Every End is a New Beginning

House musician Jonathan Coulton asks contestants to name words that complete two common phrases, as the last word of one phrase and the first of the other, like "log cabin" and "cabin fever." Heard in Episode 312: Leggo My Lego (SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) OPHIRA EISENBERG, HOST: Welcome back to ASK ME ANOTHER NPR and WNYC's hour of trivia, puzzles and word games. I'm Ophira Eisenberg and let's say hello to Alexia Koritz and Marlene Moxness. (APPLAUSE) EISENBERG: Alexia, you wrote your law school admission essay on competitive eating? ALEXIA KORITZ: Yes I did. EISENBERG: What does that - amazing - and did you get in? KORITZ: Yes I did. EISENBERG: All right. (LAUGHTER) EISENBERG: What does competitive eating have to do with the law? KORITZ: Sure. Sure. So the prompt was to write 250 words on any subject of your choosing, so competitive eating. (LAUGHTER) EISENBERG: OK. So you about your... KORITZ: I argued that competitive eating was a sport. EISENBERG: Yes. KORITZ: Operating from first principles as what is a sport? Competitive. EISENBERG: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Mm-hmm. KORITZ: There's rules. EISENBERG: There's rules. KORITZ: There's training. EISENBERG: Tons of training. KORITZ: Mm-hmm. Yeah. It's - competitive eating is shown on ESPN. EISENBERG: It is. (LAUGHTER) KORITZ: It's indicative of a sport. JONATHAN COULTON: End of essay. Period. (LAUGHTER) COULTON: Done. KORITZ: And now I'm a lawyer. (LAUGHTER) EISENBERG: Marlene, you're joining us from Boston? MARLENE MOXNESS: Yes. AUDIENCE MEMBER: Woo hoo. EISENBERG: Nice to have you. MOXNESS: Thank you. EISENBERG: You teach and science to high school students. (APPLAUSE) MOXNESS: I do. EISENBERG: Thanks to that. (APPLAUSE) EISENBERG: Now, you are the - I don't understand this - you'll have to explain - the iron chef of the school lunch. MOXNESS: Yes. I work in a public school and so obviously, our lunches are delicious and nutritionally balanced. (APPLAUSE) EISENBERG: TM, yes. MOXNESS: And we get all the leftovers. And it feels like - it feels weird to just throw quasi perfectly good food away. And so we try and transform it into other more delicious hopefully, editable things. EISENBERG: Yuck. MOXNESS: Yeah. (LAUGHTER) MOXNESS: Some days are better than others. EISENBERG: All right. This game is called Every End Is A New Beginning. And you can tell that it's something that you would hear from a puzzle guru because they're always throwing out little bits of wisdom. Right, guru? ART CHUNG: Well, most of our mantras are really like palindromes, like a man, a plan, a canal - Panama. (LAUGHTER) COULTON: That's your mantra? CHUNG: When I'm in Panama. (LAUGHTER) EISENBERG: When you're in Panama. For those specific times. All right. Well, we're going to turn to our second spiritual leader, Jonathan Coulton to run this game. COULTON: Yes. The answer is within you. (LAUGHTER) COULTON: In this game, we are going to ask you to give us a word that appears in two common phrases. It is the last word of one and phrase in the first of the other. So non-spiritual guru, Art Chung, would you give us an example? CHUNG: Sure. If you are in Panama and I said log fever, you would answer cabin because it completes to phrases - log cabin and cabin fever. KORITZ: I see what you did there. CHUNG: There you go. (LAUGHTER) COULTON: To be clear, don't be thrown by the Panama thing. (LAUGHTER) COULTON: Nothing to do with it. So we are looking for that single word that appears at the end of one phrase, the beginning of another. When you ring in, tell us the word and the two phrases they form. And you can feel free to talk it out. OK. Poison league. (SOUNDBITE OF BELL) COULTON: Alexia. KORITZ: Ivy. Poison ivy. COULTON: That's right. KORITZ: Poison ivy, Ivy League. COULTON: Poison ivy and Ivy League. (APPLAUSE) COULTON: Elbow monkey. (SOUNDBITE OF BELL) COULTON: Marlene. MOXNESS: Elbow grease monkey. COULTON: That's right. Grease right in the middle. (APPLAUSE) COULTON: Between elbow and monkey lies grease. (LAUGHTER) MOXNESS: Slides better. (LAUGHTER) EISENBERG: So the elbow slides around on the monkey? Huh. COULTON: Walking ringer. (SOUNDBITE OF BELL) COULTON: Marlene. MOXNESS: Walking dead ringer. COULTON: That's right. (APPLAUSE) COULTON: Party magnetism. I have this. (SOUNDBITE OF BELL) COULTON: Marlene. MOXNESS: Animal. COULTON: That's right, party animal, animal magnetism. (APPLAUSE) COULTON: Hot cross of steel. (SOUNDBITE OF BELL) (LAUGHTER) COULTON: Alexia. KORITZ: Buns. (APPLAUSE) COULTON: Buns is correct. Bite the bunny. (SOUNDBITE OF BELL) COULTON: Alexia. KORITZ: Bullet. (SOUNDBITE OF BELL) COULTON: I'm curious to know what the phrases are. (LAUGHTER) KORITZ: Not suitable for radio. (LAUGHTER) COULTON: Fair enough. Marlene, do you have a guess? MOXNESS: Now I'm just thinking about master building again. But I... (LAUGHTER) COULTON: Yeah. MOXNESS: I think it's dust bunny. Right? COULTON: It is. Yes. MOXNESS: Bite the dust bunny. COULTON: Bite the dust and dust bunny. You got it. (APPLAUSE) COULTON

BONUS: What To Tell Kids When The News Is Scary

When the headlines are terrifying, how can parents make sure kids get the facts without traumatizing them? Whether it's a school shooting, a global pandemic or an insurrection on the U.S. Capitol, child development experts have some advice. In <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/04/24/716704917/when-the-news-is-scary-what-to-say-to-kids">this bonus episode</a> brought to you by NPR's Life Kit<em>, </em>hosts Anya Kamenetz and Cory Turner have answers.

Letters from Listeners

Thursday is the day that <EM>All Things Considered</EM> reads letters from listeners. Among this week's topics: the obituary of Edward Said; gratitude for Noah Adams' piece on working mothers in Maine; a savvy listener's "October Fools" observation; and suggestions for the Wisconsin quarter.

Black History Month: Postcard from Kansas

An update on Black History Month as it is observed in Nicodemus, Kansas. This national historic landmark is the only all African-American community in the state of Kansas. Guest: Angela Bates, historian for the city of Nicodemus, Kansas

New Mix: Tank And The Bangas, Jesca Hoop, Chris Staples, More

Don't worry! Everything's going to be alright. But if you need more reassurance than that, look no further than "Set of Stairs," from the Amsterdam-based band Pip Blom. It's a burst of frenetic joy to lift you up whenever life deals you a bad hand. Its singular message: You got this!That's just one of the songs we're featuring on this week's show. We've also got wild and wonderful new music from former Tiny Desk contest winners Tank and the Bangas, gorgeous harmonies and an uplifting message of unity from Jesca Hoop with Lucius, and the singer known as Sevdaliza has a dark and mysterious reflection on love gone bad.All that plus singer-songwriter Chris Staples announces his new album <em>Holy Moly</em> and shares a tale of young love called "Everybody Said;" and singer, multi-instrumentalist and poet Vera Sola pairs with Kenneth Pattengale of The Milk Carton Kids on "Loving, Loving (Acoustic Reprise)."

Dirty Spuds? Alleged Potato Cartel Accused Of Price Fixing

Editor's Note: Many of you noted that the price for a 10-pound bag of potatoes cited in the lawsuit seems ridiculously high. So we look into the matter further — you can read what we found in this follow-up post. High-tech spying with satellites. Intimidation. Price fixing. Sound like the makings of a Hollywood thriller? These are actually among the allegations being thrown about in a federal court case against America's alleged "Potato Cartel." It's enough to make Mr. Potato Head blush. A civil lawsuit that last week shifted into U.S. district court in Idaho — America's potato country — alleges that the United Potato Growers of America has become a veritable OPEC of spuds. The group's members, who produce about 75 percent of the potatoes grown in this country, are accused of illegally conspiring to inflate 'tater prices. The allegations, which the potato growers deny, are being lobbed by the Associated Wholesale Grocers, which represents more than 1,900 retailers, according to its website. The grocers group is based in Kansas, where the suit was originally filed this spring. In their lawsuit, the grocers accuse Big Potato of enforcing its pricing schemes through a variety of strong-arm, high-tech means, including using GPS systems and satellite imagery of farmland to make sure farmers aren't planting more spuds than they're supposed to. They were "using Spudnik, if you will, from the sky," AP reporter John Miller, who recently wrote about the case, joked with Robert Siegel on All Things Considered in describing the lawsuit's allegations. Growers who violated the production limits, the suit alleges, were fined $100 per acre. At issue is whether the potato growers were engaging in predatory conduct or merely running a smart cooperative that helped its members avoid the cycle of boom and bust in the potato biz. According to its website, United Potato Growers of America formed in 2005, following the creation a year earlier of an Idaho cooperative with a mission to "manage their potato supply, matching it to demand to help their growers receive a reasonable price for their product." Mission accomplished, it would seem: As AP's Miller notes, the lawsuit alleges that in 2007, a 10-pound bag of potatoes sold for about $8 or $9; by 2008, the lawsuit alleges, that price had shot up to $15 or so. (Update: Some of you have noted that these prices sound too high. Here's what the lawsuit alleges: "In 2005-06, UPGI [United Potato Growers of Idaho, an affiliated group] helped erase 6.8 million cwt. [hundredweight] of potatoes from the U.S. and Canadian markets. This helped drive up the market price over 48 percent." Update No. 2: Elsewhere, the suit also states: "As a result of these efforts, by the summer of 2008, according to the Idaho Potato Commission, a ten pound bag of potatoes cost consumers $15 — up $6 over 2007.") Now, under a 1922 law known as the Capper-Volstead Act, agricultural producers are allowed to band together to more efficiently market their products. And the potato folks clearly think they're on the right side of the law. In a statement, UPGA told NPR: "United Potato Grower's goal has been to help growers provide quality potatoes at reasonable prices to American consumers. We have always acted openly and within the bounds of the law. We are confident in our legal position and look forward to a favorable outcome in court." But in recent years, the Justice Department has been scrutinizing just how far such antitrust exemptions should apply to large modern agricultural operations. And the current lawsuit is quite similar to another lawsuit filed against the potato co-op back in 2010. The judge in that case, Miller says, rejected a motion to throw the case out of court. Instead, the judge says it remains an open question just how far growers can stretch Capper-Volstead's antitrust protections. You can hear Robert Siegel's interview with John Miller by clicking on the audio link at the top of this page. ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST: From a big, wholesale grocer come allegations of price fixing on the part of big potato. Associated Wholesale Grocers is based in Kansas. They're doing the accusing. The United Potato Growers of America, the UPGA, denies it all. This is a lawsuit. And the question is: Are the big potato growers engaging in predatory conduct, or are they running a smart co-op - smart enough to avoid a cycle of boom and bust when they overproduce? Well, for these and other questions related to the price of potatoes, John Miller of The Associated Press joins us now from Boise, Idaho. Welcome to the program. JOHN MILLER: Yeah. Thanks very much. SIEGEL: And first, what does Associated Wholesale Grocers charge here? MILLER: Well, the Associated Wholesale Grocers charges that about 75 percent of the fresh potato growers in the country have gotten together - as part of the United Potato Growers of America - and have run a price-fixing scheme, according to the lawsuit, not unsimilar to the OPEC cartel; in order

20 Years of Bang on a Can

The New York music collective celebrates its 20th anniversary with a 24-hour music marathon. Bang on a Can was started by composers Michael Gordon, David Lang and Julia Wolfe in 1987.

Bush Meets with Polish Leader

President Bush meets Tuesday with Polish President Alexander Kwasniewski. Poland is considered a key U.S. ally in Iraq, but many Poles complain they are not getting much in return for helping the United States in a time of need. Poles also resent being fingerprinted and photographed upon entry to the United States. NPR's Michele Kelemen reports.

Check-In: Whack-A-Butt

Ask Me Another host Ophira Eisenberg relives a childhood memory at a carnival. Heard on Alfonso Ribeiro: Jokes About Butts And Mild Transgressions.

Killer Of Putin Critic Boris Nemtsov Is Sentenced To 20 Years In Prison

The triggerman in the drive-by murder of Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov has been sentenced to 20 years in prison. The bold killing of Nemtsov, 55, on a bridge near the Kremlin shocked many Russians; questions remain about who reportedly placed a large bounty on his life. Prosecutors had sought a life sentence for Zaur Dadayev, a former officer in the security force of the Russian province of Chechnya, for killing Nemtsov in February of 2015. Instead, he was sentenced to 20 years. His four accomplices were handed sentences of 11 to 19 years. All five were also fined around $1,650. Their defense lawyers say they will appeal. "The men were allegedly offered 15 million rubles ($240,000) to murder the politician," reports The Moscow Times, citing the same figure that has been reported elsewhere. An advocate of democratic reforms, Nemtsov was once seen as the political heir to Russia's former President Boris Yeltsin, under whom he served as a deputy prime minister in the 1990s. "Nemtsov was a prominent critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, accusing his government of corruption and fighting a covert war in Ukraine," NPR's Lucian Kim reports from Moscow. "A trail of clues led to Chechnya, which is ruled by a government fiercely loyal to Putin — and the Nemtsov family has criticized the investigation for not focusing on who ordered and planned the murder." Dadayev and his fellow Chechens were convicted of killing Nemtsov in late June. At the time, his daughter, journalist Zhanna Nemtsova, noted that no high-profile Chechen officials were ever questioned about the case.

Why We Matter: This Year's Nobel Prizes And The Meaning Of Life

If you are a top-notch scientist with Nobel Prize aspirations, this is the week you don’t sleep well. The phone may ring in the middle of the night, and that voice with a thick Swedish accent may be on the other side, congratulating you. Or it may be your teenage son, stuck with a flat tire outside the local 7-Eleven. There's always next year. The prizes were diverse. In medicine, Robert Edwards, from Cambridge University, received the prize for inventing in-vitro fertilization that brought babies (many of them twins) to women that wouldn’t be able to conceive offspring otherwise. Since Louise Brown, the first "test-tube baby," was born in 1978, more than four million people around the world owe their existence to Edwards's inventiveness. Due to his work, life's first steps, the fertilization of the female egg by the male sperm, lost some of its mystery to become a process amenable to human intervention. In Edward's words, The most important thing in life is having a child...Nothing is more special than a child. [Patrick] Steptoe and I were deeply affected by the desperation felt by couples who so wanted to have children. We had a lot of critics but we fought like hell for our patients. Science rarely reaches higher ground than when human compassion motivates inventiveness. In physics, the prize went to Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov, both Russian and both now working at the University of Manchester. (This was a great year for British science, which, given the current threats of cuts, really needed the credibility boost.) They are credited with the creation of a new material called graphene, an incredibly thin -- one atom thick -- wafer of carbon atoms that promises to spur a revolution in electronics. In another, more playful, of Geim's works, he proved that magnetic fields could levitate frogs. Who said science is not fun? Read More Graphene is a somewhat magical material: stretchy, almost transparent, and yet as strong as steel, the wafers are excellent heat and electric conductors, just what you want in a variety of electronic circuits. Soon, they may be the key ingredient in flexible computer touchscreens and pollutions sensors. The interesting part is how Geim and Novoselov discovered it. Starting with a block of carbon such as graphite from ordinary pencils, they patiently used Scotch tape to strip super-thin layers of carbon atoms. Being so thin, the material lives on the boundary of classical and quantum mechanics and can be used to study the weird properties of the quantum world. This is science at its best: playfulness and inventiveness that, together, may spearhead a revolution in technology. In chemistry, the award went to Richard F. Heck, from the University of Delaware, Ei-ichi Negishi, from Purdue University and Akira Suzuki, from Hokkaido University, in Japan. They independently created a chemical process that efficiently links carbon atoms together, allowing for the synthesis of new cancer-fighting drugs, agrochemicals and coatings for electronic components. Their technique uses the metal palladium to catalyze (that is, speed up) the usually difficult and slow reactions that link carbon atoms into complex compounds. The technique is part of a long-dreamed goal of organic chemists, to be able to synthesize pretty much any molecule they can: molecular engineering from bottom up. We now pause and reflect upon the discovery of the new planet Gliese 581g, reported by my esteemed co-blogger Adam Frank yesterday. Yes, the distant new world may harbor liquid water within a thin layer between its frigid and hot hemispheres. And yes, having water is always a must for life, at least as we understand it, carbon-based and metabolically efficient. On the other hand, if we take a good look around we see that our own cosmic neighbors are all barren worlds. If there is any kind of life in the Martian undersurface, or in the oceans of Europa, it will be very simple, unicellular. Odds are that the same will be true for Gliese 581g and most other Earth-like worlds we may find within the next decades. Finding any kind of life in another world would be deeply changing. Life would gain a different dimension, and so would we. Few research topics are as fascinating, and we are lucky to be living in a time when we can actually probe into other worlds to see if there is any sign of life there. However, what we are also learning is how precious and rare our own world is: for offering the conditions for life to thrive here for the last 3.5 billion years and, from our perspective, for letting us evolve here. Seen from space, Earth is a precarious world, floating in austere blackness and radiation. We are here because our planet protects us with its atmospheric and magnetic blankets. That we evolved to the point of being able to use our brains to create life in a test tube, or materials that can reshape the world, is nothing short of amazing. If there is life out there, most probably it won’t be anything like us.

Edvard Grieg's Piano

Pianist Leif Ove Andsnes plays two of the Lyric Pieces (numbers 4 and 5), Op. 62 by Edvard Grieg, on Grieg's own piano. (EMI 57296)

Rearview Mirror: Walsh to Santa Fe

On the high plains of southeastern Colorado, some 700 people live in a small town called Walsh. It's a place with little industry and no stop lights. After getting an email tip, we traveled there yesterday to continue our search for leaders. And we found them. The story of Walsh aired this morning. We weren't able to stay in Walsh long unfortunately. The road called. And so into a thunderstorm, we rode:

First Amendment Arguments Overshadow Sterling Espionage Case

Former CIA employee Jeffrey Sterling goes to trial next week on charges he violated his oath and leaked confidential information to reporter James Risen.

Maine's School Laptop Computer Program Revisited

Three years ago, Maine became the first state to give out laptops to every 7th and 8th grader in the public schools. We look at how the program is working.

Presidential Campaigning Begins In Egypt

At the end of the month, Egypt will hold the first election since the military ousted former president Mohammed Morsi in July. This week, campaigning for the presidential election officially kicked off between two candidates: leftist politician Hamdeen Sabahi and former army chief Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi. Last night, el-Sissi, who is the frontrunner, appeared in his first television interview. If he&#8217;s elected, he has vowed to finish the Muslim Brotherhood movement in Egypt. NPR’s International Correspondent Leila Fadel is in Cairo and joins Here & Now’s Jeremy Hobson to discuss el-Sissi&#8217;s campaigning efforts and the coming election. Guest Leila Fadel, international correspondent in Cairo for NPR. She tweets @LeilaFadel. ROBIN YOUNG, HOST: It's HERE AND NOW. The presidential campaign has officially kicked off in Egypt. The leading candidate, Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, gave his first television interview last night and vowed that the Muslim Brotherhood, the party of former president Mohamed Morsi, which has been banned, would not exist at all under his leadership. And today, a court ruled members of the National Democratic Party can't run in any election. That was the party of the president before Morsi, Hosni Mubarak. And hundreds of Egyptians were recently condemned to death by a court for participating in protests. What's the latest on them? Let's bring in NPR's Cairo correspondent Leila Fadel. Leila, welcome. LEILA FADEL, BYLINE: Thank you for having me. YOUNG: And tell us first more about Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, central figure in the interim government, what role did he play there, and why did he step down? FADEL: Well, ironically Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi really came to be known as a figure in Egypt when the ousted president Mohamed Morsi appointed him as his military chief in Egypt. Later on, he would be the man that ousted Morsi from power and has really become a lionized figured in Egypt. People see him as a hero, as a savior, people who didn't like the Muslim Brotherhood and their leadership. And so they're really seeing him as a shoe in for the election, and he had to step down from the military in order to run in a civilian position. YOUNG: Is he far and away the leading candidate, or does he have serious competition? FADEL: People joke that you could write the outcome of this election today. Really it's pretty clear that he will become the president. He has all of the state institutions really behind him. The streets are peppered with posters of him saying he's the hero, he will be the person that saves Egypt from terrorism, and really people say with this political atmosphere right now, there isn't really room for opposition against him in a really free and fair election. YOUNG: But there is someone running. FADEL: There is one person running, Hamdeen Sabahi, a nacreous poet, a leftist politician. He ran in the last election and surprised a lot of people by getting third in the very, very competitive presidential election. And so he has stepped up as the opposition candidate when many others said they wouldn't participate, because they didn't feel it was free and fair. YOUNG: In the Muslim Brotherhood, which joined forces with secular Egyptians who overthrew Hosni Mubarak, those secular Egyptians then stood back from the Muslim Brotherhood as it gained power under Morsi. The Muslim Brotherhood, now banned, do they fit into this election at all? FADEL: No, they don't. If you're not a declared member of the Muslim Brotherhood, you can be part of Egypt and you can vote. But the Muslim Brotherhood, as an organization, is banned and has been deemed a terrorist organization. Its leadership is pretty much all in jail. Many members that are out sleep in different places every night. It's not an organization that has been allowed to really exist right now, even though it still is popular among a certain minority in Egypt. And it has been very vocal against the ouster of Morsi and calling for his reinstatement. But as an organization, it's being basically irradiated. YOUNG: And what happened to the hundreds of Egyptians who were convicted and sentenced to death? FADEL: They were accused of inciting violence, and in each case of killing one person. And it's been seen as really a travesty of justice. Human rights organizations saying really a legal massacre. And the Egyptian government saying, well, we can't interfere in the judicial system, but these will likely not be upheld on appeal. This is the largest mass death sentence basically in modern history. And really the government isn't intervening and it's being seen as a sign of really intense repression here in Egypt in the last six to seven months. YOUNG: Yeah. Remind us, what were the protest against? FADEL: Well, that was the day, August 14th, it was the day when two pro-Mohamed Morsi encampments were forcefully disbanded in Cairo. Hundreds of people were killed. And then there were outbursts in different areas across the country, and some of them

Police Say 'Empire' Actor Jussie Smollett Attacked In Possible Hate Crime

Updated at 6:02 p.m. ET Jussie Smollett, one of the stars of the TV show Empire, reportedly was brutally attacked early Tuesday in what Chicago police are investigating as a possible hate crime. The 36-year-old actor took himself to the hospital directly after what police called a "possible racially-charged assault and battery"; authorities say he is in good condition. Police received a report that Smollett, who is black and gay, was walking in the downtown Chicago neighborhood of Streeterville around 2 a.m. local time "when two unknown offenders approached him and gained his attention by yelling out racial and homophobic slurs towards him," the city's police department told NPR. "The offenders began to batter the victim with their hands about the face and poured an unknown chemical substance on the victim." The alleged assault did not end there. "At some point during the incident," police added, "one of the offenders wrapped a rope around the victim's neck." Authorities say the two attackers fled on foot. Chicago police say they are gathering video, identifying potential witnesses and trying to establish a timeline of events. Police put out a call for anyone who had been in the area at the time to submit information to their tip line. Smollett's mother is African-American and his father is Jewish. In a 2016 interview, he calls his family "blu-ish — black and Jewish." On Fox's Empire, Smollett plays Jamal Lyon, a young gay man trying to win his music mogul father's approval. Twentieth Century Fox Television and Fox Entertainment said in a statement to NPR that it was "deeply saddened and outraged" at the news. "We send our love to Jussie, who is resilient and strong, and we will work with law enforcement to bring these perpetrators to justice. The entire studio, network and production stands united in the face of any despicable act of violence and hate — and especially against one of our own." In an emotional video, Empire co-creator Lee Daniels addressed Smollett, whom he calls "my son." "You didn't deserve, nor anyone deserves, to have a noose put around your neck," he says. "You are better than that. We are better than that. America is better than that. ... Hold your head up, Jussie. I'm with you, I'll be there in a minute. It's just another f****** day in America." Co-creator Danny Strong called Smollett "a kind and profoundly talented soul whom I respect with all my heart." In a statement to NPR, GLAAD Communications Director Mathew Lasky said Smollett is "a true champion for LGBTQ people and is beloved by the community and allies around the world."

Study May Link Pro Football, Brain Decline

Professional football players may have an increased risk of later dying from neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and ALS, according to a new study in the journal <em>Neurology</em>. Everett Lehman, a researcher at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and co-author of the study, discusses the findings.

Hellfire Missile Wrongly Sent To Cuba Was Inert, U.S. Official Says

After news emerged that a commonly used American missile wound up in Cuba following a training exercise in Europe, a U.S. official said the Hellfire missile is inert, lacking key components. The missile arrived in Cuba in 2014; since then, U.S. requests for its return have gone unheeded. It's still a mystery as to how the missile reached Cuba, reports The Wall Street Journal, saying the incident has "confounded investigators and experts who work in a regulatory system designed to prevent precisely such equipment from falling into the wrong hands." A U.S. government official familiar with the situation calls it a "dummy" missile that lacks a warhead or guidance system, NPR's Michele Kelemen reports. Michele tells our Newscast unit: "Lockheed Martin sent it to Europe for a NATO training exercise — and on its return, it ended up on a plane to Havana, where it was impounded. "Since The Wall Street Journal first reported the story, Obama administration officials seem to be downplaying the incident. U.S. officials have talked with Cuba, though, trying to help Lockheed Martin get the dummy Hellfire missile back. "A State Department spokesman says by law he can't say much about defense trade licensing and compliance, adding that U.S. companies are responsible for documenting all shipping logistics and reporting any deviations." According to the Journal, investigators have been trying to determine whether the incident was simply a boneheaded mistake or may be part of a criminal or clandestine plot. Originally designed to be launched from helicopters, Hellfire missiles have also been used to arm drone aircraft in recent years — one was credited with killing "Jihadi John" in a U.S. operation last November. Since it was first developed in the 1970s, the Hellfire system has served as the basis for a string of variations, with a range of guidance systems and warheads. Update at 4:40 p.m. ET. Rubio "demands answers": Republican presidential candidate and U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida wrote to the State Department on Friday to say it "apparently tried to withhold this information" (about the shipment of the missile) from Congress and the public. He called that "disgraceful." In a letter, Rubio tells Asst. Sec. Roberta Jackson that "the fact that members of Congress are reading about Cuba's possession of a U.S. missile in the newspaper rather than from you or other State Department officials is astounding and inexcusable." Update at 4:35 p.m. ET. A statement from State Department spokesman John Kirby: "I am restricted under federal law and regulations from commenting on specific defense trade licensing cases and compliance matters. What I can say is that under the Arms Export Control Act the State Department licenses both permanent and temporary exports by U.S. companies of regulated defense articles. U.S. companies are responsible for documenting their proposed shipping logistics in the application of their export license as well as reporting any shipping deviations to the department as appropriate." Editor's note at 4:30 p.m. ET: The reference to a source who calls it a "dummy" missile has been edited to make clear that official is familiar with what happened.

Have You Changed Someone's Life Without Realizing It?

Part 4 of the TED Radio Hour episode Disruptive Leadership. About Drew Dudley's TED Talk Drew Dudley calls on us to celebrate leadership as the everyday act of improving each other's lives. About Drew Dudley Drew Dudley's interest in developing people's leadership began when he was the Leadership Development coordinator at the University of Toronto, Scarborough. In 2010, he founded Nuance Leadership Development Services, a company that creates leadership curricula for communities, organizations and individuals.

Delia Ephron On The Closeness And Complexity Of Sisterhood

Novelist Delia Ephron says that losing her older sister Nora was like "losing an arm." But for all their collaboration and closeness, Delia writes about the complications of sisterhood in her new collection of autobiographical essays, Sister Mother Husband Dog (etc.).

NCAA Division 1 Athletes Get Another Shot At Spring Sports

When the NCAA shut down college sports earlier this month because of the coronavirus outbreak, the most dramatic cancellation was March Madness – the wildly popular men's and women's D1 basketball tournaments. But thousands of athletes in less prominent spring sports — baseball, lacrosse and golf, to name a few — had their seasons end too. Now, they'll get another chance. Monday, the NCAA's Division 1 Council voted to let schools offer spring sport athletes an extra year of eligibility so they can play an extra season. Obviously, the impact is greatest on graduating seniors, but the decision applies to all athletes whose spring seasons were interrupted by the outbreak. They'll all have the opportunity to have their lost season restored. Winter sports were not included in the decision because much of their regular seasons were finished. Meaning all those basketball players will forever wonder, who would've won March Madness in 2020? The Council earlier had said it supported eligibility relief for spring athletes. But it had to work out many of the details before making an official announcement. Some of the details include: Financial aid rules were adjusted to allow teams to carry more athletes on scholarship, expanding the limit to include those who return. Schools won't have to offer the same level of scholarship to returning senior athletes, as they had this season.&nbsp;But schools can draw on the NCAA's Student Assistance Fund to help pay for athletes who take advantage of this extra eligibility. An athlete can come back for another season and transfer to another school. But any scholarship they'd get at the new school would count against that team's limit. Some details still have to be ironed out. For instance, if a senior graduates this year and wants to come back for another year of sports, what are the academic requirements? That's one of the issues on Katie Hoeg's mind. She was a star senior attacker on the University of North Carolina's No. 1-ranked women's lacrosse team this season. Hoeg is scheduled to graduate in May and wonders if coming back to play would require her to take on another major or graduate classes. "I'm very grateful to be at a school [like] UNC," she says, "where their education is something I would still love to pursue." Hoeg says she's also waiting to see what happens with her full scholarship, which she had for her senior season. As of right now, Hoeg says, "My heart is definitely sold [on] coming back. I'm glad the NCAA made this decision [and] I believe it's a step in the right direction."

Three Years Of An Awful Recovery

The recession ended and the recovery began in June, 2009. It's an ugly third birthday for the labor market More than 7 million U.S. jobs disappeared during the recession. Fewer than 3 million have been added in the recovery. And the rate of job growth has been falling lately; in May, the economy added just 69,000 jobs. That's not even enough to keep up with population growth. The number of people who are unemployed or underemployed has fallen from its peak, but it's still far higher than it was when the recession began. People in the prime of their working life are slowly leaving the labor force. In other words, not only are they not working; they're giving up entirely on finding a job. Why is this even called a recovery? The committee that officially decides when we're in a recession explained itself a few years back: In determining that a trough occurred in June 2009, the committee did not conclude that economic conditions since that month have been favorable ... Rather, the committee determined only that the recession ended and a recovery began in that month. A recession is a period of falling economic activity spread across the economy, lasting more than a few months ... The trough marks the end of the declining phase and the start of the rising phase of the business cycle. Economic activity is typically below normal in the early stages of an expansion, and it sometimes remains so well into the expansion. Well into the expansion, indeed. Note: This post was updated to incorporate the May jobs numbers, which were released Friday morning.

'Mad Men' Creator Matthew Weiner On The End Of Don Draper's Journey

Weiner is currently writing and shooting the show's final episodes. He tells Fresh Air, "I'm going to be leaving these characters in a place where they belong."

Stolen Gnomes Won't Go Home?

A thief in France has not only stolen some 170 garden gnomes, but he's re-painted them different colors, making it difficult for police to return them to their rightful owners - and other news worth an honorable mention. On our blog, links to these stories. MIKE PESCA, host: Welcome back to the nirvana that is the Bryant Park Project from NPR News, online all the time at npr.org/bryantpark. You know, we cram a lot of news into this show, so we try to name this segment where we cram in the most news, and so we were going to call it the Cramble. But it turned out it wasn't in the dictionary. So Matt Martinez says, people, come up with something similar. Thus was born, The Flammable. All right, editor Trish McKinney said, I'll do it myself, and now we, have the Ramble. (Soundbite of music) PESCA: And luckily the, you know, mom and dad of the Ramble are here today. PATRICIA MCKINNEY: Hello, son. MATT MARTINEZ: Hi. PESCA: Hey, guys. MARTINEZ: How're you doing? PESCA: Can I start off? MARTIN: Yes, please. PESCA: All right. It's possible that some people might be too attractive to get hired, like I have to tell the people in this room that. Well, that's what one woman named Jade is asking. Is it possible I'm just too darn pretty to get hired? She sent her question to a job blog called J. T. & Dale Talk Job. U.S. News and World Report picked it up and tried to help the girl out. You see, Jade has been searching for a job for five months. She gets interviews, but no offers. She writes, "I've even contemplated the idea that I can't get hired because I happen to be a very attractive, younger-looking 32 year old. Am I even crazy for thinking that?" MCKINNEY: And was she? PESCA: I don't know. Plus, I have plunging necklines and stripper heals. No, she didn't say that. (Soundbite of laughter) PESCA: Generally, good-looking people are more likely to be hired and tend to get better pay, but as the inside job blogger speculates - and she was actually helpful to a woman who sounds like she has a very high opinion of her unemployed self - very attractive people are used to getting all kinds of advantages based on their physical appearance, so they tend to expect doors to open, and they might be disappointed when they don't, I guess, unlike all of us ugly people, who never expect anything good to happen. MCKINNEY: Wait, can I say something? PESCA: Yes. MCKINNEY: I am Jade. Yes, I admit it. MARTINEZ: Yes, OK. MCKINNEY: And I'm going to take off the ugly mask I've been wearing, so that you would hire me here. Ready? Here I go. Here's the really pretty me. MARTINEZ: Aah! PESCA: Yaah! MCKINNEY: No, didn't work. PESCA: Maybe Jade applied for a job as the before picture. MARTINEZ: Yeah. PESCA: And it didn't help to have someone who was that beautiful. MCKINNEY: Yeah, it's true. It could have been the job. We don't know what she was applying for. MARTIN: We should mention that Daniel Holloway is here, our movie reviewer, because he's going to do movies in just a bit. DANIEL HOLLOWAY: I do movies. MARTINEZ: So, you know... HOLLOWAY: I could make fun of your news stories. PESCA: He can chime in if he wants. MCKINNEY: He can Ramble with us. Take our hand and Ramble, Dan. MARTINEZ: All right. Well, police in France have arrested a man who they suspect has stolen 170 garden gnomes. The serial garden-gnome thief, he's 53 years old. Apparently, he put all of the stolen gnomes in his tiny 215-square-foot garden. PESCA: Master criminal. (Soundbite of laughter) MARTINEZ: Yeah, 170 garden gnomes in a 215-square-foot garden. Police are really struggling to return the rescued gnomes to their rightful owners, because this guy painted them all new colors... PESCA: And no one can tell who the garden gnomes belong to. (Soundbite of laughter) MCKINNEY: See, I would like to (unintelligible)... MARTINEZ: This is funny. He brought them back, though. He painted them new colors, so he can't - they can't - they don't know where they go. PESCA: They're going to have to... MCKINNEY: I thought this was going to be, you know, the guy took them, and that maybe they were valuable, and he was going to going to sell them, but he just repainted them and put them in his own garden. MARTINEZ: Yeah. PESCA: They're going to have to use garden-gnome dental records to identify the gnomes. HOLLOWAY: Well, he's sus - facing some prison time. PESCA: Yes. MCKINNEY: All right. PESCA: What's the Daniel Holloway reaction? MARTINEZ: There you go, OK... HOLLOWAY: That's it, silence. MCKINNEY: Oh, thanks for Rambling with us, Dan. HOLLOWAY: Stony silence. Yeah, I know. I'm adding a lot today. MCKINNEY: OK, so I have a story, that I - I'll be honest, it's hard for me to understand, because there's a lot of big chemical words in it. PESCA: OK. MCKINNEY: But anyway, it's about that shower-curtain smell, specifically the new-shower-curtain smell. PESCA: Oh, yeah! MARTINEZ: That's me. MCKINNEY: OK, so, it's not about

Protests Reflect Real Harm From Police Policies, Organizer Says

National protests have drawn attention to the deaths of unarmed black men at the hands of police. NPR's Eric Westervelt talks to New York protest organizer Julianne Hoffenberg about moving forward.

Teams Work to Decipher Neanderthal DNA

Two separate teams have begun sequencing the genome of a Neanderthal. The DNA is extracted from fossilized bones. So far, only 1 million of the 3 billion DNA letters of the genome have been sequenced, but the authors say it proves the complete sequence is attainable. Based on the latest DNA evidence, the authors suggest humans and Neanderthals went their separate ways between 375,000 and 500,000 years ago. MICHELE NORRIS, host: This is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Michele Norris. MELISSA BLOCK, host: And I'm Melissa Block. Scientists have begun to unravel the genetic secrets of the Neanderthal, our low browed, barrel chested relative. They've deciphered part of the genetic code of a male Neanderthal who died approximately 38,000 years ago. The work helps pin down when Neanderthals and modern humans went their separate ways. But as NPR's Joe Palca reports, the results are most important for another reason. They suggest that sequencing all three billion DNA letters of the Neanderthal genome is an achievable goal. JOE PALCA: It's amazing that a strand of DNA can remain intact for tens of thousands of years. But it can and that means scientists like Eddie Ruben can try to read the genetic code buried in that ancient DNA. Ruben is director of the Department of Energy's Genome Institute. A few years ago Ruben asked scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig if he could join their efforts to sequence Neanderthal DNA. The idea that you could parent the genome of an extinct caveman was too tantalizing to pass up. The Max Planck gang said sure, but first they told Ruben he had to get some practice working with ancient DNA. So they sent him some material from the skeletal remains of a cave bear. Dr. EDDIE RUBEN (Department of Energy Genome Institute): The cave bear has lived about the same time as Neanderthals. But the good thing about cave bears is there are lots of them and you can get lots of material. PALCA: Ruben was able to read DNA sequences from the cave bear, so the journal scientists sent him some ground up Neanderthal bone, the same bone they were using to get DNA from. Dr. RUBEN: One of the problems in ancient DNA is contamination. You always worry about whether there is a lab worker sequence in there instead of that Neanderthal sequence. PALCA: Ruben says in this case, the bone was remarkably free of human contamination. Max Planck Institute Scientist Richard Green says there's another huge problem when trying to get Neanderthal sequence from a Neanderthal bone. Dr. RICHARD GREEN (Max Planck Institute): The DNA extract that we get has DNA from not only the Neanderthal who owned that bone originally, but also DNA from all the bacterial species that have colonized this fossil since the Neanderthal died. PALCA: In fact, says Green, for every one fragment of DNA that came from a Neanderthal, there are 20 that came from bacteria, and that means a lot more work. Dr. GREEN: We have to sequence 20 times more than we would if we were getting all the Neanderthal's. PALCA: Now you've got one million base pairs sequence but that leaves about 2,999,000,000 left. Dr. GREEN: Yes. PALCA: And yet you think you're going to be able to go ahead and do the rest of it? Dr. GREEN: Yes. PALCA: Green says he and his colleagues have enough Neanderthal samples and enough sequencing power to complete a rough draft in two years. The preliminary reports on the Neanderthal genome appear in the journals Nature and Science. Based on the data they've gathered so far, scientists think modern humans and Neanderthals diverged between 370 and 500 thousand years ago. And there are hints that at least a few modern human ancestors may have mated with Neanderthals, although for now nothing more than hints. Richard Gibbs is head of the sequencing center at Baylor College of Medicine. He says the Neanderthal genome project is off to a good start. Dr. RICHARD GIBBS (Baylor College of Medicine): This is a great demonstration that you can do this kind of thing, and as the (unintelligible) sometimes to point out. You have to do a whole lot more of it to get a really accurate picture, or hope of an accurate picture of what those individual genomes were really like. PALCA: Gibbs says one of the great things about the Neanderthal genome project is it stirs the imagination. Max Planck Institute scientist Richard Green can't wait for the full sequence. Dr. GREEN: We can compare the human genome sequence to Neanderthal and maybe find the genetic underpinning of the things that really separate humans from the Neanderthal. PALCA: So is this the coolest thing you've ever worked on? Dr. GREEN: I think this is the coolest thing anybody's ever worked on. PALCA: Joe Palca, NPR News, Washington.

What Happened Today: Trump Threatens To Move RNC, Global Impact Questions

NPR's global health and development reporter answers listener questions on how the coronavirus is affecting the world at large.

The Dark Side Of Easter: Foods Named For Judas Offer Taste Of Treachery

Easter is associated with currant-studded hot-cross buns and chocolatey eggs – foods that symbolize rebirth and renewal. But what about Judas cake? Or Judas beer? Or Judas bread? Judas Iscariot, the archvillain of Christianity who betrayed Jesus with a kiss, has an intriguing range of food and drink named after him – some traditionally consumed in the days leading up to Easter. Some of Judas' namesake foodstuffs, like the Judas fig, were so christened thanks to dark medieval depictions, while others, like the fiery Judas ketchup and the ultrastrong Judas ale, have more playful contemporary roots. What binds them, though, is their association with blood and death and treachery. "Judas is mentioned 22 times across the four Gospels, but the only parts where he plays a key role are the Last Supper and at the Garden of Gethsemane, where he betrays Christ," says Peter Stanford, author of Judas: The Most Hated Name in History. "Judas' name has become easy shorthand for treachery. Take, for instance, the Judas Blond, a popular Belgian beer which my publishers gave me when the book was published. It looks very pale and weak, but it's actually quite strong, so it's treacherously hiding its strength." In his book, Stanford, who is British, points to the popular English Easter confection called simnel cake (from the Latin for "fine flour"), which is sometimes referred to as Judas cake. "It's a delicious fruit cake with layers of marzipan, and it dates back to the 13th century," he says. "In the Victorian era, it was decorated with a circle of 11 marzipan balls to represent the apostles, sans Judas, of course. There was a double space left blank where the Judas ball is meant to be." In recent years, bakers who feel that Judas has been punished enough have begun to boldly place a 12th ball on their simnel cakes. This act has opened them to charges of moral equivalence. But Stanford, who feels Judas has gotten a raw deal, is all approval. "If you read Matthew's Gospel – and Matthew is the only one who gives us the detail of the 30 pieces of silver – he shows Judas feeling remorseful and going back to the temple to give the money back to the high priests," Stanford says. "He wants to make atonement, and he is so guilt-ridden that he hangs himself. So he has paid his dues. On a theological level, too, if you believe God is all-powerful and that he sent his son to earth to be killed as part of a divine plan, the fact that Judas betrayed Jesus, unpleasant as it might be, is simply Judas doing God's work. So, yes, he deserves his marzipan ball." Others would agree. A few years ago, Peter's Europa House, an upscale restaurant in Shohola, Pa., introduced an Easter-themed menu with dishes named after the 12 apostles. Along with Matthew's Mozzarella, Bartholomew's Surf & Turf and Philip's Shrimp Cocktail, it has offered patrons a Judas Casserole and Judas' Chicken. "I included Judas because he was one of the apostles," says owner Peter Jajcay. "My personal belief is that he was one of the strongest apostles, which is why I didn't want to leave him out. To be able to betray Jesus you have to be very strong. And, no, I've never had any negative feedback from my customers." The story of Judas' hanging spawned a pretty Czech Easter bun called the Judas rope. These plaited buns – called Jidáše in the plural – are made with flour, butter, milk and egg yolks, and are traditionally served along with honey for breakfast on Maundy Thursday to commemorate the Last Supper. Even legends about the tree that Judas hanged himself from have become a rich source of Judas namesakes, especially since accounts vary wildly about what kind of tree it was. "According to one popular European invention, it was the fig tree," says Stanford. "Renaissance paintings of the Last Supper have a standard array of symbolic fruit, such as pomegranates, whose seeds recall the Resurrection; cherries, whose redness mark the blood of Christ that will soon be spilt; and the Judas fig, a foretaste of the traitor's death." But another legend has it that Judas hanged himself from an elder tree. Which is why a rubbery, brownish-pinkish, ear-shaped fungus that grows profusely on the live and dead branches of the elder is known as Judas' Ear. "It's supposed to be a manifestation of Judas' unquiet spirit," says Stanford. Cold and soft, it even has the texture of a human ear. And though it sounds unappealing, it tastes delicious in stir-fry, noodle soup and pad thai. For wine lovers, there's the Judas Malbec, a rich, ripe and potent red from Mendoza, Argentina, and the mildly fizzy Sangue di Giuda, which translates as "Blood of Judas," from Italy's Lombardy region. From a rubbery fungus to an ale that "may tempt you to evil deeds," foods named after Judas resonate with the dark characteristics of their namesake. "Christianity tends to paint the world in black and white terms, so we shuffle all the bad things onto Judas," says Stanford. "And though we live in a time where convent

Friday News Roundup - International

Clashes between pro-government and opposition supporters in Venezuela this week left at least one woman dead and dozens of people injured, according to the BBC. Opposition leader Juan Guaidó asked Venezuelans to protest each day until Maduro&#8217;s government relinquishes power. Guaidó told Fox Business Network “as long as we are mobilized and united, we are very close to achieving our freedom&#8230;Can’t tell you a specific date or time. Working on transition. Democracy has always taken time.” The New York Times obtained a secret document about one of Nicholas Maduro&#8217;s confidants, Tareck El Aissami, that allegedly exposed corruption and other criminal activity. According to a secret dossier compiled by Venezuelan agents, Mr. El Aissami and his family have helped sneak Hezbollah militants into the country, gone into business with a drug lord and shielded 140 tons of chemicals believed to be used for cocaine production — helping make him a rich man as his country has spiraled into disarray. Also this week, ISIS released a video of leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the first in five years. Baghdadi &#8220;has always maintained an extreme security protocol, which explains how he’s stayed alive since 2010, when he became emir of the Islamic State of Iraq,&#8221; according to reporter Rukmini Callamachi, who covers ISIS for The Times. She also notes: Baghdadi praises the attackers in Sri Lanka, calling their combined murder revenge for Baghuz. This is significant because everyone from the Sri Lankan government to prominent journalists fell for unofficial statements from ISIS fanboys calling it revenge for Christchurch. Baghuz is a Syrian city previously held by ISIS, of which American-backed forces recently took control. In addition, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was sentenced to 50 weeks in prison for breaking the U.K.&#8217;s Bail Act.. He also appeared in court this week for a hearing on his extradition to the United States, a process which could take many months. A new emperor, Naruhito, ascended the Chrysanthemum throne in Japan this week. The 85-year-old former Emperor Akihito was the first to hold the position in only a ceremonial role, and also was the first to step down from the position in over 200 years. We round up the week of news from around the globe. GUESTS Nina-Maria Potts, Director of Global News Coverage, Feature Story News; @ninamariapotts Greg Myre, National security correspondent, NPR; co-author of &#8220;This Burning Land: Lessons from the Front Lines of the Transformed Israeli-Palestinian Conflict&#8221;; @gregmyre1 Amna Nawaz, National correspondent and substitute anchor, PBS NewsHour; @IAmAmnaNawaz Sheila Smith, Senior fellow for Japan Studies, Council on Foreign Relations; author, &#8220;Intimate Rivals: Japanese Domestic Politics and a Rising China&#8221;; @SheilaSmithCFR For more, visit https://the1a.org. &copy; 2019 WAMU 88.5 &#8211; American University Radio.

'Argo' Is The Best Picture Frontrunner, But Why?

Programming Note: Sunday night, we'll be live-blogging the Academy Awards here at NPR.org, and the Wait Wait ... Don't Tell Me! team will be covering the red-carpet fashions, so be sure to join us to share your thoughts and see whether Affleck, Argo, and Daniel Day-Lewis have the big nights predicted for them. If you saw a list of predictions for this year's Best Picture contenders that correctly identified four out of the nine eventual nominees, you'd probably think it wasn't a very good list. If I pointed out to you, however, that it was made in December 2011, you might think it was a little more impressive. That's the case over at a blog called Never Too Early Movie Predictions, which correctly predicted in a post dated December 30, 2011 that Lincoln, Django Unchained, Les Miserables and Life Of Pi would all be nominated for Best Picture in this weekend's ceremony. At The Atlantic, all the way back in February 2012 – exactly one year ago as this post is written, in fact – they gave themselves 16 slots to work with and therefore a major advantage, but they correctly called six of them: Lincoln, Django, Les Mis, Argo, Beasts Of The Southern Wild, and what they then could only call "Kathryn Bigelow's bin Laden movie," which would become Zero Dark Thirty. All this before anyone had seen most of these films (though The Atlantic had the advantage of making its list after Sundance, which is when Beasts made its big splash). Just how early was it? Another possible contender The Atlantic suggested was Clint Eastwood's The Trouble With The Curve. So it was very early. So what have we learned? Out of the hundreds of movies that come out every year, you can guess maybe half of the Best Picture nominees without regard to how good they actually are, relying only on how good they sound like they're going to be and how much they sound like Best Picture nominees. When NPR's own Bob Mondello and I got together to run down the contenders, we talked about the fact that online betting sites have thrown their weight behind Argo, even though reports say at least one site had Lincoln as the favorite as recently as mid-January. Beasts Of The Southern Wild and Amour are longshots, perhaps expectedly, but so are Django and Zero Dark Thirty. How does this happen? Well, gambling sites set odds based on what people are betting, so like the stock market, they reflect what people now expect to happen. Gamblers now expect Argo to win; thus, its odds change and more people expect it to win. It's all about momentum. So that prompts the further curious question: What drives awards expectations anyway? What makes a frontrunner? To understand how slippery predictions are, you have to grasp how slippery voting is. The Hollywood Reporter ran a fascinating feature this week in which an anonymous director invited a journalist over to listen to him deliberate over his ballot. Some of his thinking is about what you'd expect: he chooses a sound mixing winner based on his perceptions of merit (and a little guessing about what was done on the day and what was done in post-production), for instance. But listen to his thinking about production design, once he's determined he's not overly excited about any of the nominees: "I'm not gonna vote for Lincoln for best picture, but I have a lot of personal respect for Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy and I want to help the film, so when I can throw it a vote, like here, I will." Yikes. Or how about the decision not to vote for Jennifer Lawrence because of something she did on Saturday Night Live? (Presumably the monologue.) Or for Tommy Lee Jones, because he scowled at the Golden Globes? Directors must gnash their teeth in earnest over things like this bracketed description of an actual Oscar voter's approach to Best Animated Short: "[Had not seen any of the films, but had heard good things about Paperman so he voted for it.]" While the discussion is obviously cheeky on purpose, what you get from it is a sense of the complex stew that is Oscar voting: throw in a little of who you like and don't like, who's won before, what movies just bother you, who you think is hogging a nomination in the wrong category, and yes, to some degree, who did the best work. Stir it all up, think it over, go with your gut in the end anyway. But remember: All that mess, all that squishy thinking, and you can still guess about half the nominees before the movies even come out. That's both because there's a perception of who generally does good work (Steven Spielberg, Daniel Day-Lewis and Tony Kushner, for instance) and of what kinds of movies tend to be nominated for Oscars (important historical biopics starring previous Oscar winners, for instance). Once the films come out, there's a different sort of jostling. Argo looked at first like a terrible candidate for frontrunner, even after the nominations, because Ben Affleck wasn't nominated for Best Director. The last movie to win Best Picture with a non-nominated director, progn

How A Summer Grief Camp Helps Kids Cope With Loss

The kids who go to Camp Evergreen in White Bluff, Tennessee, outside Nashville have something in common that they&#8217;d rather not: They&#8217;ve all recently had someone close to them pass away. As Emily Siner (@SinerSays) from Here & Now contributor WPLN reports, kids and counselors alike find some comfort in grieving together.

Laurie Anderson Reflects On Life And Loss In 'Heart Of A Dog'

Multimedia artist Laurie Anderson talks to <em>Fresh Air's</em> Terry Gross about her late dog, Lolabelle, her mother's death and the accident that nearly killed her. Anderson's new film is <em>Heart of a Dog.</em>

Obama Postpones Trip To Indonesia

President Obama is delaying his trip to Asia next week to focus on his big push on health care. The White House tweeted the announcement. His family was going to go with him but they will not now. The White House wanted Congress to act on the health care bill by March 18, Obama's original departure date.

As Families Learn Fates Of Loved Ones, New Zealand Mourns Christchurch Victims

Updated at 7:33 p.m. ET People from at least half a dozen countries and young children were among the 50 people killed in shootings at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, on Friday. Some families and friends of the missing continued to wait for information about their loved ones as night fell on Saturday local time and a tight-knit community of Muslims mourned alongside the country and the world. Officials in New Zealand have not yet released the names of those killed or wounded, but Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Friday that many of those "directly affected by this shooting may be migrants to New Zealand" or even refugees. "For them to come to what they thought was a safe country and end up facing a shocking incident like this is really sad to hear," says Marc Greenhill, news director for New Zealand's news website Stuff. The youngest person missing and feared dead is 3 years old, Greenhill tells NPR's Weekend Edition. A critically injured 4-year-old girl was also brought to Christchurch Hospital then transferred to an Auckland hospital, according to Greg Robertson, chief of surgery at the Christchurch hospital. Greenhill described "acts of heroism" and "selflessness" by the people attacked on Friday afternoon, including one man who was killed trying to disarm a gunman at the second mosque. Another victim, Haji Daoud Nabi, died trying to save a fellow worshipper, his son told an Australian newspaper. Afghanistan's embassy in Canberra named Nabi as one of two Afghans killed in the attack. The Sydney Morning Herald reports Nabi had left Afghanistan decades earlier and settled in Australia with his family. "He normally pushes somebody out of the way if anything [happens] like this — 'get away, go' — because he's used to Afghanistan," his son, Omar Nabi, told the Herald. "Just helping people is his main thing. It makes me feel like he wanted other people to live." Others from the Middle East and Asia were also killed in the attack, according to foreign government reports. Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a statement saying that six Pakistani nationals had died. At least three Bangladeshis were among those killed, AP reports, and the Jordanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that four Jordanians had died. The dead also included four Egyptians, the country's Ministry of Emigration wrote on Facebook, as well as three Turkish citizens, according to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. At least one Palestinian died, the Palestinian ambassador to Australia and New Zealand said in a statement. Mohamed Hassan, a journalist who lived in New Zealand for most of his life, says Muslims have been grieving alongside numerous other communities. "We know that there's been young Somalis that have lost their life, people of Turkish backgrounds that have been injured," he told NPR's Weekend Edition from the airport, on his way to Christchurch. "So all of these communities, and by extension their home countries, are mourning." Hassan said his own family was alive but that some of his friends were looking for their parents. "Inevitably, this is such a small community, so these people are going to be people who are familiar to us, even if we don't know them directly," he says. "There are going to be friends among that list." Families of victims described a long first night of waiting for information at Christchurch Hospital and Hagley College, where a community center has been set up. Javed Dadabhai told Stuff that he lost a cousin to the attack and didn't find out until 4 a.m. local time on Saturday. "It's very understandable that it's a slow process because it's got to be thorough," Dadabhai told Stuff. But he said some people are frustrated because "they want to get on with their grieving process. They want to receive their dead." Ardern said Saturday that she had met with relatives of the victims and their "key concern" was to have access to their loved ones' remains for burial. She also says New Zealand will make "weekly compensation" available to victims' dependents on an ongoing basis. The New Zealand Red Cross has published a list of missing persons on its website.

Egyptian Protestor: Candidates Don't Represent Me

For more on the Egyptian Presidential runoff, Melissa Block speaks with Egyptian human rights activist, Dalia Ziada. She participated in the Tahrir Square protests that helped lead to governmental reforms and she unsuccessfully ran for parliament.

Episode 569: How To Divide An Imaginary Pie

Alex Blumberg is starting a business, a podcasting business. He's recording himself as he starts the company, and he's making a podcast about starting his podcasting company. Meta, right? But starting a business can be lonely. Alex wants a partner to share in the stress and the risk. Potential investors say they'd prefer to bet on a team, too. Today on the show, Alex searches for a business partner. There have been Hewlett and Packard, Procter and Gamble, and Ben and Jerry. Now, there is Blumberg and ... Listen to the other episodes in Alex's podcast miniseries, StartUp. * Note: There's a curse word in today's episode. At about 1:25. Music: Michael Jackson's "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'." Find us: Twitter/ Facebook/ Spotify/ Tumblr. Download the Planet Money iPhone App. ROBERT SMITH, HOST: A quick warning before today's show. There is a curse word. It's in the first three minutes if you want to skip forward. And a special note - we wanted to urge you all to support our fellow NPR podcast Snap Judgment with Glynn Washington. Glynn brings you storytelling from places you never thought you'd hear from. They're doing a Kickstarter campaign to support the next season of the show. So go on over there. See what they have to offer - snapjudgment.org. DAVID KESTENBAUM, HOST: Hey. ALEX BLUMBERG: Hey. KESTENBAUM: Tell everyone who you are. BLUMBERG: Alex Bloomberg, and I used to work here. KESTENBAUM: Not so long ago, and you left because you decided to do something that we've been reporting on for years, something that happens everyday out there in the economy. You decided you were going to try and start a business. BLUMBERG: That's correct. I'm starting a podcasting business. Basically, I want to make more podcasts like Planet Money and This American Life more of that kind of podcast. KESTENBAUM: And at some point you realized, hey, I have unusual access to this story because it's about me - I can record it all. BLUMBERG: Exactly. So I have also been doing a podcast about the starting of my podcast company which I know is meta. KESTENBAUM: The show today is basically going to be episode three from that podcast, right? BLUMBERG: It's called Startup, and the idea was this was a chance to document all the excitement, all the thrill of creating something. KESTENBAUM: Yeah. Moments like this one. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) BLUMBERG: I'm not feeling a lot of confidence. NAZANIN BLUMBERG: You are not feeling a lot of confidence. Why? BLUMBERG: I don't know what the fuck I'm doing. KESTENBAUM: (Laughter) That's you and your wife Nazanin. BLUMBERG: Yes, having a conversation that was - that was not the only time we had that conversation. KESTENBAUM: This is the thing that's so striking to me listening to you document this whole process - it is so solitary, trying to do something like this by yourself. It's often so heartbreaking. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) BLUMBERG: I'm just one guy with this stupid little plan, and there's like a gazillion people out there with better plans that are going to make more money that people want to invest in more than me. I don't know. N. BLUMBERG: I know. I just feel like you have like if they're ever going to invest in one guy with, like, a dinky plan, then that guy would probably be you (laughter). BLUMBERG: Another (unintelligible). I'm worried about going into debt. I'm worried about giving up a full-time salary. I'm worried about the impact on my kids. I have a 2 year old and a 4 year old Samira and Calvin and just generally the impact on my family. N. BLUMBERG: You know what I did today while you were, like, being annoyed on your computer? I like forced Calvin and Samira to go outside, and Calvin didn't want to. And he was really tired so I ended up pushing the stroller with his scooter on it with one hand with Samira inside and carrying him on my back with the other hand. So like yeah that sucks. It's not fun (laughter). He weighs 36 pounds. So, like, yeah, you know, like that's my support if you know. If I'm not saying the right thing, I am like doing that. It's hard being married and having two kids and doing this because there's - you just don't get the, like, generousness of spirit and sympathy that you would get if we didn't have a 4 year old and 2 year old, and I didn't have a full-time job. Do you want me to tell you what I think you should do? BLUMBERG: Sure. N. BLUMBERG: I think you can't do this by yourself. BLUMBERG: Yeah. KESTENBAUM: That is what this episode you're going to hear is about - finding a business partner because, Alex, everyone was telling you you needed one. Potential investors were bringing it up. BLUMBERG: Like, for example, here's this guy Micah Rosenbloom who works at a company called Founder Collective. I was asking him for money. MICAH ROSENBLOOM: I would much rather bet on two people or three people than a single founder. Now, not to say if you look at our wall of, you know, companies here, there are single founders that we've bet on. But

Walmart To Remove 'Cosmopolitan' From Checkout Aisle

The nation's largest retailer has bounced Cosmopolitan from the coveted checkout aisle following a years-long campaign targeting the women's magazine for its "hyper-sexualized" covers and content. Walmart said Tuesday that it was removing the magazine from checkout lines at its 5,000 stores across the country. "Walmart will continue to offer Cosmopolitan to customers that wish to purchase the magazine, but it will no longer be in the checkout aisles," the company said in a statement. "While this was primarily a business decision, the concerns raised were heard." Those concerns were raised by the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, which compares Cosmo to porn and has waged a campaign for years to get it removed from store shelves. It had previously succeeded in getting Rite Aid stores and Delhaize America (which owns Food Lion) to put Cosmopolitan behind blinders, according to USA Today. "Cosmo sends the same messages about female sexuality as Playboy," NCOSE, which changed its name from Morality in Media three years ago, said in a statement. "It places women's value primarily on their ability to sexually satisfy a man and therefore plays into the same culture where men view and treat women as inanimate sex objects," the statement said. "Further, Cosmo targets young girls by placing former Disney stars on its covers, despite the enclosed sexually erotic articles which describe risky sexual acts like public, intoxicated, or anal sex in detail. Customers should not be forced to be exposed to this content when they are trying to check-out at the store." In a Facebook Live session on Tuesday, NCOSE's Vice President of Advocacy and Outreach Haley Halverson said the move represented "one less drop of hyper-sexualized media that is going to be bombarding people in their everyday lives." Cosmopolitan, which bills itself as a "bible for fun, fearless females," is published by Hearst Corp., which had no immediate comment on Walmart's decision. The magazine was first published in 1886 as a family offering called The Cosmopolitan. It later became a literary magazine before being rebranded in 1965 as a women's magazine. It claims to reach more than 17 million adults per month and publishes dozens of international editions.

Maia Sharp On Mountain Stage

The daughter of famed country musician Randy Sharp, Maia Sharp has launched a successful career for herself as a performer and songwriter. Bonnie Raitt, Carole King, The Dixie Chicks, Keb' Mo' and Trisha Yearwood, among others, have recorded her songs. Accompanied here by guitarist Linda Taylor and bassist David Carpenter, Maia Sharp performs songs from her latest solo album, Echo. Raitt, who included three of Sharp's songs on her heralded Souls Alike, recently invited Sharp to open for her on tour. It was in a recording session with Raitt that Sharp met producer and multi-instrumentalist Don Was, who signed on to produce Echo. Sharp is just back from a tour opening for Indigo Girls, and will play some East Coast dates with the Irish band The Guggenheim Grotto this fall. This segment originally aired on October 7, 2009.

Cool and Comforting Ceviche

As summer rolls along, my thoughts turned recently, as they do every year at this time, to my birthday. As I pondered how to celebrate, I considered cooking. Making meals for friends fulfills me in a way that little else does. Observing the ability of good food to relax guests, turn strangers into confidants, and flush cheeks with satiation and laughter is its own reward. (The praise that inevitably follows is nice, too.) In a fit of sentimentality and raw ambition, I decided to make my own birthday dinner. A recipe in a glossy magazine for sky-high passion fruit meringue tart captured my imagination and quickly became the keystone of my meal. But in my attempts to develop a menu based on the dessert, I encountered some conceptual problems. I couldn't get around the tart's "French"-ness. For several nights I lay awake, considering my options. With nothing but viscous sauces and foie gras plodding through my head, I feared that I had painted myself into a culinary corner. Preoccupied with the faux pas of serving a heavy French meal on a hot summer eve, I had failed to take into account the more basic problem of cooking in Manhattan this time of year. In a word: sweat. Streams of it rolling down the backs of my knees, beads of it forming at my hairline. If I were to log several hours in my non-air conditioned kitchen, this is what I had to look forward to. Though potentially good for the pores, this was not my idea of a birthday treat. In a merciful moment bestowed by the food gods, it occurred to me that my tart did not have to be French. It could be Latin American. My favorite pan-Latin restaurant in New York, Esperanto, finishes off its meals with a frothy passion fruit mousse. It also serves a tuna ceviche that has become a minor addiction. Ceviche, a South American specialty of raw fish pickled in citrus juice, requires no cooking. The acid from the lime, lemon or orange juice changes the structure of the proteins in the fish much in the same way that heat does. (If you make it at home, you can observe the flesh turning from translucent to opaque.) Therein lay my answer. In the past few years, ceviche has made its way onto the tables of many a posh restaurant. It has been subjected to presentations -- absurdly stacked vertical constructions, gussied up in martini glasses -- designed to intimidate the home cook. At Esperanto, ceviche is a gratifying comfort food. Ungarnished in a white ceramic bowl, the heap of tuna, crisp veggies and cilantro in a broth of coconut milk and lime juice speaks only these words: dig in. This, I decided, is how I would serve it to my guests. A wonderfully informal dish, ceviche invites variations. Red or sweet onions, mango or watermelon, any fruit or vegetable that you think would go well in your ceviche probably will. Most types of white fish can substitute for the tuna in Esperanto's recipe and scallops and shrimp can be used as well, though they must be poached first. For my dinner, I used flounder. It worked beautifully and is generally inexpensive. When choosing your fish, let the fishmonger know you intend to eat it raw. Citrus will cook the meat but it won't kill parasites, so quality is important. Served with a seasonal salad, a generous bowl of ceviche can make for a refreshing -- and heat-free -- summer meal. Ceviche Recipe serves four. 1 pound Ahi tuna (or other fish, mentioned above)* 1/2 cup fresh lime juice 1/3 cup coconut milk 1 jalapeno, minced Large pinch of salt 1/4 cup diced yellow bell pepper 1/2 cup diced cucumber 1 large ripe tomato, diced 1/2 bunch green onions, trimmed and sliced 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro 1. Dice the fish into 1/2-inch chunks. 2. In a large, non-reactive bowl (glass or ceramic), combine the lime juice, coconut milk and salt. Stir to mix. Add remaining ingredients and mix them gently to coat the fish. 3. Cover the mixture and let it rest in the refrigerator for at least 10 minutes, then taste it and adjust the seasonings if necessary. Refrigerate until time to serve. IMPORTANT NOTE: Eat within four hours or the fish will "overcook" and become dry. * Shrimp and scallops can be substituted to good effect, but first poach them briefly in boiling water. Recipe adapted from Janet Fouts, www.ontherail.com.

Jazz Now: Lucas Gillan, AccuJazz

Lucas Gillan, 23, is a natural fit for Jazz Now. For one, he absorbs tons of music while programming AccuJazz, a promising Internet radio service. He's also an active drummer, teaching plenty of lessons and performing throughout the Chicagoland area. (And not just jazz, either.) On a recent visit to Chicago, I met up with him, and he graciously told me the bands I had to see while I was in town. Of course, his list covers a lot of territory well beyond the upper Midwest. --Ed. ----- Despite growing up in a relatively conservative Christian home where worship music was the norm on the living room stereo, I was fortunate enough to be exposed to a huge variety of music as a child and teen. My oldest brother, a lifelong music lover in constant pursuit of new sounds, introduced my sister, brother and me to everything from ska (before its 15 minutes of '90s fame) to underground hardcore to jazz. As a teen musician, I spent equal amounts of time performing and listening to indie rock, jazz, and Christian music. From my experience as a university jazz student, I found that a lot of my colleagues had narrow-minded views of what they perceived to be proper listening habits. A trombonist roommate once scolded me upon finding that there were only 6 jazz tracks in the top 10 of my "Most Played" list on iTunes. In this current discussion of building a young jazz audience, I feel uniquely qualified to advise jazz-agnostic music fans through the sometimes daunting waters of jazz listening. To be perfectly honest, the jazz that most often packs the biggest emotional punch for me is that which exhibits some awareness of non-jazz styles. If I were to put together a list of my favorite jazz albums from the last 10 years, it wouldn't look all that different from the list I'm offering now: it's designed for maximum appeal to young music fans still unsure about jazz. There are visceral grooves, engaging melodies, exhilarating improvisations, and intelligent orchestrations. Most of all, every track has something that should pull in any casual listener and make them want more. ----- 1. Brad Mehldau, Largo (Nonesuch)This album was a big one for me: it fuses masterful jazz improvisation with modern rock production. It's also the one jazz album that excited my indie rock-obsessed high school friends (who openly admitted that they only attended my jazz gigs to support me, not for the music). Some of them even purchased their own copies of Largo with actual money! Brad Mehldau has been called the most influential jazz musician of his generation (Generation X, that is), and he has never been afraid to wear his rock and folk influences on his sleeve, often covering Radiohead and Nick Drake alongside Cole Porter and the Gershwins. Largo, however, brought the rock influence to the fore, with the assistance of superstar producer Jon Brion and some of L.A.'s best studio musicians. The lead-off track, "When it Rains," has everything I love about the album: a gorgeously simple melody, lush wind orchestration, deeply grooving drumming, a heart-stopping piano solo and even some good old 3-over-4 polyrhythms for the drumming nerd in me. "When it Rains," from Brad Mehldau, Largo (Nonesuch). Brad Mehldau, piano; Larry Grenadier, acoustic bass; Matt Chamberlain, drums; Steve Kujala, David Shostac, flute; Jon Clark, Earle Dumler, oboe; Gary Gray, Emile Bernstein, clarinet; Peter Mandell, Rose Corrigan, bassoon. Released 2002. Purchase: Amazon.com / Amazon MP3 / iTunes Read More >> ----- 2. Fly, Fly (Savoy Jazz)This track probably sounds more like "jazz" than anything else on the list, but it still isn't anywhere near classic Oscar Peterson or Sonny Rollins. Fly is a collective composed of three celebrated modern jazz players, and is notable for its lack of a chordal instrument: none of the three instruments can play more than one note at a time. (Piano and guitar usually perform that role.) The result is raw and immediate, yet unbelievably subtle because of these particular musicians. Jeff Ballard's drumming is a marvel: he grooves like a funk drummer, but colors and accents like a jazz master. The tuneful, repeating bass line and lyrical melody make this track a joy. As Brad Mehldau himself wrote, "[Fly] hits the head and then seeps into the heart -- not one at the expense of the other." "JJ," from Fly, Fly (Savoy Jazz). Mark Turner, saxophone; Larry Grenadier, bass; Jeff Ballard, drums. Released 2004. Purchase: iTunes ----- 3. The RH Factor, Distractions (Verve).Roy Hargrove is one of the most influential jazz trumpet players of the last two decades. He's released a slew of well-received hard-bop albums, but he began exploring funk and hip-hop in a big way in 2003 in a new band, The RH Factor. "Crazy Race," from the group's second album, is about as catchy as modern jazz gets. The repeating melodic line is incredibly simple, but doesn't get old. Hargrove introduces the melody on trumpet before R&B singer Renee Neufville sings a few verses on the

Court Orders Russia To Pay Former Yukos Shareholders $50B

In 2003, Russia arrested the country's richest man, seized his main asset, Yukos Oil, broke it up and sold it. More than a decade later, a three-judge arbitration panel in The Hague ordered Moscow to pay the shareholders of the now-defunct oil giant more than $50 billion. The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague said Yukos was "the object of a series of politically-motivated attacks by the Russian authorities that eventually led to its destruction." The July 18 order called the company's seizure "devious and calculated." The amount is one of the biggest-ever compensation awards in an arbitration case, but shareholders had sought twice that figure. They had based their claim on Yukos' $100 billion valuation. The court ordered Russia to pay the judgment within 180 days or begin paying interest. If Moscow fails to comply, shareholders can attempt to seize its assets overseas. But that may be easier said than done. As The Wall Street Journal notes, "[P]laintiffs in similar cases in the past have had mixed results attempting to seize Russian assets overseas." Russia's Finance Ministry said the ruling was "politically biased," and said it will appeal. The Associated Press adds: "The ruling adds to tensions between Russia and the international community at a time when relations are at their lowest ebb since the end of the Cold War. Following the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over eastern Ukraine, the U.S. and European Union are debating further economic sanctions against Moscow because of its support for rebels suspected of launching the attack." Late last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin pardoned Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the oligarch who controlled Yukos. Khodorkovsky was convicted of tax evasion in 2005 and found guilty of embezzlement in 2010. But critics of the Kremlin saw his treatment as punishment for daring to challenge the Kremlin. The AP adds: "The Yukos takeover was the beginning of a process under which Russia, under President Vladimir Putin, re-took control of the country's energy industry. Yukos' main assets were sold at auction to a shell company. Just days later that company was bought up by state-owned Rosneft, making it the largest oil producer in Russia." The case was brought by subsidiaries of GML Ltd., the former Menatep, through which Khodorkovsky and his partners controlled Yukos.

Holbrooke Investigation Delays Un Nomination

NPR's Ted Clark reports that President Clinton's nomination of Richard Holbrooke for U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations has been delayed by a Justice Department investigation into the veteran diplomat's financial dealings. Until its conclusion, the U.S. will have no permanent ambassador to the UN.

What Would Joan Harris Do? Eleanor Clift Remembers 'Mad' Times At Newsweek

With Sunday's long-awaited fifth-season premiere of Mad Men finally arriving, Eleanor Clift recently wrote a cover story for Newsweek about what it was like for her as a young employee at Newsweek at around the same time, in the late 1960s, that the show is set. On Sunday's Weekend Edition, she talks to Susan Stamberg about what that time was like. Stamberg begins with a simple question: With all the ambitions and abilities that would eventually make Clift a writer and pundit, why did she begin at Newsweek as a typist? "Because that was the only path for women in the 1960s," Clift says. "And frankly, I was not unhappy with that. I have said many times over the years, I just wanted to be where what I typed was interesting." Clift talks about how the women at Newsweek were at some points part of challenging their employers about the way they were treated: the researchers filed a lawsuit in 1970 against the magazine, and they timed the announcement of the lawsuit to be at the same time the magazine published a cover called "Women In Revolt." As Stamberg points out, many women who entered the workforce at that time participated in work but "felt that the major goal was marriage." Clift connects this specific point to Mad Men, noting that Joan is the kind of woman who went into the workplace largely because it was a place to meet men and get married, but who found out as she stayed there that she did want to do meaningful work. "I think that happened to a lot of women," Clift says. While it may be the women in Don Draper's office who have the most obvious connection to the rise of feminism, Stamberg and Clift talk about his ex-wife Betty, as well. "Betty Draper, in the series, epitomizes the 'problem that had no name,' which is what Betty Friedan called it," says Clift. That problem, in which all the things that were supposed to make educated married women happy failed to make them happy at all, was very much a part of the sexual politics of the time as well. In the end, Eleanor Clift says, feminism was meant to give women choices, not to exclusively support their participation in the workforce. "Feminists did not really intend to equate feminism with having a career," she says, adding that for many women, the pressure (and desire) to involve themselves in work had its own challenges, as Mad Men shows through the character of Peggy, who's beginning to worry about not being married and having kids. Asked whether it's "deja vu all over again" to watch the show, or whether her "waist begins to pinch" just remembering the clothes, Clift says at first, she didn't have much interest in watching the show — "I lived it," she says. But, she notes, "it's addictive. It really is."

House Panel To Consider Slavery Reparations Proposals

A House Judiciary subcommittee will hold a hearing this week focused on reparations for slavery. NPR's Michel Martin talks about it with Sheila Jackson Lee, a Democratic Congresswoman from Texas.

What's Driving The Migrant Surge At The U.S. Southern Border?

NPR's Rachel Martin talks to Cecilia Muñoz, who headed President Obama's Domestic Policy Council and worked on President Biden's transition team, about immigration challenges.

Science Looks At The Sibling Effect

Are you a first-born? A middle child? A twin? An only child? In his new book <em>The Sibling Effect: What the Bonds Among Brothers and Sisters Reveal About Us</em>, author Jeffrey Kluger describes current scientific research into the effects of siblings on human behavior, from birth order studies to sibling rivalries and fighting.

Quick Links To Coverage Of NPR CEO's Departure

Go here for our day-long live-blogging of the news that NPR CEO and President Vivian Schiller stepped down today. We also posted today on -- "Rep. Cantor: Schiller's Resignation Doesn't Change Minds On NPR Funding." -- "NPR CEO Vivian Schiller's Departure Grabs Headlines, Sparks Debates." And here's the report that our colleague David Folkenflik did for All Things Considered: We'll continue to follow developments on this story as they play out.

'Pastorales de Noel'

French composer Andre Jolivet had a certain affinity for the sound of the flute. He wrote for the flute in many of his chamber works, including the one we feature played in concert at the Mainly Mozart Festival in San Diego. Flutist Carol Wincenc, violist Cynthia Phelps, and harpist Nancy Allen play Jolivet's "Pastorales de Noel."

'True Lies' And Videotape: Why Many Movies Are No Longer Online

Hundreds of classic, cult and priceless movies are impossible to find these days. You can’t get them on DVD or VHS. You can’t stream them on Amazon or iTunes. And if you find them elsewhere online, they might be bootlegged or only available in short chunks. One place to go for these hard-to-reach films? FilmStruck. Since 2016, the movie streaming service has offered an expansive collection of films and bonus features for $10 a month. But WarnerMedia — the offspring of AT&T’s merger with Time Warner — announced last month it will shut down FilmStruck and a handful of other “niche services.” And film buffs around the world are reeling. From The New York Times: Since its debut two years ago, FilmStruck has offered its subscribers a wealth of cinephile delights: carefully curated retrospectives and themed collections; bonus features, including movie introductions from TCM hosts; and guest programming from the likes of Barry Jenkins and Rebecca Miller. To say that it will be missed by its “loyal” but “niche” fan base — as Turner and Warner Bros. Digital described subscribers when announcing their decision — is an understatement. More than 50,000 people have signed a petition to bring back FilmStruck. Dozens of actors and directors spoke out and sent a letter directly to the chairman of Warner Brothers. Actor Bill Hader even made saving FilmStruck the crux of his acceptance speech at the IndieWire Honors this month. And beyond FilmStruck, there are many movies that just aren&#8217;t online, even though they were hits in the last few decades. &#8216;True Lies,&#8217; for instance, is among several movies on a list of movies that can&#8217;t be found online, compiled by screenwriter John August. How do we save the movies we love? And once we save them, how do we actually watch them? *Show produced by Paige Osburn*. GUESTS Mike Mashon, Head of the Moving Image Section, The Library of Congress, Packard Campus for Audio-Visual Preservation Karina Longworth, Creator and host, “You Must Remember This&#8221;; author, “Seduction: Sex, Lies and Stardom in Howard Hughes’s Hollywood&#8221;; @KarinaLongworth Barry Jenkins, Oscar-winning director, &#8220;Moonlight,&#8221; &#8220;If Beale Street Could Talk&#8221;; @BarryJenkins John August, Screenwriter, works include “Big Fish,” “Charlie’s Angels,” “Corpse Bride,” “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” and the upcoming live action remake of “Aladdin&#8221;; co-host, “ScriptNotes” podcast on screenwriting; @johnaugust For more, visit https://the1a.org. &copy; 2018 WAMU 88.5 &#8211; American University Radio.

The Family-Run Thai Market That Feeds LA's Eclectic Food Scene

Los Angeles is home to the largest Thai community outside of Thailand. This week, Thai-Americans are celebrating the traditional three-day water festival called Songkran to mark the new year. And many of them regularly shop at LA's landmark Bangkok Market, the first Thai food store in the U.S. Here, you can buy temple bells and alms bowls for monks. But there's so much more. The aisles are stocked with rows of fresh Asian produce, noodles and fish sauce. There are coconut milks, curries and sriracha imported from Si Racha, Thailand. And there are astonishing varieties of rice: brown, black, purple, jasmine, even so-called "forbidden" rice — forbidden, explains chef Jet Tila, "because only the royalty in Asia could eat it." At Bangkok Market, you can buy a 5-pound bag of it for $4. Tila shows us around the market he grew up working in, before he became a top chef. For four decades, his family's store has sold inexpensive ingredients that are key to Thai cuisine. He says many of California's best chefs have shopped there. "This was the only place where they could get lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves, curry paste, fish sauce, where they weren't getting gouged for it," he explains. "They knew their suppliers. And when I became a fine-dining chef, that was my in. Everyone was like, 'Oh, you're the kid who used to pack my groceries and deliver stuff to my restaurant.' " Tila's parents opened Bangkok Market in 1972, having moved to Los Angeles with a wave of Thai immigrants in the 1960s. "Usually we shopped at Chinatown, but they didn't have the ingredients the way Thais cook, " says Tila's mother, Marasri Tilakamonkul. "My husband saw the opportunity, so he decided that we should open the market right now." Bangkok Market soon became a de facto community center and a trading post. In the early days, before they began importing items, the family asked friends immigrating here to bring cases of curry paste and fish sauce. They relied on California farms for produce that was only available in the spring and summer. Tila says his family began growing vegetables themselves in the warmer climate of Mexico. "It was specifically two regions: Nayarit and Sinaloa," says Tila. "To this day, a majority of your Asian produce in the winter come from there. And nobody knows this. My dad literally hand-carried seed — I don't know how legal it was back in the day. But, uh ..." Bangkok Market is in a windowless beige building in East Hollywood, an area once home to rival street gangs. Tila says that though the gangs all tried to claim territory, they left the market alone "because they shopped here, and their moms shopped here." Tila says the market has survived where others did not. In April 1992, when he was a senior in high school, "The riots popped off. About 30 of us stayed here for three days straight — barricaded the doors with rice sacks, jumped on the roof with whatever guns we could bring just to defend our store." Today, to get ingredients from around the world, all sorts of people shop at the market: Asians, Latinos, hipsters and exciting new chefs like Louis Tikaram — a Fijian-Chinese-Indian-Australian who moved here to open the hot new restaurant EP/LP. Tikaram makes Southeast Asian dishes, with ingredients he buys at the Bangkok Market. "I walked in the door, and the intoxicating smell hit me of all the beautiful produce," Tikaram says. "And [I] walked down the aisles and I knew I could get everything: All of my jasmine rice from Thailand, yellow bean paste, palm sugar ... it was the saving grace of this restaurant. So you can thank Bangkok Market." Like Tikaram's intriguing menus, Bangkok Market has come to represent some of the most diverse flavors of Los Angeles.

Ex-Cop Accused Of Torture Is Charged In Chicago

A former Chicago police commander who long has been accused of brutally abusing and torturing black criminal suspects now faces charges of perjury and obstruction of justice. The FBI arrested former Chicago police Cmdr. Lt. Jon Burge at his home in Florida on Tuesday. He's charged with perjury and obstruction of justice for allegedly lying about the torture of suspects during a civil lawsuit in 2003. For decades, criminal suspects on Chicago's South Side complained they'd been beaten with telephone books, burned with cigarettes, nearly suffocated with plastic typewriter covers — even subjected to electric shock — while being interrogated by detectives in the police district known as Area 2. Who Is Jon Burge? At the center of those allegations is Burge, who became a detective in Area 2 in 1972. Through much of the 1980s, he supervised detectives in the same area. The police department fired Burge in 1993. A decade later, then-Illinois Gov. George Ryan found evidence of torture-coerced confessions that was compelling enough to pardon four men from death row. In 2006, special state prosecutors concluded that more than 100 suspects, almost all of them black men, had been tortured and abused under Burge but that too much time had passed to file charges. Burge, 60, has been living in Florida on a Chicago police pension. He had not faced criminal charges — until Tuesday. "Jon Burge shamed his uniform and shamed his badge," Chicago U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said at a news conference Tuesday. Fitzgerald said that according to the indictment, Burge "while working in Area 2 as a detective and later a sergeant and then a lieutenant, participated in and witnessed the abuse of people in police custody." But just as the special prosecutors had found, Fitzgerald said the statute of limitations had run out on the alleged acts of brutality and torture. So a grand jury handed up an indictment charging Burge with three counts of perjury and obstruction of justice. Others May Be Prosecuted Fitzgerald said his office started investigating Burge a couple of years ago after receiving the special prosecutors' report. He makes no apologies for not being able to bring charges of torture and abuse. "If people commit multiple crimes and you can't prosecute them for one, there's nothing wrong with prosecuting him for another," he said. "If Al Capone went down for taxes, that was better than him going down for nothing." For Flint Taylor, an attorney with the People's Law Office in Chicago, news of the charges against Burge was welcome and long overdue. Taylor, who represents some of the alleged victims of police brutality, said he is pleased that 22 years after the first allegations of torture and cover-up, Burge has finally been charged. "We are also aware that more investigation and more indictments must follow because it wasn't just Jon Burge," Taylor said. "There was a series of detectives and sergeants under his command who also tortured in a serial manner and who have also lied under oath as Burge has." Fitzgerald said he has every reason to believe that other Chicago law enforcement officials participated in torture and abuse and lied about it — or knew about it and covered it up. He says they will still be prosecuted. Chicago Mayor Richard Daley was a state's attorney during much of the time Burge and those under his command allegedly tortured suspects. Taylor and others have suggested that Daley knew about it and did nothing. But on Tuesday, Daley denied ever knowing about the torture accusations. "I was very proud of my role as prosecutor," Daley said. "I was not the mayor, I was not the police chief, I did not promote this man in the '80s, so let's put everything into perspective." The City of Chicago has paid nearly $45 million in legal defense bills and to settle lawsuits brought by victims who said they were tortured by Burge and his underlings. Burge's attorney declined to comment. Burge appeared in federal court in Tampa on Tuesday and is free after posting a $250,000 bond. He is scheduled to be arraigned in Chicago on Nov. 27. MELISSA BLOCK, host: A former Chicago police commander was arrested today in a case that goes back to the abuse and torture of African-American suspects in the 1980s. Jon Burge is charged with lying about that torture. From Chicago, NPR's David Schaper reports. DAVID SCHAPER: For decades, criminal suspects on Chicago's south side complained they'd been beaten with telephone books, burned with cigarettes, nearly suffocated with plastic typewriter covers, even subjected to electric shock while being interrogated by detectives in the police district known as Area 2. At the center of those allegations is Jon Burge, who became a detective in Area 2 in 1972 and later supervised detectives there through much of the 1980s. The Chicago Police Department fired Burge in 1993. In 2003, former Illinois Governor George Ryan found evidence of torture-coerced confessions compelling eno

NPR News Special Coverage: War in Iraq

NPR's Neal Conan hosts NPR News coverage of the war in Iraq. THis segment includes the Pentagon briefing, NPR's Tom Gjelten, and Nancy Soderberg, former ambassador to the United Nations during the Clinton administration and vice president for multi-lateral affairs at the International Crisis Group in New York.

Vietnam War Story Wins Book Award

Denis Johnson's novel <em>Tree of Smoke</em> wins the National Book Award. Sara Nelson, editor of <em>Publishers Weekly</em>, details the winners, the losers and the state of the publishing industry.

Pakistani Madrassa Names Its Library For Osama Bin Laden

A sign now outside the small library at a religious school for girls in Pakistan's capital says the room has been named for a martyr — Osama bin Laden, whose al-Qaida terrorist network was responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that killed more than 3,000 people in New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia. "For us he was a hero of Islam," a school spokesman tells Agence France-Presse. The school in Islamabad is run by "hardline cleric Maulana Abdul Aziz, the imam of the city's Lal Masjid (Red Mosque)," according to Pakistan's Dawn newspaper. In 2007, that mosque was the site of a week-long standoff between armed militants and Pakistani security forces. It came to an end when government forces moved in. More than 100 people died. Afterward, there was a wave of suicide bombings, assassinations and other violence across Pakistan as militants struck back. Bin Laden was killed by U.S. Navy SEALs in May 2011 during a raid on the compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, where he had been hiding for several years. Earlier this week, Fresh Air interviewed New York Times correspondent Carlotta Gall about her new book — The Wrong Enemy: America in Afghanistan, 2001-2014. Here's how the show described that book: "Highly critical of Pakistan, it offers new information about how Islamabad has helped the Taliban in Afghanistan, and how Pakistan's intelligence agency may have helped Osama bin Laden hide out in Abbottabad, Pakistan."

Immigration Remains a Hot Topic for 2008

The problem of how to deal with illegal immigration was one of the big issues of 2007 for President Bush and the Congress, and promises to remain on the table in 2008.

Even On 'Passwords,' Dawes Can't Hide Its Big, Bleeding Heart

Note: NPR's First Listen audio comes down after the album is released. However, you can still listen with the Spotify or Apple Music playlist at the bottom of the page. On the surface, Dawes' songs are bright, approachable, outward-facing throwbacks to the best in classic countrified rock, from Buffalo Springfield to The Band. Its songs often register as comfort food; as the stuff of festival stages in the summertime or barroom blowouts that can barely be contained by closing time. But singer Taylor Goldsmith also uses Dawes as a canvas for serious, sometimes enormously ambitious ruminations on the meaning of life and the myriad ways human beings find love, hope and meaning. Goldsmith clearly loves to cast around for unifying principles, from the one that gave Dawes' last album its title (We're All Gonna Die) to the one at the core of 2011's "A Little Bit of Everything," in which the singer revels in the sheer breadth of available experiences. On Dawes' sixth album, Passwords, Goldsmith goes big again: In the grandiose "Crack the Case," he identifies empathy and communication as the best pathways to addressing the world's ills, while the closing track's title doubles as a thoroughly Dawesian mission statement: "Time Flies Either Way." Even the name Passwords reflects an idea about the way songs can unlock secrets we keep from ourselves, granting us revelations into our own lives. "Time Flies Either Way" also points to some of the sonic shifts evident on Passwords, as Dawes balances its rowdier material with brushes of piano and soft saxophones. That song wouldn't have sounded that out of place on an early-vintage Bruce Hornsby record, while "Feed the Fire" grooves and snaps with busy bits of poppy soul that'd make Daryl Hall proud. Still, throughout Passwords and the band's career writ large, Dawes always returns to its greatest specialty: smooth and ingratiating California folk-rock that never bothers to hide its big, beating, bleeding heart.

FDA Discourages Use of Syrup of Ipecac

The Food and Drug Administration is warning against the use of syrup of Ipecac, which induces vomiting in children who have swallowed poison. The FDA now says the popular home remedy does more harm than good. Hear NPR's Linda Wertheimer and Dr. Alistair Wood, who advised the FDA on the issue.

Tom Price Confirmed As Secretary Of Health And Human Services

The Senate confirmed Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., early Friday as the new secretary of Health and Human Services. He was approved by a party-line vote of 52-47. Democrats were concerned that the conservative congressman wants to pare down government health programs. They were also troubled by lingering ethics questions over Price's investments. In his new role, Price, a retired orthopedic surgeon from suburban Atlanta who served as chairman of the House Budget Committee, is expected to implement the repeal and replacement of the Affordable Care Act, which his colleagues in Congress have been working on this year. Price will oversee a $1 trillion agency, the largest budget of any Cabinet secretary. In addition to Obamacare, HHS administers the Medicare and Medicaid programs and oversees the National Institutes of Health, among other programs and agencies. With Price's confirmation, HHS now has as its leader a budget hawk who has proposed replacing the Affordable Care Act subsidies that are tied to income, with tax credits to purchase insurance. Tax credits are not determined by an individual's income level. Price also supports the proposal by House Speaker Paul Ryan to turn Medicare into what some call a "voucher" program. Under the plan, beneficiaries would receive "premium support" from the government to buy a Medicare health plan through an exchange. The private plans would compete against the traditional government-run program. During his confirmation hearing, Price said his goal was that everyone have access to health insurance. "What I commit to the American people is to keep patients at the center of health care. And what that means to me is making certain every single American has access to affordable health coverage," he said. Democrats spent hours on Thursday reading stories from their constituents about how the Affordable Care Act helped them, and tried to make the case that Price is a threat to Medicare, Medicaid and health care for people who have ongoing medical conditions. "Congressman Price's budget in the House cuts nearly $500 million from Medicare and turns it into a voucher program," said Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., during the 30-hour debate. The Obamacare replacement Price proposed included offering tax credits starting at $1,200 a year to allow people to buy health insurance, boosting the use of tax-advantaged health savings accounts and limiting the tax deduction companies take for providing health insurance to workers. Those ideas are the core of what Republicans say they want to do to replace the ACA, but the details of how big the tax credits would be and exactly how the HSAs would be structured are unknown. During his confirmation, Price was dogged by questions about investments he made in health care-related companies. Price says he followed all congressional ethics rules, but his well-timed trades made it appear that he could have used his position to influence the price of stocks he owned, or that he received special treatment from companies in which he invested. Republicans in the Senate were satisfied with his explanations, however, and the former congressman will be headed to his new office today.

NYC's Day With No COVID-19 Deaths Turns Out To Have Had At Least 13

Updated July 20 at 5:20 p.m. ET: New York City now reports there were 13 confirmed deaths due to COVID-19 on July 11, the 24-hour period in which Mayor Bill de Blasio had said that no deaths were reported. "The mayor was very clear that the information was preliminary and subject to change," a spokesperson for the city told NPR on Monday. De Blasio made the announcement on July 13, but since then, more complete data has been released. Original story continues below: For the first time in months, there was a 24-hour period in which no one in New York City died of the coronavirus. The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene reported zero deaths on Saturday, but that number could change as death data can lag and new deaths could be confirmed retroactively at any point. The city's first confirmed coronavirus death was March 11. Mayor Bill de Blasio called the milestone a statement about "how this city fights back and people do not ever give in." "It's something that should make us hopeful, but it's very hard to take a victory lap because we know we have so much more ahead. This disease is far from beaten," de Blasio said during a news conference Monday. "And we look around the country and we look at what so many other Americans are going through and so many other states and cities hurting so bad right now. So no one can celebrate, but we can at least take a moment to appreciate that every one of you did so much to get us to this point." New York City has had 18,708 confirmed deaths due to COVID-19 as well as 4,615 probable deaths. "Twenty-four hours where no one died," the mayor said. "Let's have many more days like that." De Blasio also called upon President Trump to invoke the Defense Production Act to speed up the processing of coronavirus tests: "Mr. President, all you have to do is say, 'I am now invoking the Defense Production Act to expand lab capacity in the United States of America, to make sure we have everything we need to get tests to people quickly.' You can do that with the stroke of a pen. We need it not only here in New York; we need it all over this country." Trump previously invoked the act in March to boost production of masks and ventilators. "The federal government has to step up now, because now it's becoming a national crisis," the mayor said. "We used to have almost no testing. Now we have more testing, but if you can't get the results in real time, it doesn't help you enough." Amid the huge reduction of coronavirus cases in the city, there is one worrying trend: a rising infection rate among young adults, particularly 20- to 29-year-olds. "I understand for so many younger adults it has been a really difficult time — cooped up, disconnected, away from loved ones," de Blasio said. "I understand that people are just yearning to break out of that, but — we've got to keep telling everyone, particularly our younger adults, how important it is to stick to what has worked: the social distancing, the face coverings, getting tested." The city plans to expand its outreach to young people through social media influencers, mask giveaways and mobile testing vans. There will also be 10 new free, walk-up testing sites in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens. As more people return to work indoors and go back to using the subways, de Blasio urged New Yorkers to wear face coverings whenever they are indoors outside their homes, even if other people aren't in close proximity. On Monday, the city reported a 2% positivity rating for coronavirus testing. Fifty-six patients were admitted to the hospital, and 279 patients were in intensive care units.

Barbershop: UofL Basketball Ban, Football Concussions And The NFL Women's Summit

ESPN contributor Kevin Blackistone, <em>Bloomberg View</em>'s Kavitha Davidson and <em>The Washington Post</em>'s Wesley Lowery talk about the UofL basketball team, public opinion of the NFL, and women in sports.

Use of Sept. 11 Funds Questioned

Following the Sept. 11 attacks, billions of dollars in private donations and public funds materialized, but there was no road map on how to best use the money. Some say the process of getting funds to victims has been too complicated and question the criteria used to distribute the money. Hear NPR's Nancy Solomon.

Ladles, Feathers, Squibs And Hooks: Doc Emrick's Keys To Calling A Pass

Legendary NHL play-by-play announcer Michael "Doc" Emrick takes a break from the Stanley Cup finals to discuss how he prepares for calling games, as well as the many ways to describe a pass. NHL game audio clip courtesy of NHL Radio and NHL Network.

Manufacturers Push Biodegradable Plastic Bags

In response to a grassroots legislative movement to phase out non-biodegradable plastic shopping bags, manufacturers are developing bags that will break down from prolonged exposure to oxygen or water. But environmental groups are unsatisfied, saying it still takes months for the bags to deteriorate.

After a Decade, Tribe to Receive U.S. Settlement

More than a decade ago, Elouise Cobell, a leader of the Blackfoot Indian tribe in Montana, filed a lawsuit against the federal government arguing that the land leases of more than a half million Indians across America were mismanaged. Soon, a federal judge will determine a settlement. Cobell discusses the impending ruling, and her hopes for her community.

Zero-Tolerance Policies Doing More Harm Than Good

Nearly one million teens become school dropouts each year, particularly minorities and males. Many students leave school after experiencing strict suspension policies. To learn why and what can produce better learning environments, host Michel Martin speaks with NPR's Claudio Sanchez, who's doing a new series on America's dropout crisis; Deborah Fowler, a consultant on a new Texas study about the effects of school discipline; and Emma Tai, coordinator of Voices of Youth in Chicago Education.

Sex Abuse Problems Persist Inside The Roman Catholic Church

More than a decade and a half after the clergy sex abuse scandal erupted in the Boston Archdiocese, the Roman Catholic Church continues to have a problem stopping and preventing abuse.

The Summer Of Music Documentaries: 'Stop Making Sense'

If there was ever an argument for the value of moviegoing being a common, public experience, the crowd with whom I saw 1984's Stop Making Sense would be it. At a time when complaints about how inconsiderate and just plain unpredictably present movie audiences can be are on the increase (and ostensibly driving people to stay home and make do with Netflix and their home theater systems), it was a pleasant reminder (if not a shock to the system) to be reminded that the right theater full of people can amplify an experience well beyond what it would be if it were just you, sitting alone in the dark. But first, some reflections. There was a time in the 1980s when it was taken as a given that the Talking Heads were going to be the most important rock band of the decade. Rolling Stone knew it, Robert Christgau knew it, everyone knew it, and then it didn't happen. R.E.M. and U2 stepped forward (as did Metallica, though nobody noticed it yet) and the Talking Heads' star just sort of faded, though it certainly didn't disappear. Even now, when their influence is once again on the rise, it seems more borne out of the same '80s revivalism that has belatedly elevated the Cure and Depeche Mode to seminal status. Still, even through those lean years, Stop Making Sense held on to its reputation as the best concert film ever made. While I'm not entirely sure I'd agree with that assessment, I'll happily admit that there's an awful lot of evidence in its favor. The evidence and the roar of the crowd, after the jump. It captured the band precisely at the apex of its popular success, just after "Burning Down The House" hit big. It was made by a real director (Jonathan Demme). And in its way, it had a structure awfully similar to that of a story. A lot has been made of the movie's opening, where Byrne famously walks onto an empty stage, presses "play" on a boombox and sings "Psycho Killer" along with the electronic drumbeat that's pumping out. But that's only the tip of the iceberg, with not only the band but the stage built up piece by piece, song by song, until what started as one man with an acoustic guitar and a tape recorder has gradually expanded into a nine-musician, multi-tiered setup that can finally dig deeply into the complex grooves of "Life During Wartime" and "Making Flippy Floppy." That's not how a concert works. That's how a movie works: establishment and introduction of the important characters and elements; expansion and progression of those elements; resolution. As hard as the music hits and as animated as the band is, that's what makes Stop Making Sense a movie as opposed to just one song after another captured on film. (Though I must admit that I couldn't imagine a better ending than "Girlfriend Is Better," which seems to pull together every strand at once and sum up both the film and the concert, and yet there are still two songs left to go.) Of course, the structure wouldn't be worth much if it weren't for what was being structured. Tina Weymouth, in particular, practically beams throughout and is just about the most joyous bass player ever caught on celluloid. Perhaps the most underrated as well: It's worth noting that -- with two additional singers, a guitar player, a percussionist and P-Funk's Bernie Worrell on keyboards fleshing out the band -- she's the only Talking Head whose instrument isn't augmented by someone else. Byrne, meanwhile, is a compelling ringmaster, so masterful in his control of what's happening on stage that he even gets one of the cameramen to sing along during "Girlfriend Is Better." He's also every bit the twitchy dork that everyone knows he is -- not only ranging around the stage with an intense curiosity but at one point literally running laps around it -- but instead of appearing uncomfortable in his body, he moves with a curious grace. Which brings me back to the audience. Byrne's rubber-boned dancing provoked laughter from the people in the theater with me, not because it was funny, but purely as an expression of delight. They also had no compunctions about applauding along with the crowd in the movie (again, not because they thought that the Talking Heads could hear them, but because that's how your body physically responds after these experiences). By the end, when the band and their stage and film crews took their bows, I was applauding with them.

Pop Culture Happy Hour: Our 2016 Oscars Preview

At the end of a grueling Academy Awards race, we at Pop Culture Happy Hour like to unwind with a good, long talk we call our "Oscars Omnibus" — a roundup of our thoughts on all the Best Picture nominees, notable acting nominees, and issues and themes surrounding the prior year in movies. This year gave us plenty to chew on, as you can imagine, and as you can hear for yourself on this page. Linda Holmes, Glen Weldon, All Things Considered movie critic Bob Mondello and I open with a dash through this year's Best Picture contenders, giving a little extra time to the movies we haven't discussed at length on the show before. Here they are, in the order we tackle them: * We did a full segment on The Martian when it came out, so we're pretty brief here; the discussion mostly revolves around whether the film is too lively and entertaining to be considered "Oscar bait." * Bridge Of Spies also got a long discussion around the time of its release — and, though we're fans of Mark Rylance's supporting performance, none of us could quite glean what (besides Steven Spielberg's name) the movie is doing on this list. * The Big Short, about which we've quibbled in passing, gets a more substantial discussion here. I get to relaunch my defense of the movie — which makes a boring, serious subject zippy and fun — while Linda articulates, not inaccurately, the issues surrounding the audience it thinks is watching. * All these months later, everyone's still effusive about Mad Max: Fury Road, which got a Small Batch with Glen Weldon and Chris Klimek back in May. We all marvel at its visual brilliance, its audacity, and what Bob calls "a demolition derby with content." * Brooklyn gets us into a bit of a rumble: Bob feels largely indifferent and laments its tameness, Glen returns to a recurring liked-it-didn't-love-it refrain, and Linda and I take turns waxing rhapsodic about its charming, meaningfully grownup love story. (Linda, you'll note, waxes rhapsodic with far more eloquence than I've ever mustered in my entire life.) Seriously, though, what a lovely little movie. * Room draws positive notices all around, with a few quibbles here and there, and we're all impressed with the tense and exciting scene that splits the movie in two. Praise for Best Actress frontrunner Brie Larson isn't hard to come by in general, and we're not about to reverse that trend. * Spotlight is probably my favorite movie of the year (not counting Inside Out, which isn't nominated for Best Picture), but Bob found it formulaic and too straightforward. The rest of us, who are right, marvel at the way Spotlight eschews grandstanding in favor of a big, important story. * And then there's apparent frontrunner The Revenant, about which our opinions are decidedly mixed. Bob loves it as a piece of grand filmmaking, Linda acknowledges that it's "Not For Lindas" upfront while describing it as "theatre of pain and agony," Glen favors Tom Hardy's performance over that of Best Actor frontrunner Leonardo DiCaprio, and I launch into a screed about why "degree of difficulty" in movie performances so often seems to revolve around how much an actor has suffered for his or her art. From there, we move on to a generous grab bag of Oscars issues — most notably the fact that white actors went 20-for-20 in the acting categories for the second year in a row. This leads us into a discussion of films and performances that could and perhaps should have prevented that: Linda and Bob love Tangerine and its central performances, we've all got nice things to say about Creed and the work of both director Ryan Coogler and star Michael B. Jordan, and Linda wonders why Beasts Of No Nation (a movie she describes as "a wail of pain") would get shut out while The Revenant leads the field. Then there's a whole bunch of quick-hit commentary on an assortment of films that got nominated for Oscars (The Danish Girl, Trumbo, 45 Years, Carol, Son Of Saul, Ex Machina), a note on stuff we wish had gotten more attention (like 99 Homes), a quick Inside Out vs. Anomalisa smackdown, praise for the animated shorts Sanjay's Super Team and World Of Tomorrow, and a quick diatribe about Sam Smith's dreary nominated James Bond theme. Finally, we close, as always, with What's Making Us Happy this week. I'm excited about the imminent completion of The Austin 100, a free and fully downloadable 100-song SXSW sampler — look for that on the NPR Music site early next week — and about a recent appearance by my colleague and pal Bob Boilen on the freaking Simpsons. Glen is loving the second season of American Crime, Bob is thrilled to see Stephen Sondheim's Bounce revived and revitalized, and Linda is feeling smug about both knitting and her shiny galley of a new book by an old favorite of ours.

Coast Guard Tells Cruise Ships With COVID-19 Cases To Stay Away From U.S. Ports

The U.S. Coast Guard is telling foreign-flagged cruise ships to be prepared to care for people with COVID-19 for an "indefinite period of time" at sea or to seek help from countries other than the U.S., citing a health care system that is being overwhelmed. The instructions are in a new safety bulletin that took effect this week along the southern Atlantic coast, including Florida – which is reporting more than 6,700 coronavirus cases, as of Tuesday evening. If a cruise ship must send someone ashore for medical care, its owner will be responsible for essentially every step of the trip, from arranging an evacuation to hiring a private ambulance and ensuring the person has a spot in a hospital. But the Coast Guard bulletin, signed by Rear Adm. E.C. Jones of the 7th District based in Miami, also says it could be difficult to find any facility in South Florida that can take new COVID-19 patients. "Medical facilities in the Port of Miami, for example, are no longer accepting MEDEVAC patients due to limited hospital capacity and it is expected that neighboring counties will follow suit," wrote Jones, whose Coast Guard district includes Florida, Puerto Rico, Georgia and South Carolina. The new medical requirements apply to any vessel carrying more than 50 people. It also singles out cruise ships that are registered in the Bahamas – referring to many of the ships owned by large cruise lines such as Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Norwegian. Foreign-flagged ships are the norm in the cruise industry. By registering ships in the Bahamas, Panama and other countries, cruise companies can avoid U.S. taxes as well as employment and environmental laws. But now, the Coast Guard is telling those companies that their ships should seek medical care in the countries where they are registered, rather than rely on the U.S. "Foreign flagged vessels that loiter beyond U.S. territorial seas, particularly those registered to The Bahamas, that require a MEDEVAC to a shoreside facility should seek flag state support prior to seeking support from the limited facilities in the U.S.," Jones wrote. The cruise ship industry is currently under a 30-day suspension of all trips from the U.S. that took effect on March 14. But dozens of ships remain at sea. The Coast Guard memo was first reported by the Miami Herald, which gives this accounting of the current situation off the Florida shore: "Seventeen ships are lined up at Port Miami and Port Everglades, with more than a dozen others hovering miles offshore. Most have only crew aboard, but several still carrying passengers are steaming toward South Florida ports. In&nbsp;SEC filings Tuesday, Carnival said it has more than 6,000 passengers still at sea. New sailings were halted by all major lines on March 13." News of the Coast Guard bulletin emerged as a Carnival-owned Holland America seeks a port for the Zaandam, a cruise ship on which four people have died and nearly 200 people were sickened by suspected COVID-19. The company wants the ship to dock in Fort Lauderdale; several countries have denied permission for the ship to dock and disembark passengers.

New Yorkers Lunge, Twist And Zumba Their Way Through The Pandemic Together

On a recent Saturday at lunchtime Michael Aredes leans his bike against a park bench. He's in a white helmet, sweating from his ride and holding an iced coffee from Dunkin Donuts in a plastic cup. About 10 women are lined up on the sidewalk, socially distanced, wearing masks and leggings, but also ski hats and vests. "Good morning everyone. Happy Saturday," Aredes says. He leans over and sets up two miniature speakers on the pavement. In these crazy times Americans are turning to little things to help them stay sane and find joy. For this group of bundled up New Yorkers, happiness comes in the form of Zumba class outside. And Aredes is here to lead the class, pandemic style. Safely, outdoors. "Thank you guys for being here again. I'm really, really grateful," he says. "Any injuries you have ankles, knees, back, shoulders, please make any modifications to make it work for you. And the last thing and most important thing is to always what? "Have fun," the class echoes. And with a "let's get the show on the road guys," Aredes starts the music pumping. Walk by one of the classes he leads in a Brooklyn park or on the sidewalk and it's practically impossible not to notice him. He's a big dude — easily 6-ft-tall — with an even bigger spirit. His hair is in a scrunchie and he's clapping his hands over his head, calling out "hey, hey" while lunging, twisting and doing graceful dance moves with his hands. It feels like you are just a few feet away from cheerleading practice or a Broadway rehearsal and Aredes is the choreographer. But this is January. Both the sky and the narrow city sidewalk the students are lined up along are grey. It's cold enough to make your glasses fog up behind your mask so students like Gwen Knowles, are zipped into winter coats. "I have extra warm special socks on. I have thermal underwear and a vest and a coat and gloves and before I was wearing mittens on it and a hat," she says. The pandemic has been hard for Knowles. She lost her mom. But she's grateful to be alive and healthy and able to pay her bills. And, like a lot of the students here today, she craves safe interaction with other humans. So she comes out despite the cold. A few feet down the sidewalk, Felice Tebbe says she comes to Aredes' class four days a week. "Every time I come, I'm uplifted and I'm like, I can do this," she says. "The quarantine, you know, the lockdown. It's a game changer. Changes my whole demeanor." Before the pandemic, Aredes was a bartender at the kind of upscale New York City restaurants that have a lot of dollar signs next to their names in guidebooks. He also taught Zumba a couple of days a week at the YMCA. When the pandemic hit he moved class online and then, once the weather warmed up, moved it outdoors. But his dream was always to work in fine dining, and the pandemic has put that on hold. So like some of his students Aredes sometimes struggles too. Before last March he pushed himself and valued how busy he was. "The New York hustle," he calls it. "I think the hardest thing is to realize," he says, "[is that] I can't always keep myself running the way I thought I needed to be. I needed to take a moment to slow down and enjoy the time I have. Just enjoy my life a little bit more." An old man stops to stare from behind his mask. Kids, too, 'til their parents tug at their hands. Aredes leaves a stack of business cards out on a bench. He's used to the attention joy brings these days. A few minutes later 36-year-old Anna Levy stops to watch. "Fun feels like a — like a novelty. You know? And I'm just like, yeah, here it is. We don't need that much. Just this awesome human standing in front, and calling and dancing," she says. Aredes' students love him. Ask them about him and the words "love" and "life saver" frequently come up. But in a touching, almost Hollywood moment, he says he's just as grateful for them. "Everyone is looking for something to give themselves that moment of pause that moment of happiness, something joyous to do," Aredes says. "And this, this, for me is something that makes me super, super happy." An hour later the class has tripled in size as students trickled in late. Sweaty and disheveled despite the cold, students who'd stripped off coats or hats as they Zumba'd down the sidewalk don their outerwear again. Today's lesson is over. They've made it through another day, together. "The schedule for next week is up," he tells the group. "Next Saturday is a 90-minute class for my birthday so we're going to have some fun."

'Magazine Mavens' Talk Love and Politics

Female editors at top women's magazines — Deborah Way of <em>O, The Oprah Magazine</em>, Damarys Ocana of <em>Latina</em>, and Dawn Baskerville of <em>Essence</em> — discuss topics highlighted in current issues of their publications.

Marathon Runners Face Low Risk Of Cardiac Arrest

Running long-distance races isn't going to hurt your heart any more than other vigorous sports, researchers say. Just make sure you're fit enough to attempt the feat in the first place. In the past decade, nearly 11 million runners participated in long-distance races, but only 59 suffered cardiac arrests, according to findings just published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Most of the cases happened to be in runners with undiagnosed, pre-existing heart problems. "Certainly doing the run didn't cause the heart conditions," study author Dr. Aaron Baggish tells Shots, "but it was probably the stimulus that caused the near-fatal or fatal event." For the study, Baggish, associate director of the Cardiovascular Performance Program at Massachusetts General Hospital, compiled data on runners in marathons (26.2 miles) and half-marathons (13.1 miles) as far back as 2000. Continue Reading The average age of runners whose hearts stopped beating was 42. Most were men. A condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, or a thickening of the heart muscle, was the underlying condition leading to cardiac arrest in many of the younger people. And those heart stoppages are tougher to overcome with CPR, Baggish says. Older runners tended to have underlying coronary heart disease, which, he says, leads to a type of cardiac arrest that responds better to CPR. The study also shows that cardiac arrest cases in races are on the rise, especially in men. Baggish attributes this to an increase of participation in marathons and half-marathons — doubling in the past 10 years — and the male predisposition for cardiac arrest. "Recently more and more folks that have a history of being sedentary and even having heart disease or heart risk factors are turning to the sport to improve their health," he says. "These are the people who are probably most at risk." All told, 42 of the 59 people who had cardiac arrests died during the race or at the hospital after being taken there. That translates to about 1 death per 259,000 runners. For collegiate athletes, the sudden death rate is 1 per 43,770, researchers say. For triathletes, it's 1 per 52,630. The mortality rate for marathoners and half-marathoners is about 20 percent lower than the rate for typical cardiac arrest cases that happen outside hospitals, the report says. Baggish says that the survivors of race-related cardiac arrests got immediate, bystander-initiated CPR. Among people who died, less than half of got CPR. "This means that if a cardiac arrest occurs, the only real way of ensuring a chance of survival is for the people that witnessed the event to start CPR immediately," he says. Although the cardiac-arrest risk is low, Baggish says people should get checked out by a doctor before tackling a long-distance run — even if they're young. "The deal is that exercise is really quite protective, but it's not completely protective," he says. "If you're destined to have a problem, it's most likely to occur while you're actually exercising."

Ledisi: Tiny Desk Concert

Singer and songwriter Ledisi is a veteran R&B queen, which she immediately affirmed at the Tiny Desk with her powerful opening tune "Let Love Rule." It's the title song of her latest album, and a dazzling display of vocal range and technique. And yet, it hardly showcases the full scope of her artistic expertise. Classically trained, Ledisi is also celebrated as a jazz artist, which she clearly demonstrated when she broke out into a effortless scat outro on her second song, "I Blame You." With nine Grammy nominations and an impressive discography, it's easy to be awed by her musical accomplishments. But in person, what's just as impressive as her exquisite artistry is her radiant spirit of contentment and grace. You can see it when Terrell, her makeup artist, goes behind the desk between songs to powder her face. (It was an exceptionally hot day.) Ledisi responded to the interruptions not like a diva, but with humor, humility and gratitude. The lyrics to the third song, "Add To Me," speak to having self-confidence and ensuring self-care in any relationship: "I've been in a spiritual space / So when it's getting hard, don't break / Show me you're a winner, I don't need a quitter / How you gon' add to me?" Ledisi finishes the set with a tribute to Prince and even more positive messaging. "High" is about being high on life — a reminder that no matter what chaos and circumstances exist, we should all find one good thing to love every day. Set List "Let Love Rule" "I Blame You" "Add To Me" "High" Musicians Ledisi (vocals); Sara Williams (vocals); Kerry Marshall (guitar); James Agnew (percussion) Credits Producers: Suraya Mohamed, Morgan Noelle Smith; Creative Director: Bob Boilen; Audio Engineer: Josh Rogosin; Videographers: Morgan Noelle Smith, Beck Harlan, Alyse Young; Production Assistant: Salvatore Maicki; Photo: Ron T Young/NPR For more Tiny Desk concerts, subscribe to our podcast.

Why India's Mars Mission Is So Much Cheaper Than NASA's

Former NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin pioneered a "faster, better, cheaper" approach to America's space program, but he would have been hard-pressed to deliver a Mars mission for the bargain-basement price of India's first probe to the red planet, which blasted off Tuesday. "India's Mars mission, with a budget of $73 million, is far cheaper than comparable missions including NASA's $671 million Maven satellite that is expected to set off for Mars later in November," reports The Wall Street Journal, which is among several publications noting the disparity between the cost of U.S. space missions and India's burgeoning program. Even the project director of India's Mars orbiter mission has been quick to tout his country's frugality in space: "This is less than one-tenth of what the U.S. has spent on their Mars mission Maven," S. Arunan told reporters at a pre-launch news conference last week, according to Al-Jazeera, which added that "the cost-effectiveness of the mission is indeed turning out to be the highlight of the project, almost eclipsing the other aspects." (Arunan's comments may have been directed partly at the critics of India's space program, who The Washington Post says "wonder why the country is spending $74 million on interplanetary travel while millions of its people remain poor and malnourished.") In any case, there are some good reasons that India can do it cheaper than the U.S., says David Alexander, director of the Rice Space Institute. It basically boils down to parts and labor. "I think labor is the biggest factor, as well as the complexity of the mission," Alexander tells NPR. "It takes a whole team of engineers." Those engineers cost much less in India than they do in the U.S. The mean annual income for an aeronautical engineer in the United States is just under $105,000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. While it's difficult to make direct comparisons, a blog that covers the aerospace industry in India indicates that the higher end of the scale for engineers there is less than $20,000. Similarly, there's a vast gulf between the pay for electronics engineers. The average electronics engineer in the United States makes a little more than $120,000, according to Salary.com, as opposed to India, where Glassdoor.com says he or she might pull in less than $12,000 a year at a company such as Samsung India. These figures are approximations — given factors such as the differences in experience levels and fluctuations in currency exchange rates over time — but they give an idea of the disparity. In general, it seems safe to say engineers in India make between one-tenth and one-fifth of what their U.S. counterparts do, in absolute terms. Alexander says it appears that India's main goal is just getting to Mars, and so the probe is carrying "relatively simple" and therefore not-so-expensive instrumentation, he says. It's a first try at a very complex mission, one that is orders of magnitude more difficult than India's Chandrayaan-1 probe to the moon five years ago. Mars missions have a history of failure. As Alexander points out, fewer than half of them — launched by the U.S., Russia and the European Space Agency — have been successful. "What the Indians want to know is: Will it survive? And will it get into orbit?" Alexander says. "I think the hope is that even if it fails, they are going to learn something." The Associated Press notes that no country has reached Mars on the first try. China's 2011 attempt with Russia to send the Yinghuo-1 probe fizzled when the Russian rocket failed to leave Earth orbit. A 2003 mission by Japan got farther but couldn't get into Mars orbit. And as Reuters points out, a successful Indian mission will have the effect of "positioning the emerging Asian giant as a budget player in the latest global space race."

Frontier Airlines Passenger Taped To Seat After Allegedly Groping And Assaulting Crew

A passenger aboard a Frontier Airlines flight has been charged with three counts of battery. The passenger is accused of inappropriately touching two female flight attendants and punching a male attendant on Saturday. The flight crew then restrained the unruly passenger and used tape to ensure he stayed seated for the remainder of the flight. While traveling from Philadelphia to Miami, Maxwell Wilkinson Berry, 22, was caught on camera shouting at the flight crew and other passengers. "My parents are worth more than f****** 2 million goddamn dollars!" Berry shouted. He continued to cry out, hollering at everyone within earshot, and declared that his grandfather is an attorney. The video shows passengers erupting with laughter as Berry continued to scream. It then cuts to Berry taking a swing at a male flight attendant during a physical altercation. The flight attendant called for help and other members of the flight crew can be seen coming to his aid. The video then cuts to the same male flight attendant securing Berry to his seat, utilizing a large roll of duct tape. Passengers can once again be heard laughing and cheering in the background. A version of the video posted by ABC Reporter Sam Sweeney on Twitter had been viewed 9.7 million times at the time of reporting. It was retweeted over 40,000 times, including by Berry himself, who claims he was "treated like livestock," "This will forever be the most dehumanizing experience in my entire life," Berry wrote. "Many people laughed and ridiculed me as I was mistreated by staff of a PROFESSIONAL airline." In a separate video, Berry can be seen from the side, his mouth partially covered with tape. City lights in the background can be seen as the plane prepares to land. Berry calls out for help as he thrashes his head to remove the tape. His cries, however, are met with laughter and teasing from the other passengers. Miami-Dade Police charged Berry with three misdemeanor counts of battery, according to the police report. The Miami Herald reported that Berry had been drinking. The 22-year old at one point spilled a drink on his shirt and retreated to the bathroom, only to emerge without his top on. A member of the crew helped Berry retrieve a clean shirt from his carry-on luggage. After wandering about the plane for about 15 minutes, Berry was speaking with a flight attendant before he allegedly grabbed her breasts, The Miami Herald reported. Berry was arrested after the plane touched down. Frontier initially said the crew was suspended because the passenger wasn't restrained using the proper procedures. But a statement from the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA President Sara Nelson called on Frontier Airlines to support the crew. "Flight Attendants have faced an onslaught of disruptions on our flights this year. The situation on Frontier this weekend is one of the worst examples," the statement read. "A drunk and irate passenger verbally, physically, and sexually assaulted multiple members of the crew. When he refused to comply after multiple attempts to de-escalate, the crew was forced to restrain the passenger with the tools available to them onboard." The airline has now told multiple news outlets that the crew is on paid leave pending an investigation. This type of disruption is becoming more frequent In recent months, an uptick in violence against flight crews has resulted in some airlines suspending onboard alcohol sales. Southwest Airlines suspended alcohol sales after Vyvianna Quinone, 28, punched a flight attendant in the face, knocking out two teeth, NPR previously reported. The Federal Aviation Administration reported 3,271 cases of unruly behavior by passengers in the first half of 2021. This included some 2,475 instances where passengers refused to comply with the federal face mask mandate. The FAA said it has proposed more than $682,000 in fines against unruly passengers in that same six-month period, with fines ranging from $7,500 to $21,500.

Trump's Defense Rests, Global Vaccine Complications, A Mysterious Pediatric Illness

Former President Trump's attorneys presented and concluded their case, saying he did not incite the attack on the Capitol. Nearly 130 countries have yet to start vaccinating for COVID-19 and new variants are complicating global efforts. Though rare, there has been a jump in the number of children with Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome.

U.S. May Drop U.N. Iraq Resolution

American officials say they still think they can win U.N. Security Council approval for a U.S.-backed resolution calling for more international assistance in Iraq. But key nations remain dissatisfied with the proposed pace of transition to Iraqi self-rule. U.S. officials say it's possible they will opt to abandon the resolution. Hear NPR's Vicky O'Hara.

Top Stories: Los Angeles Schools Reopen; Executions Decline In The U.S.

Good morning, here are our early stories: -- Los Angeles Schools Will Reopen After Threat Is Deemed Hoax. -- Use Of Death Penalty Continues Its Decline In The United States. -- Soccer Star Abby Wambach Prepares For Her Final Game. And here are more early headlines: Obamacare Deadline Extended By 2 Days Because Of Volume. (CNBC) Kerry Accepts Russian Demand That Assad Stays As Syrian Leader. (AP) Report: Turkey Accused Of Abusing Migrants, Forcing Some Back. (Amnesty International) India's Supreme Court Issues Smog Rules, Bans Some Diesel Vehicles. (BBC) Cuban Pro Baseball Players Who Defected Visit Home. (USA Today) Rare Tornado Strikes Sydney, Australia. (ABC Online) Facebook To Change Rules On Users' Legal Names. (CNET)

Trump May Put Congress On The Hook Over Iran Deal

If the president should declare that Iran is not in compliance with the nuclear deal, a 60-day countdown begins during which Congress can choose to reimpose sanctions — or choose not to.

Head Of SEC To Step Down After Four Years

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chairwoman Mary Schapiro is stepping down. She took over the agency in 2009 as it was reeling from criticism over the financial crisis and the Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme. Schapiro is credited as a consensus builder who restored some stability to the SEC. She is being replaced by SEC commissioner Elisse Walter.

Dashboard Confessional, Gram Parsons, Ed McCurdy

New rock from Dashboard Confessional; Raw and emotional: The Twilight Singers; Africa's Hallelujah Chicken Run Band; Reggae dub by Roots Tonic & Bill Laswell; Strange electronic textures from Matmos; Japan meets Norway through Caroline; A new retrospective on Gram Parsons; Cowboy singer Ramblin' Jack Elliott; '50s, '60s Folk revival singer Ed McCurdy. Download this show in the All Songs Considered podcast. Sign up for the All Songs Considered newsletter and we'll tell you when new music features are available on the site.

FAA Said to Be Too Cozy With Airlines

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee revealed results of its investigation into airline safety. Government investigators and whistle-blowers testified the FAA failed to exercise oversight required by law.

Arena Faces Choices; May Not Return for 2010

HAMBURG, Germany (AP) - Bruce Arena sounded more like a man ready to say goodbye than a coach eager to sign on for another World Cup. He was noncommittal after the Americans were knocked out in the 2002 quarterfinals, too, though he said then he was open to staying on and eventually agreed to a new four-year. On Friday, he spoke in the past tense and showed little eagerness to stay. "Four years ago I was completely burnt out after that whole thing. I was a zombie for about two weeks," he said. "Right now, I'm just an idiot." There was no glory for the Americans this year. After the United States was eliminated in the first round with a 2-1 loss to Ghana on Thursday, Arena spoke with U.S. Soccer Federation president Sunil Gulati, and the pair said it was far too early to make any decisions on whether Arena should stick around - or even wants to remain - for four more years. As security officials dismantled the metal detectors in the lobby of the U.S. team hotel, Arena talked of exploring options. He said he was offered a "European job opportunity" that no longer was available. "I can go either way," he said, looking relaxed in jeans instead of his team clothes. "There are certain things I would want. I'm sure there are certain things they would want." His hesitation, he said, wasn't over whether the U.S. could make the next World Cup, to be played in 2010 in South Africa. "I have no doubts in mind I can qualify a team," he said, "but that to me is not the whole job." Arena took over after the United States finished last at the 1998 tournament in France. Blunt and forceful, he has been soccer's gadfly in America, at times angering his U.S. Soccer bosses and Major League Soccer. "Every job I've been, when I've left them, I've left a better team and organization," said Arena, who led the University of Virginia to five NCAA titles and D.C. United to a pair of MLS championships. "Certainly there have been great moments, from the World Cups to winning Gold Cups to winning big games along the way. It's all been, I think, milestones. So, yeah, there's a lot I'm proud of." If he leaves, Germany coach Juergen Klinsmann might top the list of potential candidates - Klinsmann lives in Southern California, and the U.S. job would shorten his commute. Arena was hired by Bob Contiguglia, whose second four-year term as U.S. Soccer president ended in March. At Gulati's first news conference after taking over, he said Arena's fate wouldn't be solely decided by the United States' performance in a tough World Cup group. With a 3-0 loss to the Czech Republic, a 1-1 tie with Italy and the defeat against Ghana, the United States finished tied for 25th with Iran in the 32-nation field. "He's done an extraordinary job," Gulati said back in March, before adding, "No one is irreplaceable." Arena forced U.S. Soccer to grow up, insisting on a larger staff, charter flights and a more professional attitude. He claimed that when he became coach, "there wasn't the leadership in the program that was necessary for us to be successful," and said a lack of organizational commitment in 1998 "was part of the failure." At his side was Claudio Reyna, who announced his retirement from the national team after 12 years of international play, the last eight as team captain. Reyna played for Arena at Virginia before turning pro, and the pair often analyze matches with the same expressions, a sign of their closeness. "There's been no better coach in the history of U.S. soccer," Reyna said. "You could see immediately from the first day that he took over - he set the tone and completely changed everything, really, the attitude of the players and the country and the sport, to really be winners." Yet the Americans still crashed out in the first round, just as they did in 1998. They scored only twice this time - one an own-goal, at that - and had just four shots on goal total. Veterans made critical errors, several young players showed their inexperience. The result was a quick trip home. "On the whole, we weren't good enough throughout the tournament," Arena said. "We were punished for all our mistakes." If Arena is to stay on, he wants better "mechanisms" for success. In the short-term, the United States needs to play in better competitions to prepare for the World Cup, such as Copa America, South America's championship. U.S. Soccer has been reluctant, because it would take stars away from MLS for even longer periods and shorten the already slight vacation time European-based players have between their lengthy seasons. In the long-term, he wants MLS to assume the role of player development. Following Thursday's loss, Arena directed much of the blame for America's failure on the referee. On Friday, Arena said the officiating shouldn't have made a difference. "A real good team overcomes all those circumstances," he said. "So out of

Hungary - Yugoslavia

Robert speaks with NPR's Sylvia Poggioli about the resolution of a dispute between Hungary and Russia over a Russian aid convoy bound for Yugoslavia. The Hungarians had stopped the Russian trucks at the border with Ukraine, on the grounds that five of the vehicles were armored and some of the trucks carried diesel fuel. The Hungarians saw this as a violation of the international arms embargo against Yugoslavia. Now, Hungary has allowed most of the trucks to go through. But Hungary -- which joined NATO last month -- finds its relations severely strained with both neighbor Yugoslavia and with former ally Russia.

Pain Before Pleasure Makes The Pleasure Even Better, Study Finds

A study from the University of Kentucky shows that doing something virtuous can make indulging later even more pleasurable.

In South Africa, Remembering Soweto Uprising

June 16 is a national holiday in South Africa, but not because of the World Cup play being held there. The day marks the death of 13-year-old Hector Pieterson, killed by police in 1976 during student protests in Soweto. His death became a symbol of youth resistance to apartheid. It is a day of remembrance, but also one of celebration.

Wal-Mart Introduces Family Wireless Plan

Wal-Mart is hoping to undercut some of the big cell phone operators with a cell phone plan of its own. The service, called Family Mobile, targets families who need multiple phones but don't want a full wireless contract. For $45, customers will get unlimited calling and text messages.

Where No One Should Go

In the desert of northern South Africa, you come across a puddle; at the bottom, there's a slot. This is the entrance to the third-largest fresh-water cave in the world... where the adventure begins.

To Save Power, Venezuela Gives Public Employees Fridays Off

As a drought in Venezuela pushes the country's water levels to extreme lows, President Nicolas Maduro has declared every Friday for the next two months a holiday for public employees to save electricity and water. The government believes the four-day workweek will help save energy until the rainy season picks up in May, El Pais newspaper reports. According to Newsweek, the South American nation "depends on hydropower for 60 percent of its electricity." Maduro's order, however, excludes food-industry workers, as there is already a shortage of "grains, meat, dairy and vegetables" due to the economic crisis in Venezuela, Reuters reports. "Lines of hundreds sometimes snake around supermarkets, so a four-day work week in that sector would likely have worsened the scarcity," the news service adds. The Fridays-off decree is part of a 60-day plan that also asks families, businesses and youth to be aware of their energy usage, Maduro said in a television appearance late Wednesday night. The president's announcement came after Maduro gave workers three additional days off after the Easter holidays last month. According to Bloomberg, Maduro said "those efforts saved almost 22 centimeters of water at Guri Dam in the southern state of Bolivar, which supplies as much as 75 percent of the electricity consumed in the capital, Caracas." According to El Pais, however, the Holy Week shutdown — aimed at reducing electricity consumption by 60 percent — was a failure, as high temperatures prompted an uptick in the use of air conditioning. The long weekends may appeal to some workers, but not to everyone. "Just because Maduro doesn't work Monday to Friday, Saturday or Sunday, doesn't mean we Venezuelans are like that," said opposition politician Maria Corina Machado, according to Reuters. "What we want is to keep working, and for you, Maduro, to go." Luis Miguel Lopez, who works for the wealthy opposition municipality of Chacao in Caracas, told the news service the decree was "illogical." "People are going to be at home consuming energy all the same," he said.