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Oscars Changes Coming Next Year, Including New 'Popular Film' Award | Next year’s Academy Awards will see some major changes, including a new category: Outstanding Achievement in Popular Film. Some category winners will also not be aired live. Here & Now‘s Jeremy Hobson discusses the changes with John Horn (@JGHorn), host of the KPCC show The Frame in Southern California. |
Harley Race's Night-School Pro Wrestling Classes | Eight-time National Wrestling Alliance champion Harley Race runs a professional wrestling school in Missouri. He holds his classes on this unique form of brutal ballet in the evening, because all his students have day jobs. Frank Morris of member station KCUR reports. |
NPR News Special: Hour Two -- News Update | <br />Guests:<br /><br /> <STRONG>(Retired) Major General Mike Davidson </STRONG><br /> *Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for 3 years during Bush and the Clinton adminstrations and had significant responsibility for homeland security <br /><br /> <STRONG>Jon Hamilton</STRONG><br /> NPR Science Reporter <br /><br /> <STRONG>Secretary of Heath and Human Services, Tommy Thompson & Attorney General John Ashcroft Briefing From the Health and Human Services Department </STRONG>(regarding new anthrax case in N.Y.) <br /><br /> President Bush has pledged the U.S. committment to ending terrorism. The FBI is asking people to report any "unusual or suspicious activity." Americans are on high alert for additional terrorist attacks. Join Neal Conan for the latest developments in the war against terrorism. |
Listener Limerick Challenge | "Can you hear me now?" hits a a new high; how to really embarrass a bear; Eine Kleine Nacht MOO-sic. |
Excerpt: 'I Love A Broad Margin To My Life' | HOME I am turning 65 years of age.In 2 weeks I will be 65 years old.I can accumulate time and losetime? I sit here writing in the dark —can't see to change these penciled words —just like my mother, alone, bent over her writing,just like my father bent over his writing, alonebut for me watching. She got out of bed,wrapped herself in a blanket, and wrote downthe strange sounds Father, who was dead,was intoning to her. He was reading aloudcalligraphy that he'd written — carved with inkbrush —on his tombstone. She wasn't writing in answer.She wasn't writing a letter. Who was she writing to?Nobody. This well-deep outpouring is not foranything. Yet we have to put into exact wordswhat we are given to see, hear, know.Mother's eyesight blurred; she saw trashas flowers. "Oh. How very beautiful."She was lucky, seeing beauty, livingin beauty, whether or not it was there. I am often looking in mirrors, and singlingout my face in group photographs.Am I pretty at 65?What does old look like?Sometimes I am wrinkled, sometimes not.So much depends upon lighting.A camera crew shot pictures of me — one of"5 most influential people over 60in the East Bay." I am homely; I am old.I look like a tortoise in a curly white wig.I am stretching head and neck towardthe light, such effort to lift the head, to openthe eyes. Black, shiny, lashless eyes.Talking mouth. I must utter yousomething. My wrists are crossed in my lap;wrinkles run up the left forearm.(It's my right shoulder that hurts — Rollerbladingaccident — does the pain show, does my hiding it?)I should've spoken up, Don't takemy picture, not in that glare. One sideof my neck and one cheek are gone in blackshadow. Nobody looks good in hard focus,high contrast — black sweater and skirt,white hair, white sofa, whitecurtains. My colors and my home, but rearranged.The crew had pushed the reds and blues and greens aside.The photographer, a young woman, said, "Great. Great."From within my body, I can't sense that creaseon my left cheek. I have to get — win —compliments. "You are beautiful." "So cute.""Such a kind face." "You are simple.""You move fast." "Chocolate Chip."A student I taught long agocalled me Chocolate Chip. And only yesterdaya lifelong friend told Earll, my husband,he's lucky, he's got me — the Chocolate Chip.They mean, I think, my round faceand brown-bead eyes. I keepcount. I mind that I be good-looking.I don't want to look like Grandmother,Ah Po. Her likeness is the mask of tragedy."An ape weeps when another ape weeps."She is Ancestress; she is prayed to. Shesits, the queen, center of the family in China,center of the family portrait (my mother in it too,generations of in-laws around her) — allis black and white but for a dot of jade-greenat Po's ears, and a curve of jade-greenat her wrist. Lotus lily feet showfrom the hem of her gown. She wanted to bea beauty. She lived to be 100.My mother lived to be 100. "Onehundred and three," she said. Chineselie about their age, making themselves older.Or maybe she was 97 when the lady officialfrom Social Security visited her, as the government visitseveryone who claims a 100th birthday.MaMa showed off; she pedaled her exercisebike, hammer-curled hot pink barbells.Suddenly stopped — what if So-so Securitywon't believe she's a century old?Here's a way for calculating age: Subtractfrom her age of death my age now. 100 - 65 = 35I am 35 years-to-go. Lately, I've beenwriting a book a decade; I have timeto write 3 more books. Jane Austenwrote 6 books. I've written 6 books.Hers are 6 big ones, mine4 big ones and 2 small ones.I take refuge in numbers. Iwaste my time with sudoku.Day dawns, I am greedy, helplessto begin 6-star difficultysudoku. Sun goesdown; I'm still stuck for that squarethat will let the numbers fly into place.What good am I getting outof this? I'm not stopping time. Nothingto show for my expenditures. Pure nothing. 8 days before my birthday, I wentto John Mulligan's funeral. He was 10years younger than me. He died withoutfinishing his book, MIAmerica.(I have a superstition that as long as I,any writer, have things to write, I keep living.)I joined in singing again and againa refrain, "Send thou his soul to God." Earll,though, did not sing, did notsay any of the Latin, any of the prayers.He muttered that the Catholic Church divides youagainst yourself, against your sexy body."The Church is a gyp." John Mulligan should'vebeen given a pagan ceremony; Woman Warrior,Robert Louis Stevenson, and Cuchulainhad come to him in Viet Nam. Johncarried them, tied to him by silver cords,to the U.S. The priest, who came from the Philippines,kept reminding one and all that the benefitshe was offering were for "Christians" only. Buthe did memorialize John being born and raisedin Scotland, and coming to America at 17.Summarily drafted to Viet Nam. Youdidn't have to be a citizen to be drafted. . . . The war count, as of today: Almost 2,000 killed in Iraq. G.I.s. Not counting Afghanis, Iraqis, civilians, mercenaries, children, babies, journ |
The Potential Reach Of Obama's Refinancing Plan | President Obama's home refinancing plan seeks to let a million or more American homeowners save money on their mortgages, even if those loans are underwater. But the plan announced Monday is not a new idea: A pair of economists at Columbia University — Chris Mayer and Glenn Hubbard — have been proposing a similar measure for years. The plan addresses an issue that's been frustrating many homeowners: They see other people refinancing at today's super-cheap interest rates — down around 4 percent for a 30-year fixed-rate loan — but they can't qualify for those rates because their house price has fallen. Under Obama's plan, homeowners with loans backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that meet other qualifications could be eligible to refinance their mortgages even if their home is worth less than they owe. With the president himself announcing the plan it certainly sounds like the day has come when Mayer and Hubbard's proposal is becoming a reality, but they hope the scope is broad enough to affect a large amount of homeowners. Mayer hopes the administration, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the banks will swing for the fences. An existing government refinancing program has reached fewer than one million people and the Federal Housing Finance Agency estimates this new effort might reach double that, perhaps two million people. But Mayer said that many times more Americans really should qualify. "You could easily see 15 to 20 million mortgages refinanced under this program if this were really aggressively pushed by the lending community," he said. The final details of the plan, however, won't be announced until mid-November. "This has finally spurred some real action, I hope. But the devil is in the details," Mayer said. "There's going to be a lot in the next three weeks that has to happen for this program to go right. It could easily go right but it could easily go off the tracks, too, if we don't get the details correct." Will Lenders Be On Board? But getting the details correct is a big "if". The central question is whether this program can be done in a way that makes big mortgage lenders want to actually do these refinancings. Without that, this effort will be pretty insignificant. Critics of the plan say it might not cost taxpayers money but, they say, it would cost investors money. Some of those include bond funds, pension funds, banks and various investors around the world. Some who own mortgages with interest rates of 7 percent would make less money if those homeowners refinanced into 4 percent loans. But if the plan does end up working on a large scale, the administration says home-owners on average could save $2,500 a year. Mayer said that means about $50 billion a year nationwide. "Those kinds of numbers ... [are] like a permanent tax cut for a lot of middle class households," he said. The biggest requirement for Obama's proposal is that the loan was backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the giant government-sponsored mortgage firms. It also requires that the loan was made prior to June 2009, and that the homeowner has kept up the mortgage payments. Tens of millions of Americans fall into that category. Saving Money On Mortgages If they could refinance, many people could save a lot of money. And when he spoke to homeowners in Las Vegas on Monday, the president said he wants to let more Americans put that extra money in their pockets. "So let me just give you an example," Obama said. "If you've got a $250,000 mortgage at 6 percent interest rates but the value of your home has fallen below $200,000, right now you can't refinance; you're ineligible. But that's going to change: If you meet certain requirements you will have the chance to refinance at lower rates." The president said the plan is something he can do right now, as part of a series of steps to boost the economy that he can order without congressional approval. While the Obama administration has thrown its weight behind this plan, at least some Republicans support it too. Mayer's fellow economist at Columbia, Glen Hubbard, was an adviser in the George W. Bush White House and Hubbard now heads up GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney's economic team. "It looks like a good plan; I'm glad they're doing it," Hubbard said. But Hubbard also has all the same devil-is-in the details qualifiers about whether it will actually work on a large scale. |
Security Tapes Show Supermarket Glutton Stuffing Himself | Police in Kentucky say Trevor Runyon slipped into a supermarket and waited for it to close.Surveillance cameras show he then had a feast. He cooked and ate six steak, and washed them down with beer, shrimp and birthday cake. Police found him hiding in the ceiling. |
Pendleton's Mother: 'It's My Job' To Keep Talking | Host Michel Martin continues the conversation with Cleopatra Cowley-Pendleton. Her 15-year-old daughter was shot to death in Chicago last month, and President Obama highlighted the tragedy in his State of the Union address. Cowley-Pendleton talks about what she would like national leaders to think about when debating gun control policy. |
Maine Things Considered 5/21/07 | School consolidaton plan modified but still moving forward; budget negotiators clash over funding for health insurance waiver program; health fair viewed as a cultural celebration; and critics say tree growth tax law being misused by seasonal residents. |
Congress Previews the State of the Union | NPR's David Welna has been asking lawmakers on Capitol Hill what they would like to hear in President Bush's State of the Union address this evening. Most members of Congress mentioned the war on terrorism and the economy, two subjects the President will no doubt focus on. But some members want to hear about one subject that may very well go unmentioned tonight: Enron. |
Youth and State III: Schools | A recent White House report on mental health says that too many children aren't getting the help they need, and that schools can do more. Are schools the right place to decide if a child is mentally ill and how they should be treated? NPR's Neal Conan leads a discussion.<br /><br /> Guests: TBA |
Malaysia, Cuba Taken Off U.S. Human Trafficking Blacklist | The U.S. State Department has taken Malaysia and Cuba off its list of worst human trafficking offenders — which many human rights advocates and U.S. lawmakers say has more to do with politics than facts on the ground. The department's latest annual Trafficking in Persons Report also upgraded Uzbekistan and Angola, while Belize, Belarus and South Sudan were among 18 nations downgraded this year. Russia, Iran, Eritrea and Algeria are some of the countries that have been on the blacklist for years. Malaysia and Cuba were raised from the lowest level, "Tier 3," to "Tier 2 Watchlist" status. Undersecretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy and Human Rights Sarah Sewall said that Malaysia's government had made efforts to begin improving its victim protection policies, along with its legal framework. She said authorities also had increased the number of trafficking investigations and prosecutions compared with 2013. "However, we remain concerned that low numbers of trafficking convictions in Malaysia is disproportionate to the scale of Malaysia's human trafficking problem," she said. The decision to upgrade Malaysia went ahead despite the discovery in May of mass graves near the country's border with Thailand. The bodies are believed to be those of migrant workers. Sewall said the mass graves were discovered after all the research for this year's report had been completed. Thailand remained on the blacklist. Moving Malaysia off the list of Tier 3 countries eliminates a potential roadblock to finalizing the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the massive trade agreement involving 12 Pacific Rim nations, including Malaysia. Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez from New Jersey has led the charge to ban any Tier 3 countries from the TPP. According to Reuters, more than 160 members of Congress wrote to Secretary of State John Kerry to urge him to keep Malaysia on Tier 3, according to Reuters. In a statement, Menendez said he was disappointed in the latest State Department report. "The Administration has turned its back on the victims of trafficking, turned a blind eye to the facts, and ignored the calls from Congress," he said. Menendez also lashed out at the decision to elevate Cuba's ranking, saying the government there continues "perpetrating the abusive practices of forced labor." Cuba was stuck on the lowest rung on the State Department's human trafficking list for several years. Its upgrade comes just one week after diplomatic relations between the two nations were normalized after more than 50 years. Undersecretary Sewall acknowledged the U.S. is concerned that the Cuban government has failed to recognize forced labor as a problem, but she said Havana had reported significant efforts to address sex trafficking, including the conviction of sex traffickers. The annual report is drawn from a staff in Washington and at U.S. embassies around the world. This is the 15th year a report has been issued. David Abramowitz, vice president for policy and government relations at Humanity United, says there are often cases where countries are on the margin and should get a worse grading than they did. But he says this year is different. "I would say that this year had the biggest cases where politics seem to have gotten involved ... here are some cases where there are really serious and significant concerns that the department seems to be ignoring in order to pursue other interests," Abramowitz says. STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: The U.S. State Department has changed the status of both Cuba and Malaysia. Both countries are now considered not quite so bad as they used to be at human trafficking. The change comes just as the United States makes a trade deal with one country and restores relations with the other. NPR's Jackie Northam reports. JACKIE NORTHAM, BYLINE: The State Department says Malaysia and Cuba have made some progress in combating human trafficking and so has elevated both countries from the lowest tier-three up one rung to the tier-two watch list. Sarah Sewall, the undersecretary of state for Civilian Security, Democracy and Human Rights, says Malaysia's government has made efforts to reform its legal system. SARAH SEWALL: Authorities also increased the number of trafficking investigations and prosecutions. However, we remain concerned that low numbers of trafficking convictions in Malaysia is disproportionate to the scale of Malaysia's human trafficking problem. NORTHAM: Critics say the decision to upgrade Malaysia has more to do with politics than facts on the ground. Malaysia is one of 11 Pacific Rim countries negotiating a major trade agreement with the United States. Scores of members of Congress have tried to ban any blacklisted or tier-three countries from the trade pact. Upgrading Malaysia's status effectively removes that roadblock, says David Abramowitz with Humanity United Organization. DAVID ABRAMOWITZ: There were concerns that if Malaysia was left on tier-three, then they would be unable to participate in a trade agre |
Bookmark This: NPR At The Library Of Congress National Book Festival | How many books fit in a tote bag? Join more than 175 authors, storytellers, illustrators and poets at the Washington Convention Center next month, and you might find out. On Saturday, September 5, NPR's own raconteurs (who also enjoy getting their read on) will interview authors at the 15th annual Library of Congress National Book Festival. Our hosts, journalists and even our VP of news will lead book chats with writers in all different genres — from romance to science. NPR Correspondent Tom Gjelten will be there as well with his latest, A Nation of Nations: A Great American Immigration Story. Find details about these 11 events as well as some NPR coverage of books in the schedule below. More details are available in the National Book Festival App (available in iOS and Android), where you can build your own custom, public radio-infused itinerary. Schedule: NPR at the National Book Festival Category: Biography and Memoir David McCullough with NPR Special Correspondent Melissa Block 5:20PM Melissa Block sits down with David McCullough. His newest book, The Wright Brothers follows the author's Pulitzer Prize winners Truman and John Adams, which became an Emmy Award-winning miniseries on HBO. Category: Children Buzz Aldrin with NPR Science Correspondent Joe Palca 1:20PM Joe Palca talks to moonwalker Buzz Aldrin about his vision for the future of space travel and his latest children's book, Welcome to Mars: Making a Home on the Red Planet. Listen: After Moon Trip, Aldrin Required To Fill Out Custom Form via Morning Edition Category: Fiction Jane Smiley with NPR Books Correspondent Lynn Neary 1:40PM Lynn Neary chats with Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jane Smiley about her latest book, Some Luck. Her previous work includes The Greenlanders, Ordinary Love and Good Will, A Thousand Acres, Horse Heaven, Good Faith and The Georges and the Jewels. Category: History Lawrence Wright with NPR Senior V.P. of News Michael Oreskes 5:20PM Michael Oreskes talks with author Lawrence Wright about his newest book, Thirteen Days in September: The Dramatic Story of the Struggle for Peace. Wright has also written Noriega: God's Favorite and the script for a movie by the same name. Listen: 13 Days Of High Emotion That Led To The Egypt-Israel Peace via Fresh Air Category: International Juan Gabriel Vásquez with NPR Producer/Editor Bilal Qureshi 5:20PM Bilal Qureshi interviews Juan Gabriel Vásquez, author of the best-selling The Sound of Things Falling as well as the award-winning work The Informers and The Secret History of Costaguana. Category: Romance Fiction Sarah MacLean with NPR Books Editor Petra Mayer 7:15PM Petra Mayer interviews Sara MacLean, author of the newest Rules of Scoundrels novel Never Judge a Lady by Her Cover. Previous work includes The Season, Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake, A Rogue by Any Other Name, and No Good Duke Goes Unpunished. Beverly Jenkins with Petra Mayer 7:40PM Petra continues talking to romance genre authors in an conversation with Beverly Jenkins, whose newest romance, Destiny's Captive, joins the ranks of her previous works including Heart of Gold, Night Hawk, Indigo and Bring on the Blessings. Paige Tyler with Petra Mayer 9:00PM Petra concludes her trio of interviews with author Paige Tyler. Tyler's books Animal Attraction, Dead Sexy and Good Cop, Bad Girl are EPIC Award Finalists. Some of her recent works include Her Perfect Mate, Her Lone Wolf, Her Wild Hero, Hungry Like the Wolf and her latest SWAT (Special Wolf Alpha Team) book Wolf Trouble. Check Out: Happy Ever After: 100 Swoon-Worthy Romances via NPR Books Category: Science David Quammen with NPR Morning Edition Host Steve Inskeep 11:50AM Steve Inskeep interviews David Quammen, also a journalist and author The Chimp and the River: How AIDS Emerged From an African Forest. Casey Schwartz with NPR Science Reporter Adam Cole 1:40PM Adam Cole speaks with award-winning author Casey Schwartz about her new book In the Mind Fields: Exploring the New Science of Neuropsychoanalysis. Category: Young Adult Sonia Manzano with NPR's Michel Martin 5:20PM Michel Martin interviews Sonia Manzano (Maria from Sesame Street), about her memoir Becoming Maria: Love and Chaos in the South Bronx. Listen: In Her New Memoir, Maria Tells Us How She Got, How She Got To 'Sesame Street' via Morning Edition Meg Wolitzer with NPR Special Correspondent Susan Stamberg 6:40PM Susan Stamberg talks with Meg Wolitzer about her latest book, Belzhar, a story of young romance, loss and the power of acceptance. Listen: Meg Wolitzer: Catnip For 'A Certain Kind Of Reader' via Ask Me Another Book Signing: NPR Religion and Belief Correspondent Tom Gjelten 2:35PM Tom Gjelten's latest book, A Nation of Nations: A Great American Immigration Story, explores the effect of the 1965 Immigration Act. He is also the author of Professionalism in War Reporting: A Correspondent's View and Bacardi and the Long Fight for Cuba: The Biography of a Cause, which is a history of Cuba foc |
Frozen Pizza Standards | The federal government this year is likely to do away with rules that force frozen pizza makers to put certain ingredients in their products and still call it a frozen pizza. Host Bob Edwards finds both industry and consumers are already smacking their lips at the possibilities. |
With 2020 Olympics Postponed, Erik Shoji Stays On His Game | Olympic volleyball player Erik Shoji discusses what he's up to this summer now that the 2020 Tokyo Games have been pushed to next year. |
Excerpt: 'Family Life' | My father has a glum nature. He retired three years ago, and he doesn't talk much. Left to himself, he can remain silent for days. When this happens, he begins brooding, he begins thinking strange thoughts. Recently he told me that I was selfish, that I had always been selfish, that when I was a baby I would start to cry as soon as he turned on the TV. I am forty and he is seventy-two. When he said this, I began tickling him. I was in my parents' house in New Jersey, on a sofa in their living room. "Who's the sad baby?" I said. "Who's the baby that cries all the time?" "Get away," he squeaked, as he fell back and tried to wriggle away. "Stop being a joker. I'm not kidding." My father is a sort of golden color. Skin hangs loosely from beneath his chin. He has long thin earlobes the way some old people have. My mother is more cheerful than my father. "Be like me," she often tells him. "See how many friends I have? Look how I'm always smiling." But my mother gets unhappy too, and when she does, she sighs and says, "I'm bored. What is this life we lead? Where is Ajay? What was the point of having raised him?" As far back as I can remember my parents have bothered each other. In India we lived in two cement rooms on the roof of a two story house in Delhi. The bathroom stood separate from the living quarters. It had a sink attached to the outside of one of the walls. Each night my father would stand before the sink, the sky full of stars, and brush his teeth till his gums bled. Then, he would spit the blood into the sink and turn to my mother and say, "Death, Shuba, death. No matter what we do, we will all die." "Yes, yes, beat drums," my mother said once. "Tell the newspapers, too. Make sure everyone knows this thing you have discovered." Like many people of her generation, those born before Independence, my mother viewed gloom as unpatriotic. To complain was to show that one was not willing to accept difficulties; that one was not willing to do the hard work that was needed to build the country. My father is two years older than my mother. Unlike her, he saw dishonesty and selfishness everywhere. Not only did he see these things but he believed that everybody else did, too, and that they were deliberately not acknowledging what they saw. My mother's irritation at his spitting blood, he interpreted as hypocrisy. • • • My father was an accountant. He went to the American consulate and stood in the line that circled around the courtyard. He submitted his paperwork for a visa. My father had wanted to emigrate to the West ever since he was in his early twenties, ever since America liberalized its immigration policies in 1965. His wish was born out of self-loathing. Often when he walked down a street in India, he would feel that the buildings he passed were indifferent to him, that he mattered so little to them that he might as well not have been born. Because he attributed this feeling to his circumstances and not to the fact that he was the sort of person who sensed buildings having opinions of him, he believed that if he were somewhere else, especially somewhere where he earned in dollars and so was rich, he would be a different person and not feel the way he did. Another reason he wanted to emigrate was that he saw the West as glamorous with the excitement of science. In India in the fifties, sixties, and seventies, science felt very much like magic. I remember that when we turned on the radio, first the voices would sound far away and then they would rush at us, and this created the sense of the machine making some special effort just for us. Of everybody in my family, my father loved science the most. The way he tried to bring it into his life was by going to medical clinics and having his urine tested. Of course, hypochondria had something to do with this; my father felt that there was something wrong with him and perhaps this was a simple thing that a doctor could fix. Also, when he sat in the clinics and talked to doctors in lab coats, he felt that he was close to important things, that what the doctors were doing was the same as what doctors would do in England or Germany or America, and so he was already there in those foreign countries. To understand the glamour of science, it is important to remember that the sixties and seventies were the era of the Green Revolution. Science seemed the most important thing in the world. Even I, as a child of five or six, knew that because of the Green Revolution there was now fodder in the summer and so people who would have died were now saved. The Green Revolution was affecting everything. I heard my mother discuss soy recipes with neighbors and talk about how soy was as good as cheese. All over Delhi, Mother Dairy was putting up its cement kiosks with the blue drop on the side. That the Green Revolution had come from the West, that organizations like the Ford Foundation had brought it to us without expectations of gain or payment, made the West seem a place for great |
A Frosty Take On All Things 'Cold' | Bill Streever's new book, Cold, is a collection of chilly vignettes about frozen Arctic explorers, killer blizzards and icicle frogs — among other icy topics. A biologist who grew up in the eastern and southeastern U.S., Streever now lives in Alaska. He says he was attracted to the topic of cold because it seemed like a phenomenon that had been neglected — or, in some cases, demonized. "Cold has gotten a bad rap," he tells Melissa Block. "But, in fact, in my experience, cold helps you feel alive. You walk outside on a brisk day, and there's nothing like a breath of fresh air. Suddenly you're awake. It's better than coffee. It's just great." Streever jump-starts his narrative with a headfirst plunge in 35 degree Arctic waters, which, he writes, feels akin to "being shrink-wrapped, like a slab of salmon just before it is tossed into the Deepfreeze." Though he had done polar bear plunges in the past, this submersion — which lasted five frigid minutes — was like nothing he had experienced before. "[Polar bear plunges are] a bit different than intentionally getting in and standing there as you cool off and sort of making mental notes to yourself about what's going on, and watching your thought process change as your body cools," he says. Three minutes into the plunge, Streever began to shiver — which, he explains, is an instinct designed to raise a body's temperature: "Just like doing jumping jacks or running in place or setting a goal to walk quickly will warm you up, so will shivering. It's muscle activity, so it generates heat." Humans aren't he only animals that shiver. Streever explains that the Arctic ground squirrel shivers off and on throughout its winter hibernation — as a means of staying alive. "As [the squirrel] hibernates, he begins to cool off. In fact, he cools off to a temperature that's just below the freezing point of water, so around 30 degrees Fahrenheit," says Streever. "When he hits that temperature — when one would think this animal is, for all intent and purposes dead ... he spontaneously starts to shiver," and his temperature rises. Preface The world warms, awash in greenhouse gases, but forty below remains forty below. Thirty degrees with sleet blowing sideways is still thirty degrees with sleet blowing sideways. Cold is a part of day-to-day life, but we often isolate ourselves from it, hiding in overheated houses and retreating to overheated climates, all without understanding what we so eagerly avoid. We fail to see cold for what it is: the absence of heat, the slowing of molecular motion, a sensation, a perception, a driving force. Cold freezes the nostrils and assaults the lungs. Its presence shapes landscapes. It sculpts forests and herds animals along migration routes or forces them to dig in for the winter or evolve fur and heat-conserving networks of veins. It changes soils. It preserves food. It carries with it a history of polar exploration, but also a history of farming and fishing and the invention of the bicycle and the creation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. It preserves the faithful in vats of liquid nitrogen from which they hope one day to be resurrected. Imagine July water temperatures of thirty-five degrees. Imagine Frederic Tudor of Boston shipping ice from Walden Pond to India on sailing ships in 1833. Imagine Apsley Cherry-Garrard on his search for penguin eggs at seventy below zero in 1911. Imagine a dahurian larch forest that looks like a stand of Christmas trees on Russia's Taymyr Peninsula at sixty below or a ground squirrel hibernating until its blood starts to freeze and then shivering itself back to life. But none of this is imaginary. Our world warms, but cold remains. In the ordinary passing of a calendar year, the world of cold emerges. For someone with Raynaud's disease, a September stroll temporarily changes cold hands into useless claws. Caterpillars freeze solid in October and crawl away in April. Average temperatures in certain towns drop to twenty below zero in January. It is time to enjoy an occasional shiver as we worry about a newly emerging climate likely to melt our ice caps, devour our glaciers, and force us into air-conditioned rooms. It is time to embrace and understand the natural and human history of cold. Even in a warming world, a world choked by carbon dioxide and methane, cold persists, biting my lungs and at the same time leaving me invigorated, alive and well on an Arctic spring afternoon with the sun hovering low over an ice-covered horizon and the thermometer at forty below. July It is July first and fifty-one degrees above zero. I stand poised on a gravel beach at the western edge of Prudhoe Bay, three hundred miles north of the Arctic Circle, and a mile of silt-laden water separates me from what is left of the ice. The Inupiat — the Eskimos — call it aunniq, rotten ice, sea ice broken into unconsolidated chunks of varying heights and widths, like a poorly made frozen jigsaw puzzle. A few days ago, the entire bay sto |
V.A .Funding Shortfall Angers Lawmakers | Many Democrats and some Republicans are furious with Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson over the news that there is a serious shortfall in funding for veterans' health care. |
PHOTOS: A Scene From A Greek Wildfire | We were stunned by the photographs coming out of a wildfire near Athens today. They were taken by Angelos Tzortzinis after a fire that burned inside an air force base. The AP moved a story about it, earlier today. But Tzortzinis found that the fire had also affected an encampment of Romas and took these haunting images for the Agence France Presse: The AP reports that a 28-year-old firefighter died fighting the blaze. |
Wildfires in Western States | Tripp Sommer of member station K-L-C-C reports on the conditions that are sustaining the wildfires in the Western states. As the fires continue to burn out of control thousands of people are forced to evacuate their homes. Some of the fires are slowing their advance because of cooler temperatures. |
3rd Generation Trucker On How His Industry Is Keeping The Country Running | Here & Now’s Lisa Mullins speaks with John Lex, a truck driver for Walmart, about some of the challenges he is facing on the road due to the coronavirus, and the newfound respect he feels truckers are finally earning. This article was originally published on WBUR.org. |
'Greenest' Museum To Open In San Francisco | A building heralded as the greenest museum in the world opens Saturday in San Francisco. The California Academy of Sciences features a living green roof with native plants, insulation made from recycled blue jeans and a large canopy of solar energy panels. Italian architect Renzo Piano tucked the building into the hills of Golden Gate Park — in both form and function, the museum fits into the natural world surrounding it. Teeming With Life The California Academy of Sciences is not your typical museum experience, says Chris Andrews, who runs the academy's public programs. There are no dark halls or long corridors here; its walls are made almost entirely of glass, and it's possible to see from one side of the building to the other from almost any point on the museum's first floor. Even the aquariums in the coral reef exhibition on the lower level are illuminated by sunlight. "When natural sunlight hits an exhibit of living animals, it brings a tank alive in the way nothing else can," Andrews says. The building is teeming with life, from the aquarium exhibits below to the green roof above. Standing on the only square of the living roof that isn't covered with plants, Andrews says the sloped design plays off the seven hills of San Francisco. When Golden Gate Park was developed some 125 years ago, the city covered sand dunes with plants not native to San Francisco. Ironically, the academy's roof is the one spot in the park that has 100 percent native plants; it is already becoming a research center for local universities. In addition to being an educational research site, the living roof also helps moderate the temperature of the museum. The plant life keeps it about 10 degrees cooler inside than a traditional tar roof. Skylights open and shut to let warm or cool air in and out of the building. The academy is working to achieve a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certificate — it is anticipated that the building will become the world's largest public space to receive the highest LEED rating. 'Coming To Wonder About Nature' Italian architect Piano says he grew up loving science. But Piano didn't like the way natural history museums separated the research from the exhibitions — with scientists toiling away in the basement, and visitors wandering through mysterious dark halls. The California Academy of Sciences has always served three functions, Piano says — display, education and research. The spirit of the new building, he explains, "is to announce and enforce this complexity of function." Piano sees the academy's green roof as one of the many places in the building where his design brings scientists together with the public. "We have 20 million species, and we have scientists still working, exploring the Earth, and at the same time you have young people, children, curious people coming to wonder about nature," Piano says. A More Modern Museum Although the building is new, the California Academy of Sciences goes back to 1853; it has been located in Golden Gate Park for more than 100 years. When the academy's building was damaged during the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, Executive Director Greg Farrington says, his institution had the rare opportunity to get rid of its old-fashioned exhibitions. "If you go to some very traditional museums, you see what I call the 'multimedia of 1916,' known as the 'diorama,' " Farrington says. "Dioramas everywhere. But that was how those institutions grew up. This institution has had the chance to make itself totally modern all at once." Ford Bell, president of the American Association of Museums, says most of the country's natural history museums were built more than a century ago. He says these museums want to find ways to break free from their dark, intimidating halls; like the California Academy of Sciences, they seek to draw the public in and help them understand their interconnection with the natural world. Standing before a re-created Pacific Ocean tide pool at the academy, Chris Andrews says this museum — with its environmentally green building and its living creatures — is meant to encourage people to take care of the Earth. A visit to the museum is not a "strictly didactic learning experience," he says, it's "a more emotional experience." MELISSA BLOCK, Host: This weekend, the California Academy of Sciences is opening its new Natural History Museum in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. The building is being heralded as the greenest museum in the world. It has solar energy panels, an energy-efficient roof covered with native plants, and insulation made from recycled blue jeans. As NPR's Laura Sydell reports, the museum integrates nature outside the building with the displays inside. LAURA SYDELL: The Academy is like a temple of sunlight. Its walls are made almost entirely of glass. No matter where you stand in the building, you can see out into the park. CHRIS ANDREWS: And that is very different to the typical museum, where you go into dark halls and up s |
Stocks Start The Week With A Plunge, Dragged Down By Tech Shares | Investors worried about a slowdown in global growth helped push stocks sharply lower Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling 602 points, or 2.3 percent. Technology stocks fared especially badly, with Apple down 5 percent, after a report it was cutting orders for iPhone parts. The decline knocked 100 points off the Dow and helped lead to a broader rout. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell almost 2.8 percent., wiping out its gains for November. "Apple is a bellwether," Randy Frederick, vice president of trading and derivatives at Schwab, told the Financial Times. "Whenever Apple appears to be struggling — for whatever reason — there is the perception that it will impact other tech companies as well. It may or may not be true, but that is the perception." Shares of banks and financial services companies also fell. Among the big losers was Goldman Sachs, which fell about 7.5 percent amid reports of its involvement in a Malaysian corruption scandal. Even as the overall U.S. economy is performing well, the stock market has been especially turbulent lately, wiping out its entire gains for the year by the end of October. Prices have been climbing back since then, but Monday's big losses represented another big setback. Investors are said to be concerned about signs that economic growth is slowing in other countries. Among the problems cited are Britain's failure to agree on a plan to leave the European Union, and Italy's budget deficits. |
Week in Review with Daniel Schorr | NPR's Scott Simon reviews the week's news with NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr. |
Montana Logging and Ballet Company | Weekend Edition's resident satirists in Montana have been bickering over who's to blame for their state's rash of wildfires. |
FDA Adviser: Vaccine To Be OK'd In Days, But 'Normal' May Not Return Until Next Fall | The Food and Drug Administration's authorization of a COVID-19 vaccine could come within a day or two, a member of an FDA panel of experts that recommended an OK for the vaccine said Friday. But Dr. Paul Offit, a member of that panel, cautioned it could be next fall before life gets back to normal after the pandemic. That fall prediction would depend on two-thirds of the American population getting the vaccine, he told NPR's Morning Edition. "The problem is logistics," Offit said. "It's a matter of making the vaccine and distributing it. It's making sure people get it, that they aren't sort of swayed by ... what is a lot of misinformation that surrounds not only this vaccine but all vaccines. That's going to be the hang-up. "I probably shouldn't make any predictions because you're invariably wrong with this virus when you make predictions. But I really do think that by next fall we could have life back to normal," said Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. On Thursday, the advisory panel voted 17-4, with one abstention, to recommend that the COVID-19 vaccine being developed by Pfizer and BioNTech be authorized for emergency use. Offit, who was one of the yes votes, said there is "clear evidence that the vaccine is highly effective." But he said a closer look is needed into what is causing allergic reactions to the vaccine in some people who have begun receiving it in the United Kingdom. Here are highlights of the interview, edited for length and clarity: Interview Highlights Why did you vote to recommend this vaccine be authorized? Because I think we have clear evidence that the vaccine is highly effective at least three months after getting the first dose. And then given the other data they presented, I think it's likely to be effective for much longer. We know that the vaccine's been given to tens of thousands of people safely. So we can say, at least with comfort, that it doesn't cause an uncommon, serious side effect. And that doesn't mean it doesn't cause a very rare serious side effect. We'll find that out post-approval. But I think we know enough. When you agree to move forward with a product, it's not whether you know everything. It's whether you know enough to say that the benefits outweigh what at this point are theoretical risks. Two people in Britain who got the vaccine had allergic reactions and they recovered. Britain's medical regulators told people with a serious history of allergic reactions that they should avoid the vaccine while officials investigate what happened. What should we make of that news? I think we need to look a little closer at those; I think now three people in the United Kingdom had a serious allergic reaction following the vaccine. I think we need to figure out what specifically about that vaccine was causing them to have a problem. Was there anything specifically in their history that would give us a clue as to why they had a problem? I think by the U.K. public health group saying that anyone with a serious allergic reaction shouldn't get this vaccine, I think that was a little premature. There are tens of millions of people in the United States who carry EpiPens because they have allergies to, say, peanuts or to eggs. And I think this probably doesn't apply to them. And so I think we need to know more first. We've also heard reports of short-term side effects from the vaccine. These are brief symptoms. They can last about 12 hours or so. What would you say to people who might be concerned about those symptoms? Be honest. Tell them that they could have fever, including rarely high fever, fatigue, headaches, chills, muscle aches, joint pain, enough so that one could miss a day of work. Very similar, actually, to the shingles vaccine Shingrix, which also has a similar side-effect profile. But that's just your immune system being vigorous and working for you. In many ways it's a good thing. But you can't have people surprised by this because it is actually a fairly common problem. And as much as half of the recipients, especially after dose two, and more common in people less than 65. You are the co-inventor of a rotavirus vaccine that took 26 years to develop. If you look at the speed at which this vaccine was developed — less than a year — are there drawbacks to that? Are there things about this that worry you? Well, the world came together and got it done. I mean, what the United States did was they took the risk out of it for pharmaceutical companies. The United States government was willing to put forward [billions] to take the risk out of it for pharmaceutical companies by saying we'll pay for phase three trials, we'll pay for mass production at risk — meaning not knowing whether it works or not knowing whether it's safe. No pharmaceutical company would ever do that. ... The only thing that that's different now in terms of these big phase three trials is that you don't have a long time of follow-up for efficacy. |
One Of The Earliest Composers | One of the earliest composers to stray from traditional harmony and, consequently, be considered "modern" was Claude Debussy. The Orchestra of the Suisse Romande (sweess roh-MAHND), with conductor Armin Jordan (ahr-ma(n) zhor-DAH(N), performs Debussy's Three Nocturnes for Orchestra. (Swiss Radio/European Broadcasting Union) |
Mammoth Bones, Titanic Watch: It's Only Money | In case you missed it, a Swiss watchmaker is selling timepieces allegedly made from steel salvaged from the Titanic. How do you top that? You might rush off to Paris, where Christie's is about to auction the skeleton of a prehistoric mammoth. Bidding starts at $200,000. But think how it would look in your garage. |
Indicator: More Coins | Hans writes: I was at our credit union the other day and one of the employees (I think the manager) told us a story that reflects these hard economic times. He said that in San Francisco there is a bank that saw a huge increase in the amount of coins coming in. Apparently, people were breaking their piggy banks and raiding their coin bottles to turn in at the bank. In fact, the volume got so large that the bank had to bring in truck trailers to put the coins. |
Republican Rep. Waltz On Trump Foreign Policy Post-Bolton | National security adviser John Bolton is leaving his job after months of disagreement with President Trump over the direction of foreign and national security. Here & Now‘s Jeremy Hobson speak with Rep. Michael Waltz (@RepMichaelWaltz), the Republican representing Florida’s 6th congressional district and a member of the House Armed Services Committee. He is a former Green Beret and served in Afghanistan. This article was originally published on WBUR.org. |
Cincinnati Edition for October 21, 2007 | Dusty and The Reds, The Book of Vice, Field Notes: Cincinnati Nature Center, Books by the Banks, Focus on Technology, The Big Screen: Gone Baby, Gone |
Dama Scout's 'Milky Milk' Hasn't Turned Sour, Just Surreal | What is "Milky Milk"? Probably best not to ask. Because whatever it is, there's something in it, and Dama Scout has now entered the videodrome. In a video directed by The Boykov Brothers, which consists of Dama Scout's drummer and the band's good friend Thom Rawle, the London trio's surreal and sludgy single takes one chug of moo juice and falls into a vat of warped faces and anthropomorphic milk cartons before landing in a scene out of Jodorowsky's Holy Mountain. "We're fans of body horror and the paranoid '80s tropes of haunted technology, and there's a bit of both here," the band tells NPR Music. "Poor Lucci was in the bath for 45 minutes, prawn boy." "Milky Milk" comes after a series of singles and a self-titled EP released at the beginning of this year. Guitarist and vocalist Eva Liu has a way bending and slamming riffs that suggest a Dalí-dripped Polvo, with just a hint of Pixies pop, backed by Luciano Rossi (bass, keys) and Danny Grant (drums). Like those bands, Dama Scout's alluring sweetness sneaks in its sour like teeth biting into hard candy, only to hit a gooey, puckering center without warning. "Milky Milk" out now on Father/Daughter (U.S.) and Hand In Hive (U.K.). |
Pianist Christopher O'Riley | Pianist Christopher O'Riley joins Martin live from the Irving S. Gilmore International Keyboard Festival in Kalamazoo, Michigan, later this hour. First though, here's O'Riley playing two movements from Igor Stravinsky's 1929 composition "Apollo": Variation" and "Coda." (Elektra Nonesuch 9 79343-2) |
Columbia/Hca Case Effects | -- NPR's Patricia Neighmond reports that the pending fraud case against industry leader Columbia/HCA and the recent resignation of its CEO may tame the rapid expansion of for-profit healthcare. |
Coronavirus Puts A Crimp On The Chinese Tourism Industry | Updated at 7:25 p.m. ET Airlines, cruise ships and high-end hotels worldwide are bracing for a sharp downturn in business because of the fast-spreading strain of coronavirus. Fear of the respiratory virus, which has infected more than 28,000 people in over two dozen countries, has brought the lucrative Chinese tourism industry to a screeching halt. Beijing has halted tour groups from leaving China, and countries such as the U.S., Australia and Singapore are denying entry to foreign nationals who have recently been in China. Dozens of airlines have suspended flights to and from China to try to contain the virus known as 2019-nCoV. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) says the cancellation of thousands of flights will impact the industry but that it has proven resilient to similar shocks in the past. Both business and leisure travel took a hit during the 2003 outbreak of a similar coronavirus — SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) — but returned to pre-crisis levels within nine months. Meanwhile, thousands of passengers and crew members, have been stranded on two cruise ships because of the coronavirus. Some 3,700 people aboard the Diamond Princess are under quarantine off the coast of Japan after a man who disembarked in Hong Kong tested positive. Health officials tested people still on the ship and say results so far show at least 10 of them are infected. Meanwhile, about 1,800 people aboard the second ship, World Dream, are being quarantined at a dock in Hong Kong. A number of cruise lines, such as Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Line, have cancelled sailings to and from China or placed restrictions on passengers since the outbreak began. "There are still too many variables and uncertainties regarding this outbreak to calculate the overall impact on the business," Royal Caribbean said in a statement last week. The company, which says it has cancelled eight cruises so far, added, "If these travel restrictions continue for an extended period of time, they could have a material impact on the overall financial performance of the company." The new coronavirus emerged just ahead of Lunar New Year, normally one of China's busiest seasons when hundreds of millions of people are traveling — both in and out of the country. Beijing has imposed lockdowns and quarantines on the hardest-hit areas. The government also extended the holiday, which was to start Jan. 24 and run until Jan. 30, until early February in an effort to limit infections. Chinese tourists account for more than 10 percent of the global tourism industry, says Wolfgang Arlt, founder of the China Outbound Tourism Research Institute, which helps international tour companies do business with Chinese customers. "You can say that approximately one out of every nine international tourists are ... from mainland China," he says. "That's more than any other country". Arlt says this is a far cry from a couple decades ago when Chinese tourists were usually diplomats or athletes. Over the years, Beijing has relaxed strict travel restrictions, and a growing economy in China means more people there have disposable income to travel. Last year, there were roughly 170 million border crossings worldwide by Chinese tourists, Arlt says. The most popular destinations for Chinese visitors are in Asia, places such as Thailand, Hong Kong and Macau. But he says Paris, Sydney and New York City are also favorites. That's helped make China the largest spender in 2018 in international tourism, pumping $277 billion into the travel industry, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organization. Chris Heywood of NYC & Company, New York City's marketing organization, says the city welcomed more than a million Chinese visitors in 2018. "China is a tremendously important market for New York City," he says. "It represents about $3 billion in total revenue." Heywood says that while there's concern about the potential financial impact from the coronavirus, his organization is in a wait-and-see mode. "We are monitoring the situation very carefully and very closely," he says. "But it's too soon for us to make an assumption on exactly how this is going to affect business in the long term." Arlt says he's optimistic that Chinese tourism will resume after the coronavirus is contained, much like it did after the 2003 SARS outbreak. "That was a somewhat similar story," he says. "For about three months, no Chinese came out of China" but then tourism began to pick up. "What I think also we can expect this time is once this is over, then the Chinese will travel even more." Arlt says his institute estimates that by 2030, 1 out of every 5 international tourists will be Chinese. But that forecast might change, depending on how long it takes to contain the coronavirus. |
The Mad Dukes: 'Looking for That Girl' | An Austin, TX trio, The Mad Dukes feature the songwriting of singer and guitarist Kim Simpson. Simpson recorded most of the group's debut CD, The Mad Dukes Sing and Play For You, at home by himself. He assembled a band later for live gigs. The infectiously melodic, featured track is "Looking for That Girl." Describing themselves as a "lyrically-driven (often tongue-in-cheek)" band with "a decidedly acoustic-folk undercurrent," The Mad Dukes includes two of Simpson's friends from the Austin music scene: Bill Doughty on drums and Kyle Etie on bass. They say more than 50 percent of their songs are about the music-making process and feel this is a fitting subject in a city where most people are or have been musicians. Raised in Salt Lake City, Kim Simpson has four solo releases: Destination (1992), Midnight Apparitions (1996), The Suru EP: Six Song Finn Folk Cassette (1996) and How To Be Whole (1997). "Looking for that Girl," The Mad Dukes' latest single, has been added to a number of independent stations. |
The Year In Pop Music | Adele's new album<em> 25</em> had record sales in its first week — selling more than 2.4 million copies. We get a check on more pop music news from 2015. |
Skies Become Friendlier For In-Flight Wi-Fi | Wireless Internet is now available in the sky. Roughly 1 in 3 domestic planes already has it, and the number is growing. To use it, simply turn on the Wi-Fi, connect to the in-flight network and -- most of the time at least -- that's it. It's surprisingly fast. On a recent Alaska Airlines flight from Seattle to San Jose, Calif., Julie Alverez is using her laptop to download software and to play a game on Facebook. About a third of her fellow passengers are logged on -- some using iPhones. Facebook is the most popular website for Alaska Airlines' passengers. Google, Yahoo, Twitter and YouTube come next. Travelers use the Wi-Fi to check their e-mail and log on to their corporate networks. One first-class bloody-mary-sipping passenger listens to the Rolling Stones on Pandora while reading his e-mail. And then, there's passenger Katie Rose, who is booking a kayak trip. "I think it's wonderful," Rose says of the airline's Wi-Fi. "I hope it stays free forever." But it won't. Right now, it's free on Alaska Airlines because of a special pricing promotion. About 1,000 U.S. jets have been equipped with Wi-Fi. Air Tran and Virgin America have it on all their flights. Delta and Alaska are quickly moving in that direction. How does it work? The most widely used system comes from a company called Aircell. It has 100 special cell towers that point upward, connect with antennas on the belly of the plane and turn the passenger cabin into a Wi-Fi hot spot. For Many, Price Is Too Steep Getting online costs about $5 for a 90-minute flight. On flights longer than three hours, the price climbs to as much as $12.95. Some package deals are less expensive. But industry consultant Michael Planey says for many the price is too high, and lots of passengers who could aren't logging on. "The airlines have managed to add fees -- instead of raising fares -- to just about everything and when a passenger gets onboard, the last thing they want to get hit with is another fee," Planey says. It probably doesn't matter to passengers that Aircell -- not the airline -- sets the price and collects nearly all the fee. Despite the price, a few passengers are willing to pay. Dave Borgesse, whose employer will foot the bill, actively looks for flights with Wi-Fi. "It's helped my productivity immensely," Borgesse says. "I'm still connected. I can work the whole time. Love it. It makes the flights go by faster, and I've spend a lot less money on magazines, actually." Still, there are committed nonusers. Some don't like the idea of being tethered to the office in the one place you used to be able to escape. Others just want to read a book without feeling guilty or, like Paul Rasher, they just want to do nothing. "I'd rather just sit back and relax and so [I] don't think it's that great of an idea," he says. One idea airlines have nixed is in-flight phone calls using services like Skype. Passengers don’t want their fellow travelers talking on the phone at 35,000 feet, so those transmissions will be blocked. |
Commercial Space Drive Takes a Stumble | The drive to commercialize space travel took a slight stumble Monday in the New Mexico desert, where the first launch from Spaceport America failed to reach space. The unmanned 20-foot rocket, built by Connecticut-based UP Aerospace Inc., took off safely before flying erratically. The rocket eventually reached an altitude of 40,000 feet before returning to the ground. But the malfunction is not likely to stop the push to bring privately owned businesses into the space travel and freight business. The launch took place at a temporary facility that the state of New Mexico plans to eventually replace with a $225 million spaceport. The SpaceLoft XL rocket was loaded with 50 experiments and other small payload items, which it was expected to take about 70 miles above the Earth. The suborbital 13-minute flight was meant to end with a landing on the government's White Sands Missile Range, 33 miles northeast of the launch site. UP Aerospace plans a number of launches this year, with cargo space aboard the rockets costing the public anywhere from hundreds of dollars to tens of thousands of dollars. Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group, announced plans last year to base his space-tourism company, Virgin Galactic, in New Mexico and to launch flights from the spaceport by the end of the decade. MICHELE NORRIS, host: From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Michele Norris. MELISSA BLOCK, host: And I'm Melissa Block. The world's first female space tourist is in the middle of an 11 day stay at the International Space Station. Anousheh Ansari paid the Russian government a reported $20 million for the privilege. Not something many of us could afford, and this afternoon there was supposed to be a step toward making space travel more affordable with the first ever rocket launch from a commercial spaceport, Spaceport America. NPR's Ted Robbins is there. And, Ted, where exactly are you? TED ROBBINS: Good question, Melissa. I am in the high desert of southern New Mexico between Las Cruces and Truth or Consequences, about as far out there as you can get. BLOCK: And that's where this spaceport is. Tell us about this launch today. What happened? ROBBINS: Well, the launch, it was a company called Up Aerospace, a Connecticut-based private company. You know, it's 20-foot long suborbital rockets supposed to go to 70 miles above Earth and then come back down. It went up, I saw it go up. What happened after it went up seems a little unclear. They announced there was an anomaly and we think that means they don't know where it landed and they're looking for it right now. BLOCK: So not what they would have hoped for in this launch today? ROBBINS: Well, you know, I asked somebody from the company. He said it's a success regardless. Whether they're disappointed, I think, once they find it and find out what happened to the payload aboard, I think that'll give them a little better idea of how successful it was or wasn't. BLOCK: This spaceport there in New Mexico must've been a huge investment for the state. What's in it for the state? Why are they doing this? ROBBINS: Yeah. Well, in fact, the state - you know, it's estimated it cost about $225 million, and the state legislature, at the urging of New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, got the legislature to appropriate $100 million over three years in January. They're banking on a huge economic boom based around space tourism. That's what they hope to get out of it but they have to build. Right now there's just a dirt road, a couple of trailers and a concrete launch pad. They've got to build a runway and hangars and all sorts of training facilities. BLOCK: And has there been opposition to this project? ROBBINS: There's been some. Not really opposition. There was a poll done by the Albuquerque Journal that showed about 56 percent of New Mexico voters were opposed to this, contrasted with about 59 percent that wanted to see a light rail in the Albuquerque area. So they seem to be more concerned with how to get to work than how to get to space. BLOCK: In this launch today that ran into this what you're calling an anomaly, what exactly was launched and what other launches are planned? ROBBINS: Yeah. No humans, at least no living humans. There were cremated human remains aboard. There were about 50 separate payloads, science experiments from colleges and high schools. Price really starting at a couple of hundred dollars. And here's one that I particularly enjoyed hearing about. Cheerios. A family sent eight Cheerios aboard this rocket so that they could sit down at the breakfast table and say they were the first family to eat cereal that went into space. BLOCK: And who knows where those Cheerios are now. ROBBINS: Right. BLOCK: Ted, thanks very much. ROBBINS: You're welcome. BLOCK: NPR's Ted Robbins at Spaceport America in New Mexico. |
Breaking Election News From Florida | The Supreme Court of Florida announces its decision this half hour, to allow the hand-re-counting of ballots to go forward in three Florida counties. Before the announcement, Linda Wertheimer spoke with NPR's Andy Bowers who is in Tallahassee. |
What's In A Name? A Lot, When It Comes To Tax Cuts | George W. Bush wrestled with one drawback of retaining a political legacy Tuesday, acknowledging that in some circles his name is a bad word. "I wish they weren't called the 'Bush tax cuts,' " the former president said at a conference in New York on Tuesday. "If they're called somebody else's tax cuts, they're probably less likely to be raised." Some scholars of political language say Bush may have a point. "Our understanding of our past is digested into rhetoric, and when the rhetoric consists of people's names, those names are carrying meaning in addition to the meaning of the legislation," said Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg Public Policy Center and its FactCheck.org project. Jamieson says that "Democrats gain an advantage if they can label them 'Bush tax cuts' because Bush was an extremely unpopular president at the end of his last term." Read More The actual laws — the "Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001" and the "Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003" — were extended last year by President Obama in a deal with Republicans. Yet the Obama campaign hopes to use those tax cuts for wealthy Americans as a re-election issue. By continuing to call them the "Bush tax cuts," Jamieson says, Democrats are hoping voters have "historical amnesia" and forget that Obama "signed on to the extension." In contrast, Jamieson points to the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law as a historical example of legislation that intentionally used lawmakers' names to convey a positive message of bipartisanship. In that instance, she says, the names of Republican Sen. John McCain and former Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold were attached to the bill to make a point that campaign finance rules were "so badly broken in the view of Republicans and Democrats that a liberal and conservative worked together to fix it." In a campaign year, the term "Bush tax cuts" will likely stick because it has political advantages for both parties. And Republicans are more than ready to stand by the tax cuts. "Democrats will get by with calling them 'the Bush tax cuts' because Republicans like the idea of being associated with tax cuts even if it associates them with a president who is carrying baggage for the party at the moment," says Jamieson. Some Democrats, however, dismiss Bush's comments and say disapproval of the tax cuts runs deeper than a name. "The opposition by Democrats to the Bush tax cuts for the upper-income brackets are based on the plan more than the man," says public opinion analyst Peter D. Hart. "The public thinks the wealthy are the beneficiaries of the tax plan, and, therefore, they are opposed. It is that simple." Either way, Bush isn't likely to get his wish to dissociate himself from the cuts. At least for now, the name is here to stay. |
Singer/Songwriter Paul Simon | In 1964 he and Art Garfunkel, as the duo Simon & Garfunkel, hit number one on the pop charts with the song <em>Sound of Silence</em>. They continued with 5 albums that all sold gold. After a split in 1970, Simon continued writing songs and took up a solo singing career. His albums include <em>Still Crazy After All These Years</em>, <em>Graceland</em>, and <em>Rhythm of the Saints</em>. His new album is <em>You're the One</em>. |
A David Cassidy Music Moment | 1970s teen heartthrob David Cassidy has died. <em>Morning Edition</em> remembers him with a music moment. |
Listener Limerick Challenge | Huge vegetables; fish start counting points; solar powered pasties. |
July 4 History Lesson | <BR>Guest:<BR><BR> <STRONG>Ray Raphael</STRONG><BR> *Author, <EM>The First American Revolution Before Lexington and Concord</EM> (New Press, 2002. ISBN: 156584730X)<BR> *Historian <BR><BR> The U.S. celebrates its Independence Day on July 4 -- the day the Declaration of Independence was signed in Philadelphia. But when did the American Revolution get underway? History books will tell you that it began with the Battle of Lexington and Concord in April 1775, but a new book begs to differ. Author Ray Raphael argues that the American Revolution started with a series of bloodless coups led by Massachussetts farmers. Raphael joins Neal Conan for a history refresher just in time for the Fourth of July holiday. |
'Kook': Life's Lessons Learned On A Surfboard | Travel writer Peter Heller has sailed the Antarctic Sea with eco-pirates in pursuit of an illegal Japanese whaling fleet, and traversed the deepest Tibetan gorge with kayakers bent on conquering the Tsangpo River. But it was as a "kook," or beginner surfer, in Huntington Beach, Calif. that he caught a glimpse of his next great adventure: a trip down the West Coast in search of the perfect wave. Despite an inauspicious start with surfing -- Heller paddled his egg, or beginner board, directly into the path of a veteran surfer, who showered him with invectives -- Heller soon took to surfing. In mere months, he grew from a complete novice to a capable surfer who didn't embarrass himself in front of the pros. Kook is his story of his surfing and soul-searching journey -- and what he learned along the way. Note: There is language in this excerpt that some readers may find offensive. Boys The call came from a friend's wife. Andy had been one of my closest buddies since college. He had grown up on the wrong side of the tracks in Camden, South Carolina. His father died very young and his mother did all the mechanic work on their old station wagon. In college, he took law school entrance exams and scored so high that he ended up with a full scholarship to Columbia. He didn't really want to be a lawyer, but the offer was too good to refuse, so off he went. He aced school, despite not studying much, and went through a series of jobs at private law firms where he didn't fit in. Finally he landed at the legal department of a giant manufacturing company, where he began to thrive. He moved with his family into an old house on a tree-lined street in a midwestern city, got as comfortable as he'd ever been, and promptly got transferred to Orange County, California. When his wife called me, she sounded desperate. She said that Andy was having a tough year. He'd been brought in to clean up the legal department of a subsidiary, and he was emphatically not a disciplinarian. When he had to call some cowboy lawyer on the carpet, his natural inclination was to tell him a long parable about bass fishing. He hated the constant conflict of the job and he wasn't sleeping. He had a vacation coming up, he had wanted to learn to surf, would I come out and learn with him? Definitely, yes. I'd seen the Gidget movies and The Endless Summer. I booked a ticket and in early April I flew into John Wayne Airport, Orange County, California. Andy picked me up wearing a Hawaiian shirt with surfboards all over it. We drove with the windows down. I was excited, he was excited. We were going to be boys, have an adventure. The first thing we needed to do was get me a board. My first surfboard was an egg; that's the name of a classic design. They are ideal for beginners because they are usually forgiving. This one was not prepossessing. Neither longboard nor shortboard, it was eight feet long and as oval as a platter. It did not edge a straight line or turn particularly fast. It was not nimble and not stable. The shaper who made it must have been a genius, as it is almost impossible to make a surfboard that is not every desirable quality. It didn't do anything well, really, except hatch my career as a surfer. It was an old board, pre-owned, covered in tiny vines -- a hand-painted tangle of no plant that ever lived on earth. Most graphics on surfboards are laid down under the fiberglass so that the board is smooth to the touch: no matter how exuberant or violent the picture or color, close your eyes and your hand passes over the deck of the board like it was polished bone. Not the Egg. This was paint dabbed atop the gel coat -- the first owner paying tribute to her most modest egg, or maybe an attempt to gussy it up after it surfed like a brick. I guess Skip at Board 'n Bean would have felt bad charging me for a week with the board. He ran the last true surf shack in Huntington Beach, part board shop, part cafe, part betting parlor (I think), part other stuff. It sat on the Pacific Coast Highway beside a cluster of trashy palms, and it caught my eye as Andy and I drove past. There was a rack of brightly colored old boards out front with a sign that said BIG SALE. "Nah, just take it," Skip said, handing me the egg. "Put me in an article. Hey, what size are you? You're gonna need this." He threw me an orange full-length wetsuit. He was wearing a sleeveless T and his arms were like anvils. "Got a leash?" I shook my head. There was a muffled roar from the two TVs in the shop. Skip glanced up at the one mounted above the doorway to his new board room. "Fucking Dodgers. If I wanted to watch The Simpsons -- know what I mean, Domino?" Domino? No one had ever called me that. I liked it. "Here." He unhooked a leash from a peg. I took it. Something in the way I looked at it as he handed it to me made him laugh and wince up his bloodshot blue eyes. He lifted his trucker's cap and his bleached blond hair spilled to his shoulders. The cap had a pair of the naked mud- |
'A Perfect Storm': Extremists Look For Ways To Exploit Coronavirus Pandemic | For months, authorities say, 36-year-old white supremacist Timothy Wilson amassed bomb-making supplies and talked about attacking a synagogue, a mosque or a majority-black elementary school. Then the coronavirus hit the United States, giving Wilson a new target — and a deadline. The FBI says Wilson planned to bomb a Missouri hospital with COVID-19 patients inside, and he wanted to do it before Kansas City's stay-at-home order took effect at midnight on March 24. "Wilson considered various targets and ultimately settled on an area hospital in an attempt to harm many people, targeting a facility that is providing critical medical care in today's environment," the FBI said in a statement. The attack never happened. Wilson died in a shootout March 24 when federal agents moved to arrest him after a six-month investigation. It was an extraordinary domestic terrorism case, yet it got lost in the nonstop flood of news about the coronavirus pandemic. Extremism researchers warn against overlooking such episodes; they worry the Missouri example is a harbinger as far-right militants look for ways to exploit the crisis. Already, monitoring groups have recorded a swell of hatred — including cases of physical violence — toward Asian Americans. Dehumanizing memes blame Jews for the virus. Conspiracy theories abound about causes and cures, while encrypted chats talk about spreading infection to people of color. And there is the rise of "Zoombombing" — racists crashing private videoconferences to send hateful images and comments. "We know from our work in the trenches against white nationalism, antisemitism, and racism that where there is fear, there is someone organizing hate," Eric Ward, executive director of the Western States Center, said in a statement. The Oregon-based monitoring group recorded about 100 bias-motivated incidents in the two weeks after the alleged Missouri plot was foiled. Here are some areas extremism trackers are watching as the pandemic unfolds: Hate crimes A March FBI assessment predicted "hate crime incidents against Asian Americans likely will surge across the United States, due to the spread of coronavirus disease," according to an intelligence report obtained by ABC News. The report, prepared by the FBI's Houston office and issued to law enforcement agencies nationwide, warned that "a portion of the U.S. public will associate COVID-19 with China and Asian American populations." That idea has been reinforced by political leaders including President Trump, who has referred to the "Chinese virus" and variations that reference China or Wuhan rather than the clinical terms used by health officials. Asian Americans say they have experienced hostility, with a dramatic increase in reports of racist incidents. A handful of them were violent attacks that are under investigation as hate crimes. For example, federal authorities say hatred motivated a 19-year-old Texas man who was arrested in a stabbing attack that targeted an Asian-American family at a Sam's Club. The suspect told authorities that he thought the family was spreading the coronavirus. Some Asian Americans have expressed fears that violence could increase once stay-at-home orders are lifted. A coalition of advocacy groups has appealed to Congress to denounce racism and xenophobia linked to the pandemic. "This is a global emergency that should be met with both urgency and also cultural awareness that Covid-19 is not isolated to a single ethnic population," Jeffrey Caballero, executive director of the Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations, said in a statement. "Xenophobic attacks and discrimination towards Asian American communities are unacceptable." Recruiting out-of-school kids Millions of young Americans are home from school, bored, and scrolling through social media sites for hours every day. To white supremacist recruiters, they're prey. Cynthia Miller-Idriss, an American University professor who writes extensively about far-right extremism, said the increase in unsupervised screen time at a time of crisis creates "a perfect storm for recruitment and radicalization." PERIL, the extremism research lab Miller-Idriss runs on campus, is scrambling for "rapid response" grants to develop an awareness campaign and toolkit for parents and caregivers about the risks of online radicalization in the coronavirus era. "For extremists, this is an ideal time to exploit youth grievances about their lack of agency, their families' economic distress, and their intense sense of disorientation, confusion, fear and anxiety," Miller-Idriss said. Without the usual social support from trusted adults such as coaches and teachers, she said, "youth become easy targets for the far right." Anti-government flashpoints Militias and self-described "constitutionalist" factions, categorized by federal authorities as anti-government extremists, are making noise about stay-at-home orders. Some armed groups reject the measures outright, calling |
The News Roundup — Domestic | Former National Security Adviser John Bolton may be called to testify in the Senate impeachment trial of President Donald Trump. Bolton’s forthcoming book allegedly contains revelations about when Trump initially planned to withhold military aid to Ukraine. The Pentagon announced that 50 U.S. troops sustained brain injuries in the Iranian airstrike on Al Asad Air Base in Iraq earlier this month. The Trump administration announced a new rule that creates an additional barrier for legal immigration to the United States in the form of a “wealth test.” The “public charge” rule would ban immigrants who are deemed unable to support themselves financially. We’ll talk about the week’s top national headlines. |
World Anti-Doping Agency Report Slams Track And Field's Governing Body | An independent commission formed by the World Anti-Doping Agency released the second part of its damning report Thursday, detailing illicit state-sanctioned doping by track and field athletes, and corruption among top international officials. While the first part of the report, released in November, focused mainly on wrongdoing by the Russian athletics federation (ARAF) and the Russian anti-doping agency (RUSADA), Thursday's report centers on the corruption of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), which was found to have contributed to the corruption that allowed athletes with dirty blood tests to continue competing. The report says that former president of the IAAF Lamine Diack "was responsible for organizing and enabling the conspiracy and corruption that took place in the IAAF." As the Two-Way previously reported, the institutions failed completely; athletes who had doped were even allowed to compete in the 2012 Olympic Games. The report found that Diack knew of extorting athletes to hide abnormal blood tests. "He sanctioned and appears to have had personal knowledge of the fraud and the extortion of athletes carried out by the actions of the informal illegitimate governance structure he put in place," the report says. But it also says that the illegal activity went beyond Diack. "The corruption was embedded in the organization. It cannot be ignored or dismissed as attributable to the odd renegade acting on its own," the report said. It went on to assert that "at least some of the members of the IAAF Council could not have been unaware of the extent of doping in Athletics and the non-enforcement of applicable anti-doping rules." In the wake of WADA's first report, the IAAF ethics committee handed down three lifetime bans last week (including to the former president of Russia's athletic federation) and one five-year ban to the former head of the IAAF's anti-doping unit. At the time, Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko said he thought the IAAF announced the bans to help its own image and distract from the looming publication of the second part of WADA's report, according to Reuters. Now that the second installment of the report has been published, Mutko said he "supported all the outcomes" of the investigation and understood Russia's share of the responsibility for the doping scandal, the news service said, citing the Tass news agency. With the IAAF now in the spotlight, it will be up to the current president, Sebastian Coe of Britain, to take the next steps. Dick Pound, a former WADA president said Coe was the right person to lead the organization, according to the Associated Press. "There's [an] enormous amount of reputational recovery that has to occur here and I can't ... think of anyone better than Lord Coe to lead that. All our fingers are crossed in that respect." |
5-Story-Tall Treehouse Burns Down In East Tennessee | Constructed around seven trees, it rose to about 100 feet — with a steeple soaring even higher. It had classrooms, bedrooms, a kitchen — stairs that snaked around the whole thing. |
For Baltimore Businesses, Aid For Riot Repair Is Not Coming Fast Enough | It took only minutes for stores in Baltimore to be destroyed on the night of April 27. But six weeks later, the repair process is still limping along. And stores not directly affected by the violence say they've also seen a sharp decline in business. "Look outside, there's nobody," says Pedro Silva, owner of Carolina's Tex-Mex Restaurant in Fells Point, a usually busy tourist spot. "Before, we used to be no parking space. Now it's empty. It's empty — day, night." Silva says that since the riots, business at the restaurant has been cut in half. At lunchtime last week, the place was almost empty, as Silva sat with a lending officer from the nonprofit Latino Economic Development Center, to get a $5,000 loan to cover some bills. Nearly 400 businesses throughout Baltimore were damaged during riots after the death of Freddie Gray. The city, state and federal governments have offered millions of dollars in aid. But very little has gone out so far, despite broad agreement that getting these businesses back on their feet is crucial for the city's recovery. Like Silva, there's a similar sense of desperation across the street at Express Prints. Owner Daniel Paredes says he lost $7,000 in printing business last month, enough to stop him from hiring a new employee. Paredes has been trying to get a $35,000 no-interest loan from either the state or city, with no luck so far. "I apply already for the city. But I call, I don't receive any answer," he says. "He come to my office. I give the whole paper, the taxes, whatever they need. I call him like two, three times already. They don't answer the phone any more." And in fact, to date, not one business has received a loan offered by the city, state or Small Business Administration in the aftermath of the violence, even though state officials say 13 loans have been approved and are ready to go. The city has also offered $5,000 grants to help stores with emergency repairs, but as of Friday, only three checks had been written. Bill Cole is president and CEO of the Baltimore Development Corporation, which is overseeing the business recovery effort. "Unfortunately, we had no access to funds that we could just simply award right away. We've had to fundraise for ours," he says. "The state program, they modified in order to be more responsive to the incidents that happened in Baltimore, but it's still a loan program." That means applicants have to provide financial information and go through other hoops that Cole admits small businesses might find daunting. He says his agency is trying to help where it can. "In a lot of cases, it's simply just answering questions and helping them understand what the process is to reopen," he says. And Cole says the overwhelming majority of businesses have reopened, to some extent. Others are still struggling with insurance companies. That's the case for Taylor Alexander, owner of Flawless Damsels, a women's dress shop that was cleaned out by looters. "From the equipment to the decorations, to the fixtures to the inventory. Even small stuff, like receipt paper and toilet paper. Just everything," she says. That includes the computer where she kept her business records. Alexander has spent the last few weeks trying to re-create those records to make a claim. Still, she's optimistic she'll get help from the city and be able to reopen this summer. Not so optimistic is Matthew Chung, whose parents' variety store, J-Mart Wigs, suffered extensive damage after almost 30 years in West Baltimore. His parents were not insured. "They're not going to be able to open up anytime soon, if ever. And, as far as what the city has done to help, I'm saddened to say that there's been pretty much no help whatsoever," he says. Chung adds that the only money his parents have received so far is $24,000, from a GoFundMe page set up by friends. |
News Brief: Congress Talks 'Bump Stocks,' Las Vegas Latest, DACA Deadline | The Las Vegas attack has got lawmakers talking about banning "bump stocks," which simulate automatic weapons. Also, the Las Vegas shooter's girlfriend said she didn't know of his plans. |
Scott Simon: "Windy City" (Random House) (Rebroadcast) | Simon's new novel serves up a murder and the foibles, scandals, and ambitions of local leaders in Chicago's brash, multi-ethnic politics. |
What's Happened In March Madness Thus Far? | Robert Siegel speaks with sportswriter Stefan Fatsis for an update on March Madness. |
Bedouine: Tiny Desk Concert | This is as spare as music can be – songs stripped to their essence and just gorgeous. Azniv Korkejian is Bedouine, a singer and acoustic guitarist who echoes sounds from the 1960's North American folk songwriters, but with vocal inflections that feel closer to Leonard Cohen than to Joni Mitchell or Joan Baez. Azniv Korkejian was born in Aleppo Syria. Her parents were Armenian and she spent her childhood in Saudi Arabia. But a green card lottery win found her family moving to Boston and Houston. Eventually she made her way to Los Angeles with important time spent in Austin, Texas and Savannah, Ga. The name she chose, Bedouine, reflects the traveler, the wanderer in her. For her first album, she teamed up with the folks from the Richmond, Va. label Spacebomb. Trey Pollard arranged some stunning subtly on her 2017 self-titled album. You may know his work from Natalie Prass, or maybe the music he wrote for the podcast S-Town. Matthew E. White, the label's founder and also a musician signed Bedouine to Spacebomb, and the album was produced by Gus Seyffert. And though I deeply love the album's sound, I was entranced by Azniv Korkejian's solo performance at my desk. It's a unembellished gateway to some gracefully adorned songs. Set List "One of These Days" "Solitary Daughter" "Nice and Quiet" Credits Producers: Bob Boilen, Morgan Noelle Smith; Creative Director: Bob Boilen; Audio Engineer: Josh Rogosin; Videographers: Morgan Noelle Smith, Dani Lyman; Production Assistant: Joshua Bote; Photo: Bob Boilen/NPR. |
Opinion: Mike Pesca On The Quarterback As A Hero | Commentator Mike Pesca talks about San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garappolo and news about a date he went on. |
Roundtable: Tookie Williams, Bush on Iraqi Deaths | Topics: The execution of former Crips leader and Nobel Peace Prize nominee Stanley Tookie Williams, and President Bush's estimate that 30,000 Iraqi citizens have lost their lives in the war. Guests: Mary Frances Berry, professor of history at the University of Pennsylvania; Jeff Obafemi Carr, host of the radio show <EM>Freestyle</EM>; and Nat Irvin, professor of future studies at Wake Forest University. |
Review: Daughn Gibson, 'Carnation' | Josh Martin is a person. Daughn Gibson is a persona — Martin's performance persona, to be precise. A persona is a good vehicle for telling stories, particularly ones like "I Bled To Death," which kicks off the third Daughn Gibson album, Carnation. It's a tale of the narrator's wakeup from an eternal sleep and return to, in his words, "the worst of the world," scored against a chopped vocal sample, pedal-steel guitar and a bit of keyboards to lighten an impossibly somber mood. A move like this ought to signify the start of a dark ride, and for the most part, Gibson keeps us there, outlining dark and alluring tales of horror and despair, human struggle and eternal regret. Gibson's 2012 debut, All Hell, consists of nothing but his deep croon (think David Sylvian bending toward an impossible stratus of basso profondo) and arranged samples from records he'd acquired at thrift stores. That album straddles a difficult divide of country music and minimalism, while its follow-up, 2013's Me Moan, ups the budget considerably, putting Gibson in the company of a diverse trio of backing musicians: Baroness' John Baizley, Brokeback's Jim Elkington, and Matt Franco of the noise act Air Conditioning. But the critical response was unfairly mixed, due in part to even greater genre schisms and a general sense of masculinity in overdrive. The latter peaks in the beyond-the-pale string bend of "Kissing On The Blacktop," which missed a good shot at ending up in a truck commercial. Carnation, with hindsight in its favor, gives Gibson the ability to keep on stretching his narratives, but it also wisely pomades some of his wildest hairs. The country urges are tamped down to the occasional guitar line and qualities of Gibson's singing voice, giving the music a chance to open up to breezier vistas. These are mostly pitched between Tangerine Dream's '80s material and soundtracks, Sylvian/Japan, Danny Elfman and '80s radio pop groups like a-ha, a mixture of influences and ideas that's remarkably compelling when set against such visceral tales. A haunting, vampiric strut, "For Every Bite" is an obvious standout; deliberate and sinister, the song is leavened with a seven-note piano lead that hangs over the break like bats in a cave. That same sense of doom is revisited in "Shine Of The Night," a horrific tale of casualties witnessed while serving in Iraq, set to a propulsive Krautrock rhythm. In that song, Gibson reminds us, "You die when you die" before a burst of saxophone glides across the fraught terrain. A cast of unfortunates, due to both reality (the shock of waking from a dream world in "Shatter You Through") and circumstance (a struggle to kill the macho within in "A Rope Ain't Enough," an unstable mind coping with its sexuality in "Daddy I Cut My Hair") lend Carnation more weight than most pop artists this side of Antony & The Johnsons could wisely carry. But, as on his earlier albums, Gibson's persona is up to the task. Across all three records, and on this one in particular, there's a reach of ambition that never gets mired in artifice or inconsistencies; this is surprising, complex music that deals with stories difficult to tell outside the printed page. Gibson leads listeners through them on the rumble seat, without so much as a lap belt or handhold to keep us steady. |
New York Air Quality | NPR's Richard Harris reports on New Yorkers who are experiencing respiratory problems from living or working near Ground Zero. Even though the air quality in the vicinity meets current federal safety standards, many people are reporting trouble with asthma and other ailments. |
High-Tech Companies Look To Mexico For Qualified Talent Pool | There's a tech boom in Tijuana, Mexico, as American companies look for skilled labor to fill technology jobs at a lower cost than it would be in California. |
Infectious Disease Specialist Answers Listener Questions About The Coronavirus | NPR's Michel Martin speaks with infectious disease specialist Dr. Amesh Adalja of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health to answer listener questions about the coronavirus. |
Nothing Beats 'The Good Place': David Bianculli Picks The Best TV Of 2019 | Good TV seems to be coming at us in increasingly large quantities and from so many different directions. Just last month, two major services — Apple TV+ and Disney+ — launched, joining the crowded field of streaming services. All this added up to a great year for quality television. Here's a list of my favorite shows of 2019. 1. The Good Place (NBC) Michael Schur's afterlife comedy managed, once again, to reinvent itself entirely this year — and in ways that were almost impossible to see coming. To start the new season, we even learned the Bad Place's official theme song — a hell of an idea that still makes me laugh out loud. The Good Place is the best show on television right now, and the fact that it exists on broadcast commercial network television — when almost all of the other top choices come from streaming or cable networks — is itself a miracle worthy of The Good Place. 2. Legion (FX) This series went out this year as it had come in: Its finale was as mind-blowingly unique as its opening episode, and its opening episode was as stunningly different as the first installment of Twin Peaks. Noah Hawley set out to tell a complicated, shifting story from the point of view of an astoundingly unreliable narrator — and never wavered. If you've never seen it, watching Legion in a big binge should be your holiday TV gift to yourself. 3. Black Mirror (Netflix) Last year, the astounding interactive Bandersnatch episode of Black Mirror didn't show up until after I'd compiled my top 10 list. This year, a trio of new episodes of the anthology series dropped; I still haven't forgotten the Striking Vipers episode, which I consider one of the best TV shows I saw all year. 4. Fleabag (Amazon) and Killing Eve (BBC America) I'm slipping these two shows in, as a tie, because both series were created by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who stars in the former and wrote previous seasons of the latter. I love the plot twists and leading performances of Killing Eve, with Sandra Oh and Jodie Comer as amorously intrigued adversaries — but I adore, equally, Waller-Bridge's perfectly executed breaking-the-fourth-wall stares into the camera on Fleabag. Watch both. 5. Watchmen (HBO) This new addition to the 2019 TV rolls is a DC Comics adaptation and expansion so intelligent and ambitious it does for DC Comics what FX's Legion did for Marvel: It outgrows its original medium, and uses the medium of television in an impressively original way. Each episode of Watchmen was better than, and different from, the last – and that's high praise indeed. 6. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon) The production values of Season 3 have upped this show's game even more – which is saying something, because Mrs. Maisel already had some of the most exquisitely delivered dialogue and comic acting on TV. Amy Sherman-Palladino's jokes, delivered by the likes of Rachel Brosnahan and Tony Shalhoub, make for the perfect servings of ham on wry. 7. Dead to Me (Netflix) Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini starred in this dark, twisted Netflix series, which focuses on women coping with different kinds of grief in wildly different ways. By the end of this year's first season, these two women had bonded deeply, separated vehemently and ended on a note that makes next year's Season 2 something to await with great anticipation. 8. Barry (HBO) This Bill Hader series got even better this year, following its muse into territory not seen on TV since The Sopranos ventured into the Pine Barrens. 9. Evil (CBS) This series, from Michelle and Robert King, proves the same thing that their Good Wife series did when it was on CBS: that the commercial broadcast networks still could produce and present a smart, entertaining TV drama series, if it hired the right people and left them alone. With Evil, the definition of that word, and this show's plot, deepened all season, and turned what could have been a simple cross between The X-Files and The Exorcist into something much, much more. 10. Veep (HBO) Oddly, this series got less attention and acclaim for its final lap around the track than for its other, Emmy-magnet seasons – but Veep went out with a bang, and with razor-sharp comedy performances from Julia Louis-Dreyfus and the entire cast, including Tony Hale and dry-wit secret weapons Hugh Laurie and Gary Cole. Special mentions in other categories: Movies and Miniseries: The Act (Hulu); Deadwood: The Movie (HBO); El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie (Netflix); Years and Years (HBO) Nonfiction: Leaving Neverland (HBO); 60 Minutes (CBS) |
At Least 95 Killed In Turkey Twin Blasts At Peace Rally | Updated at 6:30 p.m. At least 95 people were killed and another 186 were injured when two bombs exploded during a peace rally in central Ankara, Turkey, the country's Interior Minister, Selami Altinok, said during a press conference on Saturday. One video from the scene showed demonstrators dancing and chanting when a blast goes off behind them. Pictures from the aftermath show scores of bodies strewn on city streets — many of them covered with the banners used in the protest. The BBC's Mark Lowen tells our Newscast unit: "The target appears to have been a peace march calling for an end to the violence with the Kurdish militant group, the PKK, which resumed over two months ago. Before the last election in June, a rally by the pro-Kurdish HDP party was bombed, blamed on Turkish nationalists. It's feared there could have been a similar motivation this time, before an electoral rerun next month." The blasts occurred three weeks ahead of Turkey's elections, reports the Associated Press: "The explosions occurred minutes apart near Ankara's main train station as people were gathering for the rally, organized by the country's public sector workers' trade union and other civic society groups. The rally aimed to call for an end to the renewed violence between Kurdish rebels and Turkish security forces. "It was not clear if the attacks, which came weeks before Turkey's Nov. 1 elections, were suicide bombings." No one has yet claimed responsibility for the explosions. The AP adds: "In July, a suicide bombing blamed on the Islamic State group killed 33 people in a town near Turkey's border with Syria. "A leftist militant group has also carried out suicide bombings in Turkey." |
Memo To The Rest of You... | In the latest political love poem from the national media to Arnold Schwarzenegger, the new edition of Esquire magazine proclaims that the governor is leading the nation into a ¿new kind of politics.¿
The March cover story, ¿The President of 12% of Us,¿ takes a quick tour of recent political goings-on in California en route to [...] |
Prince's Unfinished Memoir | Prince died in 2016, leaving behind an unfinished memoir. Dan Piepenbring, his co-writer, recalls the moment he knew he could make 'The Beautiful Ones' happen — even in Prince's absence. (Originally aired Oct 28, 2019) |
Yellen: Slower Rate Hikes If Economy Disappoints | Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said the U.S. economy faces a number of global threats that could hamper growth and compel the Fed to slow the pace of future interest rate hikes. She highlighted in her semiannual report to Congress the widening fallout from concerns over China’s weaker currency and economic outlook, which is rattling financial markets around the world. While the Fed expects to raise interest rates gradually, they are not on any preset course, she said Wednesday. The Fed would likely move slower “if the economy were to disappoint.” In her first public comments in two months, Yellen offered no major surprises. She reiterated the Fed’s confidence that the U.S. economy was on track for stronger growth and a rebound in inflation. At the same time, she acknowledged the weaker economic data reported since the start of the year and made it clear the Fed is closely monitoring greater risks from abroad. Yellen did mention in her prepared comments to the House Financial Services Committee that it was possible that the recent economic weakness could prove temporary, setting the stage for faster economic growth and a stronger increase in inflation than expected. Should that occur, the Fed will be ready to hike rates more quickly than currently anticipated. “The actual path of the (Fed’s key interest rate) will depend on what incoming data tell us about the economic outlook,” Yellen said. Guest
Maggie Lake, business anchor and correspondent for CNN International. She tweets @maggielake. |
#1542: Jerking to the High School Dance | This week on The Best of Car Talk, can Bill learn how to drive stick in time to drive his date to the homecoming dance? Given that his other driving options are a minivan and a station wagon, we certainly hope so. Elsewhere, Heather wants to drive her Subaru from Seattle to Maine to visit her parents, but the car may not make it past Minnesota. Can Tom and Ray help facilitate this family reunion? And, did Abby damage her transmission by backing down a steep driveway in Drive, or is she suffering from Tom's diagnosis of "Female Guilt Syndrome"? And, do you have what it takes to be crowned Philosopher King? All this and more, this week on The Best of Car Talk. |
U.S. Military Readiness | NPR's Tom Gjelten reports on claims that U.S. military deployments overseas for peace keeping duties prevents the U.S. military from meeting its larger defense commitments. The facts are somewhat mixed. Military chiefs maintain that where U.S. forces are stationed for peacekeeping, such as in Bosnia, morale is high with a sense of duty and re-enlistment's are higher than normal. But the picture for officers with families on long-term overseas assignments is not as positive. |
Venezuela's State-Owned Oil Company Is Hit With U.S. Sanctions | The U.S. Treasury has announced new sanctions on Venezuela, targeting that country's oil sales — as part of a larger effort to support the opposition and push for the ouster of Nicolas Maduro. |
Mine-Detecting Rat In Cambodia Wins Award For Bravery | Magawa, an African giant pouched rat, trained by the nonprofit APOPO, sniffs for landmines in Cambodia that were left behind after decades of conflict. Magawa just won a gold medal for his bravery. |
California Fights The White House Over Census Citizenship Question | The 2020 Census is shaping up to be a major political fight. California is suing the Trump administration over an addition to the survey that asks about respondents’ citizenship. The state’s attorney general argues that the Census is for anyone living in the U.S., regardless of citizenship. How will the fight affect the Census, and the new districts drawn based on the results? GUESTS William Frey, Senior fellow, Metropolitan Policy Program, Brookings Institution; author of “Diversity Explosion: How New Racial Demographics Are Remaking America” For more, visit https://the1a.org. © 2018 WAMU 88.5 – American University Radio. |
Grenade Attack on Camp Pennsylvania | NPR's Scott Horsley reports terrorists are suspected in a grenade attack on a rear camp in Kuwait, Camp Pennsylvania, that injured 13 soldiers, six seriously. |
Music Producer And Songwriter Rick Hall Dies At 85 | Rick Hall, known as the "Father of Muscle Shoals Music," died Tuesday. Hall founded FAME studios, which made Muscle Shoals, Ala., synonymous with southern sounds of soul and R&B. |
Simultaneous Attacks Target Israelis in Kenya | In simultaneous attacks, suicide bombers strike at an Israeli-owned hotel in Kenya, killing 12 other people, and two missiles target an Israeli charter flight leaving Mombasa airport. Meanwhile, gunmen open fire at a polling station in northern Israel, killing six Israelis. Hear the Kelly Hartog of <EM>The Jerusalem Post</EM>, the BBC's Cathy Jenkins, Daniel Benjamin of CSIS and NPR's Linda Gradstein. |
U.S. Foreign Policy May Shift in Second Term | Changes may be coming in the Bush administration's approach to foreign policy. Some Washington observers suggest the administration may be more conciliatory toward U.S. allies after the sobering experience of Iraq. NPR's Michele Kelemen reports. |
JPMorgan Boosts Offer for Bear Stearns Buyout | Wall Street investment bank JPMorgan Chase has agreed to pay more money for the troubled securities firm Bear Stearns. Last week, Bear Stearns almost melted down because of the credit crisis, and JPMorgan hoped to scoop up the firm at a fire-sale price. Then, top shareholders in Bears Stearns balked. |
Naked Mole Rat's Genetic Code Laid Bare | Lists of the world's ugliest animals sometimes include the naked mole rat. But scientists who have just analyzed its entire genetic code say this bizarre little creature has an inner beauty — unique traits that could aid research on cancer and aging. Naked mole rats are neither moles nor rats, although they are naked. They have tiny eyes and piggy noses and have been described as looking like sausages with teeth. "I think when you get to know them, or if you see them in real life, they take on a very cute quality," says biologist Thomas Park, who has a couple of hundred scampering through tunnels at his lab at the University of Illinois, Chicago. Normally, these rodents live underground in eastern Africa, tunneling in search of tasty roots that they share with their colony. Like social insects such as bees, naked mole rats live in cooperative groups with one queen who has all the babies. And if you pick one up, says Park, your hands will immediately feel another of the naked mole rat's distinctive features: Despite being a mammal, they are cold-blooded. "They take on the temperature of the room, so at room temperature, it feels like you're holding something that's not alive," says Park. "It's very extraordinary." What's more, Park adds, "they don't feel certain types of pain. And they don't get cancer." And because they evolved to exist in crowded, cramped tunnels with little air, they're able to survive on remarkably low levels of oxygen. Plus, they also can live for around 30 years, far longer than mice or rats. Understanding The Genes So naked mole rats would seem ideal for biomedical scientists who want to learn how to do things like prevent cancer, or slow down aging, or protect the brain from oxygen deprivation during strokes. This is why researcher Vadim Gladyshev of Harvard Medical School became so fascinated when he first heard of these animals a few years ago at a dinner party. He realized that for the science of naked mole rats to really move forward, biologists would first need to know all of its genes, so he put together an international team to quickly do it. "We decided, 'OK, let's go full force and just sequence the genome,' " says Gladyshev. "Because the genome is really critical in order to understand the biology of that animal." They used the DNA of a 4-year-old male from the Chicago lab. The job took about a year and a half. "At this point, we have a genome and we have done a preliminary analysis. The findings are very interesting — a number of interesting leads — and we will continue working on them," says Gladyshev. For example, since naked mole rats are cold-blooded, he says they looked at genes that help regulate body temperature. "We found a gene which changed specifically in naked mole rats, not in other mammals," he explains. They found other changes in genes possibly linked to life span, body hair and cancer, according to their report in the journal Nature. Now that there's a list of intriguing genes, scientists can try to figure out exactly what they do. "It's up to the labs to take these findings and to take these analyses and go to the lab and test them experimentally," says Joao Pedro de Magalhaes, a biologist at the University of Liverpool in England who is part of another team that has been working to decode the naked mole rat's genes. He called the new analysis "an excellent and hugely important work" for establishing the naked mole rat as "the first model of resistance to chronic diseases of aging." And he says having the full genetic code should get more scientists interested in studying naked mole rats. "It certainly makes things much easier for researchers to work on the naked mole rat," he says. For example, he says they could study genes in isolated cells or even put them into mice — a lab animal that's a lot more familiar to scientists than these odd, buck-toothed creatures. GUY RAZ, HOST: The naked mole rat is not a mole and it's not a rat, but it is naked. These hairless underground rodents are not about to win any beauty contests. They've been described as looking like sausages with teeth. But naked mole rats have strange traits that could help scientists understand things like cancer and aging. Research teams have been eager to analyze the rodent's entire genetic code. And now, as NPR's Nell Greenfieldboyce reports, they've done it. NELL GREENFIELDBOYCE, BYLINE: Naked mole rats are pale pink and wrinkled. They have tiny eyes, piggy noses and enormous buck teeth. Biologist Thomas Park says they are good-natured. PROFESSOR THOMAS PARK: I think when you get to know them or if you see them in real life, they take on a very cute quality. GREENFIELDBOYCE: Normally, these rodents live in dark underground tunnels in eastern Africa. Park has a couple hundred at the University of Illinois at Chicago. And he says if you pick one up, your hands will immediately feel one of their distinctive features: They are cold-blooded. PARK: They take on the temperature of the room. S |
The Pawpaw: Foraging For America's Forgotten Fruit | So what the heck is a pawpaw? Recently, I heard about a secret snack. Kayakers who paddle the waters near Washington, D.C., told me about a mango-like fruit that grows along the banks of the Potomac — a speckled and homely skin that hides a tasty treat. A tropical-like fruit here, really? Yep. It's the only temperate member of a tropical family of trees. You can't buy the pawpaw in stores, so for years, the only way to eat them was straight from the tree. Continue Reading I was intrigued. So I decided to hunt for a pawpaw myself. D.C. nature guide Matt Cohen showed me how to find them. We took the Billy Goat Trail on the Maryland side of the Potomac River. "Wow," was the first word out of my mouth when I tasted one we found on our hike. It's sort of mango-meets-the-banana ... with a little hint of melon. Although you may not have heard of it, the pawpaw has quite a history. Thomas Jefferson had pawpaws at Monticello. And when he was minister to France in 1786, he had pawpaw seeds shipped over to friends there. He probably wanted to impress his friends with something exotic from America. Lewis and Clark wrote in their journals that they were quite fond of the pawpaw. At one point during their expedition in 1806, they relied on pawpaws when other provisions ran low. And from Michigan to West Virginia, people have even named towns and lakes after the pawpaw. But the pawpaw has only recently been commercialized. That's one reason you don't see it in the grocery store. So far, there are just a few orchards selling to farmers markets. This progress is largely thanks to the work of plant scientist Neal Peterson. He has spent the past 35 years breeding the pawpaw to make it look and taste more like a fruit we'd buy. He has selected and grown varieties that are bigger, with more flesh. After tasting his first wild pawpaw 35 years ago, he had a eureka moment. "It was just a revelation," he says. Peterson thought that the pawpaw was every bit the rival of a perfect peach or apple — fruits that have had thousands of years of breeding. Why hadn't someone done this with the pawpaw? "I could just instantly make that leap of imagination," he says. And some three decades later, he has a lot to show for it. His pawpaws are being grown in a few orchards and sold at farmers markets. And now it's moving beyond novelty. A food scientist at Ohio University, Rob Brannan, is interested in studying the nutrients in the pawpaw. So far, he has published one study that found the antioxidant count in the fruit to be pretty high. "It's about the same as a cranberry" or a cherry, Brannan says. If scientists could put a "health halo" over the pawpaw, Brannan says, it would give the fruit a commercial boost. It's happened before. Pomegranate juice, anyone? "Yum — wonderful flavor," Joan Foster said after tasting her first pawpaw at the Olney Farm Market recently. She has been waiting a long time to try one. They're only available a few weeks out of the year — and this year's pawpaw season is just about over. So if you're intrigued, come back again tomorrow for a few tips on where you can find pawpaw beer, pawpaw sorbet ... and pawpaw recipes. DAVID GREENE, host: Maybe you've been spending time along some of the rivers in the Eastern United States and you spot some kayakers who are paddling along and eating. Turns out they have a secret snack. This time of year they keep their eyes peeled for a mango-like fruit that grows wild along the riverbanks. The fruit is called the pawpaw, but as NPR's Allison Aubrey discovered, it might not be a secret much longer. ALLISON AUBREY: There's nothing more delicious than a secret, right? So you'll understand why I wanted to get my hands on this fruit called a pawpaw, even if it means bush-whacking through a muddy river bank. . MATT COHEN: This is fun, this is the hunt. AUBREY: Matt Cohen is my guide. He's a professional forager. And he knows where the paw-paws grow. And it looks like there's plenty of them still growing along the banks of the Potomac here. It's just matter of finding the fruit. Is that right? COHEN: Oh yes. AUBREY: So you're pretty sure that there's a patch right up here ahead? COHEN: Yeah, there should be one right up here ahead. AUBREY: Now, this is the American pawpaw, completely different from a papaya. And Cohen is a big fan. As we hike along, he's trying to catch a whiff of its distinctive scent, which he says is fruity - almost floral. He uses his nose to guide us. OK, I'm feeling like we've got to be getting close, huh? COHEN: Oh yeah, we're getting close to another patch. AUBREY: He looks way up through the dappled light dancing around the branches, and he spots them. On a high branch we see what looks like three little mangos hanging in a cluster. So this is a pawpaw. huh? COHEN: That's it, yeah. AUBREY: And when we shake one down from the tree and slice it open to taste it... (SOUNDBITE OF SHAKING TREE) COHEN: What do you think? AUBREY: Wow. It r |
Offshore Jobs Play Role In Campaigns And Economy | President Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney have been trading attacks over the issue of American jobs being moved overseas. The president has pounded Romney for the investments made by his former firm Bain Capital in the 1990s. Not to be outdone, the Romney campaign has suggested most of the money from the president's stimulus program went to create jobs overseas. Independent fact checkers have concluded the Romney charges are inaccurate and that Obama's claims about Romney are misleading. Harvard economist Mihir Desai says the emphasis the candidates are placing on the offshoring of jobs is out of proportion to its effect on the economy. "We're going through something very dramatic economically and it is tempting to pin that on the most visible articulation of economic change, which is globalization," Desai says. He says it's true that since the nation's financial crisis hit, multinational companies have been creating more jobs overseas than in the U.S. But, he says, that doesn't mean those offshore jobs were created at the expense of American workers. "This crude logic, which is when firms grow abroad that means we're worse off at home, is probably not right," Desai says. In fact, he says, when firms add employment abroad, often to serve foreign customers, they're more likely to add jobs at home. "And that's not the natural way for people to think about the world, but once you start to say to yourself, 'Well, so now they are growing abroad,' " Desai says, "... that allows them, for example, to do more [research and development] in the United States; that allows them, for example, to have more headquarter activities in the United States because they're successful abroad." But that doesn't mean there haven't been hundreds of thousands of U.S. workers hurt when their jobs moved overseas. Desai says the focus of this debate should be on what sort of compensation and training those displaced workers can receive. "I think that's an important thing to talk about," Desai says. "We just have to learn how to talk about that without throwing the proverbial baby out with the bath water and saying our firms who go abroad are somehow being traitorous." Desai says a pox on both the candidates for distorting this issue. Princeton economist Alan Blinder has a slightly different view of the importance of offshore jobs in the presidential debate. "I think it's modestly relevant in our current economy and likely to become increasingly relevant," Blinder says. Before the financial crisis hit, Blinder thought offshore jobs would be the biggest economic issue of the next 20 years. That's because he estimates that over that period, a quarter of all the jobs in the U.S. will be vulnerable to move offshore because of advances in communications technology. That doesn't mean they'll all move overseas, but Blinder says the victims won't be just call center and manufacturing workers. A big swath of jobs higher on the skills ladder will be threatened. "These are people that if you raised this question 15-20 years ago, 'Are you vulnerable to competition from foreign labor?' It would have been a far-fetched thought," Blinder says. But the answer is not to try to stop American companies from growing overseas, he says. "I think to the extent it's a public policy issue, it's mostly whether the tax code should be encouraging this," Blinder says. "There I think it's a lot easier to give an answer [of] 'No.' That's a long way from banning it." Obama has said he wants to close tax loopholes that create incentives for companies to move jobs overseas. But there's another complicated debate over how best to do that. ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST: From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Robert Siegel. AUDIE CORNISH, HOST: And I'm Audie Cornish. Over the past few weeks, President Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney have traded attacks over the issue of American jobs being moved overseas. Here's President Obama at a recent campaign appearance in Cincinnati. PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: Governor Romney's experience has been investing in what were called pioneers of the business of outsourcing. Now he wants to give more tax breaks to companies that are shipping jobs overseas. CORNISH: This issue has taken up a lot of space in this presidential campaign. But as NPR's John Ydstie reports, many economists feel the debate is not enlightening voters. JOHN YDSTIE, BYLINE: The president has pounded Mitt Romney for the investments made by Romney's former firm Bain Capital back in the 1990s. Not to be outdone, the Romney campaign has suggested most of the money from the president's stimulus program went to create jobs overseas. (SOUNDBITE OF A POLITICAL AD) YDSTIE: Independent fact-checkers have concluded the Romney charges are inaccurate and that Obama's claims about Romney are misleading. Harvard professor of finance Mihir Desai says the emphasis the candidates are placing on the offshoring of jobs is out of proportion to its effect on the econ |
Savannah School's Version of 'Project Runway' | Fans of the TV show Project Runway know of the intense competition as aspiring designers try to compete for a shot at making it in the fashion world. But seniors at the Savannah College of Art and Design have more than a reality television show title at stake — their collections have to be finished before they graduate. STEVE INSKEEP, host: Fans of "Project Runway" have to wait until the new season begins this summer to get their fix of fashion designers and heated competition. But seniors at the Savannah College of Art and Design are living out their own private version of the popular reality show. Ninety-seven students of fashion are scrambling to finish their collections before they graduate. And in case you were wondering how that goes, NPR's Neda Ulaby reports on how they're making it work. NEDA ULABY: "Project Runway" has Tim Gunn to guide its fashionistas. The Savannah College of Art and Design has Anthony S. Miller to guide its undergraduates. Unidentified Woman #1: Should I interface it? Professor ANTHONY S. MILLER (Savannah College of Art and Design): No. Unidentified Woman #1: Should I make it wider? Prof. MILLER: A little bit. Unidentified Woman #1: A little bit wider? Like… ULABY: Miller chairs the fashion and accessories department, although he says today, it's more like the drama department. Prof. MILLER: Today is senior collection three day, which is the finalization of garments. ULABY: Twelve to 15 garments, all illustrating a look. Prof. MILLER: Two weeks to the wire, and the tensions are high. (Soundbite of laughter) (Soundbite of machine sounds) ULABY: The handful of students stitching, pinning and seaming away in a sunny, white-brick workroom seem focused more than stressed. Unidentified Woman #2: Can you hand me my scissors, please? Prof. MILLER: So here we are in a senior room. I'm very sensitive to them right now, because there's food in here. And ordinarily, I'd be like, get it out. Food and fabric don't go together. (Soundbite of machine sounds) ULABY: Senior Andrea McCloud is working on a flowing silver tunic with a saucily draped neckline. Her collection was inspired by the painting, "The Birth of Venus." Prof. MILLER: Nice. Wow. You really want to do an angle like that. This is what it (unintelligible)? Ms. ANDREA McCLOUD (Senior, Savannah College of Art and Design): Yeah. Prof. MILLER: Silk crepe? Ms. McCLOUD: Mm-hmm. ULABY: Silk? Crepe? Boring, thought senior Jessica Osterman(ph). She's smoothing out a colorful dress made of something petroleum based. Ms. JESSICA OSTERMAN (Senior, Savannah College of Art and Design): It's a plastic, Mexican, floral tablecloth. It's $5 a yard. I wanted to make it 500. ULABY: Osterman's collection is mod, flashy and expensive looking. It was inspired by the cover of the Beatles' album "Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band." Ms. OSTERMAN: Oh, my gosh. The colors, the prints, everything. ULABY: The cheap oilcloth is now resplendently embellished with crystals. At first, fashion chair Anthony Miller had his suspicions about Osterman's idea and her fabric of choice. Prof. MILLER: We talked about it, and then she showed me this amazing swatch. Ms. OSTERMAN: And now you love it. Prof. MILLER: I am… ULABY: That wasn't the only student concept that sounded terrible to Miller. Hattie Saltenstall(ph) produced a collection inspired by cancer. Prof. MILLER: Initially, when she presented it, I thought, oh, that's - how can you - and it really - it's actually turned out to be beautiful. When I turn it and I see that, that just jumps out at you. Ms. HATTIE SALTENSTALL (Savannah College of Art and Design): Yes. Prof. MILLER: It's insane. ULABY: This darkly gleaming formal gown doesn't look especially cancerous, except for the bumps that seem to grow in its midnight blue folds and clustering around its bodice. The collection came about when Hattie Saltenstall's mother was diagnosed with cancer and her godmother died from it during this, her senior year. Ms. SALTENSTALL: I was trying to figure out a way to get myself through it. And I wanted to show somebody that you could take something that's so ugly, that has no rules, that does whatever it wants, and that you can still make it beautiful if you look hard enough for it. ULABY: They're show stoppers, says the chair of the fashion department at the Savannah College of Art and Design. He says he can't wait to show this collection to designer John Galliano when he visits the school later this month. Neda Ulaby, NPR News. |
Embrace The Darkness: Dragged Into Sunlight Live At Maryland Deathfest | Ever walked into a nearly pitch-black room after roasting on sun-beaten asphalt, only to sweat it out with a host of the moshing unwashed? No? But what if candles were involved — would that make it classier? Granted, there's an antelope skull mounted on the candelabra, and there's some skin-crawling metallic noise gurgling from the backs-turned band members onstage. Maybe that's just a Thursday night for Dragged Into Sunlight. But it was also last year's setup for the experimental U.K. doom-metal band's nightmarish afternoon set at Maryland Deathfest, which you can watch here from Maryland Deathfest: The Movie III. Dragged Into Sunlight was one of last year's more extreme, multi-sensory experiences at the annual metal festival — a set well-suited to director David Hall's densely saturated style, like something out of a lost horror-film reel. Maryland Deathfest: The Movie III, the last in a trilogy, also includes performances by YOB, Saint Vitus, The Devil's Blood, Today Is the Day, Rwake, Ghoul, Absu, Brujeria, Electric Wizard, Godflesh, Napalm Death and many more. Maryland Deathfest returns May 23-26 for its 11th year, and will be a little different this time around. The ever-expanding and ridiculously diverse metal festival is still on the same block in Baltimore, but most shows will take place under the overpass while the former Sonar compound hosts vendors and booze. There will also be a hardcore-focused bill at the Baltimore Soundstage just a few blocks away. The 2013 lineup includes Bolt Thrower, Carcass, Pig Destroyer, Converge, Down, The Obsessed, Ihsahn, Infest, Manilla Road, Midnight, Sleep, Melvins, Sacred Reich and all of the other unreadable band names on the poster here. A limited-edition version of the Maryland Deathfest: The Movie III DVD and Blu-Ray comes out May 24 on Handshake, Inc. It includes an instant download of the live soundtrack. |
Iraq Weapons Evidence Inconclusive | Former U.N. weapons inspector David Kay tells Congress that his team is unable to find conclusive evidence that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction when the United States went to war. But Kay says the team found possible evidence of covert programs to make them. Kay's report adds to growing concern on Capitol Hill about the quality of pre-war U.S. intelligence on Iraq. Hear NPR's Vicky O'Hara. |
After Rain Then Fire, Matt Kenseth Wins Daytona 500 | "The Great American Race" was supposed to start on Sunday, but rain delayed the start until Monday evening and when the race finally go under way, it was delayed once more by a massive fire. At about 1 a.m. ET this morning, Matt Kenseth edged out Dale Earnhardt Jr. to become the 54th winner of the Daytona 500. CNN reports: "Those who made it to the end survived multiple accidents, including one on the second lap, and 10 caution flags. "Officials shut down the race for nearly two hours after Juan Pablo Montoya careened into the back of a jet dryer that was being used to blow debris off the track during a caution flag. Montoya's car, the jet dryer and the truck pulling it all burst into flames and also set a section of the track on fire." That was a pretty dramatic scene, which you can see in this video: One of the commentators says, "Well I've seen a lot of things, but never something like this." The reason the flames were so fierce is that the dryer, which for those of us who don't watch racing is literally a jet engine, had 200 gallons of jet fuel in it. USA Today reports the delay was so long that driver Brad Kaselowski found time to tweet. He said this was probably the first tweet from a car on the track of the Daytona 500. Yahoo! News rounds up the tweets: "He was funny: 'Maybe the Mayans were right about 2012...' Keselowski tweeted when a fan asked about the oddity of the whole weekend, what with the fire, the rain-delayed start and all of Daytona's other oddities. "He was informative, giving updates from inside and outside of his car on when the race might restart. "He was revealing – or at least he revealed the awful battery life on his iPhone. At 10:08 p.m., it held a 60 percent charge. By 11:30 p.m., it had dipped to 28 percent." |
What Happens When You Ask Celebrities What They're Wearing ... In Klingon? | On Wednesday night, the film Star Trek: Beyond held its red-carpet premiere at San Diego Comic-Con. They went all out – a live orchestra, fireworks, a laser show. Conan O'Brien hosted the gig. NPR's Nina Gregory reported on it for Morning Edition yesterday. NPR doesn't really do red carpets, so we figured we'd make the most of this one. (We were stationed right between the R and the E of Star Trek Beyond.) Nina asked a Klingon expert – who, in a move that will not surprise you in the least, asked to be identified as "Admiral qurgh of the Klingon Assault Group" – how a Klingon would say, "Who are you wearing?" The answer, for the record, is "Sut DatuQtaHbogh chenmoH 'lv?" (Literally: Who created the clothing that you are wearing?") As the film's cast filed by, Nina gamely fired off the question. Below, their varied reactions. |
NPR: Fresh Air for Monday, Apr 23 2007 | Stories: 1) Bill Moyers, Back on the Beat 2) An Agency Escapee Takes Aim at the Ad Biz |
Man Loses Home to Katrina, Wins Powerball | News worth an honorable mention, including the Louisiana construction foreman who won $97 million but kept working to finish his contracts. |
How Streaming Revolutionized Rap's Album Rollouts On The Road To No. 1 | Hip-hop may reign supreme in 2017, but it took several years of a digital revolution to shift dominance from music corporations, empower artists and prioritize the consumer before rap and R&B could bring home the gold. The crowning began with an unprecedented pocket of music history that saw hip-hop's pantheon of kings release this year's most anticipated compositions within a first quarter once written off as a dead zone on the album release calendar. In March, Drake announced to the world that he would drop his anticipated More Life, a global cornucopia of a rap album the Canadian MC referred to as a "playlist." Three weeks later, Kendrick Lamar deployed an Instagram post along with the last bar of "The Heart Part IV" — a lyrical exhibition that shot venom towards naysayers, Donald Trump and unnamed rap peers — to announce the date for his eventual double-platinum triumph DAMN. The preceding cold months were kept lit by a high wattage of trap music. In January, Migos clamped a vice grip onto 2017 that has yet to loosen with the release of Culture. Future, revered by loyalists as the current king of trap, optimized February by serving fans his fifth (FUTURE) and sixth (HNDRXX) albums in succeeding weeks. The following month, Rick Ross offered his ninth and arguably finest composition Rather You Than Me. But Ross' March release date wasn't selected by anyone employed by his label Maybach Music Group (MMG) or his distributor EPIC/Sony. Instead, its inspiration derived from someone much closer. "Way back in like August or September [of last year], Ross said that he wanted to put his next album out on his daughter's birthday," Kendell "Sav" Freeman, president of MMG, says. "That happened to be March 17." The days of major labels dictating album releases or manipulating consumer interest are gone. The age-old formula of dropping an act's lead single, announcing a release date, then shipping said act off on a promo tour of free performances and media interviews is a dinosaur model. As artists increasingly drop albums with little or zero advance notice, the pre-announced release date is nearing extinction. "They're the enemy of creativity," as pre-eminent hip-hop producer Dr. Dre says in the HBO documentary The Defiant Ones. This new level of sovereignty today's marquis rappers wield over their careers is a byproduct of the digital age and the on-demand culture resulting from it. Artists are increasingly charting unpredictable album rollouts based on their own strategic and creative self-interests. The trend may be the biggest disruptor to the old way of doing business since the emergence of Napster. With compact discs joining the music biz museum and streaming sites sterilizing the impact of piracy on the most "bootlegged" genre of music, hip-hop artists with leverage increasingly have more input on when and how their music is disseminated. When Kendrick Lamar released his album on the second Friday in April, the determining factor for that date was simple: K Dot was invited to headline one of the world's biggest music festivals that same weekend. "With Kendrick, he's going to work until we snatch [the album] out of his hands," says Terrence "Punch" Henderson, president of Top Dawg Entertainment, Lamar's boutique label. "But we had Coachella coming up and we didn't want to do a bunch of To Pimp A Butterfly songs." "[Today] everyone is so savvy about what happens in the music business that you don't necessarily need that structured roll out that the label used to set up back in the day," says Henderson. "So if fans can get something refreshing from the artist, then it's a plus. But Kendrick is such a big artist that, at this point, we can minimize everything and it will still draw a gang of attention." For such artists, less truly is more. To launch a national ad campaign three weeks before releasing his latest album, Jay-Z erected clandestine billboards in L.A. and New York featuring nothing more than the mysterious numerals 4:44. Like Lemonade, Beyonce's surprise visual album of 2016, 4:44 debuted exclusively on the streaming service Tidal. After four years of starving his faithful of a follow-up to the gorgeous Channel Orange, Frank Ocean dropped two albums in August 2016: Endless, a 45-minute video album released exclusively through Apple Music, fulfilled Ocean's contract with Def Jam Records. One day later, he released a follow-up LP Blonde, which, due to his newly independent status, earned him an estimated $1 million in first-week profits, to the ire of his former label and its parent company, Universal Music Group. But when an artist delivers an album may no longer be as important as how it's delivered, according to Ian Holder, the VP of A&R at SONY/ATV who signed Ocean to his BMI publishing deal in 2011. "Everyone is realizing the power in a rollout," Holder, a 14-year industry vet, says. "The A-list artists are setting the tone by creating an experience for the consumer. It's up to us — the industry, co |
'Enola Holmes': Sherlock's Little Sister Gets On His Case | The new, bright and breezy Netflix movie Enola Holmes stars Millie Bobby Brown as the 16-year-old sister of Sherlock Holmes. She sets out on an adventure when her eccentric mother (Helena Bonham Carter) goes missing. It also features Sam Claflin as her stuffy brother Mycroft, Louis Partridge as a romantic interest, and Henry Cavill as Sherlock. Show Notes: What's making Daisy happy: Watching horror movies, like Nightmare on Elm Street What's making Margaret happy: Using Instagram polls to curate Spotify playlists What's making Chris happy: The Massacre of Mankind by Stephen Baxter What's making Glen happy: Year of the Rabbit, on IFC The audio was produced and edited by Mike Katzif and Jessica Reedy. |
Senate Seeks To Close Hedge Fund Tax Loophole | The Senate is considering a bill this week aimed at creating jobs and extending some business and family tax breaks. Lawmakers have decided to pay for those provisions by partially closing a controversial tax loophole that has allowed managers of investment partnerships, from hedge funds to real estate developers, to pay less than half the regular tax rate on much of their income. Closing this loophole would more than double the tax paid on something called carried interest income. Here's how it works at a hedge fund: An investment manager launches a fund and gets a lot of rich people or institutions to put up most of the money. The manager is paid, in large measure, by getting something like 20 percent of all the profits the fund makes. If it earns $100 million, the investors pay the manager $20 million. But instead of paying the top income tax rate of 35 percent on that amount, the manager pays just 15 percent. That's normally the tax rate reserved for capital gains income like the profits made on the sale of stocks or real estate. Support For Move "It's a huge windfall to some of the best-off people in society," said Len Burman, a fellow at the Brookings Institution and a professor at Syracuse University. In addition to largely benefiting wealthy Americans, the provision is a huge hit to government revenues. It is estimated that closing the loophole completely would bring almost $25 billion over the next 10 years into the U.S. Treasury. The tax fairness issue is important, Burman says, because the U.S. is supposed to have a progressive income tax system. "High-income people are supposed to be taxed at the highest rates, 35 percent," he said. "But people who are lucky enough to be in the private equity or hedge fund business get their income taxed at a 15 percent rate." Representatives of the hedge fund industry say that's not totally true. They say hedge fund managers actually pay the higher rate on most of their income because they trade constantly and hold most of the assets in their funds for less than one year. To qualify for the 15 percent capital gains rate, assets must be held for more than one year. Opposition From Real Estate Industry Jeffrey DeBoer, president of the Real Estate Roundtable, says the commercial real estate industry would actually be hardest hit by the tax increase. He says those proposing the tax change are focusing on hedge fund managers largely because they are an easy target right now. "There's a lot of red herrings, a lot of smoke over this issue," DeBoer said. "And what we're trying to do is make people understand this is very much a Main Street tax increase, not a Wall Street tax increase." DeBoer says nearly half of the investment partnerships in the United States are real estate investment partnerships. He argues that with more than 1 in 4 construction workers unemployed and the commercial real estate sector struggling, now is not the time to raise the tax rates paid by real estate developers. "Those people hire construction workers. They hire all kinds of other people around the projects," he said. "And this proposal, again, discourages that kind of activity." But Burman argues that favoring one kind of activity or business over others by giving it a lower tax rate can distort investment decisions and make the economy less efficient. "I think actually, aside from the equity issues and the fact that the government might need the money, it would be worth taxing these guys the same as others just so that you don't have this artificial incentive for people to choose this kind of investment instead of others, or this kind of line of work," Burman said. DeBoer insists that investors who take risks should be treated differently. "These are risks that people take in order to build value," he said. "And the American system has always rewarded risk-taking." The Senate will likely vote this week on the bill. If the measure passes, it would shrink the loophole on carried interest income but not close it completely. The House has already passed a similar provision. STEVE INSKEEP, host: Hedge fund managers and real estate developers are among those who have been able to take advantage of a controversial tax loophole. They are considered managers of investment partnerships. This allows them to pay less than half the regular tax rate on much of their income. The Senate is expected to vote, this week, on a bill that would partly close this loophole. NPR's John Ydstie reports. JOHN YDSTIE: Closing this loophole would more than double the tax paid on something called carried interest income. Take for instance a hedge fund manager. He invests money on behalf of wealthy individuals or institutions and he's paid a percentage of what the fund makes -usually around 20 percent. If the fund gains $100 million in a year, the investors pay the manager $20 million. But instead of paying the top income tax rate of 35 percent on what he earns, the manager could pay just 15 percent -the stand |
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Science, Technology, Math, Engineering And Now Congress | Chrissy Houlahan has done a lot with her industrial engineering degree over the last 30 years including serving in the Air Force, working in the aircraft manufacturing industry, being the COO of a sports apparel company and even teaching high school chemistry. Houlahan says her science, technology, engineering and mathematics – or STEM – background has allowed her to be fluid in her career by helping her tackle everyday problems through a unique lens. "Somebody with a technical background might think in a little bit different than the way, for instance, that a lawyer would think," Houlahan says. This was one of her biggest motivators for running for office in Pennsylvania's 6th Congressional District, she says. "I think a person with a technical background could be really useful in Washington," says Houlahan, noting that Congress is called to pass laws on issues the Founding Fathers would have never thought imaginable. "Anything from cybersecurity, biosecurity, information technology and privacy issues are all things the government now has the responsibility to be worried about," she says. "Those are all things that scientific and technical backgrounds can be used for." Now she has the chance to prove her theory. Houlahan won her congressional House race this month, defeating a Republican opponent who is a tax lawyer and businessman. She is one of the nine STEM-related professionals – one senator and eight members of the House of Representatives — voted into office during the 2018 midterms. All are Democrats except for one Republican and the cohort includes an ocean scientist, an aerospace engineer, a software engineer and a biochemist. According to the latest congressional profile, released before Election Day, only about seven percent of the 115th Congress reported they have some kind of STEM background. Occupations that are typically associated with people running for office — lawyers, career politicians, business men and women — were the most frequently listed. There's a reason there are not a lot of STEM professionals in Congress, says Shaughnessy Naughton, founder of 314 Action, an advocacy group that helps candidates with such a background move beyond advocacy and into action. Naughton started the group — named after the most widely known mathematical ratio — in 2016 in response to concern about the Trump administration's attacks on science, especially the president's stance on climate change. And 314 Action helped eight of the new STEM professionals get elected to Congress in the recent elections. Naughton says while there are procedural hurdles for anyone trying to break into politics, scientists also face cultural barriers. "Scientists and physicians and STEM professionals often think of science as above politics, or their profession is above politics and therefore they shouldn't be involved in politics," says Naughton, who staged an unsuccessful campaign for Congress herself in 2014 and then again in 2016. "And I think we see the results of that attitude by just a real dearth of people with scientific backgrounds and the often misplaced priorities that are put forward [by Congress]." 314 Action spent more than $2 million endorsing 13 candidates in the midterm elections. Eight of them won their races, while the five candidates who did not still made tremendous gains in promoting STEM backgrounds as a way to talk about local issues, says Naughton. "I think it's important because we would have a policy more based in facts and evidence," Naughton tells NPR. "But I also think we would have a more collaborative approach to governing if more scientists were at the table." Through trainings and financial support, 314 Action helps STEM professionals-turned-candidates promote their experience and skill set in their run for office. Congresswoman-elect Dr. Kim Schrier says the group helped her use her experience both as a pediatrician and a Type 1 Diabetes patient to connect with voters. Last week she become the first Democrat to ever represent the 8th Congressional District of Washington state. "It gave me the ability to speak to the issues that other candidates just don't have and an expertise that I can really bring to Congress to help fix our broken medical system," say Schrier, who decided to run because Republicans in Congress kept trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act. "And that directly affected patients like me with pre-existing conditions," she says. Schrier hopes to bring a unique voice when topics such as health care, the pharmaceutical industry and prescription drugs arise in the next Congress. Congresswoman-elect Elaine Luria says her being a nuclear engineer connected with voters on issues that deeply affect in the 2nd Congressional District of Virginia such as global warming, tourism, aquaculture and offshore drilling. Her district includes Virginia Beach, the Norfolk Naval Station and other parts of that city – which is starting to grapple with increased flooding as sea lev |
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Like A Velvet Glove Cast In Iron, 'Eightball' Will Knock You Out | For a minute, forget there's anything significant about The Complete Eightball. Forget that it contains the seminal works of one of the greatest artists in modern comics, unexpurgated for the first time since they were penned in the '90s. Forget about the charismatic heart-burnings of Ghost World's Enid Coleslaw, immortalized on film but originating in these pages. Forget the surreally hilarious horrors of Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron, also seen here for the first time. Instead, consider The Complete Eightball as an object. What an object it is! A shiny, slick, candy-colored brick, it's decorated on every surface with Clowes' most absurd and monstrous creations — Lloyd Llewellyn, Tina from Velvet Glove, that sweaty guy who announced on the cover of #8 that "I have chosen you at random to obsessively pester and annoy for the rest of your life, starting right now." Each of the two hardcover volumes has different illustrations on the front, back and spine. The heavy cardboard slipcase is even decorated on the inside (with unsettling pictures of organs and a tongue). Every drawing is saturated with Clowes' characteristic jellybean palette: sweet pastel pinks and blues jostling against burnt umber and sick green. The overall effect is visually luscious and existentially disconcerting. That's to be expected considering that Clowes, with his '90s-forged sensibility, is all about stark oppositions and the irony (sweet, sweet irony!) they provoke. Even his brief description of Eightball's origin sets up a paradox. "Overwhelmed by failure, I decided to put everything into one last hopeless non-commercial effort, hoping to finish one or two issues before being expelled from comics forever," he writes. Now this hopeless, non-commercial work is getting the custom-printed royal treatment at a list price of $119.99. For a crowning irony, the pathbreaking longer stories like Ghost World aren't the real reason to buy this collection. After all, you can get Ghost World and Velvet Glove in separate editions of their own. No, the reason to buy this is for the stuff Clowes himself would probably dismiss as half-baked and puerile: His autobiographical gripe sessions about everything from sports to life in Chicago. Like another '90s cultural icon, David Foster Wallace, Clowes is at his most charming and accessible when he's simply documenting the world around him with the eyes of someone unseduced by it. He might go for a walk around his neighborhood ("The Stroll"). Or, in another notorious story that became a movie, he reflects on his experience in art school ("Art School Confidential"). Or he might just stay home and speculate about the fate of the species ("The Future"). These speculations are usually gloomy — but absurdly so. In Clowes' future, gender ambiguity will become so mainstream, regular guys will wear Doris Day wigs while watching sports bloopers. "There will be nostalgia for the nostalgia of previous generations" — which is actually one facet of The Complete Eightball's appeal. As for trends, "teenage boys will adopt the 'balding, paunchy, fortyish businessman' look." Clowes can definitely be a downer. In "The Party," he manages to make a run-of-the-mill Wicker Park gathering, circa 1993, seem like a bummer for the ages. Those who have chosen to dance are frozen in absurd positions, and the only people Clowes talks to make themselves ridiculous in one way or another. "It always depresses me to see the stuff that hipsters have on display in their apartments," he broods, surveying a collection of kitschy toys. "It always seems so childish and unoriginal, but it's really not much different from my stuff." He might as well be talking about psychic baggage. Clowes is as hard on himself as he is on everyone around him — or most people around him. The exceptions are bullies and people who buy into the American consumerist mythos. That's why it seems so odd to see Eightball packaged up so seductively. Maybe it's actually anti-Clowesian to purchase this edition at all. Maybe it would be purer to, say, try to find it at the library or score a few issues from an aging hipster's moving sale. Nah. If it were possible to be truly pure, we wouldn't need Clowes in the first place. Etelka Lehoczky has written about books for The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times and Salon.com. She tweets at @EtelkaL. |
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From Lehman Brothers To Medical School | It’s been about five years since the banking system nearly collapsed. One investment bank actually did — Lehman Brothers was allowed to fail. It wasn’t saved by the government, it wasn’t swallowed up by a competitor. It just died, as a result of bad mortgages that weighed down its balance sheet. Bhavin Patel was working for Lehman Brothers in 2008, as a mortgage analyst. His job was to analyze mortgage loans that would be bid on by the company and would later be securitized and traded on the market. These are the mortgage-backed securities that many economists blame for the economic collapse. Patel was laid off in March 2008, right before Lehman Brothers collapsed. He started medical school that September, and is now a medical student at the Cook County Hospital. Here & Now’s Jeremy Hobson caught up with Patel during his shift at the trauma unit. Patel said that one of his most profound experiences as a medical student was helping to deliver a baby during his obstetrics and gynecology rotation. He finds being a doctor a much more satisfying profession than finance because of the impact he has on his patients’ lives. “I can sleep well at night knowing that in some way or fashion I made their life a little bit better today,” Patel said. Guest
Bhavin Patel, medical resident at Cook County Hospital in Chicago.
JEREMY HOBSON, HOST: Now back to our conversation about the banking system, and it's worth noting that it's been about five years since that system nearly collapsed. One bank actually did. Lehman Brothers was allowed to fail. It wasn't saved by the government. It wasn't swallowed up by a competitor. It just died. And it died as a result of bad mortgages that weighed down its balance sheet. Well, Bhavin Patel was working at Lehman Brothers in 2008, but when I spoke with him last month, he wasn't wearing a three-piece suit and he wasn't in a Wall Street tower. He was wearing scrubs in the trauma unit of Cook County Hospital in Chicago. So we're walking past the trauma ICU right now. BHAVIN PATEL: Yeah, this is where the most - the sickest patients here at the hospital go. They usually come in from surgery or are on their way to surgery for their injuries. HOBSON: What's the craziest thing you've seen since you've been here at the hospital? PATEL: The craziest thing was the other night on trauma, trauma call, there was a multiple gunshot wound victim that came in. He had multiple gunshot wounds to his abdomen, lower extremities and his head. And I, you know, being a medical student, I'd never seen that before. HOBSON: Do you get lost in here? PATEL: Still getting lost. I find myself finding a new door, a new pathway every day. HOBSON: Bhavin Patel is a resident in the trauma unit. He's at the hospital every day now after a long journey that started on Wall Street. PATEL: In January 2008 I was on the mortgage analytics desk for the mortgage trading department of Lehman Brothers in New York. HOBSON: And what were you doing? PATEL: So on a day-to-day basis I was helping analyze pools of mortgage loans that would come in that we were going to be bidding on in order to package and securitize into bonds that would be traded on the open market. HOBSON: That sounds kind of familiar to me. PATEL: I think a lot of people have become familiar with that aspect of finance in the last few years. HOBSON: I mean, that was the one that was, many people say, responsible for a lot of the problems that we had. PATEL: You know, it's definitely one way of looking at it. There was - you know, there's a lot of factors. But I would say mortgage-backed securities was kind of the tipping point, the start of the problems in the U.S. economy. HOBSON: There are a lot of people that go into that profession who do it just because they want to make as much money as possible. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but that is their driving motivation. Was that what it was for you? PATEL: You know, I'm not going to lie and say that wasn't a factor in my decision, but you know, coming out of college, it was kind of just what's the best job I can get, kind of narrow it down to a sector, an industry that I want to work in, and then take it from there. You know, for me I don't think it's easy for me to tell you right out of college that I would be doing this job for the rest of my life. So it's kind of more a trial and error, and so that's where I took it. HOBSON: So then along comes a day, later in 2008, when you get laid off from Lehman Brothers. PATEL: That's correct. I was laid off from Lehman in March of 2008. HOBSON: Do you remember the day? PATEL: I do remember the day. Came in, got my breakfast as usual, came back to my desk, and you know, there's a - on your phones, when you have a voicemail, there's a little red light on the phone. And we had known that layoffs were coming. You kind of knew. It was kind of talked about amongst my peers and colleagues that, you know, if you came bac |