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Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!
7:21 pm
Fri June 15, 2012

Who's Carl This Time?

Originally published on Sat June 16, 2012 10:54 am

Transcript

CARL KASELL: From NPR and WBEZ-Chicago, this is WAIT WAIT...DON'T TELL ME!, the NPR News quiz. I'm Carl Kasell, and here's your host, at the Chase Bank Auditorium in downtown Chicago, Peter Sagal.

PETER SAGAL, HOST:

Thank you, Carl.

(APPLAUSE)

SAGAL: Thank you all so much. Thank you so much. I'm just as excited as you are. We have a great show for you today. We've got the great novelist John Irving coming on to play our game later.

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Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!
7:21 pm
Fri June 15, 2012

Novelist John Irving Plays Not My Job

Credit Cesar Rangel / AFP/Getty Images

Originally published on Sat June 16, 2012 10:54 am

John Irving is the author of The World According To Garp, A Prayer for Owen Meany, The Cider House Rules and many other works of fiction. His latest novel is called In One Person.

We've invited Irving to play a game called "The World According to Gorp." Garp is about sex, castration and bears. Gorp, on the other hand, is the mix of "good old raisins and peanuts" you eat when you're hiking.

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Music Interviews
6:52 pm
Fri June 15, 2012

Glen Hansard: The Best Songs Come 'As A Gift'

Credit Heidi Rose
Glen Hansard's new album, his first proper solo release, is titled Rhythm and Repose.

Originally published on Mon June 18, 2012 8:59 am

Glen Hansard began singing on the streets of Dublin when he was just 13. Now, in his early 40s, it's almost hard to count his honors. Once, the musical featuring his songs, just won eight Tony Awards.

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Annoying Music
6:48 pm
Fri June 15, 2012

The Most Annoying Songs Of The Summer (So Far)

Credit Ryan Lane / iStockPhoto.com
No one ever said summer music had to be fun.

Originally published on Sat June 16, 2012 1:22 pm

NPR Music has already put together a list of 50 of our favorite songs to help you celebrate the summer. On it, you'll find cheery synth-pop singles, smooth R&B ballads, thumping club bangers and fist-pumping rock anthems.

Missing, however, are those "deep cuts" that lend themselves to a detached, ironic, slightly campy appreciation — the songs that are so bad they're good.

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The Two-Way
5:51 pm
Fri June 15, 2012

Tonight, Wallenda Will Attempt High-Wire Walk Over Niagara Falls

Credit David Duprey / AP
Nik Wallenda looks at the tightrope cable in Niagara Falls, Canada on Wednesday.

Originally published on Mon June 18, 2012 9:34 am

Nik Wallenda has successfully walked across Niagara Falls on a 2-inch-wide cable. As if there wasn't enough drama, he added a bit of last-minute mystery to his audacious attempt.

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NPR Ombudsman
5:39 pm
Fri June 15, 2012

An Open Letter To A Former Guantanamo Chief Prosecutor

Credit Brennan Linsley-Pool / Getty Images
Navy reservist Capt. John Murphy (L), former chief prosecutor of military commissions at Guantanamo Bay, speaks during a press conference in 2009.

Originally published on Wed September 19, 2012 3:19 pm

Navy reservist Capt. John Murphy is a former chief prosecutor of the military commission established to try terrorism suspects at Guantanamo Bay. His own case with NPR, however, is filled with implications for the rest of us.

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Election 2012
5:20 pm
Fri June 15, 2012

City Slickers Romney And Obama Woo Rural Voters

Originally published on Fri June 15, 2012 6:24 pm

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney was in New Hampshire on Friday, back at the farm where he launched his presidential campaign one year ago.

"In the days ahead, we'll be traveling on what are often called the backroads of America," he said. "But I think our tour is going to take us along what I'll call the backbone of America."

It was the first stop on a five-day bus tour that will take him to small towns. The former Massachusetts governor's campaign is calling it the "Every Town Counts" tour.

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Monkey See
5:18 pm
Fri June 15, 2012

Theater Diary: When Reactions Speak Louder Than Words

Originally published on Fri June 15, 2012 6:46 pm

There's plenty of high drama going on in Porgy and Bess, and high drama can often mean intense acting.

God knows Audra McDonald is tearing up the stage as the drug- and drink- and sex-addled Bess: I've never seen her loosen up her joints and contort her body the way she does in two or three of the show's more scorching moments. She's located something rough and ugly deep inside, and found a physical and a vocal language for it.

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Pop Culture
5:15 pm
Fri June 15, 2012

Beauty At The Beach Takes A Retro Turn

Originally published on Fri June 15, 2012 9:18 pm

With summer looming, it's time to prep for your vacation (or, for many in these financially tight times, "staycation"). The good news? A trip to the beach or the pool. The bad news? You need a swimsuit.

But the fitting-room-phobic can take heart in a trend that's seized the swimsuit industry lately. It's a retro look that includes high-waisted bikini bottoms, ruffles, halters and more.

Retro Trend Echoes A Glamorous Time

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Planet Money
5:13 pm
Fri June 15, 2012

Episode 379: Does Medicaid Actually Help People?

Credit iStockphoto.com

Originally published on Wed June 20, 2012 11:28 am

  • Listen to the Episode

For decades there was this debate about Medicaid, the health insurance program for the poor.

On one side were people making what seems like the straightforward argument: People who get Medicaid fare better than people who don't.

On the other side were those making the contrarian argument. They argued that there is already a safety net for the poor and the uninsured, and that Medicaid's reimbursement rates are so low that most doctors don't see Medicaid patients anyway.

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