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Election 2012
8:58 am
Fri October 12, 2012

Biden Debate Coach On VP's Performance

Originally published on Fri October 12, 2012 9:46 am

Transcript

CELESTE HEADLEE, HOST:

This is TELL ME MORE from NPR News. I'm Celeste Headlee. Michel Martin is away. Coming up, President Obama honored late labor and civil rights leader Cesar Chavez earlier this week but a new book questions whether the full story of his life and legacy isn't perhaps more complicated. That's in a moment.

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U.S.
8:56 am
Fri October 12, 2012

Casinos Not An Easy Bet For Local Governments

More states and cities are turning to casinos to generate revenue and plug budget holes.

The latest to try its luck is Maryland, where groups are waging an expensive campaign over a ballot question that will be put to voters next month. Proponents promise jackpots of jobs and funding for public schools, but analysts say the gamble doesn't always pay off at the levels promised for public coffers.

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Krulwich Wonders...
8:18 am
Fri October 12, 2012

Sun Goes Down. Up Comes A Mystery

Originally published on Fri October 12, 2012 8:53 am

Here's a question you probably didn't know was a question: Why is the sky dark at night?

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Author Interviews
7:45 am
Fri October 12, 2012

The Man Who Tracks Viruses Before They Spread

Originally published on Fri October 12, 2012 9:53 am

This interview was originally broadcast on Oct. 11, 2011. The Viral Storm will be published in paperback on Oct. 16.

The New Yorker once called virologist Nathan Wolfe "the world's most prominent virus hunter." Wolfe, the director of the Global Viral Forecasting Initiative, spends his days tracking emerging infectious diseases before they turn into deadly pandemics.

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The Two-Way
7:30 am
Fri October 12, 2012

Panetta: 'Foreign Cyber-Actors Are Probing America's Critical Infrastructure'

Credit AFP / AFP/Getty Images
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.

Originally published on Fri October 12, 2012 10:14 am

Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta delivered a policy speech that he said was a "clarion call" for Americans to take cyber security seriously. Attacks that can cripple a country, he said, are no longer theoretical.

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The Picture Show
7:11 am
Fri October 12, 2012

'Vintage Black Glamour' Exposes Little-Known Cultural History

Originally published on Fri October 12, 2012 2:03 pm

I was scrolling through my Tumblr feed a year or so ago, when I saw a photo of Joyce Bryant. The caption said she was once dubbed the "black Marilyn Monroe" and was mentioned many times in Walter Winchell's gossip column.

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The Two-Way
6:36 am
Fri October 12, 2012

You Thought The VP Debate Was Feisty? Things Got Physical In California

Credit YouTube
Democratic Reps. Howard L. Berman and Brad Sherman face off in a debate.

Originally published on Fri October 12, 2012 7:25 am

The Salt
5:48 am
Fri October 12, 2012

The Secret To Genius? It Might Be More Chocolate

Credit John Loo / Flickr.com
A Swiss cardiologist plots a cheeky graph that shows a country's chocolate consumption may predict its chances of winning a Nobel.

Originally published on Fri October 12, 2012 2:13 pm

Nerds, rejoice! It's Nobel season — the Oscars for lab rats, peacemakers and cognoscenti alike. Every fall, big thinkers around the world wait for a middle-of-the-night phone call from Sweden, dreaming of what they might do with the $1.2 million prize.

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The Two-Way
5:33 am
Fri October 12, 2012

Japanese Utility Admits For First Time That Nuclear Disaster Was Avoidable

Credit Anonymous / AP
Smoke rises from Unit No. 3 of the stricken Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant after the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

Originally published on Fri October 12, 2012 10:14 am

In a dramatic reversal, Tokyo Electric Power Co. admitted for the first time that if it had fixed known safety issues, Japan's nuclear disaster following the March 2011 tsunami could have been avoided.

The Associated Press says the utility company made the admission in a statement released Friday. The AP reports the company said it delayed implementing the safety measures because of political, economic and legal pressures.

The AP adds:

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The Two-Way
5:13 am
Fri October 12, 2012

Pakistan Arrests Three Men In Taliban Shooting Of 15-Year-Old Girl

Credit T. Mughal / EPA /LANDOV
Malala Yousafzai in March 2012.

Originally published on Fri October 12, 2012 5:18 am

Authorities have arrested three men suspected of having a role in the shooting of Malala Yousafzai, the 15-year-old activist who demanded an education for girls.

NBC News reports:

"Police said the suspects, aged between 17 and 22, had claimed the person who organized the attack Tuesday — in which two other young girls were shot and injured — was a man called Attaullah."

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