Don Voegeli.

By Mark Memmott

There's sad news to pass along.

Don Voegeli, composer of the themes that All Things Considered listeners have heard since the show debuted in 1971, has died. He was 89, according to an obituary posted online at Madison.com.

As NPR's Bob Boilen reported on ATC's 31st anniversary, Voegeli taught in the music department at the University of Wisconsin and at the birth of NPR was asked to come up with a theme for a national daily news program.

His first version, as you can hear here, isn't what current listeners are used to. Voegeli came up with something that will sound more familiar in 1974. The theme has gone through three more updates since.

Here is Bob's story, as it appeared on May 3, 2002:

By Mark Memmott

ABC-TV's broadcast of last night's American Music Awards ended with -- as the Los Angeles Times' Pop & Hiss blog writes -- "groping, dragging and bondage outfits" thanks to American Idol runner-up Adam Lambert.

CNN.com adds that:

Adam Lambert's sexually suggestive choreography -- including kissing another male -- on the American Music Awards stage Sunday night happened "in the moment," the singer told CNN.

Here's CNN's report, which includes some video of Lambert in action:

MTV.com has an interesting clip too. It focuses in on the stumble Lambert took -- without really missing a beat:

Continue reading "A Kiss, A Grind, A Stumble -- All Part Of Adam Lambert's Song At Music Awards" >

By Mark Memmott

The queen of all media, Oprah Winfrey, fought back tears a short time ago as she confirmed to her talk show audience that her show will end in 2011. The Chicago Sun-Times writes writes:

"Twenty five years feels right in my bones and right in my spirit," she told her audience, at times tearing up during the announcement. "It is the exact right time."

The Chicago Tribune adds this:

"Why walk away?," she said at the end of her show, fighting back tears. "Here is the real reason. I love this show, this show has been my life, and I love it enough to know when it's time to leave."

Over at Monkey See, Linda Holmes predicts that "the next two years are going to be so insufferable that they will make you forget all about the multiple, tearful, overwrought, tooth-gnashing farewells to Brett Favre."

By Mark Memmott

Don't panic, Virginia, letters to Santa Claus may still reach the North Pole.

There's word from North Pole, Alaska, this morning that volunteers there have met with U.S. Postal Service officials to try to work out a way that children's letters to Santa can still be sent to the town -- where for decades volunteers have taken the time to send back answers.

The program is in jeopardy because of new, stricter Postal Service rules designed to ensure that the volunteers in such programs around the nation don't have access to the names and addresses of children. There's concern about the possibility of registered sex offender getting such information -- one such person had volunteered at a Maryland location last year.

NPR's Todd Holtzman, the son, nephew and cousin of "proud U.S. postal workers," writes that the Postal Service's new rules are "another overreaction in a world grown foggy with fear."

As he says, the famous 1897 newspaper editorial known as "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus," offers some solace. In case you haven't read that holiday classic in a while, here's a link to the Newseum's online copy.

He doesn't like what the Postal Service is thinking. (Sam Harrel/AP)

By Mark Memmott

So, "unfriend" is The New Oxford American Dictionary's "word of the year".

The definition:

To remove someone as a "friend" on a social networking site such as Facebook.

Among the others that were considered:

-- hashtag: Twitter users know that by adding a # -- or a "hash" -- to a word they can then more effectively search for "tweets."

-- intexticated: Driving-while-texting.

-- funemployed: Making the best of losing a job by having some fun.

-- birther: Someone who doubts (despite the evidence) that President Barack Obama was born in the USA.

-- death panel: Made famous by former Alaska governor Sarah Palin and others who warn about health care rationing.

But unfriend won out over those and others because "it has both currency and potential longevity," says the dictionary's senior lexicographer, Christine Lindberg.

It seems as if "currency and potential longevity" depend on just how common the act of removing a "friend" from Facebook and similar sites really is. So:

We'll keep the question open until 1 p.m. ET on Thursday.

Later today, All Things Considered plans to have more to say about unfriend's newfound credibility with the lexicographers. Click here to find an NPR station near you that broadcasts the show.

Update at 12:55 p.m. ET: Feel free to use the comments thread to suggest other worthy candidates for "word of the year."

By Mark Memmott

NPR's Shereen Meraji and Heather Murphy were there Sunday when dozens of pretty hip cyclists in Washington eschewed their Spandex in favor of good old fashioned tweed.

As Shereen is reporting on All Things Considered later today, the "tweed ride" is a trend that's catching on in Europe and the U.S. The idea: Sometimes it's cooler (fashion-wise) to dress up like a dandy or a quaintrelle than to be outfitted in more modern gear. Shereen says "it's part fashion show, part celebration of the bicycle."

Heather put together this photo gallery for us (NPR's The Picture Show, by the way, has many more such fine photo displays):

A quick spin (sorry!) around the Web turns up stories about other tweed rides in Cincinnati, Minneapolis, Philadelphia , London, San Francisco and Chicago.

Good show!

Update at 5:40 p.m. ET: "Tweed ride" lovers have their own blogs -- including Dandies and Quaintrelles.

To find an NPR station near you that broadcasts ATC, click here.

By Bob Mondello

Here's a bulletin from The-Department-Of-I-Told-You-So.

I sent a note to my editor on Sunday afternoon when I saw the weekend box office estimates for Precious. It was a monster hit, pushed by Oprah Winfrey and riding a wave of critical raves to an average of more than $100,000-per-screen. Still, as big as those numbers were, I knew they were wrong.

Film companies report "actuals" (box office numbers) for Friday and Saturday, but to meet newspaper deadlines, they estimate Sunday numbers. And I could tell they'd underestimated Precious. Here's my note:

Continue reading "Big Box Office Take For 'Precious' Suprises Some, But Not All" >

They don't look a day over 4, much less 40. (Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images)

By Mark Memmott

Moms, dads, kids of all ages. Here's a question: Which Sesame Street Muppet is/was your favorite?

We ask because, as you might have heard, today is the show's 40th anniversary. As NPR's Robert Smith reports, "millions of kids can thank the program for the 1-2-3s and A-B-Cs". Here's the report he filed for Morning Edition:

Now, on to the Muppets. I'll be upfront and say my vote goes to Grover (that soup routine!). But I have to confess, the competition is tough -- and there are many characters I'd forgotten about (the tally below may help jog your memory too; I know the list is long, but it's fun to read through).

Here, based on the show's online list of its Muppet cast, is our silly survey:

Continue reading "Happy No. 40 To 'Sesame Street'! Who's Your Favorite Muppet?" >

Dorf will be missed. (John Shearer/Getty Images)

By Mark Memmott

As The San Diego Union-Tribune says, "Dick Tracy, Charlie Brown and the entire comic strip pantheon lost a friend" this week.

Sheldon Dorf, who founded the hugely successful Comic-Con International comic book convention, died Tuesday at the age of 76. A friend, Greg Koudoulian, tells the Associated Press that Dorf succumbed to kidney failure. The wire service adds that Dorf "had diabetes and had been hospitalized for about a year."

NPR's Ina Jaffe reminds us that Dorf founded the convention in 1970. The four-day event, which pulls in about 125,000 people, is held in San Diego each year. The next is scheduled for July 22-25, 2010.

Dorf ran Comic-Con for 15 years. He told the Union-Tribune that over time, "it's just become an ordeal. ... It's become too much of a success."

Comic-Con's board of directors posted a statement online saying that it was Dorf's "appreciation of this art form and his keen foresight that helped to create what is Comic-Con. It is with a heavy heart that we ... mourn the passing of our dear friend."

Here is Ina's report:

Our friend Linda Holmes follows all-things-cultural over at Monkey See.

Yet another reason to hate Halloween; people feel the need to visit graveyards in getups like this. (Lisa Poole / AP Photo)

By Frank James

Pope Benedict XVI and his Vatican crew are people after my own heart; they're no fans of Halloween, although for different reasons than mine.

The British news operation, the Daily Telegraph, reports that the Vatican's official newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, carried a piece entitled "Kids Who Celebrate Halloween Are Headed Straight To Hell."

All right, I made that headline up. The newspaper says the actual, less incendiary headline in the Vatican newspaper was "Hallowe'en's Dangerous Messages."

As the Telegraph reports:

The Holy See has warned that parents should not allow their children to dress up as ghosts and ghouls on Saturday, calling Hallowe'en a pagan celebration of "terror, fear and death".

The Roman Catholic Church has become alarmed in recent years by the spread of Hallowe'en traditions from the US to other countries around the world.

Continue reading "Vatican Bashes Halloween And It's Not Alone" >

By Mark Memmott

Iranian poet Simin Behbahani, who back in June wrote two poems about the post-election turmoil in her country -- and read them for NPR's Davar Iran Ardalan, who sent us the audio for this post -- is the 2009 mtvU Poet Laureate.

The 82-year-old Behbahani is being recognized by the music TV network's college division because her work "has made a significant impact on the world's cultural landscape."

Here's a video that Weekend Edition's Thomas Pierce produced of Davar's late June conversation with Behbahani:

Young Jack Neumann, and others, put their minds to the task. (Joseph Kaczmarek/AP)

By Mark Memmott

Any chess or sudoku players out there know a Eugene Varshavsky, who may or may not be from Lawrenceville, N.J.?

We ask because, as the Philadelphia Inquirer reports today, somebody by that name is being investigated for possible cheating at Saturday's Philadelphia Inquirer National Sudoku Championship. "Varshavsky" came in third, winning $3,000. The winner, Tammy McLeod, took home $10,000.

Too coincidentally, back in 2006 a "Eugene Varshavsky" drew officials' suspicions at the World Open chess championship in Philadelphia, as The New York Times reported at the time.

In both cases, there's a fear that the person might have had some sort of electronic device through which he was getting help:

Continue reading "First In Chess, Now Sudoku; 'Eugene Varshavsky' Focus Of Cheating Allegations" >

Novelist Hilary Mantel. (Alastair Grant/AP)

By Mark Memmott

The Tudors, as fans of the Showtime TV series know, are hot.

For another fictional -- though arguably more historically accurate -- account of that chapter in English history, there's writer Hilary Mantel's novel Wolf Hall. It won this year's Man Booker Prize for Fiction, Britain's top literary honor.

The New York Times called Wolf Hall an "arch, elegant, richly detailed biographical novel." The New York Review of Books said it is "a startling achievement, a brilliant historical novel focused on the rise to power of a figure exceedingly unlikely, on the face of things, to arouse any sympathy at all."

USA TODAY said that "fans of historical fiction -- or great writing -- should howl with delight that Hilary Mantel's deft, original but complicated novel" won the Booker.

Weekend Edition's Liane Hansen spoke with Mantel this week. They started by discussing why the author focused her book on Thomas Cromwell, an adviser to King Henry VIII. One reason, Mantel says, is that Cromwell was "heads and shoulders smarter than his contemporaries":

Later in the conversation, Liane asked how Mantel dealt with the issue of being historically accurate and compelling:

Much more from their conversation is due on Sunday morning's Weekend Edition. Click here to find an NPR station near you.

If you want to get prepped for the interview with some background on Cromwell, check the BBC's biography of him.

And if you think you know your "wives of Henry VIII," here's a quick quiz:

By Mark Memmott

A question that's come up a lot in the six days since the "balloon boy" story burst on to the scene has been whether the Heene family of Colorado really might have been able to land a reality TV gig if all had gone well for them.

This afternoon, All Things Considered host Michele Norris asked Bill Hayes, president and founder of the company that produces such reality shows as Jon & Kate Plus 8, if the Heenes could have made it on to one of his programs.

Hayes said no: "The (Discovery) network requires us to do a background check on everybody and this family wouldn't have made it very far in that process."

Here's part of their conversation:

More from the interview is due on today's edition of ATC. Click here to find an NPR station that broadcasts the show.

By Mark Memmott

Maybe you didn't know his name. But if you watched TV in the '60s (or countless reruns since then) you know his songs.

Vic Mizzy, who came up with the theme songs for The Addams Family and Green Acres died Saturday at his home in Bel Air, Calif. He was 93.

As the Associated Press says:

His most famous work was the theme to The Addams Family, a tune accented by finger snaps and opening with the cleverly quirky lyrics: "They're creepy and they're kooky, mysterious and spooky, they're altogether ooky: The Addams family."

Mizzy sang the song himself and overdubbed it three times to give the impression of multiple vocalists. He also directed the title sequence where he asked actors who played members of the Addams family to snap their fingers in a bored way.

The enduring tune is often heard during sports game to rally the home team.

And here, in Mr. Mizzy's honor:

Feel free to snap along.

(Personally, perhaps because I grew up in the country, this blogger has a soft spot for the Green Acres theme. "Land spreadin' out so far and wide! Keep Manhattan, just give me that countryside.)

Get ready, folks. (Jae C. Hong / AP)

By Mark Memmott

Country superstar Garth Brooks just confirmed the rumors: He's coming out of semi-retirement.

The 47-year-old singer of Friends in Low Places and a string of other hits officially retired in 2000 -- though he has popped up here and there, including at the festivities before President Barack Obama's inauguration last January.

It looks like Garth's going to be playing some dates at Wynn Las Vegas.

Update at 11:20 a.m. ET. The Tennessean's TuneIn blog says Brooks told reporters this morning that:

Officially coming out of retirement will enable him "to just go do whatever I want, and not have to worry about who I'm disappointing or what rules I'm sticking to."

TuneIn also points out that Brooks is "country's all-time top-selling artist and the No. 1-selling solo artist in U.S. history."

Dust jackets of the National Book Award winners.

By Frank James

I've got a lot of reading to do. Finalists for the National Book Awards finalists were announced today and I haven't read a single one. The winners will be announced Nov. 18 at Ciprani Wall Street in New York City.

Here's a list of all the finalists.

The Captain has passed on. (wwe.com)

By Mark Memmott

Many will remember his wrestling.

Many will remember his roles in Cyndi Lauper's videos.

Some will remember his part as a henchman on Miami Vice.

Captain Lou Albano professional wrestler, actor and all-around legend, has died. He was 76.

As New York's Daily News says, Albano was "known for his wild goatee, usually tamed by a rubber band, and his half-open Hawaiian shirts ... (and was) a wrestling world fixture for more than a half-century."

By Mark Memmott

The King of Pop's first posthumous single landed on his website at midnight. Here's Michael Jackson's This Is It:

The song will be on the This Is It documentary that opens Oct. 28, and will be on a two-disc CD set.

By Mark Memmott

We swear this is true: British composer Andrew Lloyd Webber is going to stage a sequel to Phantom of the Opera and this time the the setting will be New York's Coney Island.

Webber's even got a website up and running for the new production -- Love Never Dies -- and is selling tickets to the February premiere in London.

According to the Webber p.r. machine:

Love Never Dies continues the story of "The Phantom", who has moved from his lair in the Paris Opera House to haunt the fairgrounds of Coney Island, far across the Atlantic. Set 10 years after the mysterious disappearance of "The Phantom" from Paris, this show is a roller coaster ride of obsession and intrigue...in which music and memory can play cruel tricks...and "The Phantom" sets out to prove that, indeed, "love never dies".

Ok, everyone:

By Mark Memmott

Herta Mueller, who the award committee says "depicts the landscape of the dispossessed ... with the concentration of poetry and the frankness of prose," has won the 2009 Nobel Prize in Literature.

The Nobel committee says that Mueller, 56:

Made her debut with the collection of short stories Niederungen (1982), which was censored in Romania. Two years later, she published the uncensored version in Germany and, in the same year, Druckender Tango in Romania. In these two works, Mueller depicts life in a small, German-speaking village and the corruption, intolerance and repression to be found there. ...

The novels Der Fuchs war damals schon der Jager (1992), Herztier (1994; The Land of Green Plums, 1996) and Heute war ich mir lieber nicht begegnet (1997; The Appointment, 2001) give, with chiselled details, a portrait of daily life in a stagnated dictatorship.

She receives $1.4 million with the honor.

By Mark Memmott

Her most passionate fans probably already know, but just in case:

Elizabeth Taylor says she'll update her Twitter page after undergoing what she says is a new procedure aimed at repairing a leaky heart valve.

"I'll let you know when it's all over. Love you, Elizabeth," the 77-year-old actress tweeted yesterday.

She also asked for "any prayers you happen to have lying around."

It's not known just when the surgery will be done.

Many Twitter users are using #LizTaylor to follow the news.

Update at 10:45 a.m. ET: Taylor just tweeted that news reports saying she has diabetes are "a total lie. .. Talk to later as promised. Love, Elizabeth"

By Mark Memmott

The Hammer won't be Dancing With the Stars any more.

Former House majority leader Tom DeLay left ABC-TV's reality show last night, foiled by stress fractures in both feet.

The Texas Republican's last, probably painful, dance was Monday night. Here he is, with partner Cheryl Burke, doing the samba:

There's a good chance DeLay wouldn't have gone much further in the competition, which is three weeks old. He and Burke were in second-to-last place after Monday's dancing.

By Mark Memmott

CBS.com hasn't posted the video from last week when Late Night host David Letterman told viewers that he had slept with women who work on his show and was the target of an extortion attempt. But it has promptly put up the video from last night's show, when Dave apologized to his staff and most importantly to his wife.

As you'll see, at the end he takes the opportunity to once again have a little fun at the expense of former Alaska governor Sarah Palin -- someone he has angered before:

By Mark Memmott

We don't know when CBS-TV's David Letterman engaged in sexual relations with women on his staff. He wasn't married until this past March.

But he's been in a relationship with wife Regina Lasko for more than 20 years and they have a nearly six-year-old son.

It also, according to what Dave said during his amazing announcement last night, appears he's may have been the target of an extortion attempt by a CBS employee who threatened to reveal the sexual relationships.

But Letterman is the comic who joked that:

-- Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin had gone shopping to update her "slutty flight attendant" look.

-- Disgraced former New York governor Eliot Spitzer employed a prostitute's services because he "wanted to be known as the Charlie Sheen of politics."

-- Monica Lewinsky's nickname for then-president Bill Clinton was "commander-in-briefs."

So, we wonder:

Update at 2:25 p.m. ET: Robert "Joe" Halderman, a producer on CBS' 48 Hours, was indicted this afternoon in New York City on one count of attempted first=degree larceny, District Attorney Robert Morgenthau said.

The Associated Press adds that:

The district attorney's office said Halderman left a letter and other material for Letterman early Sept. 9. He wrote that he needed "to make a large chunk of money" by selling Letterman a screenplay treatment -- an entertainment-business term for a synopsis used to pitch a screenplay.

The supposed treatment said Letterman's world would "collapse around him" when information about his private life was disclosed, leading to "a ruined reputation" and damaging his professional and family life, prosecutors said. The letter also mentioned Letterman's "beautiful and loving son," prosecutors said.

By Mark Memmott

This just in from the Associated Press as it continues to follow news of the recently departed King of Pop:

An autopsy report obtained by The Associated Press shows Michael Jackson was not the sickly skeleton of a man portrayed by tabloids.

The report says Jackson's arms were covered with punctures, his face and neck were scarred and he had tattooed eyebrows and lips. But overall he was a fairly healthy 50-year-old.

Jackson's 136 pounds were in the acceptable range for a 5-foot-9 man. And his heart was strong. He had some arthritis and his lungs were damaged, which may have left him short of breath.

Jackson died on June 25. The Los Angeles coroner has ruled his death a homicide and that Jackson died from an overdose of the anesthetic propofol and the sedative lorazepam.

Update at 1 p.m. ET: One part of the AP report that surprised some of us was that 136 pounds, for a middle-aged man who was 5-foot-9, was in the acceptable range. But, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's "body mass index" calculator, that is indeed true.

Here's a BMI calculator you can use to test yourself:

The Jersey boy. (Rafa Rivas / AFP/Getty Images)

By Mark Memmott

OK, we'll say it so you don't have to: Bruce Springsteen was born in the USA 60 years ago today.

So, happy birthday to The Boss.

And here's a question for the group based on this blogger's personal list of Bruce's best. Feel free to suggest other songs in the comments thread:

By Mark Memmott

Monkey See was on to this well before most others. But since one version alone of the video has now been viewed more than 2 million times, it seems worth passing along because it's certainly struck a chord.

Sand artist Kseniya Simonova won Ukraine's Got Talent competition with her sand art interpretation of what Germany's invasion during World War II did to her people. Take a break and watch when you have a few minutes:

Click here to go back to the rest of The Two-Way for the day's "real" news.

By Mark Memmott

What does President Barack Obama think of Kanye West's disruption at the MTV Video Music Awards?

The singer was being a "jackass," Obama was overheard saying yesterday during what was supposed to be an off-the-record moment.

Politico's Michael Calderone has more about the Obama comment and the "tweet" from ABC News' Terry Moran that revealed what the president said -- a tweet that ABC says shouldn't have been posted.

As the Los Angeles Times' Top of the Ticket blog says about Moran's Twitter posting; "oh, the perils of social media for politicians in modern life."

Kanye, by the way, apologized again last night -- this time on Jay Leno's new NBC show -- for interrupting the ceremony as singer Taylor Swift was accepting an award. Kanye got rather emotional as he spoke with Jay:

By Mark Memmott

Good morning.

There's fresh news from Iraq as the day begins. Convicted "shoe-thrower" Muntadhar al-Zeidi, famous around the world for throwing his footwear at then-president George W. Bush last December in Baghdad, was released from prison.

At the TV station where he's a reporter, al-Zeidi told other journalists today that he was tortured by Iraqi security forces while in prison. The abuse included beatings, whippings and electric shocks, al-Zeidi said. NPR's Nora Raum introduces this report from Quil Lawrence, who is in Baghdad:

Other stories making headlines include:

-- Politico -- Democrats To Vote Today On "Resolution Of Disapproval" Aimed At Rep. Wilson: "House Democratic leaders will move ahead with a 'resolution of disapproval' against Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., on Tuesday afternoon, following through on their threat to sanction the conservative lawmaker for heckling President Obama during his speech to Congress last week." Wilson famously shouted "you lie!" at the president. He has since apologized to the White House -- but has declined to apologize from the House floor.

Reminder -- Last Thursday, we started this online poll -- and as of this morning, nearly 16,000 votes had been cast and the split was an even 50-50. Add your vote if you wish:

-- The Associated Press -- Sen. Baucus Close To Releasing Health Care Plan: "Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus has been trying for months to write a health care bill that could win Republican support. If he succeeds he may find it's fellow Democrats he has to worry about. Baucus, D-Mont., said Monday that 'we're getting very close' to finalizing sweeping health legislation to enact President Barack Obama's priorities of extending coverage to most of the 50 million uninsured and holding down spiraling health care costs. Following weeks of closed-door negotiations with two other Democratic senators and three Republicans, Baucus plans to unveil his bill Wednesday, and he hopes Republicans are with him. Such a bargain could mark a turning point for Obama's top domestic priority."

-- The New York Times -- "Pakistan Army Is Said To Be Linked To Many Killings In Swat": " Two months after the Pakistani Army wrested control of the Swat Valley from Taliban militants, a new campaign of fear has taken hold, with scores, perhaps hundreds, of bodies dumped on the streets in what human rights advocates and local residents say is the work of the military."

-- Related story on Morning Edition -- "Training A 'Flip-Flop Army' ". Capt. Benjamin Tupper has some stories to tell about his work with new Afghan soldiers. His new book, Welcome to Afghanistan: Send More Ammo, details his time as an embedded trainer in the Afghan National Army:

-- Bloomberg News -- Treasury & Citigroup Exploring Sale Of Government's Stake: "The U.S. Treasury Department and Citigroup Inc. have begun discussing how to sell the 34% stake that the government acquired in the rescue of the bank, people familiar with the matter said. The Treasury, which owns 7.69 billion common shares after a recent preferred-stock conversion designed to shore up the bank's capital, may start unloading the stake as soon as October, one of the people said. It aims to sell the holdings over the next six to eight months, the person said."

-- Morning Edition -- For Swayze, Dancing Was "Most Intense Way To Connect": Actor and Dirty Dancing legend Patrick Swayze died Monday afte ra long battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 57. Jesse Baker profiles the man who set millions of girls' hearts fluttering:

Farewell. (Jae C. Hong / AP)

Over at Monkey See, Linda Holmes recalls what it was like to be 16 when Dirty Dancing came out. And as she says, "making things that are beloved certainly isn't everything, but it is something, and Swayze made things that were beloved broadly and without cynicism."

As for things to watch today, they include President Barack Obama's speech this afternoon to the AFL-CIO in Pittsburgh. And, the Bureau of Labor Statistics issues the latest news on inflation -- the August wholesale prices report.

Click here to read the rest of The Two-Way.

By Mark Memmott

Good morning.

We've already covered the morning-after news about President Barack Obama's health care address to Congress -- here and here.

As for other stories making headlines, they include the serious and the not-so-serious:

-- The Associated Press -- Commission Orders Some Ballots Be Voided In Afghanistan: "The U.N.-backed commission investigating fraud in Afghanistan's Aug. 20 presidential election has issued its first orders to completely exclude some ballots from the final tally. A statement issued Thursday by the Electoral Complaints Commission says all ballots from five polling stations in Paktika province should be voided because they show clear evidence of fraud. This is a more severe step than ordering a recount, in which the votes could eventually be included."

Related statements from the commission -- Some ballots also voided in:

Kandahar province.
Ghazni province.

-- Dow Jones Newswire -- GM To Sell Opel To Canada's Magna: "General Motors Co. said Thursday it had made a decision on the future of German unit Adam Opel GmbH and its U.K. sister company Vauxhall, as people familiar with the matter told Dow Jones Newswires that GM's board had recommended a sale to a consortium led by Canadian car parts maker Magna International Inc."

-- New York Post -- Ellen Lands Place On Idol's Judging Panel: "Ellen DeGeneres is replacing Paula Abdul on American Idol. 'I just finally got the OK ... just moments ago to announce this to you today,' DeGeneres told her studio audience during yesterday's taping of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, airing today."

Related statement at AmericanIdol.com: "As the new judge, Ellen will offer her own unique perspective to the contestants throughout the competition."

By Mark Memmott

Cheap is coming back and that's a good thing, journalist Lauren Weber argues.

Author of the new book In Cheap We Trust, she talked with Morning Edition's Steve Inskeep about why she believes the old American virtue of thriftiness has been on the rise and is just what the economy needs:

There's more about Weber's theory here, including an excerpt from the book. The premise got us wondering about Two-Way readers:

Cheap is a popular word in the news media these days, by the way.

Check out Wired magazine's recent piece on "The Good Enough Revoultion: When Cheap And Simple Is Just Fine."

And The Wall Street Journal wrote last week that "Home Barbering Grows In Recession, With Hairy Results."

Our friends at Planet Money follow trends like this all the time.

By Mark Memmott

Good morning.

Set aside some time around 8:30 a.m. ET if you're anxious to hear about what's expected to be the day's big news. That's when the Bureau of Labor Statistics releases figures on the August unemployment rate and the number of jobs eliminated last month by U.S. businesses (it would be a HUGE surprise if there was job growth last month). The BLS will post the employment report here. We'll pass along the news as quickly as we can. Planet Money will be on the story as well.

On Morning Edition, NPR's Chris Arnold told guest host Ari Shapiro that the jobless rate likely ticked up to 9.5% in August from 9.4% in July and that employers probably eliminated about 250,000 jobs. Those aren't great numbers, but they're much better than the losses of last winter and spring:

A not-as-bad-as-before jobs report, of course, would add to the evidence gathered in recent weeks that signals the economy may be on the mend. The Wall Street Journal this morning offers another such sign: An increase in the number of people at shopping malls hints that consumers may be coming out of their shells.

As for other stories making headlines, they include:

-- The Associated Press -- Dozens Of Afghan Civilians Reported Killed In NATO Airstrike: "A NATO jet blasted two fuel tankers hijacked by the Taliban in northern Afghanistan, setting off a huge fireball Friday that killed up to 90 people, Afghan officials said. The NATO command said a 'large number of insurgents' were killed or injured in the pre-dawn attack near the village of Omar Khel in Kunduz province. An Afghan police officer said the 90 dead included about 40 civilians who were siphoning fuel from the trucks."

Related story in The New York Times -- "Advisers To Obama Divided On Size Of Afghan Force."

Related story on Morning Edition -- "Two Democrats Criticize Afghan War Strategy." NPR's Tom Bowman talks with Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts and Sen. Russell Feingold of Wisconsin about their concerns regarding President Barack Obama's Afghan strategy:

-- The Associated Press -- North Korea Claims It Is In Final Stage Of Enriching Uranium:

-- Los Angeles Times -- Incendiary Materials Found Near Site Where Wildfire Started; Homicide Investigation Launched: "A source close to the investigation said investigators found incendiary material near the site. The source, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to discuss the matter, would not be more specific or identify the material. Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca said investigators don't want to release details out of fear it could hurt their ability to find and prosecute an arsonist." Two firefighters were killed while battling the blaze.

Related report from NPR News' Paul Brown:

-- El Paso Times -- "Juarez In Shock" After Massacre: "The brutality of a massacre (Wednesday) at a Juarez drug rehabilitation center in which 18 people were killed shocked a city already plagued with record-breaking violence. A motive for the attack was under investigation, but it appeared to be linked to feuding drug trafficking groups."

Related report on Morning Edition -- "Mexico's Murder Capital Lives Up To Its Reputation":

-- Los Angeles Times -- "Democrats Consider Setting 'Trigger' For Government Healthcare": "Looking to break the logjam on healthcare legislation, the White House and Democrats in the Senate are increasingly placing their hopes on the idea of a 'trigger' that, if set off, would allow the government to offer health insurance to many Americans."

-- Michael Jackson Is Interred:

The King of Pop, who died June 25, was laid to rest last night at Glendale (Calif.) Forest Lawn Memorial Park. (Harrison Funk/AP Photo/The Jackson Family)

Time was not on his side. (Roger Jackson / Central Press/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

By Mark Memmott

Let's not have a 20th nervous breakdown over this news.

While The Mail on Sunday seemed to have some hot stuff when it reported that "police are reviewing the death of Rolling Stone Brian Jones -- 40 years after his body was found at the bottom of a swimming pool," don't go jumpin' to any conclusions just yet, jack.

As the BBC reports:

A spokesman for Sussex police said the force had been handed documents connected with Jones's death, prompting the review.

But he added it was too early to launch a fresh investigation.

He added: "These papers will be examined by Sussex Police, but it is too early to comment at this time as to what the outcome will be."

Even the Mail concedes that all that's happening now is this:

A review officer based at Sussex Police CID headquarters has been assigned to trawl through 600 documents handed over by investigative journalist Scott Jones (no relation to the guitarist), who undertook a four-year probe into the guitarist's death.

Jones, as the AP writes, "was the person who reportedly came up with the band's name." He left the group shortly before his death. Jones was 27. A coroner said Jones was under the influence of drugs and alcohol when he drowned at his estate in Sussex.

Scott Jones' papers include details from an interview he did with the woman who discovered Jones' body. She told him of seeing Jones and another man, Frank Thorogood (now deceased), and that they might have been fighting.

Will those who have long believed he may have been murdered ever get satisfaction? It's hard to say. After all, you can't always get what you want.

Will he work well with Donald? (Denis Poroy / AP)

By Mark Memmott

Will Mickey team up with Spidey now? Or maybe the X-Men will turn up as Hannah Montana's body guards?

Walt Disney Co. this morning announced it is acquiring Marvel Entertainment -- parent of the Marvel Comics empire that includes such super characters as Iron Man, Spider-Man and Captain America -- for $4 billion.

Marvel shareholders will be getting $30 a share and 0.745 Disney shares for each one of Marvey that they now own.

TechCrunch notes that Marvel CEO Ike Perlmutter will continue to oversee the Marvel properties.

Update at 10:30 a.m. ET. More on the deal:

-- MarketWatch says it's up to debate whether Disney can " take advantage of the multitude of Marvel characters by creating lucrative new franchises in movies and across other platforms." Also, that Disney CEO Bob Iger "is taking a sizable chance with his own reputation, too. So far in his tenure, he has been a darling of the investment community. With this decision, he expects that Wall Street will applaud his sense of adventure and willingness to take a risk."

-- The Wall Street Journal's Deal Journal is live-blogging the conference call that Disney and Marvel executives are holding this morning. Iger, it reports, said that Disney's marketers will help unlock Marvel's "treasure trove" of characters.

-- As you might imagine, many are tweeting about this. One example:

All the main Disney characters are now considered mutants!

By David Gura

Jeremy Piven, who is well-known for playing Ari Gold on HBO's Entourage, was supposed to star in David Mamet's Speed-the-Plow last year. He didn't. Piven's doctor said the actor had mercury poisoning, so Piven withdrew from the production.

It became, as The New York Times said, "the most famous fish story on Broadway." The New York Post called it a "fish tale."

Today, George Nicolau, an independent arbitrator ruled in Piven's favor, saying he did not violate the terms of his employment contract or Equity-League collective bargaining contract when he withdrew from the play. "Jeremy Piven is off the hook," Variety said.

Piven told The Times that he felt vindicated:

I'm just a theater actor who got sick, and was physically incapable of finishing my run. And now I can put this behind me and move on. And I'm stronger than I've ever been. I had a real health scare, and now I can climb back on the stage and know that I'm strong and able to complete the mission. It's a great day.

You can read a statement from the Actors' Equity Association (AEA) here.

Ever see a Picasso painting folded like a cheap poster? Now you have, that is, if the painting in this photo is really the master's "The Naked Woman." The Iraqi Police say it is. They recovered the work, missing since 1990, in an Iraqi Special forces raid about 60 miles south of Baghdad, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2008.(Iraqi Police,HO / AP Photo)

By David Gura

NPR's Deborah Amos, reporting from Baghdad, says police have recovered a rare painting by Pablo Picasso, called "The Naked Woman: "The sting operation went off without a hitch, even though the painting has been on a wanted list since 1991."

After Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait, the picture disappeared from the country's national museum. According to Amos, who cited police officials in the town of Hilla, there were rumors that a valuable painting was on the market, for sale for $500,000. Undercover agents acted as interested art dealers.

The Picasso was slipped out in an envelope for inspection. Even the plaque from the museum was part of the package. The police swooped in for the arrest and recovery.

The painting -- and the suspect -- are en route to Baghdad.

James Phillips, an industrial supply salesman, carves a Dalmatian out of an oak tree stump in Galveston, Texas, as part of an effort to beautify the city. (Carlos Rios)

By David Gura

On Sept. 13, 2008, Hurricane Ike, then a Category 2 storm, hit Galveston, Texas, on the Gulf Coast. The damage to the city was incredible -- more than 40,000 trees were felled.

Donna Leibbert, who has lived in Galveston for almost four years, sits on the city's Citizen Tree Committee. She has started an initiative to turn some of the dead trees into sculptures. (NPR's Melissa Block's interview with Leibbert will air on All Things Considered today.)

Because the local fire department isn't allowed to have a live dog in its fire house, one man has carved a live oak tree in a Dalmatian's likeness. (Leibbert said that Galveston's residents are grateful for the fire department's help during and after Hurricane Ike hit.) Another sculpture-in-progress is modeled after a Frank Lloyd Wright sculpture, "The Sprite."

Asked if money for the project might be better spent on new, live trees, Leibbert said that she thinks that, until "the trees get big enough for us to have shade cover -- as opposed to small saplings, let's have something fun to look at." She is soliciting donations and volunteers to help with the project.

Big deal? (Dana Felthauser / AP)

By Mark Memmott

Yes, many people wanted to say something about it -- The Today Show got more than 300,000 comments on its website.

But was there any dumber story this week than all the attention paid by some of the news media to the shorts that first lady Michelle Obama wore in Arizona last weekend?

Just sayin'.

Agree or disagree -- and suggest other candidates for dumbest story of the week (perhaps this post?) -- in the comments thread.

By Mark Memmott

Sure, the "news" is that Archie Andrews has proposed to rich girl Veronica instead of blonde-next-door Betty.

But for this blogger, who was a kid back in '69, one of the best parts of today's Morning Edition report about that cartoon love triangle was hearing a good chunk of Sugar, Sugar. Starting at the 3:27 mark in this piece, you get about a full minute of the song. See if you agree -- it's not bad! Or, tell me I'm crazy.

There's a slideshow about Archie's proposal here.

She may soon have a new neighbor. (Reed Saxon / AP)

By Mark Memmott

Interesting in "sleeping" above Marilyn Monroe for eternity?

We'd be remiss if we didn't pass along the news that the Los Angeles crypt directly above actress Marilyn Monroe's is being auctioned on eBay. The high bid right now is $4.5 million. There are six days left to get in a bid.

The seller is widow Elsie Poncher, who's planning to take her husband Richard's remains out and use any proceeds from the sale of his spot to pay off the mortgage on her Beverly Hills home.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Richard Poncher asked that he be laid to rest face down -- over Monroe's crypt -- and his wife says she made sure his request was fulfilled:

Right after the funeral, Elsie said, she told the funeral director of her husband's wish. "I was standing right there, and he turned him over," she said.

Richard Poncher also vowed to haunt his wife if she didn't do what he asked. So, perhaps she'd better watch out if she follows through on this auction.

By Mark Memmott

So, Morning Edition makes the case that not only is it critical to your mental health that you actually go on vacation, but also that you actually can have a good time on a "staycation" -- the increasingly trendy stay-at-home-vacation.

Which leads us to wonder:

And feel free to pass along staycation tips in the comments thread.

Will he kiss USA goodbye? Probably not. (Michel Euler / AP)

By Mark Memmott

In the USA, the Associated Press may say that "Bollywood star" Shah Rukh Khan downplayed being questioned at a Newark Liberty International Airport.

That's certainly not how the news is playing in India.

The top five most-read stories right now on the Times of India's website are about what happened to Khan, and the most-read of the most-read is headlined "Don't Feel Like Stepping On American Soil Any More: Shahrukh."

That story quotes the movie star as saying "I was treated shabbily just because I happened to have Khan as my last name." Khan adds, though, that he likely will keep visiting the U.S. because he wouldn't want to disappoint his fans here.

According to the AP:

U.S. customs officials told The Associated Press that Khan was questioned as part of a routine process that took 66 minutes. Spokesman Elmer Camacho said Khan was not detained, "but it took a little longer because his bag was lost by the airline."

News of what happened has sparked some protests in New Delhi, where "angry fans burned a U.S. flag" on Sunday.

As the Times points out, one silver lining to the incident is that "Khan's upcoming film 'My Name is Khan,' a movie about an Indian Muslim setting out on a journey across the United States, is certain to get a boost."

The AP sums up the actor's career this way: "Khan, 44, has acted in more than 70 films, and has consistently topped popularity rankings in India for the past several years."

For those keeping tabs on such things, this is at least the third story in recent weeks about a celebrity's encounter with authorities who don't seem to know who he is. The previous cases involved Bob Dylan and Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates.

Update at 8:55 a.m. ET, Aug. 18. NPR's Philip Reeves says Khan "is to Bollywood what Brad Pitt is to Hollywood":

By Mark Memmott

The Hammer is coming to Dancing with the Stars, and we don't mean M.C.

In typically hyper TV style, the ABC show announced today that former House majority leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, will be among the 16 "celebrities" in the coming season:

As DeLay's website says, along with former House speaker Newt Gingrich he was "responsible for developing the issues and policies that formed the Republican agenda" after the 1994 "historic Republican victory."

DeLay got "the Hammer" nickname because he was the lawmaker who kept other House Republicans in line.

Now, can he stay in step?

And will ultimate fighter Chuck Liddell have to separate potty-mouthed Kelly Osbourne and DeLay at some point?

By Mark Memmott

Listen up hi-fi enthusiasts (yes, they still exist).

Weekend Edition Sunday this week pays a visit to the ARChive of Contemporary Music, which has a collection of more than 2 million sound recordings.

As NPR's David Greene and Thomas Pierce found out, the recordings include many obscure (at last to Americans) artists from around the world.

Here's ARChive Director Bob George playing No Puedo Amar (I Cannot Love) by Los Yorks. In the '60s and early '70s, the band was very hot in Peru. It even had a TV show said to have been something like The Monkees:

The ARChive's website, by the way, has some features worth checking out:

Continue reading "Looking For Lost Music? So Is The ARChive" >

By Mark Memmott

To paraphrase something said about the '60s, if you remember Woodstock you probably weren't really there.

But a half million or so groovy souls were at the festival 40 years ago this weekend, so there must be many with real memories of what went on.

Any you wish to share? Add them in the comments thread.

As for stories about the anniversary, there's certainly no shortage.

-- "40 Years Later, Woodstock Still Fascinates." The Associated Press.

-- "Listening To Woodstock, 40 Years Removed." NPR.org.

-- "Woodstock The Brand: Still Moving Merch." NPR's Joel Rose:

-- "For Some, Woodstock Now More Of A Curiosity Than A Benchmark." USA TODAY.

-- "How A Mud-Filled Festival Created Woodstock Nation." ABC News.

One newspaper with a substantial online package is, not surprisingly, the local Times Herald-Record from Middletown, N.Y. Its coverage includes this video. Check it out, man:

Les Paul in 2007. (Colin Archer / AP)

By Mark Memmott

Les Paul, the jazz guitarist who became a rock 'n' roll legend for the electric guitar he designed, has died. He was 94.

The Associated Press reports that Gibson Guitar Co., which manufactures the Les Paul model that has been used by rockers including Pete Townshend of The Who, Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin and Duane Allman, says he died today of complications from pneumonia at White Plains (N.Y.) Hospital.

The AP writes that:

As an inventor, Paul helped bring about the rise of rock 'n' roll and multitrack recording, which enables artists to record different instruments at different times, sing harmony with themselves, and then carefully balance the "tracks" in the finished recording.

With Mary Ford, his wife from 1949 to 1962, he earned 36 gold records and 11 No. 1 pop hits, including Vaya Con Dios, How High the Moon, Nola and Lover. Many of their songs used overdubbing techniques that Paul the inventor had helped develop.

Paul was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988. It says that:

The guitar that bears his name -- the Gibson Les Paul -- is his crowning achievement. It grew out of his desire, as a musician and inventor, to create a stringed instrument that could make electronic sound without distorting. What he came up with, after almost a decade of work, was a solid bodied instrument -- that is, one that didn't have the deep, resonant chamber of an acoustic guitar.

As he told writer Jim O'Donnell, "What I wanted to do is not have two things vibrating. I wanted the string to vibrate and nothing else. I wanted the guitar to sustain longer than an acoustical box and have different sounds than an acoustical box." The fact that the guitar's body was solid allowed for the sound of a plucked string to sustain, as its vibrating energy was not dissipated in a reverberant acoustic chamber.

Here's a little sample of Paul's playing:

I had the chance to hear Paul speak at the Smithsonian a decade or so ago. His stories of the old days in radio and his inventions were fascinating. Each week for years, I would see in The New Yorker's Night Life listings that at the club Iridium in Manhattan, "Mondays belong to the electric-guitar innovator Les Paul." And I would think about how good it would be to see his show there sometime. Now, there are only his recordings to fall back on.

Update at 12:42 p.m. ET. Gibson has now posted online a lengthy statement/obituary. It says that:

The Gibson Les Paul model -- the most powerful and respected electric guitar in history -- began with the 1952 release of the Les Paul Goldtop. After introducing the original Les Paul Goldtop in 1952, Gibson issued the Black Beauty, the mahogany-topped Les Paul Custom, in 1954. The Les Paul Junior (1954) and Special (1955) were also introduced before the canonical Les Paul Standard hit the market in 1958. With revolutionary humbucker pickups, this sunburst classic has remained unchanged for the half-century since it hit the market.

And here's some more of the Les Paul sound:

Weekend Edition profiled Paul in 2005:

Benson's death is front-page news. (The Times of London / timesonline.co.uk)

By Mark Memmott

Barbaro's death had American horse lovers in tears nearly three years ago.

Hachiko is a canine legend in Japan more than 70 years after his death. Edinburgh's most famous pooch is Greyfriars Bobby, who passed away in 1872.

This week, anglers in Great Britain are mourning the loss of Benson -- a 64-pounder thought to be the nation's largest common carp. She was about 35 years old when she was found dead last week.

Her death made the front page of The Times, which writes that:

Continue reading "A Sad Fish Tale: The Death Of 'Benson' Has U.K. Anglers Mourning" >

Detail from a Naomi Sims book cover.

By Frank James

Before Iman, before Naomi Campbell, before Tyra Banks and before Beverly Johnson was Naomi Sims, the first black model to grace the cover of Ladies Home Journal in 1968.

Sims, often credited as the first black supermodel, has died of cancer at 61, according to the New York Times.

According to the NYT:

Naomi Sims, whose appearance as the first black model on the cover of Ladies' Home Journal in November 1968 was a consummate moment of the Black is Beautiful movement, and who went on to design successful collections of wigs and cosmetics for black women under her name, died Saturday in Newark. She was 61, her family said, and lived in Newark...

... "Naomi was the first," the designer Halston told The New York Times in 1974. "She was the great ambassador for all black people. She broke down all the social barriers."

Katherine Jackson, center, with Paris (left) and Blanket. (Kevin Mazur / MJ Memorial via Getty Images)

By Mark Memmott

Michael Jackson's mother Katherine has been named guardian of his three children.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff gave the 79-year-old Jackson matriarch custody of the children this morning. She was, as the Associated Press notes, the only person to seek custody. Deborah Rowe, mother of two of the children, had already agreed on the plan.

Also today, Beckloff approved monthly allowances from the King of Pop's estate to the children and Katherine Jackson. The amounts were not disclosed, according to the AP.

The children are Prince Michael, 12, Paris-Michael Katherine, 11, and Blanket (Prince Michael II), 7.

Michael Jackson died June 25. Full results of his autopsy have not yet been released.

TMZ.com has been live-blogging the court hearing. It says that:

Debbie Rowe will have visitation rights with her two kids (Prince and Paris) and will continue getting spousal support based on the agreement she struck with Michael several years ago.

As Caddyshack's Al Czervik, Dangerfield was Judge Smails' nightmare. (Hulton Archive / Getty Images (c) 1980)

By Mark Memmott

On Weekend Edition this Saturday, host Scott Simon --who has one of NPR's most raucous laughs -- gets the chance to talk about comedy with journalist Mike Sacks, author of the new book And Here's the Kicker, and actor/writer/director Harold Ramis ("Egon in Ghostbusters).

And Here's the Kicker is a collection of "conversations with top humor writers."

Along with Ramis, those writers include Buck Henry (Get Smart), Dave Barry (Miami Herald ) and Stephen Merchant (The Office -- original version, in the U.K.).

Ramis talks at one point about the influence of Rodney Dangerfield, who starred in the Ramis-directed Caddyshack:

By Mark Memmott

His staff needs to "finish up a bunch of stuff," Los Angeles County Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter said today in announcing that results of singer Michael Jackson's autopsy won't be released for another week.

Jackson, 50, died on June 25. The coroner's results had been scheduled for release this week. The Los Angeles Times reported this week that the county Sheriff's Department is investigating whether anyone in the coroner's office leaked or sold confidential information about Jackson's case.

In other Jackson-related news, the Associated Press reports, the singer's personal chef told the wire service yesterday that the first sign that something wasn't right on June 25 was when Jackson's doctor didn't come to get the juices and granola that the King of Pop typically ate each morning.

"I thought maybe Mr. Jackson is sleeping late," Kai Chase told the AP.

The wire service continues:

Continue reading "Coroner Delays Release Of Michael Jackson's Autopsy Results" >

By Mark Memmott

As All Things Considered host Robert Siegel says, the "funders" heard on NPR rarely spark much curiousity. They are, after all, pretty straight-forward. But this one caught Robert's ear:

Robert wondered: Who was this Richard Leroy Walters?

As Robert will tell listeners today on ATC, Walters was wealthy -- but didn't live like it:

A friend of Walters, Rita Belle, says the one-time electrical engineer -- who died in August 2007 -- had just decided to give up nearly all his worldly posessions:

There's more about Walters in this Mission of Mercy newsletter. And Robert's conversation with Rita Belle will be on the air later today. Click here to find an NPR station near you.

By Frank James

Merce Cunningham, who as a choreographer was one of modern dance's most important innovators, died Sunday at age 90.

Cunningham was known for pushing dance's boundaries by introducing novel abstract movements into his work.

As a choreographer, he exploded the notion of dance pieces following a narrative form with a beginning, middle and end based on traditional ideas of storytelling, and with succeeding sections building on what preceded.

Instead, he exploited the element of chance in his work. As an article in Britannica.com explains:

Because of his interest in pure movement as devoid as possible of emotional implications, Cunningham developed "choreography by chance," a technique in which selected isolated movements are assigned sequence by such random methods as tossing a coin. The sequential arrangement of the component dances in Sixteen Dances for Soloist and Company of Three (1951) was thus determined, and in Suite by Chance (1952) the movement patterns themselves were so constructed. Suite by Chance was also the first modern dance performed to an electronic score, which was commissioned from Christian Wolff.

Continue reading "Merce Cunningham, Modern Dance Innovator, Dead At 90" >

By Mark Memmott

Before going to San Diego for the 40th Comic-Con International celebration of all that is great about comics, NPR's Nina Gregory had the chance to sit down with one of the superstars of science fiction -- Ray Bradbury.

He told her about the $9.80 he spent -- 10 cents per half hour -- to rent a typewriter in 1951 so that he could hammer out the first draft of Fahrenheit 451:

And, he spoke about missing his old friend, Walter Cronkite, who died on July 17. The CBS News anchor interviewed Bradbury during the Apollo 11 mission to the moon. A few years later, they shared what Bradbury says was the best meal of his life:

Here's the report Nina did for Morning Edition about Comic-Con:

Author E. Lynn Harris in the living room of his Atlanta home Monday, July 7, 2008. AP Photo/John Bazemore

 

By Frank James

E. Lynn Harris, a best-selling novelist who became one of the nation's best-known African-American writers, died at age 54, according to his publicist, after suffering a seizure on a train to Los Angeles.

Harris had an unusual path to becoming a successful author. Openly gay, he had worked as a salesman for IBM, Hewlett Packard and AT&T, and eventually used those marketing skills to sell his first book, the self-published "Invisible Life", from the trunk of his car to customers at beauty salons, among other places.

This from his web site:

Anchor published Invisible Life as a trade paperback in 1994, and thus his career as an author officially began.

Invisible Life was followed by Just As I Am (1994), And This Too Shall Pass (1996), If This World Were Mine (1997), Abide with Me (1999), Not A Day Goes By (2000), Any Way the Wind Blows (2001), A Love of My Own (2002), I Say A Little Prayer (2006) and Just Too Good To Be True (2008), all published by Doubleday. All ten of Harris's novels have hit the New York Times bestseller list, and they have also appeared on the bestseller lists of the Wall Street Journal, Publishers Weekly, USA Today, Entertainment Weekly, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times. In 2003, Harris published his first work of nonfiction, a memoir entitled What Becomes of the Brokenhearted, which was also a New York Times bestseller. Today, there are more than four million copies of his books in print, and his latest, Basketball Jones, will be released in January 2009.

Continue reading "E. Lynn Harris, Novelist, Dead At 54 " >

She's innocent. Shaun Curry/AFP/Getty Images

 

By Mark Memmott

For those of us in the USA, the equivalent might be hearing on the same day that actress Lindsay Lohan and football's Plaxico Burress had been cleared of their latest wrong-doings.

In Britain today, "a judge has acquitted Amy Winehouse of assaulting a fan who asked to take her picture," the Associated Press writes. And, Reuters adds, " Liverpool (soccer) captain Steven Gerrard was cleared on Friday of attacking a businessman in a bar brawl, the Press Association reported."

The two stars had remarkably similar defenses:

On the Winehouse case, The Daily Telegraph writes that:

The 25-year-old singer was accused of hitting burlesque dancer Sherene Flash in the face while backstage at the Prince's Trust Ball in Berkeley Square, central London, last September. ... But Winehouse denied assaulting the dancer and insisted she was intimidated and scared by the drunken Miss Flash, who was demanding a photograph with the star.

As for Gerrard, The Guardian says:

Liverpool crown court heard that Marcus McGee, 34, was punched in the face by the footballer in a brawl at a bar in Southport last December. Gerrard admitted hitting McGee three times but denied affray, saying he had been acting in self-defence as he thought the other man was about to strike him.

Merriam-Webster, by the way, defines affray as "a fight between two or more people in a public place that disturbs the peace."

Pride at the White House before Tuesday's peformance. Alex Brandon/AP

By Mark Memmott

Before singing at the White House last evening, country music legend Charley Pride told NPR's Don Gonyea that he's never mixed politics with his music. But country's first African-American superstar also said that last year he was pulling for Obama to become the nation's first African-American president. And, had this to say about the president:

"I don't want to belabor it because I don't have all the answers, but I do believe that everybody that's born on this planet is born for a certain thing. I do believe there's a certain amount of divine purpose involved in a whole bunch of things on this planet, and he's one of them. I think 47 years ago he was born to be where he is today."

By Mark Memmott

Adam "MCA" Yauch of the Beastie Boys went on the Web today to tell fans that the group is going to have to cancel tour dates and put off finishing up its next album.

He has a cancerous tumor in a salivary gland, but has been told it's very treatable and won't affect his voice in the long run. Here's Adam, right, with fellow Beastie Boy Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz:

Among the dates the Beastie Boys had scheduled: July 31 at the All Points West Festival in Jersey City, Aug. 6 at the Congress Theater in Chicago and Aug. 8 at Lollapalooza in Chicago.

By Laura Conaway

New York police have arrested the person they say masterminded a pre-dawn blast outside a Manhattan Starbucks on Memorial Day. The alleged mastermind is 17-year-old Kyle Shaw, who's accused of arson, criminal possession of a weapon and criminal mischief. Police commission Ray Kelly said Shaw took his inspiration from the movie Fight Club. As AP relates it:

He was trying to emulate the character named Tyler Durden from the 1999 film about a spineless pencil pusher, played by Ed Norton, who takes up with the dangerous yet manly Durden. The two form a secret "fight club," where men beat one another to a pulp in an attempt to feel more alive.

Shaw formed his own fight club in which boys beat one another in various locales around the city including Central Park, Kelly said. At least one member got a broken nose, he said.

In the movie, Pitt's character devises a plot called "Project Mayhem" that supposed to attack the symbols of corporate America. He fails. In the real-world case, the explosion involved fireworks powder and a plastic bottle. It shattered the cafe's windows but caused no injuries.

By Laura Conaway

Maestro Edward Downes and his wife, Lady Joan Downes, died last Friday at a clinic in Zurich run by Dignitas, a group that supports assisted suicide. He was 85 and she was 74. They'd been married for 54 years.

As NPR's Neda Ulaby reports, Lady Joan Downes suffered from terminal cancer and had been given just weeks to live. The two ended their lives together:

Downes was not ill himself, but he told family members that his hearing, eyesight and ability to walk had deteriorated to a point where he had had enough.

Continue reading "Conductor Downes, Wife, Die In Assisted-Suicide Clinic" >

By Mark Memmott

The Michael Jackson-related news this morning is that the King of Pop's dermatologist says he saw the 50-year-old singer three days before Jackson's June 25 death.

"He danced in the office," Dr. Arnold Klein told ABC-TV's Good Morning America. "He danced for my patients."

Klein also told GMA that he had given Jackson sedatives during painful medical procedures, but never prescribed dangerous drugs to the singer.

"I was not one of the doctors who participated in giving him overdoses of drugs or too much of anything," Klein said.

And, Klein told GMA he saw nothing about Jackson's condition that was of concern.

Yesterday's memorial for Jackson at Los Angeles' Staples Center is still getting lots of news coverage. The moment that is getting the most attention: 11-year-old Paris' tribute to her father. The Los Angeles Times calls it "the memorial's emotional high point." In case you missed it, the Associated Press has the video:

Brother and sister Paul and Joyce Koloa at the Staples Center this morning. Corey Takahashi

 

By Mark Memmott

Before the memorial service for singer Michael Jackson gets underway at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, here's one more report on what fans who will be there are saying. Correspondent Corey Takahashi spoke with Paul Koloa, 24, and Joyce Koloa, 18, a southern California brother-and-sister who have tickets to the service.

They regret that the only time they'll "see" the King of Pop is at the service:

And Paul marvels at Jackson's ability to move people:

Earlier, Corey sent along audio from an interview with a man who says the memorial service will be "as epic" as Woodstock. And, he spoke with a young woman who says Jackson was her "first crush".

For much more about the Jackson service and the pop icon's death, go here.

We're live-blogging the service here. If you'd rather watch, there's a webcast here.

Juanda Smith of Atlanta, who has come to Los Angeles for Michael Jackson's memorial service today. Corey Takahashi

 

By Mark Memmott

He had a dark side like many other people do, but Michael Jackson was a legend and her "first crush," says fan Juanda Smith, 32, of Atlanta.

She and a friend managed to get tickets to today's memorial service at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, and Smith spoke last evening with correspondent Corey Takahashi.

On her many years as a Jackson fan:

What she expects from today's service:

His "dark side":

Earlier, Corey sent along audio from an interview with a man who says the memorial service will be "as epic" as Woodstock.

For much more about the Jackson service and the pop icon's death, go here.

By Mark Memmott

Pop star Michael Jackson's body will be at today's memorial service inside Los Angeles' Staples Center, KABC-TV, the Associated Press and CNN are reporting.

CNN is getting that word from Teddy Riley, who produced the singer's Dangerous album.

The AP says Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton has also confirmed the news.

Jackson, 50, died on June 25.

There's much more coverage of his death and today's memorial here.

Leland Sisk of Garden Grove, Calif., who says he was at Woodstock and that today's memorial for Michael Jackson is an even bigger cultural moment. Corey Takahashi

 

By Mark Memmott

Fans of the King of Pop are gathering at Los Angeles' Staples Center for today's memorial service for Michael Jackson, who died June 25 at the age of 50.

Last evening, correspondent Corey Takahashi spoke with one dedicated Jackson fan who has tickets to the service -- Leland Sisk, 62, of Garden Grove, Calif. The computer specialist said he was at Woodstock in 1969, and that Jackson's service is going to be "beyond epic":

Sisk also gets philosophical about how he thinks the service will affect Stevie Wonder and the other performers:

Corey's planning to send us more photos and audio from the scene outside the Staples Center, so watch for them as the day goes on. And we'll be live-blogging as the time draws near (the service is set to get started at 1 p.m. ET; NPR.org plans to stream it here). For much more about the Jackson service and the pop icon's death, go here.

By Mark Memmott

Two stories that couldn't be much more different are dominating the news this morning.

There's President Barack Obama's speech in Russia today, during which he promised that the U.S. wants "a strong and vibrant Russia" -- and also said that Russia, like other nations, must respect other countries' sovereignty. "That includes nations like Georgia and Ukraine," Obama said.

On Morning Edition, NPR's Scott Horsley spoke with co-host Renee Montagne from Moscow, where he's covering the president's trip:

On Fox News Channel this morning, Obama had this to say about Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, whom he met for the first time today:

"I think he would admit that his formative years were shaped on the cold war and that some of his continued grievances with respect to the West are still dated in some of the suspicions that came out of that period."

Also, Obama told Fox News' Major Garrett, he found Putin to be " tough, smart shrewd , very unsentimental, very pragmatic."

And then there's the story out in Los Angeles, where fans are gathering to pay tribute to pop king Michael Jackson, who died on June 25. On Morning Edition, NPR's Carrie Kahn filed this preview:

We'll be posting updates throughout the day about the Jackson memorial, which gets underway around 1 p.m. ET. If you want to watch it, all the cable news and many of the broadcast networks will be airing the show. NPR.org plans to stream the webcast.

Our friends at Planet Money, by the way, say the Jackson memorial could give the Los Angeles tourism industry a $4 million boost. On the other side of the ledger, it's expected the city will have to spend about $1 million to pay police officers who have to work overtime.

Need a "who's who" about those in Jackson's circle? ABC News put one together.

As for some of the other stories making headlines this morning, they include:

-- BBC News -- "Riots Engulf Chinese Uighur City": "Groups of ethnic Han Chinese have marched through the city of Urumqi carrying clubs and machetes, as tension grows between ethnic groups and police. Security forces imposed a curfew and fired tear gas to disperse the crowds, who said they were angry at violence carried out by ethnic Muslim Uighurs." Authorities say 156 people were killed in clashes on Sunday.

Related report on Morning Edition -- NPR's Anthony Kuhn was out among the marchers:

-- Miami Herald -- "Zelaya Plots New Strategy To Get Home To Honduras;" Will Meet With Secretary Clinton: Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya is on a "country-hopping campaign to reclaim his post" that is expected to bring him to Washington today for a meeting with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

-- The State -- South Carolina GOP Censures Gov. Sanford: "After nearly four hours of discussion Monday evening, leaders of the South Carolina Republican Party voted to censure Gov. Mark Sanford, reprimanding him for secretly leaving the state to visit his lover in Argentina. While the vote reveals how the state's GOP leadership feels about the scandal, it has no practical effect on whether the (Republican) governor remains in office."

-- The Washington Post -- "Hospitals Reach Deal With Administration": "The nation's hospitals agreed last night to contribute $155 billion over 10 years toward the cost of insuring the 47 million Americans without health coverage, according to two industry sources."

Related stories on Morning Edition --

Congress takes up legislation aimed at overhauling the health care system:

What is a "public plan"?

The president and first lady Michelle Obama participate in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Moscow today. Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images

 

By Mark Memmott

President Barack Obama has arrived in Moscow for a summit with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev at which they hope to make progress on arms control. The two leaders also plan a news conference. It's scheduled to get started around 10:30 a.m. ET and we're planning to live-blog as it happens.

On Morning Edition NPR's Anne Garrels spoke from Moscow with co-host Renne Montagne about the summit and the arms control talks:

As The Financial Times writes, the two leaders "are expected to announce a preliminary 'framework' agreement on a new nuclear arms control pact."

In other breaking news, there have been deadly riots in China's western region of Xinjiang, where members of the Uighur ethnic Muslim minority have battled with the Han majority. At least 140 people are reported to have been killed. NPR's Carl Kasell introduces this report from NPR's Anthony Kuhn, who is at the scene:

According to BBC correspondent Chris Hogg in Shanghai, the clashes are among China's most serious since the Tiananmen Square protests and crackdown in 1989.

As for other stories making headlines this morning, they include:

-- CNN.com -- "Ousted President Shut Out Of Honduras": "Deposed Honduran President Jose Manuel Zelaya landed in El Salvador late Sunday after a failed attempt to return to his homeland. Zelaya told the Venezuela-based news network Telesur that his jet was denied permission to land Sunday evening in the Honduran capital, where military vehicles were arrayed on the runway. At least one person was killed and eight wounded after security forces opened fire and used tear gas on several thousand protesters who ringed the airport, said Hugo Orellana, a Red Cross director in Honduras."

Related report on Morning Edition -- Some Celebrate Zelaya's Ouster. From Tegucigalpa, NPR's Juan Forero reports that Zelaya's opponents feared he would grab more power and turn Honduras into a socialist state:

-- Anchorage Daily News -- "FBI Says Palin Isn't Under Investigation": "The FBI is taking the unusual step of declaring that Gov. Sarah Palin is not under investigation, as Palin herself left for Western Alaska and communicated to the world through her Twitter account."

-- Detroit Free Press -- "Judge OKs Sale Of Good Assets To New GM": "General Motors this morning has cleared what could be the final hurdle to sell off its good assets to create a new GM, setting the stage for the automaker to emerge from a government-forced bankruptcy within weeks of filing."

-- The Wall Street Journal -- "Shift By Influential Clerics Bolsters Iran Opposition": "Some members of Iran's powerful clerical class are stepping up their anti-government protests over Iran's election in defiance of the country's supreme leader, bringing potential aid to opposition figures as the regime is increasingly labeling them foreign-sponsored traitors."

Related story by The Washington Times -- "Iran Releases Washington Times' Reporter."

-- Morning Edition -- Michael Jackson's Most Valuable Asset Was His Share Of ATV Music Publishing. NPR's Elizabeth Blair looks at the tangled web of Michael Jackson's finances:

Related story by the Los Angeles Times -- "LAPD Probes Michael Jackson's Medical History": "The Los Angeles Police Department has executed at least three search warrants in attempts to determine whether prescription medication played a role in Michael Jackson's death. Sources familiar with the investigation told The Times that the warrants were part of an effort to reconstruct the performer's medical history, a task made difficult by the number of physicians who treated him over the years."

-- The Tennessean -- "Girlfriend Had Hoped To Wed McNair": "It started about six months ago, when former Titans quarterback Steve McNair exchanged phone numbers with Sahel Kazemi, a then-19-year-old waitress working at Dave & Buster's restaurant at Opry Mills. Saturday, the relationship ended in tragedy, as the couple was found shot to death in a downtown condominium. Police continue to investigate the circumstances of the events leading up to the deaths, but according to friends of Kazemi, she was smitten and so was McNair."

By Mark Memmott

Outside Harlem's famed Apollo Theater, fans of Michael Jackson started lining up last night for a public memorial service that starts at 2 p.m. ET this afternoon, WCBS-TV reported this morning.

As NY1 adds:

Organizers say 600 fans at a time can go in and listen to the King of Pop's music and watch video tributes. The Reverend Al Sharpton and the president of the theater will give eulogies.

WABC-TV in New York was also live outside the Apollo this morning.

By Mark Memmott

"I talked to his family about it. I warned them. I said 'Michael is overmedicating' (and that) ... it's all going to break our hearts."

So said Brian Oxman, one of Michael Jackson's attorneys, on CNN just moments ago.

Adding to the ominous charges he first raised last night, Oxman claimed that the King of Pop, who died yesterday, "had overmedication (sic) and it was a serious problem."

Oxman said Jackson was taking painkillers to deal with chronic problems related to old injuries, including a broken leg and fractured vertebrae.

But, asked to say who might have been enabling the overmedication he claims was happening, Oxman would not name names.

"I don't want to make finger-pointed of any kind" until a cause of death is determined, Oxman said.

By Mark Memmott

Before we move on to the day's other stories, here's a quick look at some of the latest words about the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, who died Thursday:

-- Los Angeles Times: "Michael Jackson's Life Was Infused With Fantasy And Tragedy."

-- Rolling Stone: Jackson was "one of the most talented and eccentric performers in pop history."

-- Time magazine: "Top 10 Michael Jackson Moments." (Remember the marriage to Lisa-Marie Presley?)

-- The New York Times: "Tricky Steps From Boy To Superstar."

-- KNBC: "An autopsy is scheduled for Friday morning. ... But it could take weeks to learn the exact cause of death while examiners wait for the results of a toxicology report."

-- Morning Edition: Jackson fans converged on the hospital:

And, critic Margo Jefferson discussed Jackson's rise from child singer to King of Pop:

For much more about Jackson and his life, click here for NPR.org's complete coverage.

Michael Jackson at a March 5, 2009 press conference in London, announcing plans to appear at the London O2 Arena in July. AP Photo/Joel Ryan, file

 

By Frank James

10:10 PM In the last hour, Michael Jackson's body was removed from the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center and brought to the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office. A photo which is being billed of the last one of the entertainer was shown on CNN. It appears to have been shot through the ambulance's window and shows a paramedic using a respirator on Jackson whose eyes appear closed.

Jermaine Jackson, the superstar's brother, read a brief statement to the press.

Here's the statement:

My brother, the legendary king of pop Michael Jackson, passed away on Thursday, June 25, 2009 at 2:26 p.m. It is believed he suffered cardiac arrest in his home. However, the cause of his death is unknown until results of the autopsy are done.

His personal physician, who was with him at the time, attempted to resuscitate my brother. As did the paramedics who transmitted him to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. Upon arriving at the hospital at approximately 1:14 p.m., a team of doctors including emergency physicians and cardiologists, attempted to resuscitate him for a period of more than one hour and they were unsuccessful.

Our family requests that the media please respect our privacy during this tough time.

May Allah be with you, Michael, always. Love you.

Update 9:07 PM Still no hospital press conference. I need to sign off for a bit. Check NPR.org for further updates until I can get back online, probably in about an hour.

Update 8:53 PM Greg Strank, a detective with Los Angeles Police Department's robbery and homicide unit, told journalists gathered outside Michael Jackson's house that the media shouldn't read anything significant into officers from his unit being on the scene. "We investigate deaths every day," he said, adding that the high profile nature of the case led the the LAPD chief to have his unit secure the scene and conduct an investigation. He wouldn't answer questions beyond the time the police were notified, at about 1:00 PM Los Angeles time, and the time the cultural icon was pronounced dead, 2:30 PM Los Angeles time.

Update at 8:45 PM CNN's Roland Martin reports on the network that he talked with Marlon Jackson, Michael Jackson's brother. Marlon said he learned of his brother's death at his home in Georgia when his daughter saw the news on TV and said "Dad, they're saying Uncle Mike died." Martin reports that Marlon called his brother's agent who confirmed the news, saying "We lost him."

Martin then said that Marlon told him that the agent told the Jackson brother that the superstar complained of feeling ill last night. He didn't go to the hospital. He then collapsed today. Paramedics were called and arrived at the house at 12:20 PM Los Angeles time and was pronounced dead at 2:30 PM.

Update at 8:35 PM NPR's Neda Ulaby has this Michael Jackson obituary on the NPR Music site.

Update at 8:24 PM People are dancing outside the Apollo Theater to Michael Jackson tunes. And the Apollo has changed its marquee to read "In Memory of Michael Jackson, A True Apollo Legend. 1958-2009." Meanwhile, still no press conference at the hospital.

Update at 8:09 PM TMZ.com has a live stream up of the scene in front of the UCLA Medical Center. They're waiting for a hospital press conference to begin.

Update 8:04 PM Tributes.com has set up a page for fans to leave their condolences, thoughts and memories: http://www.tributes.com/Michael-Jackson

Updated 7:45 PM Jeffrey Toobin, CNN's legal analyst, was part of an interesting discussion in which he said it shouldn't be forgotten that Jackson had very disturbing relationships with young boys. Don't think there was really any danger of that happening.

Anthony DeCurtis of Rolling Stone had a great line. Paraphrasing, it was something like Jackson was an adult as a child and a child as an adult.

7:40 PM Well, that didn't take long. CNN has video of Rev. Al Sharpton standing outside of the Apollo Theater in Harlem. Sharpton showed a 1980 picture of himself with Jackson and James Brown, who Sharpton once worked for. Sharpton also said that it was Jackson who made "culture" accept black people, that Jackson was a trailblazer before Tiger Woods, Oprah and President Barack Obama. "Michael did in music what they later did in sports, politics and television," Sharpton said.

Updated 7:35 PM CNN just confirmed that Michael Jackson is dead, more than two hours after TMZ.com first reported it. They got it from the Los Angeles coroner. Better safe than sorry, CNN clearly decided.

They also had a reporter from an entertainment website who read a note from Michael Levine, Jackson's publicist from the first molestation trial with Levine saying he wasn't surprised since Jackson was "self-destructive."

Levine's statement:

Continue reading "Michael Jackson Dead At 50" >

1959 Little Valley Central School yearbook

By Mark Memmott

I think about my dad quite often this time of year. Not just because of Father's Day, which comes this Sunday, but also because of what I've come to think of as a second Father's Day for the Memmott family on the last Saturday each June.

And this year there's an additional reason to have Arthur Memmott (photo), who died in 1992, on my mind. Five years after the passing of our mother, the six Memmott siblings have sold the old homestead in western New York.

More on that later. First, I want to get back to that idea of two Father's Days and pass on a tip for anyone who wants to learn a little more about a parent who's no longer around:

Continue reading "Missing Your Dad? Talk To Someone Who Knew Him Long Ago" >

By Mark Memmott

For those who can't get enough of Jon & Kate Plus 8:

Monday's season opener on TLC will be about "life-changing decisions" the couple has made, Kate Gosselin says in a video posted at TLC.com.

And the way the video ends -- with Jon and Kate standing far apart, not really looking at each other -- has many in the news media writing about whether their marriage is in jeopardy.

Not familiar with Jon & Kate? They're parents of sextuplets and twins who have become reality TV superstars.

By Mark Memmott

We can't let Paul McCartney's 67th birthday go unmentioned. And as long as we're noting today's milestone for the cute Beatle, we might as well ask that once all-so-important question:

NPR.org's McCartney archive is here. Other Beatles-related NPR archives:

-- The band.
-- John Lennon.
-- George Harrison.

2002 file photo from the Escher Museum in The Hague, of his work Hol en Bol.Robin Utrecht/AFP/Getty Images

 

By Mark Memmott

Hearing that today would be the 111th birthday of Dutch artist M.C. Escher brings back memories of dorm rooms in the '70s. Every other one seemed to have a poster with one of Escher's mesmerizing works. Staircases that went nowhere. Water that flowed up. Geometric patterns that revealed other images.

Ah, those days.

What was on your dorm room walls?

By Mark Memmott

Keillor says it is

The Haiku master's birthday

Can we pay tribute?

Kobayashi Issa, says Garrison Keillor, wrote "more than 20,000 haiku celebrating the small wonders of everyday life."

In this age of the 140-character Tweet, can Two-Way readers step back and compose a few haiku?

Post them in the comments thread. We'll highlight some of the best.

By Mark Memmott

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin aimed some more sharp words at CBS-TV's David Letterman this morning, telling The Today Show that Letterman "crossed the line" with a joke about her daughter this week and owes an apology "to young women across the country." She also called it "naive" to believe Letterman's explanation and apology:

As Frank wrote yesterday, in most cases it's the TV host that gets the last word. So stay tuned for more from Dave.

By Mark Memmott

Actor David Carradine's death does not appear to have been a suicide, says a former New York City chief medical examiner asked by Carradine's family to do an independent examination of the evidence.

Dr. Michael Baden issued a statement today, saying:

"The autopsy findings and the evidence thus far available demonstrate that Mr. Carradine's death was not the result of suicide. However, to reach a final determination as to the cause and the manner of death we must wait for further information from Thailand as to the scene findings and the completion of the crime laboratory and toxicology studies that are still being performed."

Carradine was found dead last Friday. He was in the closet of a Thai hotel room, police said, with ropes tied around his neck and genitals.

Alphonso mango. Photo courtesy of Sandip Roy

 

By Madhulika Sikka

Ah the joys of summer. Fresh plump strawberries, luscious ripe blueberries and of course what could be better than the perfect peach in July?

These are all fruits that I love and for me herald the summer. But there is one more to add to the list and frankly it trumps them all. The Indian mango is coming to America.

In one of the odd byproducts of the Bush administration nuclear deal with India, a ban on the importation of Indian mangoes has been lifted and for the last couple of years you can, theoretically, get your hands on an Indian mango and if you can find one you should.

Commentator Sandip Roy tells us what this means for many Indian Americans on today's Morning Edition.

For me, an Indian who grew up in London my memories of mangoes are sweet. My grandmother and aunt would ship us a box at the beginning of the mango season (probably violating all sorts of rules about food shipments) and its arrival was greeted with joy and anticipation.

An Indian mango (of which there are hundreds of varieties) is the perfect package of sweet juicy pulp. One mango fit in my hand perfectly. Lop off the top, wrap your hand around it and just suck the pulp right out.

Continue reading "Indian Mangoes: A Luscious, Pricey Pleasure " >

By Frank James

Norman Brinker may not be a name at the tip of many people's tongues. But his contributions to American life surely are.

An undated file photo of Norman Brinker, retired chairman of Dallas-based Brinker International. AP Photo/File

A restaurant tycoon, he's credited with making the salad bar commonplace in eateries across America. He died today at age 78 in Colorado.

For the salad-bar alone, Brinker should be remembered. But he also had his hands in a lot of the nation's best-known chain restaurants. He created the now defunct Steak & Ale and turned Chili's into a huge national brand. Until his retirement in 2000, he was chairman of Brinker International, the parent company of several well-known restaurant chains.

The Associated Press reports:

A former Olympic equestrian who competed in the 1952 games, Brinker grew up poor on a New Mexico farm. He moved to Dallas in the 1960s and started a coffee shop before developing the concept for Steak & Ale restaurants - a chain he established in the mid-1960s where he's credited with popularizing the salad bar and casual dining.

He sold Steak & Ale to Pillsbury Co in the early 1970s and went to work for Pillsbury's restaurant division. During his time at Pillsbury's restaurant division, he created the Bennigan's chain and became known for creating a "fern bar" chain concept of upscale eateries intended to attract single people.

Continue reading "Salad-Bar Popularizer, Norman Brinker, Dead at 78" >

By Mark Memmott

Journalist Roxana Saberi makes for a unique addition to All Things Considered's The Question project.

What did she read while in an Iranian prison for four months?

A Koran. The Bible. A book about Mahatma Ghandi. And some writings of philosopher Will Durant.

"They gave me a lot of strength," Saberi tells ATC's Melissa Block.

Read about and listen to Saberi's first in-depth interview here.

The Question is a series about what people in the news are listening to, reading and doing in their spare time.

By Mark Memmott

Anger, frustration, confusion -- and patience.

HarperCollins

Those are all words that come up in a conversation with journalist Karl Taro Greenfield, author of the new book Boy Alone.

It's his account of growing up with a younger brother, Noah, who is autistic. On All Things Considered later today, he speaks with host Michele Norris.

Here's Greenfield talking about how hard it can be to be patient and compassionate toward Noah -- but that ultimately, there's no choice. "It's not a lesson that you take eagerly," he says, "it's literally crammed down your throat":

Click here to find an NPR station near you that broadcasts ATC.

By Madhulika Sikka

I reveal myself as a bit odd by admitting that as a 17-year-old high school student, in an oh-so proper British girl's school, nothing gave me greater joy than curling up in the little cubby under the grand staircase and reading a laugh-out-loud funny memoir called Unreliable Memoirs.

Jan., 2008, file photo of James. Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images

But I must confess, I'm odd and I did.

And I am delighted to say that if you missed that book when it came out some three decades ago in America (which you did, since it went nowhere), you get a second chance with its reissue today here in the U.S. You should seize it.

Clive who? Well to call him a Renaissance man actually doesn't do him justice. I was first exposed to his wonderful witticisms when he was TV critic at The Observer newspaper. But he's done it all: literary critic, TV host, documentary producer, memoirist, satirical poet, an old fashioned man of letters.

Did I mention, he's very funny? A transplanted Australian, he came to England for college and makes London his home.

As he tells Renee Montagne in an interview for tomorrow's Morning Edition, he discovered his gift for telling stories early on and has been telling them ever since but it took him a lifetime to make his mother proud:

Click here to find an NPR station near you that broadcasts Morning Edition.

Madhulika is executive producer of Morning Edition.