February 18, 1998 All Things Considered (entire program) Requires the RealAudio Player

An index of the day's stories:

In the Hall -- Noah talks with Mary McClelland, a retired elementary school counselor who lives in Columbus, Ohio. She attended today's town hall meeting and talks with Noah about her impressions of the discussion there today. (3:00)

On TV -- Linda talks with John Murphy, a retired naval officer, who participated in the airstrike planning, operations and support of "Operation Rolling Thunder" in Vietnam. He was also a Sovietologist in naval intelligence, and now assists companies wanting to develop joint ventures in the former Soviet Union. Murphy talks about his reaction to the public forum given today by members of the Clinton Administration in Columbus concerning the conflict with Iraq. (3:15)

FCC Auction -- NPR's Jim Zarroli reports that the Federal Communications Commission opened bidding this morning on a large swath of the airwaves that's been set aside for a new wireless technology called "LMDS". The acronym stands for local multi-point distribution system, a technology that can be used to deliver "broadband" telephone, television and internet services. The new license holders are expected to provide more competition to established cable, telephone and Internet service providers. (4:30)

Voyager -- Noah talks with Ed Stone, the director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. They talk about Voyager 1, which is now the farthest man-made object from Earth. Yesterday, it surpassed the distance of Pioneer 10, which is now 6.5 billion miles away. Signals from the twenty-year-old spacecraft now take 9 and a half hours to reach the Earth. (3:00)

Manhunt -- Noah talks with Jack Thompson, the sheriff of Cherokee County, North Carolina. Thompson is helping with the search for Eric Robert Rudolph, who is suspected in connection with the bombing of an avortion clinic in Birmingham, Alabama on January 29th. They discuss the logistics of the search, why authorities are searching in rural North Carolina, and the conditions in the area that are hampering that search. (4:00)

Wrasslin' -- NPR's Jacki Lyden reports that for the first time since the Iranian Islamic Revolution in 1979, a U-S sports team is competing under the U-S flag in Tehran. The two-day competition in an international wrestling meet with 5 American wrestlers is seen as the first, tenuous sign of an effort by both Iran and the US to engage in non-official contacts. (3:30)

Titanic -- The BBC's Simon Pitts reports that the first film ever made about the sinking of the ocean liner Titanic has been re-discovered in the possession of a Berlin film collector. The thirty-minute silent movie "In Night and Ice" was made just two months after the ship sank in 1912. The film had been thought lost. (1:30)

Diane DiPrima -- Linda talks with our poetry guide, Catherine Bowman, about the life and work of Beat writer Diane DiPrima. DiPrima is the author of more than 35 collections of prose and poetry. She was born in Brooklyn in 1934 to first generation Italian-Americans. After dropping out of college, she moved to Manhattan's Lower East Side to write, and her apartment became a waystation for many other famous Beat writers, as well as painters and other artists. We'll hear excerpts from some of her poems and talk about how her work is representative of the Beat Generation writers. (8:00)

Ohio Roadshow -- NPR's Ted Clark reports on the Clinton Administration's town meeting on Iraq in Columbus, Ohio today. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Secretary of Defense William Cohen and National Security Advisor Sandy Berger conducted a nationally televised teach-in at the Ohio State University to explain why the United States is prepared to strike Iraq militarily unless Saddam Hussein allows "unfettered" access by UN arms inspectors to every corner of Iraq, including its presidential palaces. (4:30)

Clinton Defense Fund -- President Clinton's supporters are organizing a new legal defense fund. The old one was closed at the end of last year, not having collected enough contributions to make a dent in his lawyers' bills. NPR's Mara Liasson reports the new fund has fewer limitations on who can donate and how much. (3:30)

Lewinsky-Clinton-Starr -- NPR's Nina Totenberg talks with Linda about developments today before the Whitewater grand jury. The jury heard from presidential aide Bruce Lindsey, as it continued to look into allegations that President Clinton had lied under oath about an affair with intern Monica Lewinsky. (4:00)

CCJ Report -- A new study says the media "routinely intermingled reporting with opinion and speculation" in covering allegations that President Clinton had an affair with a one-time White House intern. The study released today by the "Committee of Concerned Journalists" systematically examines the coverage of major newspapers, magazines, and television programs during the first SIX days of the story. Among other findings, the study reports that 40% of all reporting based on anonymous sources came from a single source -- and that only one statement in a hundred (1% of the reporting) was based on two or more named sources. NPR's Brooke Gladstone reports. (3:30)

Dan Says... -- NPR senior news analyst Daniel Schorr says that Washington has become a two-story town. Between sex allegations and Saddam Hussein, the stories seem to begin to merge into one. (3:00)

Hsia Indicted -- A second Democratic fundraiser has been indicted in conjunction with a Justice Department investigation of campaign finance irregularities during the 1996 presidential campaign. Maria Hsia (Shah) was indicted today on charges of lying and conspiracy stemming from her role as co-chair of a fundraising event at a California Buddhist temple at which Vice-President Al Gore spoke. The indictment charges that some donors were reimbursed illegally by the temple. NPR's Peter Overby reports. (3:30)

Ice Princesses -- NPR's Tom Goldman reports on the women's figure skating competition at the Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. After the short program, which counts for one-third of the skaters' scores, American gold medal favorite Michelle Kwan leads the other competitors, including her teammate Tara Lipinski. The third U-S medal contender, Nicole Bobek, had a poor performance, including a fall, and is in 17th place, out of medal contention. Russian skater Maria Butyrskaya (boo-tur-SKY-ah) is in third place. (4:30)

Norway Celebrates -- Linda talks with Hans Bang, the mayor of Nannestad, Norway. Nannestad is the hometown of Olympic gold medalist and crosscountry skiing legend Bjorn Daehlie, who set a record when he received a seventh gold medal as part of the 4-by-10 kilometer crosscountry relay at the Nagano Winter Olympic games. The whole town of Nannestad is throwing a party to celebrate the feat...and Norwegians all over the country are excited about Daehlie's accomplishment. (3:30)

Riddle of Ice -- Noah talks with Myron Arms, the author of "Riddle of the Ice: A Scientific Adventure into the Arctic." They talk about Arms's scientific expedition into the Arctic Circle, which took place on board a 50-foot sailboat. He studied the science of ice and its formation, ocean currents, and the greenhouse effect. He also encountered exotic wildlife and was amazed by the Aurora Borealis, the Northern Lights. (8:00)