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NPR Story
1:00 pm
Fri April 6, 2012

Taking A Walk On New York's Wild Side

New York City has been referred to as a concrete jungle. But researchers say it is more 'jungle' than you might think. A panel of experts discuss the plant and animal life found in city waters and green spaces. They also discuss the impact of urbanization and climate change on a city's biodiversity.

NPR Story
1:00 pm
Fri April 6, 2012

New York City's Mayor Is A Geek At Heart

Did you know Mayor Michael Bloomberg has an engineering degree and built a ham radio as a child? The mayor talks about his passion for science and how it shapes the way he thinks. He also discusses plans for an applied sciences campus in New York and potential spin-offs from the project.

NPR Story
1:00 pm
Fri April 6, 2012

How Homo Sapiens Became 'Masters Of The Planet'

The first Homo sapiens appeared on the planet some 200,000 years ago. But even though they looked fully human, they didn't act fully human until they began creating symbolic art, some 100,000 years later. Paleoanthropologist Ian Tattersall discusses those human origins in his book Masters of the Planet.

NPR Story
1:00 pm
Fri April 6, 2012

Coyotes Come To The Big Apple

Coyotes were first spotted in New York City in the 1990s. Now they are thought to be permanent residents of the Bronx, and have been seen in Queens and Manhattan. Wildlife biologist Mark Weckel, of the Mianus River Gorge Preserve, is documenting their immigration through camera traps in New York City parks.

The Two-Way
12:40 pm
Fri April 6, 2012

VIDEO: Rapping Federal Worker Adds To Evidence Of Waste And Excess

Credit House Oversight & Reform Committee
From the GSA employee's rap video.
The Two-Way
12:29 pm
Fri April 6, 2012

Poll: Opinion On Trayvon Martin Case Divided Along Racial Lines

Credit Angel Valentin / Getty Images
Shirley Jackson (right), a teacher in Miami Dade school system, joins hundreds of other people in Miami's Liberty City neighborhood during a rally on Wednesday in Miami, Florida.

Opinion about the Trayvon Martin shooting is sharply divided by race, a new USA Today/Gallup poll finds.

The divide is clear, when pollsters asked if George Zimmerman, the Neighborhood Watch volunteer who shot and killed the black, unarmed teenager, was guilty of a crime.

A little more than half of the African Americans polled said he was "definitely guilty," while only 15 percent of non-blacks shared the same opinion.

The poll also found:

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Economy
12:00 pm
Fri April 6, 2012

March Jobs Report Offers Mixed Messages

Originally published on Fri April 6, 2012 11:44 am

Transcript

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

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Governing
12:00 pm
Fri April 6, 2012

Deal Might Be The Key To Save Detroit

The city's leaders agreed to a compromise with state officials this week, that may save Detroit from bankruptcy. But Detroit Free Press columnist Rochelle Riley tells host Michel Martin that a lot more work needs to be done to save the struggling city. They're also joined by NPR Senior Business Editor Marilyn Geewax.

'It's All Politics': NPR's Weekly News Roundup
11:48 am
Fri April 6, 2012

It's All Politics, April 5, 2012

Credit Steven Senne / ASSOCIATED PRESS
  • Listen to the Roundup

Mitt Romney's sweep in Tuesday's primaries essentially signals the beginning of the general election campaign. And President Obama joins the fray, attacking Romney by name in a speech to news editors; the former Massachusetts governor returns the favor a day later. Paul Ryan draws attention from the president as well as those speculating on the GOP ticket. NPR's Ron Elving and Ken Rudin have the latest in this week's political roundup.

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Sports
11:37 am
Fri April 6, 2012

Behind The Plate, A Baseball Catcher Tells All

This interview was originally broadcast on August 18, 2011.

Brad Ausmus has spent most of his career in a squatting position. As a major league catcher, he crouched behind home plate for roughly seven months a year while playing with the San Diego Padres, the Detroit Tigers, the Houston Astros and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

How did he practice for games? Even more squats.

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The Two-Way
11:35 am
Fri April 6, 2012

Check It Out: St. Louis Keeps Adding To Its Chess Prowess

We're seeing headlines today about an entire college championship team moving from one school to another. And though the story's about two months old, it's still so unusual and has enough interesting angles to warrant passing along.

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Music Reviews
11:35 am
Fri April 6, 2012

Finding And Curating The Roots Of Soul Music

Some years back, I was driving across the South with a German friend, leaving early Sunday morning from Athens, Ga., and heading to Louisiana. I turned on the radio and found a black church service in progress, and a woman with a remarkable voice singing. "Who's that?" my friend asked. I told him I had no idea. "But with a voice like that, she must be famous," he said. Some miles down the road, when the station had faded out, he still didn't believe me.

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The Salt
11:34 am
Fri April 6, 2012

Lust, Lies And Empire: The Fishy Tale Behind Eating Fish on Friday

Credit Adam Cole / NPR
Did the pope really make a secret pact to sell more fish? No, but the real story of eating fish on Fridays is much more fantastical.

Originally published on Fri October 19, 2012 3:07 pm

It sounds like the plot of a Dan Brown thriller: A powerful medieval pope makes a secret pact to prop up the fishing industry that ultimately alters global economics. The result: Millions of Catholics around the world end up eating fish on Fridays as part of a religious observance.

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Movie Reviews
11:14 am
Fri April 6, 2012

A Sublime, Impressionistic 'Deep Blue Sea'

Terence Davies' films aim for and often achieve a state of music, the camerawork in harmony with the soundtrack, the images connected by emotion rather than narrative.

Adapting Terence Rattigan's 1952 play The Deep Blue Sea, he throws out the drama's tidy structure and much of the dialogue, and shows the events through the eyes of the adulterous Lady Hester Collyer, played by Rachel Weisz.

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Education
11:10 am
Fri April 6, 2012

Fractions Curriculum Strikes Right Note In California

Originally published on Wed April 11, 2012 8:03 am

Math teachers know that fractions can be hard for the average third-grader. Teachers at a public school in San Bruno, Calif., just south of San Francisco, are trying something new. They're teaching difficult math concepts through music, and they're getting remarkable results.

At Allen Elementary School, a roomful of third-graders sits facing music instructor Endre Balogh, their backs straight, eyes ahead, beating a mouse pad with drumsticks. As Balogh taps a rhythm, the students follow.

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Shots - Health Blog
11:00 am
Fri April 6, 2012

No Need For The Knife? Antibiotics May Suffice In Some Appendicitis Cases

Originally published on Fri April 6, 2012 12:04 pm

Acute appendicitis generally means a speedy trip to the hospital for surgery. But British researchers say antibiotics might be a safe and effective alternative in uncomplicated cases.

"The general consensus was that the appendix has to be taken out the moment you feel it was inflamed," Dr. Dileep Lobo, professor of gastrointestinal surgery at the University of Nottingham and Queen's Medical Centre, tells Shots.

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The Two-Way
10:24 am
Fri April 6, 2012

Life In Prison For Man Who Planted Pipe Bomb In Colorado Mall

Credit AP
An undated photo, released by the Denver FBI, of Earl Albert Moore.

Earl Albert Moore, who in April 2011 on the 12th anniversary of the Columbine school shootings placed a pipe bomb in a nearby Colorado shopping mall, has been sentenced to life in prison.

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Economy
9:12 am
Fri April 6, 2012

Jobless Rate Slips; Fewer New Jobs Than Expected

The Labor Department reported Friday that the nation's unemployment rate inched down to 8.2 percent in March, while only 120,000 jobs were added and Americans stopped looking for work. February's jobless rate was 8.3 percent.

The Two-Way
8:34 am
Fri April 6, 2012

Just 120,000 Jobs Added, But Jobless Rate Dips To 8.2 Percent

Credit NPR
The changes in payroll employment over the past two years.

Originally published on Fri April 6, 2012 10:37 am

The nation's unemployment rate edged down to 8.2 percent in March from 8.3 percent in February, but only 120,000 jobs were added to private and public payrolls the Bureau of Labor Statistics said this morning in a report that was less positive about the labor market's health than economists had expected.

Prior to the news, forecasters had predicted BLS would say about 200,000 jobs were added to payrolls last month.

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