All Things Considered on AM 870 NewsTalk

Weekdays, 4pm - 8pm

On May 3, 1971, at 5 p.m., All Things Considered debuted on 90 public radio stations.

In the 40 years since, almost everything about the program has changed, from the hosts, producers, editors and reporters to the length of the program, the equipment used and even the audience.

However there is one thing that remains the same: each show consists of the biggest stories of the day, thoughtful commentaries, insightful features on the quirky and the mainstream in arts and life, music and entertainment, all brought alive through sound.

All Things Considered is the most listened-to, afternoon drive-time, news radio program in the country. Every weekday the two-hour show is hosted by Robert SiegelMichele Norris and Melissa Block. In 1977, ATC expanded to seven days a week with a one-hour show on Saturdays and Sundays, currently hosted by Guy Raz.

During each broadcast, stories and reports come to listeners from NPR reporters and correspondents based throughout the United States and the world. The hosts interview newsmakers and contribute their own reporting. Rounding out the mix are the disparate voices of a variety of commentators, including Sports Commentator Stefen Fastis, Poet Andrei Codrescu and Political Columnists David Brooks and E.J. Dionne,

All Things Considered has earned many of journalism's highest honors, including the George Foster Peabody Award, the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award and the Overseas Press Club Award.

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Science
4:14 pm
Sun October 7, 2012

New Dinosaur Was A Small, Fanged Vegetarian

Credit Todd Marshall
Pegomastax africanus stood less than two feet tall and sported sharp fangs and a beak.

Originally published on Sun October 7, 2012 11:10 pm

A small, fanged dinosaur called Pegomastax africanus was identified this week, more than half a century after its skeleton was dug up in South Africa. The dinosaur looked like a fierce cross between a chicken and a porcupine, and had long fangs which it used to eat plants and compete for mates. Pegomastax was a diminutive beast, standing less than two feet tall and weighing no more than a small house cat.

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Movies I've Seen A Million Times
2:52 pm
Sun October 7, 2012

The Movie Queen Latifah Has 'Seen A Million Times'

Originally published on Sun October 7, 2012 10:21 pm

The weekends on All Things Considered series Movies I've Seen A Million Times features filmmakers, actors, writers and directors talking about the movies that they never get tired of watching.

For actress Queen Latifah, whose credits include Living Out Loud, Chicago, Beauty Shop and the new Lifetime TV remake of Steel Magnolias, the movie she could watch a million times is 1989's Steel Magnolias.

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Author Interviews
2:38 pm
Sun October 7, 2012

The Wild Adventure Continues in 'Under Wildwood'

Originally published on Tue October 9, 2012 2:04 pm

Colin Meloy is best known as the front man for the band the Decemberists. His music is praised for its lyrical quality and the stories the songs tell, so it may not be a surprise to learn Meloy is also a writer.

His newest book is a collaboration with his wife, illustrator Carson Ellis. The book is intended for young readers, the second in a series called Wildwood Chronicles.

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Music Interviews
2:36 pm
Sun October 7, 2012

Anat Cohen Bends The Spectrum On 'Claroscuro'

Credit Courtesy of the artist
Anat Cohen's new album, her sixth as a bandleader, is called Claroscuro.

Originally published on Sun October 7, 2012 4:58 pm

Born in Tel Aviv, Anat Cohen came to New York two decades ago to study the masters of jazz. In so doing, the clarinetist and saxophonist started a bit of a stampede: Today, Israel is exporting some of the most vital jazz out there.

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World
2:22 pm
Sun October 7, 2012

Stateless And Stranded On American Samoa

Credit Courtesy Mikhail Sebastian
Mikhail Sebastian lived in Los Angeles before his fateful trip to American Samoa.

Originally published on Sun October 14, 2012 10:14 am

For many of us, no matter where we go, we'll always have a home. We'll always be from somewhere. But what if that somewhere no longer existed?

That is the strange position in which Mikhail Sebastian finds himself. Officially, he is from nowhere and has nowhere to go. The 39-year-old is stateless and stranded on American Samoa, a U.S. territory in the South Pacific.

Sebastian is an ethnic Armenian born in what is now Azerbaijan, but back then was part of the Soviet Union. When war broke out in the late 1980s, Sebastian says his aunt was stoned to death and he fled.

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Economy
5:29 pm
Sat October 6, 2012

Unemployment Numbers Are Kept Under Guard

Originally published on Sat October 6, 2012 6:44 pm

Transcript

GUY RAZ, HOST:

And undoubtedly, the president and Governor Romney were up early Friday morning reading and eagerly awaiting the unemployment numbers. Almost immediately after they were announced, theories began to circulate that maybe, just maybe, the Bureau of Labor Statistics was cooking the books to help the president's re-election.

Back in August, Caitlin Kenney of NPR's Planet Money team went to investigate just why those numbers are such a closely held secret.

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Presidential Race
5:02 pm
Sat October 6, 2012

The NPR Third-Party Candidate Debate

Originally published on Fri October 26, 2012 3:00 pm

What's it like to be a third-party candidate running for president? Ralph Nader can tell us.

"You're excluded from the debates," he says. "You spend an exhausting amount of time, until Labor Day, trying to get over the ballot access barriers. Your petitioners are harassed in the streets; you're subjected to baseless lawsuits by one party or another."

Nader has run for president three times – four if you count the time he ran unofficially. In 2000, he managed to win almost 3 percent of the national vote.

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Music Interviews
5:02 pm
Sat October 6, 2012

Ultraísta: Radiohead's Knob-Twister Takes Off

Credit Courtesy of the artist
Detail of the cover art from Ultraísta, the debut album from Nigel Godrich's new trio.

Originally published on Tue October 9, 2012 7:58 pm

At the beginning of 1997, Nigel Godrich was a relatively unknown recording engineer. He'd been looking for a band that would trust his instincts as a producer, and he'd finally gotten his chance — with the band Radiohead. By the end of 1997, Godrich was one of the most talked-about names in music.

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Business
5:02 pm
Sat October 6, 2012

Why Companies Use Software To Scan Resumes

Originally published on Sat October 6, 2012 6:44 pm

The Labor Department announced on Friday the lowest unemployment rate since January 2009. Most big companies use software to screen resumes and ultimately move that unemployment number. These programs can be a big help for hiring departments, but a hindrance for job searches everywhere.

Around the Nation
11:07 pm
Fri October 5, 2012

Border Patrol Agent's Death May Have Been Accidental

Transcript

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

This is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. There's new information tonight about the shooting of two border patrol agents along the Arizona-Mexico border earlier this week. One of the agents was killed in that incident. Well, the FBI now says that there are strong preliminary indications that the shooting was accidental and only involved the agents on the scene. NPR's Ted Robbins is following the story and joins me from Tucson. And, Ted, it sounds like the FBI is saying this is a case of friendly fire. What more do you know?

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Economy
5:40 pm
Fri October 5, 2012

Apprenticeship, Social Support Keys In Job Training

Originally published on Fri October 5, 2012 11:07 pm

Transcript

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

The new jobs report, out today, shows a sharp drop in the unemployment rate. But millions of Americans are, of course, still looking for work. Often, the bridge between them and a good job is a training program to help give them a new set of skills. Programs to retrain America's workforce got quite a bit of attention in Wednesday's presidential debate, and NPR's Yuki Noguchi reports on one of them here in Washington.

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Monkey See
4:59 pm
Fri October 5, 2012

Mandy Patinkin: 25 Years After 'The Princess Bride,' He's Not Tired Of That Line

Credit AP
This photo provided by Twentieth Century Fox shows Andres The Giant, top, Mandy Patinkin, center, and Wallace Shawn in The Princess Bride.

Originally published on Fri October 5, 2012 11:07 pm

Twenty-five years ago, The Princess Bride performed only so-so at the box office. But as you know if you have ever had it quoted to you — and who hasn't? — it's come to be one of the most beloved films of the 1980s. On Friday's All Things Considered, Mandy Patinkin, now starring in Showtime's Homeland but back then the Spanish swordsman Inigo Montoya, talks to Melissa Block about the film and what it's like to be part of such a beloved piece of popular culture.

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Sports
4:50 pm
Fri October 5, 2012

U.S. Speedskater Tampered With Rival's Skate

Originally published on Fri October 5, 2012 11:07 pm

Transcript

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

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National Security
4:48 pm
Fri October 5, 2012

Terrorism Suspects Face Extradition To U.S.

Originally published on Fri October 5, 2012 11:07 pm

Transcript

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

This is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Melissa Block. In Britain, the radical cleric Abu Hamza has lost his final battle to avoid extradition to the United States. Britain's high court judges ruled today that Hamza and four other suspected terrorists must now be sent to the U.S. to face trial on terror charges related to al-Qaida. That ends a legal battle that, in Hamza's case, has lasted nearly 14 years. Vicki Barker reports from London.

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Africa
4:37 pm
Fri October 5, 2012

Benghazi Attack Raises New Questions About Al-Qaida

Credit EPA/Landov
U.S. authorities are investigating whether al-Qaida played a role in last month's attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi. Here, a damaged vehicle sits outside the consulate one day after the attack.

Originally published on Fri October 5, 2012 11:07 pm

For the past decade, al-Qaida has been a top-down organization.

Letters seized at Osama bin Laden's compound in Pakistan showed that he was a hands-on manager, approving everything from operations to leadership changes in affiliate groups.

But there's early intelligence that al-Qaida may have had a small role in the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, which killed four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens, on Sept. 11.

If al-Qaida involvement is confirmed, it may signal that al-Qaida has changed.

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Law
2:43 pm
Fri October 5, 2012

Jailed Domestic Abuse Victims Get Chance At Freedom

Originally published on Sat October 6, 2012 6:21 am

Brenda Clubine is a platinum blonde with focused blue eyes and a no-nonsense demeanor.

She spent 26 years in prison for killing her husband. After enduring beatings and emergency room visits, she says, it finally ended in a locked motel room where he told her to give him her wedding rings.

"I said, 'Why?' He said, 'Because tomorrow they won't be able to identify your body without them,' " Clubine says.

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Solve This
1:32 pm
Fri October 5, 2012

Candidates Tout Different Routes To 'Energy Security'

Originally published on Fri October 5, 2012 11:07 pm

The pressing energy issue in the 2008 presidential campaign was how to reduce carbon emissions and limit global warming. Four years later, the drive for "green energy" has been replaced by a new imperative: the need to end U.S. dependence on foreign oil.

"I will set a national goal of North American energy independence by 2020," Mitt Romney declared during a campaign speech in August. "That means we produce all the energy we use in North America."

He reiterated that goal in the opening minutes of the presidential candidates' debate in Denver this week.

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Asia
5:33 pm
Thu October 4, 2012

Pakistan Heartthrob Trades Pop For Political Protest

Originally published on Thu October 4, 2012 8:35 pm

It's All Politics
5:31 pm
Thu October 4, 2012

Voter Registration Deadlines Begin Passing This Week

Credit Matt Sullivan / Reuters/Landov
A voter registration form and absentee ballot application at a Franklin County polling place in Columbus, Ohio, on Tuesday. The deadline to register to vote in Ohio is Oct. 9.

If you want to vote in the November elections and you aren't registered yet — you'd better hurry. The registration deadline in five states is this weekend. By the following weekend, the deadline will have passed in more than half the states.

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Sports
5:12 pm
Thu October 4, 2012

A Look At Major League Baseball's Postseason

Transcript

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

The Major League playoffs begin tomorrow, spinning off a dizzying last day of the regular season, and there's a ton of drama to talk about with Joe Lemire, baseball writer for Sports Illustrated. Welcome, Joe.

JOE LEMIRE: Thanks for having me.

BLOCK: That dizzying last day featured a remarkable finish by the Oakland A's. They won the American League West, but they were all but dead three months ago. They were 13 games behind the Texas Rangers. What happened?

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