But well. . .

If you go through the list of Obama people, the top four, five, six people had not just worked in presidential campaigns before, but they worked in that critical area which gets very little attention, but is absolutely essential, and that's called field operations. It means going into states, setting up shop, organizing, getting people door knocking, getting people calling and getting delegate victories.

These people knew how to win campaigns on a local level. Importantly, very significant figures had a lot of experience in Iowa. He set his sights on winning Iowa very early.

What I found fascinating in doing this reporting is that both campaigns had the same Plan A. The Plan A was, win the first four states, attain a political victory, and not be out of personnel.

turn 1 : Field operations" - The literal meaning of field operations is the management and execution of tasks in a specific area, such as farming or construction. However, in this context, it refers to the essential campaign strategy of setting up operations in states, organizing volunteers, and winning delegate victories.

How did the top Obama people win delegate victories?

Answer: Experience


(Laughter).

But - so in any event, do you really want to put yourself on the side of people that cut even 3 percent from the Meals on Wheels budget?

Well, from a political standpoint, you're right. But this is the problem for whatever the not-left-of-center crew is, now that it's gotten so diverse in the era of Trump is - who's going to talk about how it works?Back to repealing Obamacare, there is a method going forward that works. It involves using tax credits to let people shop. And their choices drive down prices and create more products that they want to buy. But no one's talk about that because you're trapped in this Trump gravitational conversational field.

Well, we'll have you back. We have to cut the conversation short. Michael Graham is podcast editor for The Weekly Standard.

turn 1 : Actual meaning: B is challenging A's position and implying that it is morally questionable. Literal meaning: B is asking A if they want to align themselves with people who cut 3 percent from the Meals on Wheels budget.

How does PersonB challenge PersonA's position on budget cuts?

Answer: Morally


But also, at the moment, there is a decided sense of panic and loss of confidence in the financial system itself, which is actually exacerbating the situation. The scariest thing that's going on at the moment is, essentially, there's a run on the whole of the Western world's banking systems. It's a behind-the-scenes run, but it's a run nonetheless. And this is why you're seeing some extraordinary action by central banks, essentially because they are now the only people in the - around who are willing to fund or finance the banking sector.

If there's a loss of faith in leadership in the U. S.  and Europe, where do you look for world financial leadership now?

Well, I think the interesting thing is, the normal thing - place you would look would be to the finance ministers and the central bank governors of the world and seek to see whether they can come up with some sort of plan or some sort of coordinated action. Everyone is gathering together later this week in Washington on Friday and at the weekend.

And so this is a real test. I don't think they necessarily want it to be a test, but I'm sure it will be seen as a test to see whether the authorities can do more than look at how to stop this happening again in the long term, which is one of things, actually, they were intending the meeting to be about, but actually to try and stop the panic.

turn 3 : The authorities are trying to stop the panic and the meeting is a test to see if they can do more than just plan for the long term.

Which is the goal of the meeting in Washington?

Answer: Stop


And obviously, Florida is a very important state. It's no coincidence he's kicking off his campaign there. Where else do you expect to see President Trump in the months ahead?

So he'll be back in Florida; we know that for sure. It's a key state in that he isn't president without winning Florida, and he needs it for re-election. But you can also expect to see him in those other states that he won very narrowly in the upper Midwest - Wisconsin, Michigan. And the campaign is stretching. They want insurance. And at this point, they have money. They've been fundraising since Inauguration Day. And they are stretching, trying to reach into states you wouldn't expect, like Minnesota or even New Mexico and New Hampshire, which Hillary Clinton won last time around.

That's NPR White House correspondent Tamara Keith at President Trump's rally in Orlando, Fla. Thanks, Tam.

You're welcome.

turn 1 : President Trump's campaign is targeting swing states and expanding beyond the states he won in 2016

What is President Trump's campaign targeting?

Answer: States


"My first awareness of homosexuality was followed by reading James Baldwin. No reference was made to this, which I think in the context of this program would have been a reference for listeners. I appreciate some of the discussion, however a little historical perspective helps us better understand the present. "

And finally, we got a letter about our sports blogger segment. Last week they talked about Tiger Wood's win in the U. S.  Open despite a leg injury. Tiger is now taking some time off the green. Lyn Porter (ph) in Lenni, Pennsylvania wrote us this. "I just wanted to disagree with the comment that people who watch golf are really tuning in to see Tiger Woods. All three of us here who watch golf regularly comment that we want to see someone else have a chance to win. I think it will be interesting to see golf without Tiger. I enjoy his play and hope he recovers quickly, but I would like a little variety. "

And that's it for letters. Thank you for writing and please keep your comments coming.

To write us just log on to npr. org and click on Contact Us. When you get there, you'll see lots of shows to choose from. Make sure you pick News & Notes when you write to us.

turn 0 : A thinks that listeners should have been informed about James Baldwin's homosexuality in the program to understand the context better.

Which author's name is mentioned by PersonA in the dialogue?

Answer: James


But I'm sure that there's something else that you want to share with us. You have your poems about California, poems about the blues.

I've got one. The once called "Who I Am in Twilight. "And it's a poem that is actually emblazoned on the sidewalk. And it's set in stone, as it were, on something called "Poetry Walk" in Berkeley, California. They put down on sidewalk, Addison Street, about a hundred poets', I think, work. So it's fun to go over there and see how posterity works, because always somebody has dropped some pizza on it, mashed out a cigarette on it, or something like that.

So don't live for posterity, live for now. But here it is. "Who I am in Twilight. "

Like John Lee Hooker, like Lightnin' Hopkins, like the blues himself. The Trickster Sonnet, hoedown, the tango, the cante jondo. Like blessed spirituals and ragas, custom-made. Like sagas. Like stories. Like slick, slow, sly, soliloquies sliding into dramas. Like crime and punishment. Like death and birth. Canal Street, New Orleans. Like the easy, erasable, troubled voices a whirling ceiling fan makes in deep summer nights in hot, un-heavenly hotels. Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee. Like the Mississippi River so deep and wide, you couldn't get a letter to the other side. Like Grand Canyon. Like Yosemite National Park. Like beans and cornbread. Like rest and recreation. Like love and like. I know we last. I know our bleeding stops.

turn 2 : It's important to live in the moment rather than for posterity.

What is the name of the poem mentioned by A?

Answer: Twilight


Today, Turkey formally requested NATO to deploy Patriot missiles on the border with Syria. And while the new anti-government coalition wins friends in foreign capitals, it gets a mixed reception from rebel groups inside Syria. NPR correspondent Deborah Amos joins us now by Skype from southern Turkey. And Deborah, always good to talk with you.

Thank you, Neal. Glad to be here.

And some European nations are already considering Turkey's Patriot missile request. If fulfilled, will that effectively establish a no-fly zone over parts of - over northern Syria?

NATO officials are downplaying the no-fly zone aspect of this. But there is no doubt that if there are Patriot missiles on the border, the Syrian air force will think twice about bombing any city close to that border. That is already happening on this - on the Turkish border. There are towns now that are under the umbrella of Turkey.

turn 2 : Fulfilling Turkey's request for Patriot missiles may establish a no-fly zone over northern Syria, but NATO officials are downplaying it.

Which aspect of Turkey's Patriot missile request are NATO officials downplaying?

Answer: no-fly


Now, in both the Enron case and the Madoff situation, they're very different in some ways, but they both benefited at least for a time from the fact that a lot of people don't understand finance, and it's very difficult to understand. What do you think people need to do who are not financiers to understand why is it important to even understand the issue of finance, white-collar crime, and all of this?

White-collar crime matters because it affects all of us. Even if you happen to be a blue-collar person, you undoubtedly get affected one way or another - your investments, your company, your suppliers, your neighbors. Everyone gets affected by serious white-collar crime, and the old joke is, right, you walk into a bank with a gun, steal $50,000, they send you away for 10 years. You steal $50 million in some sort of white-collar crime thing, and you get, you know, five minutes and a warning from the judge.

I mean, that's an exaggeration. But that's the kind of thing that for years has annoyed people, including me. And somehow the - because there's been now so much of the stuff has surfaced, and there's such conscientiousness about it and in the case of Madoff largely because he scammed people that members of the media know. So you get really angry when your friends go down. I mean, I don't have any friends who were in there, but a lot of people in my business. . .

Right.

turn 2 : my business, speaker does not an actual business, but means his line or work

How does the speaker refer to his occupation in turn 2?

Answer: line


I know as far as me in the glamour I always go back to self-responsibility. It really does have to start with the person. They have to make a choice to want to get educated about HIV, and learn about it. And I really think that people should realize that it's a 100 percent - 100 percent preventable disease. It's a disease you don't have to get. It is something you have to acquire. So, I really want people, you know, to get that in their head. Like, quit blaming, you know, the media, or rap videos, or you know, school systems. It really has to start with you.

If you had to describe in one word what keeps you going when you're down, what would it be?

Life. You know, just me. I'm my own motivation, I'm my own role model, you know, I love me, and I'm very happy, you know, that HIV presented itself in my life. You know, a lot of people would regret it or whatever, but it really taught me self-love, self-acceptance, and self-responsibility. And that's the best thing I could possibly ask for.

Well, Marvelyn, thank you.

turn 0 : HIV is preventable, but it requires individuals to take responsibility for educating themselves about the disease.

What disease is 100 percent preventable?

Answer: HIV


Of course. First of all, we created a group of specialized prosecutor and specialized law enforcement agencies, so we try to look at this unique phenomenon as a criminal network behind this. For this reason, we - first of all, we interview immediately the migrants when they arrive here in Palermo, in Sicily, Lampedusa and many of the towns that we are competent on - to get the material that we can use for the follow-up to our investigation - telephone numbers, identification, social network account - everything that we can use later.

And we build a trip, the route with the statements of the survivors of these terrible tragedies. But also, we had the corroboration of what we heard during our investigation directly from the traffickers operating in Africa - in Libya and Sudan - and also in Italy and in northern Europe.

Mr.  Ferrara, compared to La Cosa Nostra, are the smugglers well-organized?Are they - are they rich?

We are talking about a very structured criminal group. We are not talking about people that just put people in a boat and send them here. But we are talking really about criminal groups, very, very structured and very, very organized.

turn 1 :  implies that the investigators used information from the traffickers to further investigate the route of the people who survived the tragedies.

Which group provided corroboration for the investigation?

Answer: Traffickers


No, I'm glad to include them. Is it possible Italy will leave the eurozone, or is that just talk?

It's just talk. It's impossible. Do you remember the Eagles?This one I'm not getting that wrong because the Eagles is as important - "Hotel California. "

Sure.

You can always check out, but you can never leave. That's it.

turn 3 : You can never truly escape the influence of the Eagles' music

Which band is being referenced in turn 3?

Answer: Eagles


So after more than a week of protesting, it seems like you may be about to get what you've been asking for. There's a deal to sell the mine and money set aside to pay back wages. Does that mean you're heading home?

No. It's a step in the right direction. What's been set aside is like probably around 35, 40% of back wages on that. And they decided that they won't stay until we've been fully reimbursed.

The deal has set aside about $450,000 of an estimated 2 1/2 million that are owed to the miners.

Right. Right. That's the deal. That's Kopper Glo stepping up.

You know, some local officials have said you're actually depriving yourselves of money by blocking the tracks because you are blocking coal that would otherwise get sold. What do you say to that?

turn 1 : The amount set aside for wages is insufficient.

Which aspect of the deal was insufficient?

Answer: Amount


I think that they're at peace with it now. And we're at peace with each other. But that took - you know, that took a lot of time.

So we've already talked a bit about how the cello is this character in your life. And I want to talk about how it functions throughout this album. Let's listen to the song "Poor Fake. "

(Singing) Don't matter where you are, it'll catch right up to you. You can try to resist the feeling, set the canvas in my blues.

So cello, you know, it isn't an instrument I think of playing a huge role in pop songs. But it does play a huge role in this song and throughout other songs on the album.

turn 3 : The cello plays a significant role in the album.

What instrument is highlighted in "Poor Fake"?

Answer: Cello


So Iran, I think, is going to respond to what it sees as its advantage. If the Trump administration were prepared to say we're going to remove a good part of the sanctions on Iran if you will sit down at the table, I think Iran would probably take that very seriously. The Trump administration, because of its opposition to the nuclear deal, created a crisis that really wasn't necessary.

And it could get worse. There is a real chance of misperception and misunderstanding that leads to military conflict. And I think this is something that nobody wants.

That's Gary Sick. He's a senior research scholar at Columbia University's Middle East Institute. Mr.  Sick, thank you so much for talking to us.

It was a pleasure.

turn 0 : If the Trump administration offers to remove some of the sanctions on Iran, Iran would be willing to negotiate.

How would Iran respond if the Trump administration were willing to remove some of the sanctions?

Answer: Negotiate


So Iran, I think, is going to respond to what it sees as its advantage. If the Trump administration were prepared to say we're going to remove a good part of the sanctions on Iran if you will sit down at the table, I think Iran would probably take that very seriously. The Trump administration, because of its opposition to the nuclear deal, created a crisis that really wasn't necessary.

And it could get worse. There is a real chance of misperception and misunderstanding that leads to military conflict. And I think this is something that nobody wants.

That's Gary Sick. He's a senior research scholar at Columbia University's Middle East Institute. Mr.  Sick, thank you so much for talking to us.

It was a pleasure.

turn 1 : The situation between Iran and the US may lead to a military conflict, which nobody wants.

Which country could Iran respond to if the Trump administration removed sanctions?

Answer: Iran


Mm-hmm. Some of the stories seem to have sort of a moral to them, like the one - mysterious one I'm going to call the rectum in a jar.

Yeah, this is the case of the rectum of the Bishop of Durham. If you go to London and you visit the Hunterian Museum, it's a wonderful, wonderful - one - in fact, one of the world's few remaining big medical museums. It's part of The Royal College of Surgeons of England. If you go and visit it, on display on the main floor inside a jar is something they call object RCSHC/P192. The label identifies it as being the preserved rectum of the Bishop of Durham, and we're talking about Thomas Thurlow, who was born in 1737, died in 1791. Would you like to hear the story of why it's in a jar in London on display?

With that kind of teaser, how could I not?

OK. The - that particular Bishop of Durham was a rich and powerful man. And he came down with some ailments and called in one of the celebrated doctors of the day, John Hunter, a man who, years later, went on to found this museum. Dr.  Hunter examined him and told him he had an incurable disease and that it was bad news. The bishop did not want to accept this news, so he was very insulting to this doctor and instead went and insult - and consulted a cattle doctor who gave him some kind of nostrum.

turn 0 : The story titled 'rectum in a jar' has a moral to it

Which Bishop's preserved rectum is on display in the Hunterian Museum in London?

Answer: Bishop


Well, I think the Senate has this advise and consent role. They have a constitutional duty to vet judges. The way that's principally done is by asking hard questions about how judges think about the law. There's a lot of yardage between saying, how are you going to rule in that DACA case?That would be inappropriate. There's something entirely different about saying, I'm trying to get a sense of how you think about your job and how you think about doctrines. So tell me a little bit about cases, particularly cases that are kind of set in amber.

If cases like Brown v.  Board are set in amber, what's the value of even asking the question?

Well, that is the right question. And I think there's a cynical answer, which is, look; it's just performance art, right?I think it's probably worth the caveat that if that's the case, if this was just always what we did, then there's some signaling - an important signaling - when you suddenly decline to do it.

Do you have any reason that any of these nominees that have evaded the question of Brown v.  Board being correctly decided - do you have any reason to believe that they would be in support of overturning Brown v.  Board?

turn 2 : The actual meaning of the turn in (3) is that if the Senate only performs a ritual of asking hard questions without any intention to actually vet the judges, then declining to do that ritual is an important signal.

Which turn highlights the importance of declining to perform the ritual of asking hard questions if it is just a performance art?

Answer: Turn2


The FBI does criminal investigations better than anybody. But again, at some point in time, if you've got a stovepipe there, where the two agencies aren't talking to each other, either in Washington or on the ground you've got a real problem. And there's not an excuse for it, 13, well, 12 years now after 9/11. You know, this is - supposedly should not be rocket science but somehow it becomes that.

And to solve it, is this executive order or is this something Congress has to get involved with?

Well, this is where, you know, the interagency problem gets to be really challenging because, you know, if you look at the Constitution, every head of agency, you know, if the guy on the ground goes all the way up to his head of agency, they only report to the president. So obviously it's got to be something that the executive authority does, and he has got to delegate that authority if he is not willing to sit there and handle every crisis that comes down the pike. He has got to delegate it to somebody on the ground who can say do this thing. I don't care, you know, I don't want you talking to your agency back home. You're working for me, do it. And. . .

Gary Anderson?

turn 0 : the implied meaning of stovepipe is that there's a lack of communication between the departments.

How does PersonA describe the problem between agencies?

Answer: Communication


The so-called Energy Climate Czar, I think people are calling it. I suppose if we have a car czar, we have to have a climate czar. This is supposedly going to be Carol Browner, who was the head of EPA in both Clinton administrations, actually, I think probably the longest serving EPA director.

She's a lawyer. She used to work with Al Gore in the Senate. She has earned herself quite a reputation when she was working for President Clinton as a tough regulator, someone who defended the Clean Air Act vigorously against lawsuits brought by industry questioning some of the scope of the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act. So she comes with, again, quite a lot of green credentials and reputation for being very savvy on how Washington works.

And finally, Chris, can you tell us a bit about who is going to head up Mr.  Obama's EPA?

Again, the name that's being bandied about quite a bit about is a woman named Lisa Jackson. She is a chemical engineer, and she is working currently as the environment - she started working as the environment head for the state of New Jersey in 2006. And again, she also worked at EPA during the Clinton years, so we've got a couple of people here who were Clinton executives and environmental movers and shakers during the Clinton administration.

turn 1 : Carol Browner and Lisa Jackson are experienced environmentalists with strong backgrounds in regulation and policy.

What is one common factor between Carol Browner and Lisa Jackson's previous work experience?

Answer: Clinton


It's definitely been a massive industry for Georgia in the last 10 years because about a decade ago is when they instituted these new, very generous, lucrative tax incentives which gives productions up to 30% back depending on how much they spend and whether they're willing to put a Georgia peach logo in their credits and that sort of thing. But it's really significant money back for these major studios in Hollywood.

And what has it gotten back?

There was a record 455 films and television productions that were shot in Georgia in the last fiscal year. And they represented a $2. 7, you know, billion in direct spending, which they estimate brings in $9. 5 billion in total economic impact. So these numbers are really huge. And they have been a huge destination for feature films, and not just any sort of feature films, expensive blockbusters, the biggest of those being Marvel's "Avengers" movies, which shot at Pinewood Studios in Atlanta, which is a big production facility.

As we mentioned, studios and media companies have sent some warning signals. How likely, though, is an actual boycott?

turn 0 : The tax incentives have made Georgia a popular location for filming.

Which industry has seen significant growth in Georgia due to tax incentives?

Answer: Film


A young upstart reporter at a national news network, a political newcomer fresh from Hollywood, his opponent - a female senator firmly rooted in the establishment, a ratings-obsessed media mogul - does any of this sound familiar to you yet?Amazingly, Alisyn Camerota, a veteran news anchor and host of CNN's morning show "New Day," started writing her new novel years ago. And now the book "Amanda Wakes Up" seems like a crystal ball. Alisyn Camerota joins me from our studios in New York. Welcome to the program.

Thank you, Lulu. Great to be with you.

So are you psychic?(Laughter).

Well, there were many times, many times in the writing of this that my agent editor and I thought I was. But I think, what it turns out, is that there are some perennial favorite themes in politics and in presidential races. And I hit on them because you can predict with some certainty what will come back around.

turn 0 : "fresh from Hollywood" - This turn of phrase is used figuratively to describe someone who is new to politics and has no previous political experience. It does not mean that the person actually came from Hollywood.

How is the phrase "fresh from Hollywood" used in the dialogue?

Answer: Figuratively


And as we look ahead, these issues are going to be more and more significant, at least that's what the climate scientists tell us. How did it change to get it - make it more of a priority in people's opinions and in politics?

You know, there are various models of social change. One is the - what I call the Pearl Harbor model, where you have an event that changes everything. Sometimes its pressure is gradually building, an awareness building. I call that the Berlin Wall model where things keep building until - in the case of the Berlin Wall, it went down. And sometimes it's difficult to see those tipping points before you reach them. Almost by definition, tipping points are difficult to project and identify.

But my own sense says that we are moving toward a tipping point on the climate issue, and it's going to take a few more droughts like the one in the summer of 2012, an intense heat that greatly reduced the U. S.  grain harvest. I think it reduced the corn harvest by close to 30 percent. Or storms unlike anything we've seen before. And then we'll begin to, at some point, realize that climate change is for real. That it's dangerous and it's costly and we need to be doing something about it.

Yet, you'd like to think that we could arrive at these kinds of decisions on a rational basis. Don't need a tremendous crisis to focus our attention.

turn 2 : Climate change is real, dangerous, and costly. We need to take action.

Which issue needs more attention according to the climate scientists?

Answer: Climate


Is racism a problem at the Air Force Academy?

Racism is not a problem at the Air Force Academy. Somebody that decided to put hateful speech and someone that clearly is thinking small and someone that does not embrace our values as an Air Force Academy or as the United States Air Force decided to write something on a message board. And writing something on a message board is not going to take away our values or threaten our institution.

General, may I ask, without giving away anything you've discovered, do you know who wrote those messages?

We do not know who wrote those. The investigation is ongoing. We are fairly certain at this point based on handwriting that one person did write on the boards, but the investigation continues right now as we speak.

turn 1 : The Air Force Academy is committed to its core values and will not tolerate any form of racism or hateful speech.

What type of speech will the Air Force Academy not tolerate?

Answer: Hateful


We have what are called the three amigos. And the three amigos are Secretary Perry, again, Ambassador Volker and myself. And we've been tasked with sort of overseeing the Ukraine-U. S.  relationship.

ORDOÑEZ: And mind you that all this is happening even as Trump and his officials are in the process of ousting the U. S.  ambassador to the Ukraine, who Trump recently called bad news.

What kind of reputation has Sondland built during his brief time as a diplomat?

ORDOÑEZ: You know, in some ways, Sondland is kind of like Trump. He's a businessman. He made his name in the hotel industry. People I spoke to said he has kind of a similar brash personality - a wheeler, a dealer, someone with a lot of confidence. He's kind of a larger-than-life character. When he hosted an Independence Day celebration in Brussels, he actually brought in Jay Leno as entertainment.

turn 1 : Trump said the person is bad at their job and causes trouble to others.

Which ambassador did Trump call "bad news"?

Answer: Ukraine


So I - you either roll your eyes or you laugh at what politicians will do in support of their most fundamental instincts, which as I said is to preserve their own political viability.

It strikes me as not being all that different from what the Chinese badminton team did to try to get a better opponents in the next round.

Well, except there's one difference, right?The badminton team got thrown out of the Olympics. And in this one, if it works, you get elected to the U. S.  Senate.

It's also interesting, Senator McCaskill has said previously she's going to be much too busy campaigning to go to the Democratic National Convention to be photographed, presumably, with President Obama. She doesn't want to do that. I would think, now, congressman Akin may find himself much too busy to go to Tampa.

turn 0 : roll your eyes implies to ignore or pretend nothing happens and not rolling the eyes on the ground

Answer: Ignore


Well, crown-of-thorn starfish are found across much of the Pacific Ocean and Indian Oceans. They are - they're about dinner-plate size, multiple arms, have little thorn-like spines coming out of them. They're also quite venomous. So the last thing you want to do is touch one and have it prick you, and it can cause paralysis.

But the important part for the corals is that these things are wonderful eating machines. They move slowly across the reef. They actually invert their stomach onto the corals and dissolve the coral tissue, you know, digesting it as they go. And they leave (technical difficulties) white behind them as they move forward.

So they're like little bulldozers.

Yeah, it's sort of like bulldozers. It's almost more like having a wave of people with flamethrowers going through the brush. You know, the coral physically is left behind, but it's all dead.

turn 1 : Crown-of-thorn starfish eat coral and leave it dead behind

What do crown-of-thorn starfish leave behind after they eat coral?

Answer: Dead


Thanks for allowing me to be on your show.

You didn't have kind words for Donald Trump in that interview, but why did you think Democrats who want to impeach him are misguided?

I've sat through impeachment. I understand that it's not a walk in the park. It takes a supermajority to impeach a president, and it's just not going to happen. And I think that we would be better off focusing on health care, the huge, huge amounts of money in politics that is ruining the body politic, climate change, which is sweeping the world.

So what I think you're saying is you need to - the Democrats have to have another message that isn't solely about removing the president.

turn 2 : Democrats should focus on other important issues like healthcare, money in politics, and climate change rather than impeaching Trump.

Which issues does "A" think Democrats should focus on instead of impeaching Trump?

Answer: Healthcare,Money,Climate


The Staples Singers, Booker T and the MGs, Isaac Hayes and more - but the Stax tale isn't just one of another record company that became an international sensation. It's a story of tragedy - business and personal. But most importantly, it's a tale that features racial harmony in a city with a troubled racial history. In the late '50s and early '60s, Memphis, Tennessee was a city divided.

It was a city that you might say had hate pulsing through its veins.

That's author Robert Gordon. He lives in Memphis. His new book is "Respect Yourself: Stax Records and the Soul Explosion. "But Stax didn't start as an explosion of soul. The owners of Stax Records, Jim Stewart and Estelle Axton, set out to do something very different.

They were two white siblings. Jim was a white country fiddle player. You just wouldn't believe how far black music was from their minds at the time.

turn 2 :  "an explosion of soul" - The literal meaning of this turn is that there was a sudden and powerful growth of soul music. The figurative meaning is that Stax Records played a major role in popularizing soul music and creating a cultural movement around it.

What did the owners of Stax Records set out to do?

Answer: Different


You have to remember that this issue of sexual abuse has almost been, you know, an unspoken thing in British society. And really we don't have many tools for it. There are no public information campaigns, sex education is pretty poor, we don't have the tools available. We probably can't arrest our way out of this problem as one, you know, expert told me. We just have refused as a society to take it seriously, and we're surprised because when we look, we find.

Recognizing that there's a sanctified legal process that has to proceed, has anyone been disciplined for what sounds like pretty gross abuse and neglect?

No. And that is a big problem. The Council officials are saying there's not enough evidence or there's not a finger of blame being pointed at any individuals and no individual should resign - its collective. I mean, this is part of the problem of this process is that we don't actually have anybody taking the fall, taking the rap. And, you know, they've put themselves in positions where they're not liable to know the facts. The consequences of that just build up through the years. But you started off with 90 kids in this situation, you ended up with 1,400 kids being left to, you know, the worst kind of abuse.

Randeep Ramesh, who is social affairs editor for The Guardian newspaper. Thanks very much for speaking with us.

turn 1 : "No individual should resign - it's collective" - The turn means that the problem lies with the collective system, and no one individual can be solely held responsible. The literal meaning of the sentence would be that no one should resign from their position.

How was the responsibility for the problem of sexual abuse described in the dialogue?

Answer: Collective


Right.

It's untrustworthy. It's greasy. But that's a stereotype of Chinese restaurants and Asian food that reflects a lot of stereotypes about the people as well, that they're untrustworthy, that they're dirty, that you don't know if they're going to sneak dog meat into your meal, right?That sort of thing.

Exactly. And also, a lot of those stereotypes about Chinese food that we're talking about are about Americanized Chinese food. You know, like, that it's greasy or overly sweet. We're talking about dishes like lo mein, kung pao chicken, sweet and sour pork. That's not real Chinese food.

Yeah. I mean, it's food that was adapted by the people who started these restaurants, these working class Chinese immigrants, to fit the market they were in, right?When you think about Joyce Chen, for instance, who was this historic really important figure in Chinese-American cuisine, she brought Northern Chinese food to Boston, to New England. And she was often called the Julia Child of Chinese food. She called dumplings Peking ravioli to fit the market. . .

turn 3 : she is often called the julia child means that she is the most famous chef

Which figure in Chinese-American cuisine was known as the Julia Child of Chinese food?

Answer: JoyceChen


You know, one of the things - you know, getting back to your book, "The National Team" - one of the things that your book makes clear and what some people frankly might find shocking is just how early these issues started for women's soccer. I mean, there's something almost like on every other page about this. I'll just read one one paragraph. (Reading) While each player on the men's team got a $10,000 bonus for qualifying for the 1990 World Cup, the women received only a couple of T-shirts for qualifying for the 1991 Women's World Cup. The shirts featured the logo of Budweiser, a U. S.  Soccer sponsor. The players sarcastically call them their $5,000 T-shirts.

(Laughter).

OK. I just, you know - how has this been justified through the years?

You have to admire the sense of humor that the players had about it. You know, I think it would be unfair to sit here and say that it hasn't improved. But U. S.  Soccer - the women's national team started in 1985. The players were given uniforms that were clearly, like, leftover men's uniforms. And?The players before the first ever U. S.  Women's National Team game were up the night before sewing and cutting their uniforms so they would fit.

turn 3 : The female players were not given proper uniforms, showing the lack of resources and support for the female national team.

What was the bonus given to the female players for qualifying the 1991 Women's World Cup?

Answer: None


Really.

But they removed like some G - from what I understand, you can't like ping it for like GPS location. So I believe GPS types of tracking or chips have been removed out of it. So I think it is a stripped down and highly secure BlackBerry.

One of the things and you mentioned this earlier, Mario, that the president wants to do - he wants to put everybody on the Internet who wants access to it, and he's trying to expand it into rural areas.

I'm sorry.

turn 1 : stripped down in this context means that some extra things the product could have were taken away, likely to keep it cheaper for consumer purposes.

Answer: Modified


. . . Entities. . .

Correct.

. . . Like - nongovernmental groups like terrorist organizations.

Yeah, the terrorist organizations or. . .

turn 2 : Specifically mentioning terrorist organizations as an example of non-governmental entities

How did PersonA respond to PersonB's mention of non-governmental groups?

Answer: Yeah


I gather there were women who asked you for medical help.

Yes. So some of the women who had been raped asked to know if they were pregnant. One of the most heartbreaking things I would have to do would be to confirm for women that they were, indeed, pregnant as a result of rape. Some of them were requesting testing for sexually transmitted infections, which we couldn't do on the boat, but we helped to arrange in Italy once we arrived there.

One of the things I say about my Doctors Without Borders work is that I often come across the best of humanity, but I also come across the worst of humanity. And these women, especially, told me of things that had happened to them that it never occurred to me that humans could do that to one another.

All right, Dr.  Giles, you have at least a few ears in America right now. What do we need to hear?

turn 2 : "I often come across the best of humanity, but I also come across the worst of humanity." This turn uses the figurative language of "the best" and "the worst" of humanity, which refers to the admirable actions and the despicable actions of people, respectively. It does not mean that the speaker encounters people who are entirely good or entirely bad.

Which figurative language does turn 2 use?

Answer: Figurative


It goes into the ecosystem, and it will be assimilated most likely based on past history. What is actually overflows is more dilute than what it would have been without the rain. And then with everything else that's coming down the river, it will get assimilated into the ecosystem one way or another. In a case like this where there's the major flooding, most of the nutrients are going to get carried on out into the ocean.

Why in this day and age are there still hog lagoons and we haven't come up with a better way?

There are better ways. It's just that they're expensive ways. And from a farming standpoint, the margins are typically slim. And so it's just - there's - lagoons are still an effective method for waste treatment and fairly resilient. You know, some of the new systems that have been evaluated were highly mechanical systems, high energy requirements. And so, you know, during a storm event or where there's electricity is off for several days, those systems aren't going to work at all. And so you're still going to have a potential for release of wastewater.

Yeah. Mr.  Rice, I found myself very affected this week to read that amidst all the devastation and suffering of many people through Hurricane Florence, according to reports, about 5,500 pigs died during the storm.

turn 0 : The overflow will not cause harm to the ecosystem.

How will the overflow affect the ecosystem?

Answer: assimilation


Our unlikely shrew story comes from his new book, "This is Improbable: Cheese String Theory, Magnetic Chickens and Other WTF Research," where he's collected all sorts of scientific studies you can't take seriously but you can't dismiss either. Welcome back to SCIENCE FRIDAY, Marc.

Hi, Ira. Did I just hear you say the Animals of Improbable Research?

Did I say?I don't think I did. But maybe I did. I'd be happy to have - put that in there.

OK.  We, believe it or not, get a lot of letters addressed to that.

turn 1 : Asking if the Animals of Improbable Research were mentioned even though they were not explicitly mentioned.

How did PersonA respond to the mention of Animals of Improbable Research?

Answer: accepting


Who happens to be black.

You know.

And happens to be benched right now.

Happens to be benched. What do you make of this?I think Vince's issues I think are quite different from Tarvaris. I think there was a lot of pressure on Vince from the time he came out of Texas to kind of be the black Johnny Unitas, and he's going to - they'll both have an opportunity to sit and watch, and hopefully come back with a vengeance.

One really quick other black quarterback not in the league at the moment, in Atlanta, Michael Vick. Is Matt Ryan, the replacement, making Atlanta Falcon fans forget Michael Vick?

turn 0 : The person being black is relevant to the conversation

How is the person being discussed identified?

Answer: black


And what that piece was about, the previous show was about immigration. It was called, Immigration Stories. And the idea that we are all exiting our countries now by any means necessary, by boat, by train, by plane. And the Golden Ticket was the name of that piece, and I found an old Mexican airplane at a Mexican flea market, and I had it redone in gold leaf paint. And it's literally covered in black and brown babies.

In the sense of, I used babies because of the innocence that we think we're going to this golden place where life will be better. And when it's mounted, they're hanging out of the doors, it's just littered. And the runway is the old middle passage of all the slaves on the slave ships.

Before we let you go, of course, I have to ask what you're working on now?What are you doing in the world of acting?

Well, I've kind of got two wonderful things going for me at the same time. You know, my husband and I own the first Museum of Contemporary Art in Descartes. And this was the year he was finally recognized by the European Union. So, we've actually had an acknowledgement that a private museum exists and lives, and it's the most beautiful place in Descartes, so I'm really proud of that.

turn 0 : "And it's literally covered in black and brown babies." - Here, the word "literally" is used for emphasis, but the statement is not to be taken literally. The airplane is not actually covered in babies, but rather has depictions of them on its exterior.

Answer: Black,Brown


Hopelessness and uncertainty.

Are people trying to leave, and is that something you've considered?

Many people have no choice. And they think - the only thing - I can leave the country. But how can they do that with the huge amount of limitations on Iranians' travelings (ph) and economical limits?They cannot do that. It is very, very difficult for them. And now we see a lot of Iranians who are abroad the country who are evacuating. They cannot do it anymore because of the higher dollar prices. They have to return to the country. It is very difficult situation for them.

Well, thank you so much for speaking with us and sharing your story.

turn 2 : Leaving the country is not a viable option for many Iranians due to travel limitations and economic difficulties.

What is the reason why many Iranians cannot leave the country?

Answer: limitations


And yeah. Like I said, the video can be used for good. And that's why I think the premise of body camera footage is good. But where problems emerge is when government officials and police officials push back against making that footage public because that's the whole reason. The reason is to bring transparency to police interactions. And if government officials push against that, it goes against the entire premise.

One of the very interesting points that you make in your book is that the federal government has investigated alternatives to lethal force and improving police-community relations for decades. I mean, you highlight a report that was commissioned by President Johnson, President Lyndon Johnson in 1967 in response to the Watts riots. And you said that it proposes really not so much an emphasis on technology but an emphasis on relationships, on communication and teaching police officers how to communicate better with the public, how to - it's more of like a - I don't know what word to use. Would you say humanistic approach?And. . .

Absolutely. That's a great word for it.

And that you say that there's - these kinds of - these techniques have never really been implemented because they were deemed to be too expensive. But you also point out that technology is expensive. The police departments spend a huge amount on these technologies that you say don't work. So what - my question to you is, why do you think these techniques have not gotten more traction?

turn 3 : The federal government has investigated alternatives to lethal force and improving police-community relations for decades, but these techniques have not gained enough traction.

Which techniques have not gained enough traction despite being investigated by the federal government for decades?

Answer: Techniques


Well, I think there's a growing consensus towards some form of certiship(ph), nationalization. I was very interested that Alan Greenspan, you know, noted as a conservative, has said that it looks like we will have no alternative for some of the banks but to nationalize them. And, this is what Sweden, Norway did, and it worked very well.

Why?What's the strength behind nationalizing banks?

First, you solve the problem of the misalignment between ownership and control. We provided to the banks now most of their capital, but we have no control, and they're going to be exercising using our money for their interest. And that's why we saw what we've seen in the last few months. We gave them a huge amount of money. We poured money into the banks, and they poured money out in the form of bonuses and in the form of dividends.

Now, if they were maximizing our interest, if they were maximizing the reason that the society gave them this money, they would have been using this money for lending or, the very least, for re-capitalizing the banks. That's why we gave them the money. But they were maximizing their own interest, and it was in their interest to pay this money out in bonuses and pay it out in dividends. That just illustrates the nature of the risk when there's a separation of ownership and control.

turn 2 : Pouring money is a metaphor, not literal. It just means the government gave a lot of money to the bank, who spent a lot on bonuses and dividends.

Which term is used metaphorically to describe the government's action towards the banks?

Answer: Pouring


Now for a little news I could use - book recommendations. My Memorial Day weekend starts right after the show. And like most people, I'm looking for summer reads, something to put in my bag next to my SPF 100. Normally I would solicit recommendations on social media. But today I don't have to because WEEKEND EDITION books editor Barrie Hardymon joins me in studio now. Hey, Barrie.

Hi. I also have sunscreen recommendations for later if you want them.

(Laughter) First I want to start off with what I would ask you, is that my favorite kind of summer read is just the frothy page-turner, the one book that everyone's reading that HBO or Netflix is going to turn into a movie or TV show sometime next year.

You want your basic "Gone Girl. "

turn 3 : it does not mean "gone Girl" but something like "gone girl"

Which book does PersonA suggest as a summer read, similar to "Gone Girl"?

Answer: Frothy


Well, I mean, on the one hand, you had - the Manafort indictment does not mention Trump. And - but the guilty plea that was unsealed involving this other campaign adviser, George Papadopoulos, does mention Trump. And the greater sort of uncertainty surrounds that guilty plea at this moment because it is a signal that they already have testimony from this person, already have emails and other records showing the extensive contacts of this person with others in the Trump administration. They're basically saying we know more than you guys think we do.

George Papadopoulos - has he been wearing a wire?

That's a good question. I mean, I think it's fair to assume that Trump's lawyers are looking at that question very carefully.

Carter Page and Hope Hicks, according to reports, are going to be questioned. Carter Page has a history with and in Russia, doesn't he?

turn 3 : (4) - "Carter Page and Hope Hicks, according to reports, are going to be questioned" - This implies that they will be called to testify in front of a grand jury or similar proceeding, rather than just being asked questions in an informal setting.

What proceeding will Carter Page and Hope Hicks be questioned in?

Answer: Grand


Finally, the Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to vote next week on the Brett Kavanaugh nomination to the Supreme Court. There were grave charges this week that surfaced, alleging that Brett Kavanaugh committed a sexual assault during high school. What do we know about this?

According to The New Yorker, a woman who knew Kavanaugh in high school notified her congresswoman, and also Senator Dianne Feinstein, that at a party back in the early '80s, Kavanaugh had held her down and tried to force himself on her. Now Kavanaugh emphatically denies that, and Feinstein didn't bring this up during the confirmation hearings.

The White House suggests this is an eleventh-hour stalling tactic. And yesterday, Chuck Grassley, the Republican chairman of the Judiciary Committee, released a letter signed by 65 women who say they knew Kavanaugh in high school and testifying to his good character.

NPR's Scott Horsley, thanks so much.

turn 1 : Feinstein didn't bring up the sexual assault allegations during the confirmation hearings, possibly to use it as a stalling tactic.

What was the reason for Feinstein not bringing up the sexual assault allegations during the confirmation hearings?

Answer: Stalling


I am doing great, but consumer confidence, not so much. It's at its lowest level since the early 1990s. What exactly does that mean?

The Conference Board surveys consumers about what they think is going to happen, about how confident they are. It's important because consumer confidence determines lots of discretionary spending. In other words, if you can buy a car this year or next year and you think the economy is going to turn down or you're worried about your job, you're going to postpone that car purchase. Well, that's a great decision for the Chideya residence, but it might not be for the economy if it's multiplied by thousands or tens of thousands. So people predicate their spending on what they think is going to happened into the economy. It doesn't affect our spending on things like food or things we can't, we have no discretion over - gasoline, perhaps, if you have to commute with your car, other kinds of things.

But there are some things that you'll make decisions - I'm not going to do this now. Some people are holding back from the housing market, although this is a particularly good time to get in, because interest rates are low and because the market is troubled. But some younger people are holding back because they're not so sure what their jobs are going to be like. So when consumer confidence is down, you can expect that spenders are withholding some of their spending.

There's also signs that the cost of imported goods are rising. Is that because of gasoline prices?Or what's driving that?

turn 2 : The speaker may be hinting at a desire for something or someone, but is hesitant to express it directly, possibly due to fear of rejection or embarrassment.

How does the speaker feel about spending when consumer confidence is down?

Answer: Withhold


For many people in Hollywood, Weinstein's behavior did not come as a surprise. Rumors had circulated for years, and that gossip network helped warn some women away from him. Anne Helen Petersen is Buzzfeed's culture writer. She argues that gossip has a vital purpose, especially in Hollywood.

You know, I don't think that all gossip is progressive or feminist. You know, gossip is a major way of policing women's behavior. But at the same time, gossip about which men are dangerous, which men you shouldn't go on to lunch alone with - that sort of information is currency that women use to protect one another.

And in this last week, a document surfaced that was essentially a burn book for men in - who work in the media. The contributors are women who work in the industry, and the accusations are anonymous. They're unsubstantiated. The complaints range from rape to being unsupportive of female colleagues. It's a real range, and it puts illegal behavior, in a way, on the same level as dislikable and unfair behavior. So when does gossip become destructive and more about maligning people than really identifying serious abusers?

This is the - you know, with the thing about gossip networks, sometimes called whisper networks, is that the reason that they work is because you know the woman who is saying the thing to you. So I can - when someone says to me, this is what type of guy this is, I can decide what to do with that information based on that woman.

turn 1 :  "gossip is a major way of policing women's behavior" - The actual meaning is not that gossip is used to regulate women's behavior, but rather that it is often used as a tool for spreading information about potentially dangerous men, helping women protect themselves.

What is the purpose of gossip in Hollywood according to Anne Helen Petersen?

Answer: Protect


Other than describing him as a populist, can you describe his politics to us?

Well, he has a combination of sort of radicalism, and he doesn't want high-speed trains. He want the unemployment benefits for everyone. But also, he said he wants a referendum on the euro - which, of course, is completely the pie in the sky. But these he's got, also, some wise - says some wise things, says, for instance, we have to stop showering political parties with public money.

I know you, in the United States, you have different problems with money and politics. But in Europe, especially in Italy, too much money - public money, our money goes to political parties. He say: Two terms is enough in parliament. And he says things that, actually, sort of people like to hear. And that's why he could share those points. You could leave the populist and the radical things aside and find those things that he share with the Italian Democratic Party - which, by the way, is not that different from your Democratic Party. The big difference, that you have Obama, and in Italy, we have Bersani.

Well, a lot of people are interested in another name that begins with a B, and that is Berlusconi. He left office in disgrace. He is still facing numerous trials, and yet here he is, back, a major player once again.

turn 1 : The politician holds some wise ideas despite his radical and populist views.

What kind of views does the politician hold besides being radical and populist?

Answer: Treasury


So I always tell people, look at your many choices. Don't close any doors. But the fact is that, you know, take your passion, take it as far as you can, but understand you've got to make a living, and you've got to pay the loan back.

What about people like you, who are college presidents?What challenges are you facing in trying to make sure that you can get a broad variety of students from different backgrounds?

Farai, you know, what keeps me up at night is the young women who want to be admitted but don't have the dollars, the young women who are students who are continuing, who are saying, I need more financial aid, the young women whose parents can't take out another loan. That literally keeps me up at night. If you see me again and I'm gray, that's what did it.

I mean literally. I mean, I wake up in the - you know, I wake up in the middle of the night and say, how can I find money for these young people?It is a challenge.

turn 3 : The college president is struggling to find funding for students.

How does the college president feel about the financial aid for young women?

Answer: loan


And how did this start?

Well, about 20 years ago, we were thinking about doing a literary magazine because at the time there weren't too many journals out there for new writers. There weren't many literary journals at all during that time. And so we stumbled upon an idea that we had started with one of our friends from college where he had given me a first line to start a story. And then I would write the story. And then I would send it to him. And I'd give him a first line. And he would start a story. And he would send that back to me. And we did that. And so we decided that we'd open that up to the rest of the world.

How many stories do you typically get?

We run between 300 and 450 submissions in issue.

turn 2 : "How many stories do you typically get?" - This turn has a literal meaning and it is asking for the number of stories that the magazine usually receives.

Which number reflects the typical submission range of stories in an issue?

Answer: 300


Well, Bill Kristol is also a friend of mine. And I think one of the things that is very difficult when you are - he very intensely support - committed McCain supporter. We all have things we would like the election to be about. And Bill, very understandably, would like the election to be about, thank you, Senator McCain, for being right about the surge, as indeed he was right about the surge.

Unfortunately, the voters get to decide what it's about. And from their point of view, it's about financial collapse. And John McCain has never had a consistent message about that. It's way too late now. I mean, that's kind of what you have to do a year before, but that was not a set of issues that interested him. His economic message has never been strong. It's shifted a lot, and so it has been difficult to convey.

I think, at this point, yeah, McCain can talk certainly about national security and how he was right about these issues. It's hard to imagine that when 401Ks are down by 40 percent, when house values in many places are down by 20 percent and more, what voters are going to say other than - well, we'll build a statue to you for the surge, but that doesn't make you entitled to be president.

David Frum is a conservative political writer, a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, speaking with us again from Washington. David, thank you.

turn 1 : John McCain's economic message is weak and inconsistent.

Which message of John McCain has been difficult to convey?

Answer: B


Oh, yeah. The kids who were studied were in the one-and-a-half years to five-year range. In each case, it was only one parent deployed. They all lived on the same Marine base, which was actually Portsmouth, Virginia. They were all enrolled in a base-supplied childcare program, which allowed them to be studied more closely.

There was one atypical thing, by the way, which is that the deployments were shorter than one would expect. The average was only three and a half months, and we know that many deployments are a year or a year-and-a-half or even longer than that.

And still, even though it was a short deployment, the researchers still saw negative consequences.

Yes, yeah. The whole question of behavioral change was studied by having both parents and teachers fill out questionnaires about the child's behavior. And these kids were compared with other kids on the same base. The only difference is, the comparison kids didn't have a parent deployed to a combat zone.

And what were they measuring, what kinds of behavior?

turn 1 : Short deployments had negative consequences, contrary to expectations.

How were the deployments expected to affect the children?

Answer: Negatively


And those two factors - genetic variation and large populations - are perfect recipes for Darwinian evolution. So RNA viruses evolve very quickly. They adapt very quickly. If they pass from one species of host into another - for instance, from a bat, or a monkey or a rodent, into humans - they seem to have a better chance of flourishing, of adapting to the new host and finding ways to transmit onward. So the RNA viruses, the single-stranded RNA viruses, are particularly on the watch list for the disease scientists who study this field.

I'm Flora Lichtman, and this is SCIENCE FRIDAY from NPR, talking with David Quammen about his book "Spillover. "Are we reservoir hosts for viruses that have caused pandemics in other animals?

Well, certainly we've caused disease. It does go the other way. It can go either direction whenever there's fairly close contact. For instance, Jane Goodall's chimps in Gombe in Tanzania, in the late '60s, suffered what seems to have been a little epidemic of polio. A number of the Gombe chimps died.

And that polio virus is thought to be non-zoonotic. It's thought to be a virus that only affects humans, but it's capable of passing from humans into chimps. So it seems to have made those chimps sick and killed some of them.

turn 2 : Humans and chimpanzees can transmit viruses to each other.

Which two species can transmit viruses to each other?

Answer: Humans,Chimpanzees


Well, it's interesting. What you find in the data is that Trump did very well among self-described evangelicals. But he did far better among self-described evangelicals who don't regularly attend church. Cruz destroyed him amongst evangelicals who go to church regularly.

And what's also important about that is there's a lot of evidence that white Americans who don't regularly attend church do worse economically and are much more pessimistic about the state of the country. And that's also what Trump tapped into, this sense of deep pessimism about the state of the country. And that pessimism is greater among Americans who don't regularly attend religious services.

And you just - according to your article, you don't see this in just one side of the political divide, do you?

No. What's interesting is that the same divide you see between Ted Cruz and Donald Trump voters, you also saw between Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton voters. So if you look at white Democrats, white Democrats who went to church were much more - religious institutions at all - much more likely to be Hillary Clinton supporters. Bernie Sanders much more likely to win the votes of those who did not regularly attend religious institutions.

turn 2 : The speaker is implying that the same divide between religious people and non-religious people is present across the political spectrum, not just within one party.

Which political candidates were more likely to win the votes of white Democrats who did not regularly attend religious institutions?

Answer: Bernie


Burnt hair, desiccated strawberry, armpit, you know (laughter).

Very precise and unusual.

And there's also this new trajectory to incorporate the language of science. So instead of saying that something smells like green bell pepper, sommeliers are now describing it as smelling of pyrazines, which, by the way, is a chemical that is present in both sauvignon blanc and cabernet sauvignon grapes and in green bell peppers. So don't always roll your eyes at the sommelier.

I don't roll my eyes at the sommelier. I've actually always been intimidated by interacting with the sommelier. I wanted to ask you if you would take a moment to sort of teach someone like me. Can you walk me through it?

A lot of us, when we're given the wine list, treat it as a multiple-choice test. We're handed this list of a hundred options. And we have until the sommelier circles back to us to figure out the right answer.

Exactly.

turn 2 : In this turn, the literal meaning of "incorporate the language of science" would imply using scientific terminology to describe wine aromas. However, the actual meaning is that sommeliers are adopting a more scientific approach to describing aromas by referring to specific chemicals present in the wine or food.

How are sommeliers incorporating science into their wine descriptions?

Answer: Aromas


What would be risky about it, from the Nicolas Maduro point of view?

Well, there'd certainly be retaliatory measures from the U. S. , very likely more sanctions. There would be a massive outcry from Guaido's dozens of other international allies. The EU's warned that this would be a major escalation in tensions. And there'll be a lot of anger from the multitude of Guaido's supporters here in Venezuela.

Guaido himself says that any attempt by Maduro's government to detain him would be - as he put it - without doubt, one of that government's last mistakes. So we don't know, Steve. I mean, it's not clear that Maduro's concluded that he's in a strong enough position to do this. But it is a possibility.

And I guess we don't know if Guaido intends to go to a border crossing and present his passport or if he intends to sneak in some way. Is it known what path he plans to take?

turn 1 :  "There would be a massive outcry from Guaido's dozens of other international allies." - The use of the word "dozens" is figurative, indicating that Guaido has a significant number of international allies, but not necessarily just dozens.

How many international allies does Guaido have according to the implied meaning of turn 1?

Answer: Significant


Hello.

What happened to you this morning?What happened in Kathmandu?

Well, we were on a staff retreat with our editors and reporters up on a mountaintop overlooking Kathmandu Valley. And it felt as if I was propelled two meters up into the air. It was just such a heavy jolt. And when we looked down at the city, it looked like it had been completely destroyed because there was a ball of dust covering the entire valley in which Kathmandu is situated. And we thought the whole city had been destroyed. But as we got down back into the city through the roads, it looked like it wasn't as bad as we initially feared. Many of the residential buildings were damaged, but seem to be intact. On the other hand, the monuments of the world heritage sites in Kathmandu - Bhaktapur and Patan - many of them have been completely destroyed.

Mr.  Dixit, have you been able to get a handle on how extensive the damage is in Nepal and for that matter the region 'cause there are reports that India's also been affected.

turn 2 : A: "And when we looked down at the city, it looked like it had been completely destroyed because there was a ball of dust covering the entire valley in which Kathmandu is situated." The city was not actually completely destroyed, but the dust made it difficult to see and gave the impression that it had been destroyed.

Which impression did the dust give about the city?

Answer: Impression


There isn't. And I think the interesting thing about this government is they have cut the Argentine military budget so severely in the last few years that even if Argentina wanted to invade the Falklands, they would be incapable of doing so. So that's one good thing.

So what does this campaign amount to then besides words?

Well, they're trying to put economic pressure on Britain. And I think actually the British are a little bit worried about it. They are stopping cruise ships that come from the Falklands, not allowing them to dock in Argentina. They are pressuring the Chileans to cut off the one air link between Chile and the Falkland Islands. They are calling on Argentine manufacturers to cut down on the import of British goods. And I think the worry is that they will make this into a regional campaign, that they will try and persuade the Brazilians, the Peruvians and others to start putting economic pressure on Britain as well.

And the rallying cry of anti-colonialism has a lot of residents in South America.

Which country's military budget has been cut so severely that they would be incapable of invading the Falklands, according to turn 0?

Answer: Argentina


So that's the drug industry's argument against this proposal. They say that because of insurance coverage, hardly anyone pays the price the Trump administration is forcing these drug makers to include in their ads. That price is often called the list price or the sticker price, as we said. Drugmakers argue that including that price would scare consumers off from even going to their doctor and asking about a drug because they'd see a sky-high list price, and they would think - I can't afford that; I'm not going to go to the doctor.

Well, now that's interesting because that could be bad for someone's health. But is that actually what the government may want in some cases - for a consumer to make an informed decision that this drug just seems really pricey for the benefits alleged with it?

So I don't think the Trump administration would go that far. They say that this is the start of a conversation between a consumer and their doctor about a drug. They really want to try to get drugmakers to lower their prices. They've, countless times now, sort of shamed drug companies and said - if you're ashamed of your price, if you don't want to put it in your ad, lower the price.

And we should note that this is only for somewhat more expensive drugs - more than $35 per month. That's who the rule - that's what the drugs that the rule applies to. Hasn't one company, though, already gone ahead and just done this?

turn 2 : The Trump administration wants drug companies to lower their prices.

How does the Trump administration want drug companies to respond to their shaming?

Answer: Lower


It's interesting, these papers that you brought with you, or sent to us, about how - these are the tricks that people use, and they can actually test out whether they work or not.

Yeah. These are things that a lot of good cooks probably know, whether they realized they know them or not. But exactly what these things are are a little fuzzy because everybody's a little different. There are some scientists in England and there are other groups, especially in the Netherlands, that have been running tests for years, and they tend to sound kind of bizarre. They'll prepare some food. They'll give it to different people to eat. And later, the people will realize that something else was changing while they were eating it, something in the atmosphere.

Mm-hmm. And they - in one test, they gave people some ice cream that tasted like bacon?

Yeah. This is - Charles Spence is the main scientist. He's at the University of Oxford. He teamed up with one of the famous chefs in England, and they made something which sounds really crazy, bacon and egg ice cream, which I'm told is really pretty good, tastes like bacon and eggs. And they served bacon and egg ice cream to a bunch of people. And they had them do some sort of rating about how bacony does it taste, or how eggy does it taste?And they would play sounds. And whenever they would play the sound of frying bacon, you know, that crackling sound, people would consistently say that the thing tasted a lot more bacony to them. . .

turn 1 : When they say things are a little fuzzy they mean things are unclear.

Which word describes the clarity of the things mentioned in PersonA's statement?

Answer: Clarity


Thank you. Good to be here.

Let's start with that refugee situation in Jordan. The current foreign minister says the country is being strained. There are reports that the fleeing is expected to continue. Do you expect Jordan will eventually have to close the border?

I don't think Jordan will close the border. Jordan has been in such a situation before, if you remember during the first Gulf crisis and then the second one where large numbers of Iraqis, third country nationals came to Jordan, fleeing the conflict. And as a general policy, Jordan has never closed its borders. That does not mean that it is not being tasked by these large number of refugees, but I don't think and I don't expect the borders to be closed.

And that issue of strain then, how badly are Jordan's resources being tasked?

turn 2 : Jordan is unlikely to close its borders to refugees despite the strain on its resources.

How has Jordan handled similar situations in the past?

Answer: Open


Lauren, can you help us appreciate the reaction of the Spanish public at this point?

Well, the Spanish public has not looked favorably, perhaps unsurprisingly, on this investigation. The royal family's approval ratings are at record lows. King Juan Carlos is 76 years old. He's been in and out of hospitals for the past few years and the most infamous health scare he had was two years ago when he broke his hip while on a very expensive elephant hunting trip in Africa.

The public only found out about his safari when he broke his hip and had to be flown home to Spain. The trip cost several times the average Spaniard's annual salary so that elephant hunt did not go over well here. But in general, this investigation into the princess' finances has served as a sort of reckoning for the country. A few years ago, when Spain's economy was booming, nobody really bothered to examine anyone's finances carefully, from the royals to the construction companies that were building like mad all over Spain to regular people's taxes. And now, everything is being examined and Spaniards are realizing that just like them, even their princess may have been living way beyond her means.

Lauren Frayer in Madrid, thanks so much.

turn 2 :  is that the investigation into the princess' finances has served as a lesson to the Spanish public that they are not above the law and should be held accountable

What was the public's reaction to King Juan Carlos' elephant hunting trip?

Answer: Unfavorably


And how did this start?

Well, about 20 years ago, we were thinking about doing a literary magazine because at the time there weren't too many journals out there for new writers. There weren't many literary journals at all during that time. And so we stumbled upon an idea that we had started with one of our friends from college where he had given me a first line to start a story. And then I would write the story. And then I would send it to him. And I'd give him a first line. And he would start a story. And he would send that back to me. And we did that. And so we decided that we'd open that up to the rest of the world.

How many stories do you typically get?

We run between 300 and 450 submissions in issue.

turn 3 : (4) is the same as its literal meaning, which is stating the range of submissions received by the literary magazine.

How many submissions does the literary magazine usually receive?

Answer: 300


I think as friends, the guys that were there, we took it a lot harder than anybody else. But yup, I have.

What about life in the United States after you've been in a war zone?When you come back and you put your foot on American soil, I'm sure that there are a lot of emotions. What are some of the different things that happen to you as you ease back into civilian life?

I don't think there's an easing to it. You say put my foot on American soil. As soon as I stepped off that plane in Indianapolis, I fell face forward onto the tarmac and started hugging the ground because I was so happy to be home. I guess the hardest part, especially being a convoy commander on the road, is dealing with traffic out on the expressway. It's kind of scary there because you're constantly scanning the roads, and, you know, you see people up behind you, tailgating you. And me, I get upset because, you know, I'm doing it now. When you talk about it, it flashes through your mind.

You want to push people out of the way because in Iraq, we had total control of the road. We owned the road, and if you got in our way, we'd push you off to the side. But here, at home, you can't do that. That'd be classified as road rage, and I have to watch my attitude when I'm driving, still.

turn 3 : The phrase "push you off to the side" is figurative and means to physically force someone to move out of the way. The speaker is using this expression to describe their aggressive driving style in Iraq, which is not acceptable behavior on American roads. The phrase "watch my attitude" is also figurative, as it means to monitor and control one's behavior and emotions rather than their physical posture or demeanor.

What does the phrase "watch" in turn 3 mean?

Answer: Monitor


Oh, absolutely. I mean, you've been very lucky as a Cubs fan. You've always had Wrigley Field, which is an intimate stadium. And that's what these new stadiums are trying to recreate. Even Yankee Stadium, if you go on their website today, Scott, they actually tout the fact that home plate is 27 feet closer than in the old Yankee Stadium.

So they bring in the home plate. They bring in the sidelines. Everybody's much closer to the action, but they're also closer to the danger. And they haven't had a corresponding increase in the safety precautions up the lines.

Does the netting remove what can be a very exciting play in foul territory - the catcher, the third baseman, the first baseman, reaching over and snagging a pop foul?

You know, maybe there's some of that. I think there's some fear that players won't be able to make quite the plays that they were in the past. You know, we've lived with netting behind home plate. And those are the best seats in the house. And they're always filled. You don't hear catchers complaining too much about the netting behind them. The seats up the line are just as dangerous.

turn 1 : The speaker is implying that the increase in closeness to the action is not matched by an increase in safety, so people may be put in danger.

Which aspect of the new stadiums does the speaker imply may put people in danger?

Answer: Increase


Yes. There are tens of thousands of North Koreans who are hiding in China today. At the peak in the late '90s, early 2000s, there were more than half a million. But in - about 25,000 have made it safely to South Korea where they're living today. And about 140, 150 have come to the United States, and there have been several hundred who've gone to Europe.

And this underground railroad, obviously the phrase we associate with escaped slaves from the South before the Civil War, but the analogy, you say, is apt.

The analogy is very similar. It's a secret network of safe houses and routes - secret routes across the country. It's staffed. It's operated mostly by Christians, similar to the original Underground Railroad, though there are also people who are in it for the money who are involved - brokers and human traffickers. And many of the people who help the North Koreans in China are ethnically Korean. That is they're Korean-Chinese or they're South Korean or there are - they are Americans who are of Korean heritage. I interviewed a number of the rescuers, and their stories are incredibly inspiring. Especially in this Christmas season, you think about these are people who are living their faith by going to a hostile country to help, and helping people that nobody else in the world is prepared to help.

And it's interesting. You tell the story of one of them: Adrian Hong.

turn 2 : The people involved in the rescue are risking their lives to help refugees based on their faith and compassion.

Which emotion drives the rescuers to help North Koreans in China?

Answer: compassion


It's nice to be here, Neal. How are you?

I'm good. Thanks. That first phone call - well, just sort of out of curiosity, I assume.

The first call that I made to Alan?Yeah, it was a funny feeling of both, obviously, curiosity and a strange sensation of being crowded in my own skin by another guy who had my same name.

And he turned out to be - well, debonair might be the word.

turn 2 : The first call was an overwhelming experience of connecting with someone who shared the same name as me, feeling both curious and a little intimidated.

What was the feeling of PersonA during the first call?

Answer: Intimidated


Absolutely. This is probably one of the most consequential elections in Israel in the last 10 years, since Netanyahu has been in power.

Daniel, thanks so much.

You're welcome.

That's NPR's Daniel Estrin.

turn 1 : None of the turns have implied meanings that are different from their literal meanings. They all convey their literal meanings without any hidden or implied messages.

Which turn in the dialogue just conveys its literal meaning without any hidden or implied messages?

Answer: 2


Exactly. And so this is how you get this agency in the middle of this fight with its current director leaving and trying to set something up to protect it on his way out the door.

So why is this complicated?Because directors leave agencies all the time and acting directors come in through clear lines of succession and then ultimately somebody else might be appointed. What's going on here?

Yeah. So Richard Cordray, the Obama-era appointee, was basically trying to protect the agency. And written into its founding document - written into the Dodd-Frank law - it says that when there's a vacancy, the deputy director becomes the acting director. So Cordray named Leandra English, who had been his chief of staff, to be the deputy director as he was walking out the door. Then, a few hours later, the White House announced that the president had picked Mick Mulvaney to be the acting director. He's the White House budget director, also an outspoken critic of CFPB - basically, saying at one point along the way that he thought it should be shut down.

Now the White House says the law's on their side.

turn 3 :  implies that something else is going on behind the scenes that is not typical of director changes, (3) implies that the Obama-era appointee was trying to protect the agency in an unconventional way, and (4) implies that the White House is attempting to justify their side of the argument by citing the law.

What law did the White House cite to justify their side of the argument?

Answer: Dodd-Frank


Yeah.

So you want the organism - it's like taking a portrait, that's sort of how he thinks about it. But of course your microorganism doesn't see it that way.

So you have to figure out how to get them to sit still, and that requires sort of propping up the cover slip with little dots of Vaseline. That's his trick. But you want to sort of squish it just enough so it doesn't move but not too much so that you run it over, essentially.

Well, you don't want to kill the. . .

turn 3 : This implies that A wouldn't want to kill the organism with the process he want to apply to take it portrait.

How does PersonA want to take the portrait of the organism without killing it?

Answer: gently


Well, thanks for having me.

You're at the start of your book tour, maybe midway. You have been saying in interviews you don't think you'll ever coach again.

I don't and I'm basically trying to motivate myself to not only put closure on a career but to get going with something else. I've said for years idleness is the devil's workshop. So I always tied up my day, every minute of the day from 6 a. m.  to late at night with basketball, scouting, recruiting. And now I wake up at 6 o'clock and put on my gym shorts, and there's no place to go.

You still give, I gather, motivational speeches and make appearances, don't you?

turn 1 : The interviewer reminds the speaker of what they've been saying, which is different from what the speaker is saying now.

What has the speaker been saying in interviews?

Answer: never


You know what else my mother said?You should talk to more people in their 80s because they've looked across the street at death for a decade. And they know what's really important in life.

Your mother was smart. Now, I'm talking as one of the people in the 80s. Nobody wants to hear that you met Harry Truman, you know. Shh.

(Laughing) You didn't meet Harry Truman, did you?

I met Harry Truman. But you know what I mean?Nobody's interested. They want to know you've met Rihanna, and that kills me.

turn 1 : The turn with an actual meaning different from its literal meaning is (2).  In this conversation, A is acknowledging the wisdom in what B's mother said about talking to people in their 80s because they have a unique perspective on life. However, when A says "Nobody wants to hear that you met Harry Truman, you know. Shh.", the literal meaning is that A is telling B to be quiet about meeting Harry Truman because it's not interesting. The actual meaning, however, is that A is making a sarcastic comment about how people only seem to care about meeting famous celebrities like Rihanna, rather than valuing the life experiences and wisdom of those who have lived longer.

How did PersonA feel about meeting Harry Truman?

Answer: Sarcastic


I think this team, by necessity, given the circumstances, is going to be focused more on the more immediate dual strategic challenges that could suck us into international adventures that will be devastating to our national interest.

And primarily, at the top of that list, I think you would put Iran.

Yes, and the Middle East, more generally; or perhaps now even some parts of the Sahara in Africa.

Now there are going to be crises like this situation that's developing in Algeria. We obviously still don't know a lot about what's going on there. But where do you see an opportunity to create - for a geo-trategic approach?Iran - everybody says there are a lot of options. None of them, very good.

turn 0 : adventures implies doing military or conflict based actions in foreign nations

What dual strategic challenges could suck the team into international adventures?

Answer: DEVASTATING


Well, the first thing we did is we discussed with our veterans who had worked to install the Eternal Flame Memorial, this particular feature to this park, and tried to work out some sort of an agreement. And it was agreed that if we could keep the flame going, we would do that, but that it may require us to shut it down for a short period of time while we re-engineer or figure out what we can do to make this work. Unfortunately, we're in a budget crunch, and every penny counts.

I understand that shortly after you got this bill, the flame went out for a little bit.

It was shut off for about a day and half, two days. It was shut off for a brief period of time. That's correct.

And veterans there in Bullhead City didn't take too kindly to that decision.

turn 3 : Veterans were upset about the decision to shut down the flame.

How did the veterans react to the decision of shutting down the flame?

Answer: Upset


So what's the difference between steganography and - I'm interested in the origin of the word steganography. Can you take that apart for us?

Well. . .

Stega-, sounds almost like a dinosaur.

Certainly. It goes back to the Greeks, and it basically means hidden writing. So - and what it often gets kind of mixed together with or lumped together with, is encryption, and it's kind of - they're like close cousins, and they're trying to do the same thing, but they have slightly different approaches.

And that was my next question. What is the difference between steganography and encryption?

turn 2 : the speaker is implying that the word "steganography" is strange or foreign-sounding rather than literally saying that it is like a dinosaur.

What word did the speaker compare "stega-" to?

Answer: Dinosaur


It is very unusual. So we found out in a backhanded sort of way and then called up the Pentagon to say - hey, is this true?Have you guys not released that money?Yeah, well, it is. Well, why?And they didn't have an answer to that question.

All right. So let me fast-forward us along on our timeline to August 30. You wrote a letter on that date to Mick Mulvaney, the head of the Office of Management and Budget - OMB - also acting White House chief of staff.

Yeah. We wanted to have as much force behind the letter as possible, so we did it in a bipartisan way with me and ranking member Thornberry, the ranking Republican on the Armed Services Committee. We sent off the letter saying, you know, please release the money, and please tell us why you're holding it up.

Yeah, I've got this letter in front of me. It's straightforward, one page. (Reading) Please inform the committee why these funds are being held and when they will be released.

turn 0 : They found out the information in an indirect way from people not involved.

How did PersonA and PersonB discover the information?

Answer: Indirectly


Cryo would be called - right crypto would - wow.

That's right. So we basically house lichens, mosses and fungi in this herbarium here. We have over 200,000 specimens here.

Two hundred thousand?And are these specimens popping out of the ice?Are they new species?

The ones that are coming out from underneath the glaciers?

turn 3 : B is surprised with the number of specimens.

How does PersonB react to the number of specimens?

Answer: Surprised


So actually - so there have been many deaths from throwing events in track and field, but the javelin does not take up quite as many of those as the shot and disc do. Yeah, there are some pretty gruesome scenes when talking about the javelin injuries. And obviously, you know, getting impaled by a spear is not that good (laughter). But it's far less common than you might think.

So you're writing this paper which you hope will lead to getting the javelin reinstated as a sport. How do you think that'll work?What's going to be in your paper?

Well, there's a lot of things. You know, I think the biggest concerns that coaches have with implementing the event have to do with the injuries due to the javelin hitting somebody. You know, so I'll have to address that and the actual statistics behind it.

But really it's going to be more of a guide on how to implement the javelin and why it's better that it's included as an event in high school track here than not because, you know, I feel like it's just a great opportunity that everybody should have because I was lucky enough to find it through club track. And, you know, my life would be a lot different if I hadn't.

turn 0 : "getting impaled by a spear is not that good" - The literal meaning suggests that getting impaled by a spear is not a positive experience. However, the implied meaning is that getting impaled by a spear is extremely dangerous and can result in severe injuries or even death.

Which event in track and field is less responsible for deaths compared to the shot and disc?

Answer: Javelin


I don't even want to repeat them. They were so unfair. They were essentially stigmatizing him, someone that we consider very naturally for good reasons as to be highly, highly unacceptable such as anti-Semitism. And I think the arguments that were made by some of the people who attacked him were essentially based on that. That was really scandalous. And I'm pleased to see that the majority of the Jewish community, which is moderate and decent, doesn't identify itself with this.

Nevertheless, there are legitimate questions to be asked, and you raised several of them yourself, about, well, how they should think about the possibility of a strike on Iran. I have to say, in recent weeks, the alarm bells have quieted a bit. You quoted, though, some in the Israeli media as quoting a former national security council member of the Obama team, saying there could be an American strike on Iran by the middle of this year.

That's correct. There has been talk to that effect. And I suspect, and rather expect, that these issues will come up in the course of the discussion. But in any case, the people that he's choosing to serve him are people with the experience, with a strategic perspective. But ultimately, he, the president, will be the decision-maker.

So I don't think that one has to expect that everyone chosen by him has to agree in every respect with every single aspect of the past policies that we have had, that he wants people who can think independently and give an independent advice, which he will then accept or reject, as president - as commander in chief.

turn 1 : The alarm bells have quieted a bit - means things are not as hectic as they have been up until now

Answer: Alarm


This is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Michel Martin. Immigration, both legal and unauthorized, has been a central issue for Donald Trump since he announced his candidacy for president. Last week, he announced his plan for an overhaul to the current system, which emphasizes family ties and employment, moving to a system that would prioritize certain education and employment qualifications.

Overshadowing all of this, however, is the huge backlog of immigration cases already in the system waiting to go before the courts. More than 800,000 cases are waiting to be resolved, according to The New York Times. We wanted to get a sense of how the immigration courts are functioning now and how the new system could affect the courts, so we've called Jeffrey Chase. He is a retired immigration judge in New York. He worked as a staff attorney at the Board of Immigration Appeals. We actually caught up with him at the airport on his way back from a conference on national immigration law, which was held in Austin, Texas.

Mr.  Chase, welcome. Thank you so much for joining us.

Thank you. Yeah, it seems appropriate to be at JFK Airport talking about immigration. So. . .

turn 3 : The speaker finds it fitting to talk about immigration at JFK Airport due to its connection to travel and border control.

What is the reason for the PersonA's connection of JFK Airport to the topic of immigration?

Answer: B


. . . We figured out that if all of these things operate as they have historically and retire according to their normal lifetimes, we'd have another maybe 650 billion tons of CO2 emitted to the atmosphere.

That sounds pretty ugly.

Yeah, that's a very large number because we can compare that to sort of the budget we have that the United Nations has identified as being safe targets; 1 1/2 degrees Celsius of warming relative to the preindustrial is considered the safe operating space right now. And this would put us in jeopardy of being beyond that.

I mean, I guess we're assuming that nothing will change, but couldn't there be big technological breakthroughs that could prevent temperatures from rising far beyond 1. 5 degrees Celsius?

turn 1 : I don't like it so it sounds bad, or sounds ugly.

Which word did PersonB use to describe the proposed amount of CO2 emissions?

Answer: ugly


He wound up in a room in Jordan for 45 days and sent along the most dangerous road in the world and then become some kind of global symbol.

And then what happened to Kamala?

To be a widow in Nepal, you're pretty much - you become the property of your husband's family after you get married. And if he dies, you're sort of treated that way, sadly. So she was completely isolated by his family. She was cast out. She wound up at a home for widows and their children in Kathmandu, an ashram. I found her there in 2005. She was so devastated, she couldn't even look at me.

I went back to Nepal in 2013 to write about the same supply chains feeding guys making cameras for the iPhone 5 in Malaysia. And some of the families that I wrote about at the time and got together and - was this woman, this magnetic woman who lit up the room, who was leading the conversation that everybody was deferring to. She was cutting off the men, which you also don't see much of in Nepal. And I didn't even recognize her.

turn 2 : The treatment of widows in Nepal is unfair and oppressive.

Which country has an oppressive treatment of widows?

Answer: Nepal.


Well, so certainly President-elect Trump has issued a few statements on cybersecurity, including a campaign platform. Those are pretty thin on details. And some of his statements - it's been difficult to understand whether or not he - how literally to take those particular recommendations. Of his national security hires that have been announced at this point, none are known for having particularly strong cybersecurity backgrounds. So as we see more and more people coming into the administration, we might be able to start getting a sense of what exactly this administration's cybersecurity policy might look like.

Surely when you become the administration, you have a vested interest in national cybersecurity that maybe you lacked before, don't you?

Absolutely. I think while many of his statements during the campaign did not necessarily evince well-developed policy thoughts - he's going to have to come up with more specific ideas. One thing that Donald Trump might run up against is the existence of current laws. So, for example, he's indicated a number of times that he intends to transfer a lot of the cybersecurity mission to the Department of Defense to come up with a plan for defending critical infrastructure. And there are potentially rather serious consequences to sort of the militarization of civilian cyber defense. I think that they might find themselves coming up against an existing framework that doesn't necessarily square with the broad instinct towards wanting to turn towards the military to solve this problem.

I thought the Obama administration was pretty clear in saying, after they asserted that Russian attempts to meddle in the elections had been ongoing, that the United States was going to reply in kind. Can we assume those efforts are going on now?

turn 3 : asking if the US is responding to Russia's attempts to meddle in the elections "in kind".

How did the Obama administration respond to Russian attempts to meddle in the elections?

Answer: Reply