Last year, Lolita De Sola made a hard decision; she left her home country and fled north to Mexico City. Because of the move, De Sola was able to release her first album, "Cattleya. "She felt she had to leave Venezuela. Her work there, her life was becoming impossible.

Today's Venezuela, on the brink of collapse with President Nicolas Maduro refusing to give up power and the prospect of international intervention, with millions of people leaving the country and others so desperate for food they are eating from the trash, this is not the Venezuela Lolita De Sola remembers and longs for.

When I was little, honestly, it was magical. Now I realize how privileged I was to grow up in a place like Venezuela because it's beautiful. Caracas is a valley where you have the mountains and, in half hour, you have the beach. Also you have, like, amazing food. You have perfect weather. And honestly, I like a lot - my childhood - in that sense because I realized that Venezuelans right now don't have the same that I did.

turn 1 : When you have a dictatorship or crisis, the first thing that goes away is culture because you need more food, you need more basic stuff, first, then culture." The literal meaning is that during times of crisis, people prioritize their basic needs like food over cultural activities.

What is the first thing that goes away during a crisis?

Answer: Culture


Hi.

Why are these talks in Norway so significant?

So he's been concentrating on his campaign to oust Maduro. Step by step, you know, he unified the opposition. He mobilized sometimes huge crowds. He secured that recognition internationally. And the U. S.  backed him up with sanctions that have been really - have really hit the Maduro government hard.

turn 2 : Well, for a long time, Juan Guaido has been saying that he's not interested in talking to Maduro. He doesn't recognize Maduro as Venezuela's legitimate president, arguing that the election that returned Maduro to a second term last year was a fraud.  The literal meaning of this turn is straightforward - Juan Guaido has publicly stated his unwillingness to hold talks with Maduro and does not consider him to be the legitimate president of Venezuela. However, the implied meaning of this turn is more complex and includes the political context of the situation, such as the ongoing power struggle in Venezuela and the efforts of Guaido and his supporters to remove Maduro from power.

How does Juan Guaido view Maduro's presidency?

Answer: negatively


And it changed your behavior with your friends and family, right?

Oh, absolutely. I became alienated from most of my friends and everything because I wasn't there for them or with them. They had out to social events and things, my social event was to get to the casino as quickly as I could in order to gain money.

And what did it do to your marriage?

Well, I got a divorce. I ended up in divorce. I ended up with my wife getting everything plus the kids. And basically, I was out in the streets trying to survive.

turn 2 : A's gambling addiction affected his marriage to the point of getting a divorce

Answer: Gambling


No, because the guys used to sit on the porch and play their guitars and (unintelligible). And then would beat to the tap of their foot. So I kind of adapted that tanta-ta-tan-tum, tanta-ta-tan-tum(ph). I mean, because - I mean, my people - my relatives, most of them were from Jackson, Mississippi. So when they migrated to Indianapolis, they kind of brought a lot of that feeling.

When he said write a hit, that one song people know me all over the world, in Russia, Africa, Japan, all over the world, people, the first thing they say when they see me, "Red Clay. "

In the course of your career, you had, obviously, highs and you had some lows, and they've been described as personal problems. Without going into detail, are we to assume that those problems were substance abuse related?

Well, substance abuse, I wouldn't really say I had a problem with that. I mean, I would say that at one period in the '70s, I started partying, I was in Hollywood A-list(ph). And everybody would come up there, I mean, all kind of movie stars, all kind of football stars, basketball stars, actors. And I had a spot right there in (unintelligible) overlooking the (unintelligible). And the people that I had coming up there - now, the substance abuse, it was around because a lot of people who would come to see me would bring it. But I would never really say I had a habit or anything like that.

turn 0 : My relatives brought the feeling of Jackson, Mississippi to Indianapolis.

How did PersonA adapt their music style?

Answer: Feeling


Thanks for having me. It's a pleasure to be with you.

Now, President Trump tweeted last month, all agree the U. S.  president has the complete power to pardon. So how did the Founding Fathers intended for the presidential pardon to be applied?

Well, they saw it in several ways. They obviously set up a system with pretty robust checks and balances. And the pardon power was intended to be part of that. Where the justice system had produced a miscarriage of justice, it was possible for the president to step in and provide a check against the judicial branch. Or framers like Alexander Hamilton saw the pardon power as a policy instrument. You know, if you had a rebellion or some kind of insurgency, the offer of clemency might restore tranquility to the Commonwealth, as he put it. So there were both reasons of individual mercy and broader public policy that have motivated the use of the pardon power over time.

So then how is the pardon of Joe Arpaio different from other presidential pardons?

turn 3 : How is the pardon of Joe Arpaio unique compared to other presidential pardons?

What was the difference between the pardon of Joe Arpaio and other presidential pardons?

Answer: Clemency


Yes. The big topic, of course, is what he'll say about the president's unfounded claims that Barack Obama wiretapped his phones. He has also accused British intelligence of wiretapping his phones on behalf of Barack Obama. There's been no evidence produced for those claims. The British have pushed back against them strongly. People on the Hill say they have not seen any evidence of this, and Comey will be asked about that first and foremost.

OK.  And over at the Senate, the first hearings for President Trump's nomination for the Supreme Court - what kind of reception is he going to get?

Well, that's going to be the big event of the week. Neil Gorsuch, who has been nominated by Donald Trump, is going to be asked a lot of questions about his views on executive power, about Donald Trump's comments disparaging judges and the entire court system. This is one of Donald Trump's most important early initiatives. The Republicans have 52 votes in the Senate. They say if they have to change the rules so they won't need 60 to confirm him, they will do that. So it's going to be very, very hard for the Democrats to stop him. But this is just the first of many, many judicial vacancies that Donald Trump will have the opportunity to fill because of the age of judges on the bench right now and the number of vacancies.

And something else we're looking at, obviously, is what's happening on Thursday - a much anticipated vote in the House. They're voting on the repeal-and-replace legislation for Obamacare. Does Speaker Ryan have the votes?

turn 2 : This turn has a literal meaning of altering or modifying established regulations or guidelines. However, in this context, it is used to refer to the Republicans' willingness to change the Senate rules to confirm Gorsuch with a simple majority vote rather than the usual 60-vote threshold required for Supreme Court nominees.

Answer: Majority


Well, it's my pleasure, Scott. Thank you.

Can you recreate for us in a sense, like our town does, a summer day at that house you loved?

Basically, people woke up as early as they could, as close to dawn. Everyone was kind of on their own once the kids got older and could take care of themselves to fix something for breakfast and start the day however they wanted as long as they were busy.

There was no television, barely a radio. And it would be tuned into very infrequently, generally when the Red Sox were playing. And all you got were scratchy sounds anyway. People were left to just, I guess, invite the outdoors into their hearts and their souls.

turn 1 : (2) - Implied meaning: Can you describe to us the atmosphere of summer days at the house you loved?

How did people start their days on summer days at the house?

Answer: Atmosphere


It's great to be with you, Ira. Thank you.

I'm just looking at the abstract of your study, and some of these numbers are amazing. Seventy-two percent, 72 of all Americans think that global warming should be a very high or medium or a priority for the president and the Congress. That crosses all party lines.

So why are we all under the impression that there is not this majority?

Ah. Great question. So one of the things that became very clear to us early in our research was that Americans don't speak with a single voice on this issue. And in fact, what we've identified is what we call a global warming's six Americas, that essentially you can look at the country and find that there are six very different communities within the United States, that each respond to this issue in very different ways. One group we call the alarmed. That's only about 12 percent of the public.

turn 2 :  It does. It includes 84 percent of Democrats, 68 percent of independents and 52 percent of Republicans. So yes, there is this difference between Democrats and Republicans. But nonetheless, a majority of Republicans do think that global warming should be a priority for our elected officials. (Literal meaning: stating the breakdown of support for global warming priority among different political affiliations)

How many Republicans support global warming priority?

Answer: 52


Debates can matter. They may not decide the race. Lots of social scientists have told us over and over that they don't. And there's polling evidence that their impact is perhaps limited and temporary. But in the popular imagination, including those of a lot of us journalists, the debates are a dramatic moment. They're a dramatic high point in the campaign. And they come just at the time when people are starting to really pay attention.

And in fact, in some states, even starting to vote.

That is correct. They - a number of states have begun their voting as of the Friday of this past week.

Yeah. Both sides right now claim, oh, you know, we just hope to hold our own. We think the other side is such a better debater.

turn 3 : In turn (4), the actual meaning is that both sides are downplaying their chances of success in the debate, even though they may privately believe that they will perform better than the other side. The implied meaning is that both sides are likely overestimating their own abilities and underestimating their opponent's abilities, and that the outcome of the debate may be more uncertain than either side is willing to admit.

Which side may be underestimating their opponent's abilities in the debate?

Answer: Both


What do you think - if this decision is permanent, what do you think the U. S.  will miss by not being a member of UNESCO?

Oh, I think the U. S.  will miss a lot. It's a big loss for the United Nations family because we are part of this family. It is a big role for multilateralism. But I believe it is also a loss for the U. S.

Irina Bokova is director general of UNESCO. Thanks so much for joining us.

Thank you very much for inviting me.

turn 2 :  The implied meaning of this turn is that the speaker is thanking the guest for appearing on the show and expressing appreciation for their insight

How did the speaker express their gratitude towards the guest in turn 2?

Answer: Thanks


No, not at all. And I've been pretty much apolitical my entire adult life. But this election is obviously quite different than previous presidential elections. So I just thought - I thought it was necessary to jump in and use my voice.

Why?

The prospects of Donald Trump being president just scare the hell out of me. And that's coming after having initially, you know, supported him and hoped that he would be 180 degrees different from what he turned out to be.

I mean, am I wrong?I seem to remember there was a time when you offered to be the running mate for either of them.

Oh, sure. Yeah, a lot of that was a little bit tongue-in-cheek. I didn't really expect that to happen. But, you know, there was a time when Donald first got into the race where I would talk to him on the phone.

turn 2 :  "scare the hell out of me" - This is an idiomatic expression that means to frighten someone a lot.

How does the speaker feel about the prospects of Donald Trump being president?

Answer: Afraid


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 2 : This statement implies that the New Yorker's testimony about Kavanaugh sexual assault was countered by the 65 women signatories to Kavanaugh good character in High school.

What was the evidence presented by 65 women in support of Kavanaugh's character during high school?

Answer: Character


He is. But he also made a point when he put out a statement saying they would look at this is that he's still a very strong supporter of the Second Amendment, so I wouldn't expect a big fundamental change here. I think what he's saying is if they can present - and he's directed Republican chairmen to work with Democrats - if they can come up with something that can pass with overwhelming support in the Senate, he would be willing to bring it to the floor. But, again, he's not promising an outcome. He's just promising a debate.

So that's the Republicans. But briefly, Sue, the Democrats are really talking about this, not just as a gun debate but also as a hate crime, right?

Right. It wasn't just about guns. It was about race, and they have noted that there's things that they could look for this fall in spending bills to beef up how the government spends its resources to combat white supremacy. And that might be a different kind of debate we hear this fall.

All right. That's NPR's congressional correspondent Sue Davis. Thank you so much.

turn 1 : Democrate are really taking about race and resources to combat white supremacy.

What specifically are the Democrats addressing in addition to the gun debate?

Answer: Race


Help us understand how - what life has been like in Venezuela over the past few years that's brought the country to this point.

Venezuela's shockingly misgoverned. It's hard to wrap your head around a country that has lost half of its GDP in five years without a war. That's worse economic performance than Syria. It's the - only the first case of hyperinflation in Latin America in the 21st century. Inflation is running at over 1 million percent a year, and prices are doubling every three weeks or so. And so what we've seen is a mass exodus. People have just walked - in many cases, actually walked - tens, hundreds of kilometers to the border of Colombia and Brazil to find a better life in neighboring countries.

So it's a first humanitarian crisis in South America in the 21st century. And neighboring countries have never seen anything like it. Colombia had to send a fact-finding team to the Turkish-Syrian border to figure out how to deal with an influx of hundreds of thousands of desperate, hungry people.

Can your reporters operate freely?

turn 1 : mass exodus meaning people leaving in large numbers to escape the situation they no longer wish to be a part of

How did the situation in Venezuela lead to a mass exodus?

Answer: Crisis


What do you think needs to change now for the culture of harassment and sexual abuse to shift?

Well, I think what we're doing now is the biggest part. What has kept this quiet for so long is the fact that every victim felt that they were alone and felt that they were the only one. And they felt that their pain wasn't a big enough deal to bring it up and inconvenience other people. But now that you're seeing that so many other people are suffering and you're not the only one, we're all starting to stand up and do something about it. So we need to continue to talk about it, and we need to continue to find ways to keep this from happening anymore.

Kyle Stephens, I hope you can step out of the limelight for a while and, yeah, continue to heal. Thank you so much for talking with us.

Thanks, Lulu.

turn 1 : People are starting to notice and take action on the issue.

Answer: Harassment


When you say that this law is intended to create a firewall around the state, do you think that this is where things are headed - where certain states will allow access to abortions and other states simply won't?

That's certainly my fear, and that was why this was so important to get passed before we adjourned. And, you know, ultimately, I've been working on this issue my entire adult life.

And I used to say, if Roe falls. And for the last year, I've been saying, when Roe falls. And it, frankly, still feels like a gut-punch every time I say it. But I think that there has been this very strategic and determined process by the other side to get cases into the pipeline that will ultimately lead to Roe falling.

Do you think that Democrats and people who support abortion rights have been outmaneuvered?

turn 2 : Pipeline here means the various people that need to know about it.

What does "pipeline" refer to in turn 2?

Answer: People


Well, yeah. But you see what I mean?Because it is about perception and how we need to be - to understand what we're seeing before we can really see it, that's really key to understanding this whole issue of climate change and why we see or don't see what's right in front of us.

What drew you to monarchs in the first place?

I had really wanted to write about the subject for a long time. I live in southern Appalachia. I am surrounded by neighbors and friends - people I respect very much - who don't really understand climate change or believe in it, even though, as farmers, they're getting socked by it. We've had unprecedented, disastrous weather time and again. So it's such a strange contradiction that the people in our continent who are first to feel the harm of a changing climate are the last to be able to talk about it.

That was such a conundrum and such rich territory for a novel to tread, that I was just looking for the right way to get into the subject. And one morning, I just woke up with this vision in my eyes of millions of butterflies covering the forest behind my house. I just - I mean, I didn't actually see it. I imagined it. I woke up and there it was, and I knew that was it.

turn 0 : Understanding climate change is not just about seeing, but also about perception.

What is key to understanding the issue of climate change according to A?

Answer: Perception


Fungus Blues - I love it.

Fungus Blues.

And they fell in love. And, you know, my dad, he was trying to find another way of living other than the one that he was in.

(Singing) Hustle was your middle name when you were a young man.

What was it about his current way of living at the time that was dissatisfying?

turn 3 : This statement implies that the best time to hustle is at a younger age

What was the middle name of the person being described in line 3?

Answer: Hustle


Yeah, yeah.

It's wonderful, first of all.

Thank you.

I've enjoyed it. The very first cut on here is a very intriguing track. It's called "Jailer," and some of the lyrics say, Jailer, I am in chains. You're in chains too. I wear uniforms. You wear uniforms, too. I'm a prisoner. You're a prisoner, too, Mister Jailer. Where did that come from?

turn 3 : The lyrics to the song imply the person working as a guard is in a very similar position to the person who is incarcerated

How does the song describe the guard's position?

Answer: similar


Thanks for having me.

Does presenting Rabbit like this make your character into a kind of everywoman that spans all experience?

I was thinking of her not necessarily as an everywoman, but as Vietnam itself in certain kinds of ways. The book is very much about a character who can hear the voices of the dead. And I was very interested in trying to transform Vietnam from the perceptions that we have about it in the West. Typically, you know, when we think of Vietnam here in the United States, we think of it as a metaphor. You know, it's synonymous with the idea of a quagmire.

And we think of it as our problem.

turn 3 : We think of Vietnam as our problem” but not “Typically, when we think of Vietnam here in the United States, we think of it as a metaphor” which is the literal meaning of the turn.

Which country is mentioned in turn 3 as "our problem"?

Answer: UnitedStates.


I saw poofy hot pants. They were like, they were kind of like a poof skirt but done in a hot pants style.

So many regrettable. . .

Regrettable, regrettable fashion sense.

Just unfortunate that you just sort of go, OK, all right. Just X, you know, that X thing they have with Glamour?Yeah, a lot of that.

turn 0 : B is describing a pair of shorts that have a poofy appearance, not actual pants made out of hot air.

Which clothing item did PersonB describe that appeared to be poofy but was actually shorts?

Answer: Shorts


One of the roles that he may well play is kind of smoothing out the relations between President-elect Obama and his secretary of state to be, Hillary Clinton. The two were once rivals. Can you give an example of how he might go about in mediating, making sure that everything runs smoothly?

Well, I don't think you're going to have to ask that. Senator Hillary Clinton is a real pro. She's a great American. And she will know and understand her role. I just have no qualms about their needing any mediation whatsoever, and I don't think Jim Jones or anyone else will have to do it.

Can you give an example, politics aside, business aside, maybe of a time that you two shared together that just gave you a sense of what he was like?

We made a trip, as I recall, to the Balkans a good number of years ago when he was a one star general, and just sitting with and listening to him tell about the intricacies of situations there. He has a good handle on the problems that that faces.

turn 0 : Despite their past rivalry, Jim Jones may be needed to help smooth relations between Obama and Clinton

What is one of the roles that Jim Jones may play?

Answer: Smoothing


If that was the concern initially, I've never heard it expressed in recent years. There are now so many people who have gotten out, and their stories have been corroborated by, you know, so many of these different people who've escaped that it's, you know, North Korea is as bad as they say, and perhaps even worse.

But, you know, I would like to say that the stories are also inspiring. You hear these terrible things, and sometimes I go to sleep at night thinking about the horrible stories I'd heard about life in North Korea. But at the same time, it's very positive to think that after six decades of totalitarian repression, there are people who are still longing for freedom and have the courage to go after it.

Yet it raises the question of the many more who are still inside that hell on Earth.

Indeed. And the 24,000, 25,000 who have gotten out are a drop in the bucket when you consider there are still 25 million people enslaved in North Korea. However, the North Koreans who escape are small in number, but they have provided a huge service, two ways. One is that they've educated all of us about the reality of life in North Korea. Nobody can say today that we didn't know. We now know about the gulag. We know about the way the government uses food as a political tool. We know all of this.

turn 2 :  Even though the conversation is centered on the North Koreans who have escaped, turn (3) highlights the fact that there are still millions of people living under the oppressive regime in North Korea, and their plight should not be overlooked or forgotten.

Which turn emphasizes the millions of people still living under the oppressive regime in North Korea?

Answer: 2


They also break up the states into more subregions than the current exit polls do. They think that this is going to help them be more accurate. And Fox and AP are pretty confident that their results are better than the traditional exit polls in some ways. They actually did shadow polls with the new system in three big specials this year - special elections in the 6th Congressional District in Georgia, the New Jersey governor's race and the Alabama Senate race. And guess what - they got the winner right in all three.

That sounds promising. But are there pitfalls to this way of doing things?I mean, are people asking questions about whether or not they are going to be able to keep their winning streak?

Yes (laughter). And there's a big degree of risk when you're not actually speaking to voters. They're not actually speaking to people who have gone and voted. There's always a number of people who say they're going to vote who don't. And this is an experiment. AP and Fox - even though they're putting this - they're operationalizing this, they acknowledge that there are some demographic shortcomings. They found this in their tests in their poll. They underestimated in Alabama, for example, the number of black voters who would show up. But like scientists, they acknowledge those shortcomings. And they're going to be tinkering with their models along the way. So we may have something good eventually, but it's a whole new Wild West era here.

What has been the reaction to this from the pollsters at this conference that you're at?

turn 0 : The new system was tried against the old and was found to be correct.

How did the new system perform in the three big specials?

Answer: Right


"VIC" (Member, Overeaters Anonymous): Hi.

Vic, I want to start with you, and I want to be very specific. Give me an example of a day when you completely lost control over your eating.

"VIC": It wasn't a day. It was the day before (Laughing) and that day and the next day. But anyway - OK, so I wake up in the morning, totally hung over. Dr.  Lerner - Marty - described very well, you know, having lost control. So, I wake up, I feel terrible, and the last thing I want to do, I think in my rational brain, is eat because I feel so bad. And yet, I know that if I take one bite of anything, I'll be off and running. And I'm scared. I'm really scared.

Let me just ask one thing. When you say hung over, do you mean hung over from overeating or hung…

turn 2 : VIC lost control over eating for multiple days, not just one day

What was the duration of VIC's loss of control over eating?

Answer: Multiple


Yeah, yeah. Hopefully, you know?So whereas in America, you know, you sort of smoothed the edges and you've just put, you know, you've put makeup on. That's what you've done. We're still in the very, you know, you still see all of our imperfections. Whereas in America you try to put a lot of makeup, but the imperfections are still there. And I find that that's the most interesting thing for me.

The changes that we've seen in South Africa over those 17 years are little short of phenomenal.

Yes. It's been amazing. It was a bloodless revolution, you know, because the difference has been - in America, black people have been fighting for their freedom and for their identity and so on, but as a minority. In South Africa, you had a white majority rule, ruling over — I mean, this is Africa. This is the home of black. It was the black factory. So I mean this is, you know, it was a very different story and never before has there been a bloodless revolution in Africa.

Is there much of a tradition of comedy in South Africa, particularly tweaking the powers that be?You don't think of John Vorster. . .

turn 0 : The speaker is pointing out the cultural differences between America and their country, where America tends to cover up imperfections while their country embraces them. Implicated meaning: The speaker values authenticity and honesty over superficial appearances.

Which quality does the speaker value over superficial appearances?

Answer: Authenticity


I felt that way, sometimes the way she looked at me. But you know, writing this book, I also discovered her vulnerability, that despite her domineering personality, she suffered all her life from a lack, her own mother having died when she was so very young; her first husband, with whom she was so much in love on the first night of their wedding, discovering that he was going to die of a disease that he had never told her about before their wedding. And she always wanted to be a public woman, an independent woman, and that dream was never fulfilled. So, I realized how much she tried to invest in me. And that put a great burden on me, but in some ways, she gave a lot in order for me to become independent and to fulfill her dream in a sense. So, finishing this book, I feel maybe I was not as much as a disappointment as I sometimes feel I was.

And where was your father in this, in all this?I mean, you write in your book that you were very, very close with him. And I'm just wondering, you have this very intense, tortured relationship with your mother. . .

Yeah.

And where is your father?

turn 0 : Despite her domineering personality, she suffered from a lack

Answer: lack


Well, here's the interesting part. The scientific heavyweights like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration didn't fare any better than the almanac last year, which makes you wonder: Is seasonal prediction even possible?Here to talk about it is Jason Samenow. He's a chief meteorologist for the Capital Weather Gang at The Washington Post. He joins us from NPR in Washington. Welcome to SCIENCE FRIDAY.

Thank you for having me on.

So what are the predictions look like this year, and then should we pay attention to them?

There is a ton of uncertainty about what this winter's going to bring across much of the country. And that has to do with the fact that El Nino - which is the episodic warming of the equatorial Pacific, which was predicted to develop by now - really hasn't behaved as expected. So when we have an El Nino, we typically see warm and dry conditions across the Northern Tier and wet and cold conditions across the Southern Tier. But it has pretty much baffled forecasters in that it hasn't developed as models have predicted.

turn 3 : El Nino hasn't behaved as expected, making winter predictions uncertain

How does El Nino affect winter predictions?

Answer: Uncertainty


It's becoming a new Thanksgiving tradition. This year, like the year before, the newest installment of "The Hunger Games" movie franchise "Mockingjay Part 1" is an adaptation of the first half of Suzanne Collins third and final book in the series. And with the backdrop of what's been happening in the world, protests in Ferguson, Missouri, and shakeup at the Capitol - Capitol Hill that is. Audiences look for comparisons between the fictitious world of Panem and the real world. We're joined now by Stephen Carter, a professor of law at Yale, a novelist and columnist for Bloomberg View, where he writes regularly on popular culture. Stephen, thanks so much for being back with us.

It's my pleasure, Scott.

I'm just guessing you don't watch "Hunger Games" the way a lot of other people do.

You're right. I'm looking for tropes and ideas that are going to leap out of the film into public life. And one that's really striking about the "Hunger Games" franchise is how more than really anything else in recent years in popular culture, so many of the symbols - the nation of Panem itself with its deep wealth inequalities, the notion of the Capitol, this barricaded wealthy city and of course, Katniss Everdeen herself, the hero. All of these things have not only leapt into the public imagination, but they are regular features of political argument.

turn 0 : "installment" - This word literally means a portion of something, but in this context, it refers to a movie or book in a series.

How does PersonA describe the symbols from "The Hunger Games" franchise?

Answer: Regular


You know, that sign has really drawn a lot of hatred. It seems there are some of these signs and events that seem to engender a lot of anger, you know, backlash. And I think that's kind of what we're witnessing in this country as a whole right now. There is a certain amount of backlash. It's kind of this idea of we want to take it back or we want to - this is ours. It's almost like wanting to say, you know, you have this icon or this symbol, and we don't like it. And so we're going to take it back or we're going to deface it or we're going to erase it. Which is really fascinating when you think about it. You know, like, we don't like this history, so we're going to try to erase it.

The we you're talking about there is white people, and you're linking this to the broader, you know, rise we have seen of certain white nationalist, white supremacist groups.

Yeah. I think there's been - within recent years, I mean, the - those groups have been emboldened to be able to speak more boldly that, you know, kind of some of their white nationalist or white supremacist views and things like that and be bold about it.

That's Jerry Mitchell. He runs the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting.

Jerry Mitchell, thank you very much.

Thanks for having me, appreciate it.

turn 0 : to draw a lot of hatred means something got a ton of hatred or anger towards it

How did the sign mentioned in the conversation make people feel? (Answer: Hatred)

Answer: Hatred


And in talking to Smith, he's really thought a lot about what - why we have such a strong reaction to looking at embryos, and he's found this firsthand. I mean, and he gets emails all the time and sort of unpacks these questions, like, you know, is it - when you look at these pictures, does it strike you as more human or less human than you would have imagined, he asks. This is what he asked audience when he shows them. What is your experience with seeing these pictures in the past?You know, he said imagine 300 or 400 years ago, would - how would people imagine what an embryo is?This is a technologically. . .

Yeah. Yeah.

. . .  mediated experience.

And not only that, he's taken the technology faster - further, as you show. He's done MRIs, right?

turn 1 : Although the literal meaning of this turn is simply an acknowledgement or agreement, the implied meaning behind it is that the speaker may not be fully engaged or interested in the conversation. It could be interpreted as a way of signaling disinterest or a desire to move on to a different topic.

How did PersonB respond to PersonA's statement?

Answer: Impatience


Thank you.

In general, these hearings, the questioning has been chopped up into five-minute increments back and forth between Democrats and Republicans. Do you think this works, especially for something where we know that there are two very distinct narratives and a great deal of polarization?

I think it can be very productive given the fact that they are planning for it. They are rehearsing. They're having mock sessions - at least the Democrats are, Republicans may be doing something similar - because the five-minute increments are highly disruptive. A trend of questioning tends to peter out at - given five-minute switch from the Republicans to the Democrats and vice versa. So I'm looking for a rather smooth hearing on this one.

Do you think by rehearsing what the Democrats are trying to do is sort of develop a line of questioning and try and get a coherent narrative in place?

Well, the first part of this hearing, I actually testified back in June, and I know that the Democrats at least are preparing for these sort of things in a very conscientious way. And I learned it because they said, listen; when you're out there, we are going to ask you questions about A, B, C, D and E.  And they said they would have graphics for that. I didn't watch the hearings after I testified, but I did see the graphics when they were asking me about them. And that's really a process of building a record as well of what is very important to understand in this event.

turn 1 : It is not chopped but divided bluntly into increments.

How is the questioning divided during the hearings?

Answer: Divided


When I get into the personal material, I'm really thinking about what it means to transition from states of longing to states of having and dwelling and inhabiting. I'm really trying to examine, OK, what is it like to have things, to have relationships, to have people close by, and how is that state of having introduce a whole different set of complexities than states of longing?

There's also a tension that you draw out within yourself. You tell the story of your pregnancy, while at the same time telling the story of how you were diagnosed with an eating disorder in college. And I wonder if you could read just a bit of that section.

Yeah.

(Reading) Pregnancy wasn't a liberation from prior selves so much as a container holding every prior version of myself at once. I didn't get to shed my ghosts so fully. It was easy to call my doctor absurd when she'd chided me for gaining 5 pounds in a month rather than 4 and harder to admit that I'd honestly felt shamed by her in that moment. It was harder to admit the part of me that felt a secret thrill every time a doctor registered concern that I was, quote, "measuring small. "This pride was something I'd wanted desperately to leave behind. I worried that it was impeding your growth, which was really just the distillation of a deeper fear - that I would infect you with my own broken relationship to my body, that you would catch it like a dark inheritance.

turn 1 : a tension you draw out within yourself means that the writer likes to use tension really effectively in writing.

How does the writer describe her pregnancy?

Answer: Container


You know, that sign has really drawn a lot of hatred. It seems there are some of these signs and events that seem to engender a lot of anger, you know, backlash. And I think that's kind of what we're witnessing in this country as a whole right now. There is a certain amount of backlash. It's kind of this idea of we want to take it back or we want to - this is ours. It's almost like wanting to say, you know, you have this icon or this symbol, and we don't like it. And so we're going to take it back or we're going to deface it or we're going to erase it. Which is really fascinating when you think about it. You know, like, we don't like this history, so we're going to try to erase it.

The we you're talking about there is white people, and you're linking this to the broader, you know, rise we have seen of certain white nationalist, white supremacist groups.

Yeah. I think there's been - within recent years, I mean, the - those groups have been emboldened to be able to speak more boldly that, you know, kind of some of their white nationalist or white supremacist views and things like that and be bold about it.

That's Jerry Mitchell. He runs the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting.

Jerry Mitchell, thank you very much.

Thanks for having me, appreciate it.

Answer: conversation


Those of who are interested, who have taken the time to listen to historians, listen to money experts tell us what might happen when that ratio of the debt to the gross product of the country gets big, and it's so big that it's carrying 200 or 300 percent, they just tell you right off you don't have any functioning country.

And last - what is it, last year, the - one of the rating agencies cut the U. S.  AAA rating for the first time not because there was any great concern about the economy of the United States but because of dysfunction in Washington, because the various parties could not agree.

You got it, my friend. They did that, and they're apt to do more. And right now I guess the point we ought to talk about to you and your listeners, understanding that I'm not there, and I'm not a player, a participant, but yet I'm a player, one of the outside groups that finds his way in through cracks and corners and talks to the people over there.

I think they are trying to get something, led by the secretary of the Treasury, who's Geithner. . .

turn 0 : A large national debt will lead to a non-functional country.

How might a large national debt affect a country's functionality?

Answer: Non-functional


No. It's a tie right now at 50/50, which does make it rather tense. But there is no sign yet of a third Republican turning against DeVos. And if it's a tie on the floor next week as we expect it to be, that will be broken by the president of the Senate, who is, of course, Vice President Mike Pence.

A CNN-ORC poll out yesterday gives President Trump a 52 percent - 53 percent disapproval rating. That's the lowest of any new U. S.  president since polling began. Does this make some Republicans in Congress rethink their support for his policies?

No, or at least not yet, not at this point. After last year, we need to remember polls are just polls. And besides, Donald Trump is still very popular among Republicans, and Republican members of Congress care first and foremost about their own voters.

I have to ask you about this finally. The president chose the national - the White House prayer breakfast to unload on Arnold Schwarzenegger, former governor of California, the man who succeeded him as host of "The Apprentice. "The president said, they hired a big, big movie star to take my place. We know how that's turned out. The ratings went right down the tubes. It's been a total disaster.

turn 3 : implication: By attacking Arnold Schwarzenegger, the President was actually expressing his own insecurities and dissatisfaction with the fact that he was replaced on the show.

Which show did Arnold Schwarzenegger succeed the President on?

Answer: Apprentice


Four. Four. We have two children.

You're a fam of four. And you are in the hospital, all four of you?

Were in the hospital, yes.

So what do you plan to do when the storm stops?

turn 2 : B is asking about A's plans after the storm, assuming that they are in the hospital for a reason.

How is PersonB assuming the reason for PersonA's hospital stay?

Answer: Reason


So it's sort of the end of era, then, for all of us who have seen him and visited the Galapagos and got to watch him poke around a little bit. It's sort of the end of an era.

It is definitely the end of an era, and everyone down here on last Sunday, when we got the news, it was a very difficult time for all of us both for the individual Lonesome George and for the fact that we lost this subspecies forever.

It also was an interesting thing here because it kind of reinforced the importance of the work we do and the future and trying to ensure that no other species or subspecies are lost in Galapagos. And the timing itself is interesting, as we have an international workshop planned for next week that is convened by the Galapagos National Park and part-organized by Galapagos Conservancy to discuss the tortoise situation on all of the islands and look at the next 10 years of research and management leading to better tortoise population restoration throughout the archipelago.

turn 3 : "Have you been able to restore the populations to any extent?" This turn has a literal meaning. It asks whether any progress has been made in increasing the population of the tortoises.

Answer: Lonesome


I think that, you know, the fantasy genre, it lets you explore all these human emotions and feelings. But now, going back and learning about his passion for language and realizing that each word, name of a place or person, it's steeped in so much history and thought that you realize that the reason these worlds feel so realistic and are easy to disappear into are because of the amount of work he put into it - and building maps so that he could figure out how long it would take a character to travel from this area to this area and if they could reliably be there in the time it needed for the story to work and make sense. And just things that - the depth of his knowledge and creation was incredible.

So last question, I understand that you can speak some Elvish now (laughter) as part. . .

(Laughter).

. . . Of your going into the characters. I was wondering if you could say something for us.

turn 0 : You don't disappear but get involved in the story due to the worlds.

Which genre allows you to explore human emotions and feelings?

Answer: Fantasy


How hopeful are you that this outbreak can be contained?

Specifically in Uganda, they are very well-prepared. But the way the response is going in the DRC is very concerning. There's a lot of scale-up and better coordination and closely working with the community. There's a lot of armed groups operating in the area. There's a tax on Ebola workers. NGOs are forced to suspend their programming on a regular basis.

And so it's really important that we gain the trust of the community in the DRC, that people make sure they're starting to bring suspected cases into the clinics because we're still seeing a lot of cases in the communities, which shows that people are not trusting the response, and they're not bringing their loved ones into the clinics for treatment. So in order to stop it spreading, we have to stop it in the source, which is in North Kivu in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Kellie Ryan with the International Rescue Committee in Uganda. We reached her by Skype. Kellie, thanks so much.

turn 1 : The response to the Ebola outbreak in DRC is not going well and there are a lot of challenges to overcome

How concerning is the response to the Ebola outbreak in the DRC?

Answer: concerning


Well, yeah. That's the thing about everything in life, kind of, is that you kind of have to try certain things out to figure out what you want. So it's like you should always be able to have that moment of, like, figuring out who you are by using a bunch of different things that you've heard already. And then instead of still doing that for your whole career, which I think some people do, you have to take that and, like, digest it and then come out with something that's everything combined. And it's your own thing.

(Singing) Where did you go?I should know. But it's cold. And I don't want to be lonely. So show me the way home. I can't lose another life.

I get that sense of being real is something deeply important.

It's very important for me. I just feel uncomfortable having things be disingenuous. Like, I just have a big thing about honesty and, like, real. . .

turn 3 : The speaker is not literally talking about honesty and being real but rather expressing their discomfort with situations that feel inauthentic.

How would you describe the PersonA's attitude towards inauthenticity?

Answer: Discomfort


Do you ever feel that way, you're just so tired of singing, but you know you have to because that song is so closely associated with who you are?

Well "Band of Gold" would be it, but by the time I get to the end of the show, and I'm coming back for that last encore…

(Singing) Now that you're gone, all that's left is a band of gold…

A lot of times, I will do "Band of Gold," and as a matter of fact, I - and I find that it's a good thing because I see people in the audience just light up, like (unintelligible)…

turn 3 : "A lot of times, I will do 'Band of Gold,' and as a matter of fact, I - and I find that it's a good thing because I see people in the audience just light up, like (unintelligible)…" - The implied meaning here is that the person often performs "Band of Gold," and they enjoy doing so because they observe that it brings joy to their audience and creates a positive atmosphere.

Which song does the person often perform?

Answer: Band-of-Gold


I was struck by a phrase in Chris Arnold's piece about the dollar being the bedrock currency for much of the world. Is that jeopardized?

Very much so. Treasury debt is the only risk-free asset in the world. It undergirds the world's financial system, it's in everybody money market's funds. You know, China, among many other countries, buys Treasury bills like crazy - over a trillion dollars. So, if you'd have to start factoring in risk, even if it's political risk, into our debt, you know, two things happen. The rest of the world becomes less enchanted with buying it, and our interest payments - what the government has to pay to issue that debt will rise substantially.

Can I get you to play out your scenario about what happens if October 17 comes and there's no agreement?

I don't think that much will happen on October 17th. I think there's a little wiggle room. What happens on October 17th is the government loses its borrowing authority and it can only pay out the cash it has on hand. However, if we got to the end of the month and the United States missed a bond payment, I believe that you would have an event that is three, four, five, six times worse than the Lehman Brothers of five years ago. Because the banks rely on treasuries to trade with each other overnight. That's how they fund themselves. And if you take away trust in the financial system or U. S.  debt, it will be cataclysmic. The banks will freeze up. There will be no borrowing. It'll be like Lehman. The stock market will go down. It has the potential to be a true out-and-out disaster.

turn 2 : "Play out your scenario" does not mean that someone is going to act out a script or a play. It means that someone is going to explain or describe a possible scenario or situation.

How does turn 3 relate to the concept of trust in the financial system?

Answer: Explanation


Well, it's about four, five, six percent. But we also asked questions about whether or not people would change their minds. You can add an additional about 20 percent of voters who are picking a candidate in the month of September, but are still saying they might change their mind how they're going to vote. When you add those two numbers together, you get almost to a quarter of the electorate in Ohio that could change its mind between now and Election Day.

And the number one issue, as it is in many places in the country, the economy?

The economy is the number one issue. And one of the things that makes it very difficult for a candidate to campaign in Ohio is that when they come to Ohio to talk about the economy, they can't just talk about a single aspect. When you talk to folks in the northern part of the state, northeast Ohio which includes Cleveland, and northwest Ohio which includes Toledo, when you're talking about the economy there, oftentimes the discussion is about trade.

When you talk about the economy in southwest Ohio, which is the Cincinnati area, there's much less talk about trade, and more discussion about wages and the salaries that people are making. The southeast area of the state, which is also known in part because of the Appalachian history of that part of the state, has high unemployment. A number of counties in southeast Ohio have double-digit unemployment. Many people in that region are talking about and focused on unemployment, solely as their economic concern.

turn 2 : "talk about a single aspect" - actual meaning: talk about a single element or component

What is the topic of discussion in northeast and northwest Ohio when talking about the economy?

Answer: trade


This was after years of drift. There is this new energy, this new vigor in this relationship, and there's also enormous excitement, Scott, over the president and the first lady returning to India. The president has this coveted seat at this dazzling display of Indian military hardware during Monday's Republic Day parade, which is actually meant to commemorate the Constitution. And he'll see in a flyover this huge U. S. -made Super Hercules lifter, a testament to the close defense ties between India and the U. S.

And is the president arriving at a time of enthusiasm in India?

Oh, he certainly is. They're here at a very heavy time. The stock market is on this bull run. It's hitting record highs. The IMF predicts that India's growth will actually outpace China's by 2016. So there's this energy here and there's this hope for improving the lives of 1. 2 billion people, but that requires a lot of change. And that's what the president won't necessarily see - the 300 million Indians who don't have electricity, the 600 million who don't have access to clean toilets.

Speaking of energy, should we expect anything concrete out of these meetings?

turn 3 : "concrete out of these meetings" is a figurative expression that means specific, tangible results or agreements that are expected to emerge from the meetings.

What does "concrete" refer to in turn 3?

Answer: Results


. . . and copied the symbols that most closely resembled the text. And we had a friend who lived across the street who was an artist, and he helped me translate it into proper copy. And then we resubmitted it to Stan.

And Stan was stuck.

And so he smiled, accepted defeat, and this became the first page of this book.

All right, so this came to light recently because Stanley Fischer was head of the Bank of Israel, and he's nominated to be vice chairman of the U. S.  Federal Reserve. Somebody got the idea that it was about time to find out what this is all about, I gather.

Somebody thought - somebody in my team thought that it would be fun to actually put this as a challenge, and basically promised a prize to whoever would be able to make sense of that page.

turn 4 : Despite the initial difficulty, the team persevered and eventually succeeded in translating the text.

How did the team handle the initial difficulty?

Answer: Translated


So what about this contest?

What the CDC is trying to do is not just figure out what's going on right now with the flu, but what's going to happen in a week or two weeks out. Traditionally, we do what's called surveillance, which is what's going on right now in the United States. And that's a really hard problem because if you think about it, without using something like Twitter, you have to ask people what's going on. And the CDC does this; they do a very good job. But it takes them about two weeks to get those responses collected. What we're trying to do is predict things like what week is going to be the worst for the flu season; when is it going to end?

Do you run the risk of putting through the algorithms a lot of tweets from people who don't use, let's say, a word like fever in the same way people with flu would use it?

It's actually very tricky to use Twitter in order to get a flu rate. So, for example, someone might say, I have Bieber fever, which is not actually a disease that we care about tracking.

turn 1 :  The literal meaning is that the CDC is trying to predict the severity and duration of the flu season by analyzing current data and using traditional surveillance methods. The actual meaning is that the CDC is exploring new methods of surveillance, such as using social media data to predict flu trends in real-time.

Which organization is trying to predict the severity and duration of the flu season by exploring new methods of surveillance?

Answer: CDC


I don't have inside knowledge of what happened in the Ukraine matter, but it's clear to me that Yovanovitch was following the instructions that she was given by the State Department and she may have run afoul of whatever scheme Rudy Giuliani and likely the president were trying to play out in Ukraine.

Diplomacy is not a partisan issue between Democrats and Republicans. It's about serving American national interests. And I'm confident that's what Yovanovitch was trying to do.

The letter you and other foreign service professionals signed seemed to express particular concern about the implications, possible implications for replacing Ambassador Yovanovitch might have for the entire foreign service.

That's right. The letter was signed for two reasons; first, because many of the signatories know Yovanovitch, know her to be a person of impeccable integrity, someone who has served for more than three decades - both Republicans and Democrats - and has always done so with great distinction and received numerous awards and accolades for her work. But there's a larger issue here that goes beyond Yovanovitch.

turn 0 : She might have discovered the illegal activity Rudy Giuliani was conducting.

What was Yovanovitch possibly involved in?

Answer: Scheme


Good morning.

Good morning.

What does Oklahoma want?

Well, I mean, really, they're looking for funding. They're looking for as much money as possible, as quickly as possible. I talked with Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter, and he's the one who brought the lawsuit. And he told me that taking these companies to court is really the only way the state can fund opioid treatment. I mean, you've got to keep in mind that Oklahoma has the second-highest uninsured rate in the nation. The state hasn't expanded Medicaid. State legislators have really slashed public health funding in recent years. So add on top of that the huge opioid addiction crisis, and you've got very few facilities, and they're almost always full.

So I'm thinking this through from Johnson & Johnson's perspective. I guess if you're a business, you want to kind of get your liabilities, you know, in a predictable - into a predictable place, which might help explain why a couple of other big companies, pharmaceutical companies, settled their lawsuits with the state of Oklahoma. But Johnson & Johnson is going ahead. Why did they not settle the way that other companies have?

turn 2 : Oklahoma wants funding to help opioid treatment due to lack of support and high addiction crisis

How is Oklahoma dealing with the opioid crisis?

Answer: funding


Oh, let's see. Who would be a good heating guy out there in the elements?I would say Russell Crowe, maybe.

I can see that. I can see that. . .

Yeah, I could see him with the big, frozen beard out there bearing the elements or maybe Mel Gibson. Unfortunately, I don't grow that full of a beard so I don't get that much protection, but, you know, you do what you can.

You've kept a lot of people warm and safe this year. Thank you.

turn 3 : The literal meaning of this turn is that the person being addressed has kept a lot of people warm and safe throughout the year and is being thanked for it. The figurative meaning, however, is that the person being addressed has done something good or helpful for others and is being appreciated for it, but not necessarily in a literal sense of keeping them warm and safe.

How was the person being addressed appreciated by others in turn 3?

Answer: Thanked


So what is the argument that tech companies make about the feasibility of designing technology that would satisfy everyone's concerns?

We're not all on the same page here. So most of us in the technology community are opposed to what we call backdoors that would allow law enforcement to tap in. And the reason is is if you put a backdoor in, hackers can presumably get a hold of that backdoor as well and break it open. So you make systems less secure for everyone if you do that.

At a Senate hearing this month, FBI Director James Comey says he thinks that experts in this field aren't really trying hard enough to give the government access without also putting confidential data at risk. That is, I took it to mean that he's - thinks that if you try hard enough, you can think of something that is not a backdoor, that's different so that not everybody could get into it.

You know, yes, you can always argue that a backdoor can be built that's more secure, you know, and more difficult to get to and only law enforcement's going to get there. But nobody in the field of security believes that's ultimately going to provide this same protection that a tight end-to-end solution has without a backdoor. So I don't think it's a lack of will. I think it's an issue of what people view as constitutional rights under the Fourth Amendment, number one, and what customers and business partners expect around the world from secure computing systems. And it's a difference of view.

turn 2 : : In (3), James Comey is implying that experts in the field should be able to come up with a solution that would allow the government to access confidential data without compromising security, which is not the same as saying that if they try hard enough, they can come up with a different type of backdoor.

Which FBI director thinks that experts in the field should be able to come up with a solution that would allow the government to access confidential data without compromising security?

Answer: Comey


This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Scott Simon.

Tornadoes hit Oklahoma City last night. Five people are reported to have died, including a mother and her child. Nearly 90 people are being treated for injuries. The twister touched down in Oklahoma City and in nearby Moore and triggered flash floods and power outages. And, of course, we remember that Oklahomans are still recovering from tornadoes that hit a few weeks ago. Kurt Gwartney is the news director at our member station KGOU in Oklahoma City. He joins us now. Kurt, thanks so much for making time for us on a very busy morning.

You're welcome.

What's the latest news you can give us?

turn 1 : The tornadoes did not actually hit but touched down in the areas.

Which word describes where the tornadoes touched down?

Answer: Touched


Right. Reckitt Benckiser made Suboxone Film. It was actually made by a division of the company called Indivior, which the parent company spun off five years ago. This is an opioid medication that's actually used to treat people recovering from addiction. You take it by dissolving it under your tongue rather than in tablet form. And back in April, Audie, the Justice Department filed criminal charges, claiming this drug was marketed using false claims that it's safer, less prone to abuse than cheaper alternative drugs. The feds said the company earned billions of dollars bilking healthcare providers and insurers, including Medicaid.

The $1. 4 billion - what is the U. S.  government going to do with that money?

Yeah. Well, most of this will go into the federal government's coffers. But interestingly here, $200 million will be divided up between any states that sign onto the settlement - the money going to reimburse their Medicaid budgets.

But if the company doesn't make this drug anymore and now you've got the spin-off company that makes it, why did they agree to this huge payout?

turn 3 : The company may be motivated to pay the settlement to avoid further legal complications.

Which motivation led to the company paying the settlement?

Answer: legal


But second, I said you have to step up, Mr.  President. The moment you jump into this issue, you learn how complicated it is, how many decades in the making it is. But this is on our watch. This is our time, and these are your constituents, Mr.  President, just as they are mine.

And so to me, this is an opportunity to educate, an opportunity to pressure. And whether it is out of his heart or out of the movement that we build or just out of some people's disgust - because disgust for all of us should be in our hearts right now that we let Americans live on our streets and in shelters in the richest country on the face of the earth. So we will push, push, push this president and this administration to join this fight until the last day we're around.

That is the mayor of Los Angeles, Eric Garcetti.

Mr.  Mayor, thanks so much for talking to us.

Great to be with you, Michel. Thank you so much.

turn 0 : "Step up," "jump" and "our watch" are all figurative, not literal. They mean that the President needs to take action on the issue and, in the last case, that the political party is in control now and has to take responsibility for governing.

How do the phrases "step up," "jump," and "our watch" relate to the President's actions according to the statement?

Answer: Figurative


Was he in uniform?I mean, was this a. . .

He was in plainclothes, just driving in plainclothes.

Not that that makes it any better but still.

Well, at least they weren't dumb enough to go up to a fully uniformed police chief. But, you know, it's one of those things where we got one of the worst crime problems because there is no rhyme or reason to some of the things that are happening. You've got elderly gentlemen being beaten up at gas stations and people being afraid to come out of their homes at 5 P. M. It's not everywhere and it's not every neighborhood but it's enough that it's becoming what people think about living in Detroit.

Rochelle, Halloween's coming up and in Detroit that could mean Devil's Night.

turn 3 :  implies that the crime problem in Detroit is serious and that it has become a stereotype;

How is the crime problem in Detroit portrayed?

Answer: Serious


Will you try and legislate in spite of the president instead of with him?I mean, it seems that he is distracting from what the Republican Congress is trying to do.

Oh, absolutely. I think we'll move forward without that. I think that the president can certainly - I mean, it would be helpful, obviously, if the president makes that pivot - and I certainly hope that he does - where he's certainly more deliberate, more thoughtful in his approach - certainly gets off this Twitter stuff (laughter) - where, you know, I think that, as commander in chief - and I've said this before - that the men and women who serve this country in uniform want to see a president focused on the fact that we're a nation at war and not in a Twitter war with Rosie O'Donnell.

And so I think - I hope that this president can self-correct - this presidency can stabilize. But the Congress needs to move forward with policies that matter to the American people. And the president is doing something important right now in having visited Saudi Arabia - and to strengthen our alliance with Saudi Arabia, to counter that Iranian - Syrian, certainly under Assad, and Russia axis of power that is strengthening.

You know, you're talking about Twitter, but there were reports last week that the president disclosed sensitive intelligence information from Israel to Russian diplomats in an Oval Office meeting. You're a veteran. Do you have any concerns about the president's national security judgment, just briefly?

turn 0 : "legislate in spite of the president instead of with him" - figurative meaning, implies that the Congress will pass laws even if the president is not in agreement with them.

What is the figurative meaning of "legislate in spite of the president instead of with him"?

Answer: Pass


Thanks, Michel.

Now, you've been reporting along the border all day. What have you seen?

Well, I was at the actual border this morning. It's a river that divides Mexico and Guatemala. And there was no presence of authorities there. So there are these inflatable rafts that carry people and goods across the river, and they were traveling without a problem across the river. So I saw several groups of migrants cross this morning. But things change as you move north on highways here.

So I'm currently at a highway checkpoint. There's about a dozen Mexican migration officers, as well as Mexican Army and Mexican police. And they're stopping every van and bus that comes by here and checking it for undocumented migrants.

So tell us a little bit more, if you would, about what happens to travelers who arrive at those checkpoints.

turn 2 : Authorities are not present to regulate illegal border crossings.

What was observed during the morning at the actual border?

Answer: Migrants


Jeffrey Mann was once a hard driving college athlete. But his dreams were dashed when he suffered a series of injuries. He managed to make it to the conference finals in the 400-meter hurdle race, but came in dead last. Twenty-five years later, he decided that failure was not an option. Jeffrey Mann is a religion professor at Susquehanna University in Pennsylvania. And when we spoke with him, post-race, he told us his return to the track wasn't exactly by design.

It wasn't really planned. I had been exercising and working out and doing a little bit of running on my own. And I ended up in a conversation with the head coach, here, of the track team. And as we were talking, he found out a little bit about my history and where I was at and told me that there was a possibility for me to compete in a Division III intercollegiate competition.

But that sounds theoretical. You took it seriously.

I think I was a little bit overly optimistic when I first accepted the challenge. But I thought how much could I possibly have slowed down in 25 years?And so I decided to take on the challenge and compete as a - what they call an unattached runner at a college meet.

turn 1 : "ended up" in (2) means that the person did not plan to do something, but it happened anyway.

What did the head coach find out about the person's history?

Answer: History


Is he crankery and colorful, or does he cross the line?

Judge Ellis is a judge who is - likes to run a clean and efficient trial. He doesn't like trials to veer off - off course. In other words, he wants the parties to present the evidence that the jurors need to hear to render a decision. Along the way, he's active - maybe more active than other judges. He can be difficult to both parties, and he can be stern.

Is there any reason for either side to worry that there could be grounds for an appeal in his conduct so far?

I'd say no. The standard for a judge's behavior that would - in other words, that would rise to the level of an appellate issue - is fairly high. In essence, it has to be a situation where the judge is substituting - the effect of his conduct is to substitute his judgment for that of the jurors. Comments that he makes to counsel can be solved with a curative instruction. We saw that a couple of days ago.

Curative instruction meaning, I'm sorry I said that. Disregard that.

turn 1 : Judge Ellis is a strict judge who likes to run a tight ship.

Answer: Efficient


So, what do you make of all these pardons?

These pardons are a typical old practice in Russia and the Soviet Union. But, of course, President Vladimir Putin made a wonderful publicity show of pardoning Mikhail Khodorkovsky and this was totally unexpected. There had been talk about another trial against him. And instead, now he's already in Germany.

Let me ask you about what seemed to be, from Mr.  Putin's point of view, a productive week. Ukraine's government, after weeks of some wavering, decided not to sign an agreement with the European Union and instead threw in with the economic aid package from Moscow. How do you read that?

Well, I think it's quite a victory for President Putin and also for President Yanukovych. What President Putin got, it was some kind of alliance with Ukraine. And he also got support for his kind of economic and political system, rather authoritarian and not quite run by the rule of law. And President Yanukovych, he got $50 million in a probably quite expensive loan, which means that he can keep going for 15 months more, until he has presidential elections in Ukraine.

I'm curious as to why Ukraine seems to be teetering. Because when the USSR split up, a lot of people said this is going to be a country with a lot going for it - almost 50 million people; it was considered the breadbasket of the old Soviet Union; coal, steel. What's happened?

turn 3 : A: "What President Putin got, it was some kind of alliance with Ukraine" - The literal meaning of this statement is that Putin gained an alliance with Ukraine. The actual meaning could be that Putin gained a strategic advantage by aligning Ukraine with his economic and political system.

Which country did Putin gain an alliance with?

Answer: Ukraine


Most Americans agree Congress should do something to try to end gun violence. There is wide support for a range of ideas, including keeping tabs on or limiting who can get a gun and making it easier for police and family members to temporarily take guns away from people who may hurt themselves or others - what's known as red flag laws. There's more division on other proposals. We all - we know all of this because of a new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll.

NPR senior political editor and correspondent Domenico Montanaro has dug into the numbers. He joins us now. Hey, Domenico.

Hey, Ailsa.

OK. So I want to start where there is some agreement. Let's just start positive for now. What does this poll tell us?

turn 0 : There is support for gun control measures in the US.

Answer: Numbers


We were with addicts on the street as they were having encounters with law enforcement. We were in treatment centers with people trying to kick the addiction. There's this one phenomenal picture of five inmates. They're all pregnant and being let in to get their methadone and things like that. We were in in drug courts, where people were being dealt with by the criminal justice system.

I think one of the reasons that it's gotten so much attention is because of the spareness with which we report it. We just report anecdote after anecdote after anecdote after anecdote over seven days. And anybody who reads it cannot come away without understanding how deep and how pernicious and how totally involving of our society this epidemic is.

Are there things that happen in Cincinnati every day that people walk past that you wanted to use this opportunity to share with?

Well, yes, I mean, in the sense that we wanted people to understand that this is going on all around them. Heroin is not a demographic or racial or any socioeconomic status - however you want to put it - drug. Its terrible reach is universal.

turn 0 : The criminal justice system is heavily involved in the opioid epidemic.

How are inmates being treated in drug courts?

Answer: methadone


There's a number of them that the federal prosecutors mentioned, things like excessive purchases with cash in some pharmacies, purchases from well out of the region of the pharmacies. And these are opioid purchases we're talking about - excessively high percentages of sales of fentanyl patches and opioid oxycodone painkillers from some pharmacies and some of the larger pharmacies that RDC dealt with. So those are some of the things that the feds highlighted.

Two RDC executives face charges. What are they accused of?

Basically sort of being players in this whole, you know, alleged kind of ignorance or willing ignorance, I should say, of RDC's role in the opioid epidemic, the things we talked about - you know, just sort of closing your eyes to pharmacies that were obviously pushing painkilling prescription meds onto the streets in big numbers. And the allegations are that the former CEO, Larry Doud, and former compliance officer were key in allowing this to happen internally and just ignored all the signs. One has pleaded guilty and is cooperating. And Doud is facing the criminal charges.

You've talked a lot about the pharmacies here. And so I'm wondering, what about them?And what about the doctors making the orders?Are they being held accountable?

turn 3 : "held accountable" - This turn's actual meaning is different from its literal meaning because "held accountable" means being responsible or answerable for something, but it does not necessarily mean someone will be physically held or restrained.

Which word in turn 3 has a meaning that is different from its literal meaning?

Answer: Accountable


Would you ever consider - it sounds like you have in the past, but at this point, are you looking to find love, and at what - how would that have to fit into you already having a family?

Yeah, I think about that a lot. And that's really the lesson for me from this book is that I'm still an incurable romantic, but I'm now an incurable romantic about my kids.

A lot of the pressure that was on my relationships before has been relieved now because I know that I'm not going to grow old alone. As long as I can keep my kids loving me, I've got that part taken care of.

turn 0 : "Yeah, you're like daddy stubbed his toe. Go back to sleep."  This turn uses figurative language or idiomatic expressions, where "daddy stubbed his toe" means something went wrong or painful, but not necessarily related to an actual physical injury. It is not meant to be taken literally.

How would you describe the meaning of "daddy stubbed his toe" in turn 0?

Answer: Painful


Hi, Lulu. Thank you so much for having me.

It is an absolute pleasure to have you. Let's talk through this. There's already been some diversity in the emoji world. We have different skin tones included in emoji form. But why do you think an afro should be included too?

I think an afro should be included too because there's an entire community of people - black, Afro-Latinx, diasporic. We were just talking about the do for others. It's a lot of people that have hair that grows up, forward and spherically and, you know, defies gravity. And there's been - and there's just been a big dearth and lack of representation of natural hair and Afro hair in the media. And I think the lack of Afro hair in our keyboards is a subtle but constant reminder of that. You know, we're a world that interacts largely in digital spaces. And emoji are this universal language of self-expression and kind of the closest way to, really, inject our personality into our conversations. And the fact that a very large community and culture of people has no reflection of themselves in those conversations is something that I'm trying to change.

Describe the emoji for us.

turn 1 : It's not a pleasure but the person is just being polite during the interview.

What is the reason for PersonB's response to PersonA's greeting in turn 0?

Answer: Representation


Are they willing to let people die over that principle?

Oh, no. No, you don't - but to who - and that's such an interesting - I love that you got right to the college dorm part of the argument, you know - are you going to let people die?No one's going to let people die. You know, there's talk about - oh, my gosh, the Trump budget cuts Meals on Wheels. Meals on Wheels gets 3 percent of its funding, approximately, from government sources. Ninety-seven percent is people want to take care of their neighbors.

I. . .

People are not going to let their neighbors die.

turn 1 : A: "Oh, no. No, you don't - but to who - and that's such an interesting - I love that you got right to the college dorm part of the argument, you know" - Here, A is not directly responding to B's question about whether people are willing to let others die over a principle. Instead, A seems to be expressing surprise or disagreement with something else that B said or implied. The literal meaning of A's words does not match their actual meaning, which is more like "I don't agree with what you just said, but it's interesting that you brought up that aspect of the argument."

What is PersonA's response to PersonB's question about letting people die over a principle?

Answer: disagreement


(Laughter).

. . . I like that. Mannish is good.

It smelled mannish.

And then a day later, General Eisenhower gave the go-ahead.

turn 1 : B finds something amusing or funny, but it's not clear what

Answer: Laughter


That's one of the projects, yeah, that I followed in the book. Can we build a limb that is basically indistinguishable from a natural arm?So if you're missing an arm, you get this new prosthetic that can sense and move and operate like a natural arm. And that's typically ambitious, and they call that DARPA-hard. Let's try something that just seems completely insane, totally, you know, crazy ambitious. And in that case, they didn't get there. They didn't quite get to that point, but they did get a lot of these technologies in motion for controlling a robot with mind power alone, for instance.

Yeah. How do they ensure that they keep getting new cutting-edge thoughts inside of DARPA?

That's one of the challenges, and that's one of the reasons I was able to write this book, too, because they need to get the word out. They need to find people out there who've got these ideas, who want to pitch them to DARPA. Or come to work for DARPA as a program manager because DARPA program managers, they all leave. After two to six years, they're gone. Their expiration dates are printed on their ID badges. So they've got this turnover, 25 percent every single year.

And they also have a deadline, right?

turn 2 : DARPA needs new ideas from people who want to work for them.

What is one of the challenges faced by DARPPersonA in getting new ideas?

Answer: ideas


It's not me - it's nothing to do - saying they, you know, they shouldn't be allowed to sing. And if they want to do soul music, I think it's great because, you know, music is universal, it's meant for everybody. So I really don't have a problem with that. What I have a problem with is, you know, just a lot more attention is paid to artists like that, as apposed to, you know, myself, because there's - you know, I could name loads of them over here that should be out - you know, should be getting the same kind of praise, and don't. I'm just baffled at that.

Now, you do get your props. Vibe Magazine said that your rich, velvety voice warms the inside like a spot of tea. Do you generally try to read the reviews, or. . .

I do actually.

You do?

turn 0 : A is unhappy that their music is not receiving as much attention as other artists.2. B is trying to console A by mentioning that they have received praise from Vibe Magazine.

Which magazine praised PersonA's rich, velvety voice?

Answer: Vibe


Yeah, yeah. Hopefully, you know?So whereas in America, you know, you sort of smoothed the edges and you've just put, you know, you've put makeup on. That's what you've done. We're still in the very, you know, you still see all of our imperfections. Whereas in America you try to put a lot of makeup, but the imperfections are still there. And I find that that's the most interesting thing for me.

The changes that we've seen in South Africa over those 17 years are little short of phenomenal.

Yes. It's been amazing. It was a bloodless revolution, you know, because the difference has been - in America, black people have been fighting for their freedom and for their identity and so on, but as a minority. In South Africa, you had a white majority rule, ruling over — I mean, this is Africa. This is the home of black. It was the black factory. So I mean this is, you know, it was a very different story and never before has there been a bloodless revolution in Africa.

Is there much of a tradition of comedy in South Africa, particularly tweaking the powers that be?You don't think of John Vorster. . .

turn 2 : The speaker is contrasting the peaceful transition to democracy in South Africa with the ongoing struggles of black people in America to achieve equality. Implicated meaning: The speaker is highlighting the unique historical context of South Africa's transition to democracy and the significance of the peaceful transition.

How does the speaker contrast South Africa's transition to democracy with America's struggles for equality?

Answer: Context


Well, we have shared the coordinates of health facilities, school facilities and so on for the very purpose to make sure they're protected. Sadly, several of these facilities received a direct hit. Actually, the secretary-general has called for a board of inquiry to investigate into these cases and to find out what had happened.

For us, it's a question of trust, and it's a question of protection when we say - when we give these coordinates, we expect that all parties in the conflict will respect them. And when that doesn't happen, that's really a significant problem for all and, most importantly, for the people who find themselves - that we have had incidents of ambulances receiving direct aid. Hospitals, doctors, nurses would be in the middle of an operational procedure or who had gone to this place for medical treatment and to find themselves being bombed inside the hospital or children in the school. That's something that is really totally unacceptable.

Panos Moumtzis is the United Nations humanitarian coordinator for the Syria crisis. Thanks so much for being with us, sir.

Thank you for calling me.

turn 1 : incidents of ambulances receiving direct aid means that ambulances were bombed while they had patients inside.

Which type of facilities were hit by a direct attack despite the sharing of their coordinates?

Answer: Hospitals


From NPR News, this is Day to Day. The ethics problem at the Interior Department continues to unfold, specifically in the little-known but powerful Minerals Management Service. The Interior Department's watchdog reports that employees in that division accepted gifts, they steered government contracts to friends, and they had sexual relations with oil and gas-company representatives. Joining us now is John Dimsdale from Marketplace, and John, first, what is the Minerals Management Service?I hadn't heard of it until yesterday.

Well, it's responsible for collecting royalty revenues from companies that extract oil and other minerals from federal property. And last year, they collected 11 billion dollars from the oil and gas industry. So, it's a big source of revenue. In fact, sometimes Minerals Management is the second largest source of income for the federal government, second only to the IRS. And remember, this scandal comes just as Congress is debating whether to allow more oil drilling, especially on the Outer Continental Shelf under the ocean.

That's right. So, let's go into the details of this scandal. What did the Interior Department's inspector general find?

Well, this report makes it sound like a very dysfunctional place. It alleges cocaine and marijuana use, and even promiscuous sex between government employees and the industry that they oversee. The inspector general says the relationship between the industry and the revenue collectors is supposed to be at arm's length, but most of the oil-company people that investigators talked to said they bought meals or drinks, entertainment, for government employees.

turn 0 : "the ethics problem at the Interior Department continues to unfold" - figurative meaning: the situation is developing or becoming more complex, literal meaning: something is physically unfolding.

What was the second largest source of income for the federal government last year?

Answer: IRS


I had always written about my mother. I started writing in college in a creative writing class. And some of the first stories I wrote were talking about different disagreements that we had. But what was important was the kind of larger struggles that were embodied in those arguments. I just published an essay about the conception of this book, and I talk about the issue of hair and how the struggle of hair between black mothers and black daughters is fraught with all of these racial tensions that are basically absorbed from the larger culture.

So I had always written about my mother as a way to write about these larger issues and about immigration and gender and motherhood. And during the time that my mother's health took a turn for the worse, I was a grad student at Columbia in their MFA program. And actually, it was the last day of school. And we had our graduation ceremony. And I found out that my mom was, you know, had a few months to live.

So I pretty immediately - because I was done with school - packed my things up. I quit the job that I had and moved back to Philadelphia and basically spent the last six months with her. It was, you know, it's an around-the-clock job. It's very draining. And at the end of the day, the only thing I had time to write were basically one paragraph or sometimes a sentence - reflections. And I just started collecting them in this folder. And I didn't tend to do anything with them, but they all started to fit together in this large story.

I want to have you read from one of those vignettes, Page 31.

turn 0 : "larger struggles that were embodied in those arguments" Actual meaning: The arguments between the speaker and their mother were about more significant issues. Non-literal meaning: None.

How did the struggles in the arguments between the speaker and their mother relate to larger issues?

Answer: Arguments


But you came over so young.

Yeah. I came over when I was really young. So obviously, you know, growing up in the British environment, I've absorbed a lot of their culture. You know, because it's just a natural thing. You kind of - you hang out with, you know, the local, you know, people from the U. K.  or whatever. So naturally you're going to pick up a lot of their habits and their ways, but you know, first and foremost, I always see myself as, you know, African.

And I know - well my parents never let me forget that anyway, you know, because we do - we had all the kind of culture, and just general kind of grounding, you know, installed in us at a very young age. So I've always kind of carried that with me anyway as I've progressed in life. But I always look at it as, you know, an advantage really, because I've had the privilege of experiencing, you know, my African culture in life, and, you know, I've had the opportunity of experiencing being British, and, you know, growing up in the U. K.  And now I'm, you know, experiencing kind of some of the flavors of the U. S. So I always look at it like, you know, it's a positive thing.

All right, Hilary, thanks so much.

turn 2 : Being exposed to different cultures is an advantage.

What is seen as a positive thing according to the speaker in turn 2?

Answer: cultures


Well, no, I don't think so, but it's really not just about resignations. What people really want to see is a change of the system, not just a personnel change. But what we know is that even if we magically fixed Ferguson overnight, it would be an island of justice in a sea of injustice.

At the same time, Mr.  French, how do you keep the public safe?How do you get anyone to become a good police officer if they're getting - if they feel they might be shot by the citizens?

You're absolutely right. I mean, the tragic thing here - and this is the crisis that we find ourselves in in St.  Louis - is that communities need police; especially communities with high crime, like many of our communities do have it in St.  Louis. We need police. And an order for police to be effective they need the trust of the community. And so what I feel like is we have not acted quick enough. That in fact we had an opportunity over this fall and winter to do a lot of this hard work before we get into what is traditionally the high crime times of spring and summer. And it's been warm here for a couple of days and we've already seen a very high spike in crime, including the tragic death of a 5-year-old boy. So we've got a lot of work to do and we need to get to the business of doing it very quickly.

How has the protest movement changed - maybe in terms of what its objectives are - and are there different factions now?

turn 3 : Has the protest movement changed it's goals and are there different groups involved now?

What is the question about the changes and factions within the protest movement that PersonB asks in the dialogue?

Answer: Changes


So explain to me how this system actually works.

Well, the first thing is to know what the weather is so you can know what the weather will be. That's the crux of it. So you need as complete observations of the global atmosphere as possible, which means coming from satellites and weather buoys and from sensors and airliners. And then once you know what it is, what you can do is then begin to run it forward in time.

But rather than just, you know, sort of being plugged into the supercomputers - you know, in comes the present, and out comes the future - the models are really a kind of ongoing concern. Every six hours, every 12 hours, they compare their own forecast with the latest observations. And so the models in reality are kind of - you know, they're sort of dancing together, where the model makes a forecast, and it's corrected slightly by the observations that are coming in.

And does anyone own these models and these satellites?I mean, is it part of a global web?Or does America have a certain piece of this and every country sort of have their own proprietary information that somehow gets passed along?

turn 2 : It's not plugged in but typed in the computers. The models don't dance together but the data works together.

What is the difference between how the models work and what was implied about their function in the conversation?

Answer: Difference


I don't even know what to say.

Have you - make sure you've eaten your lunch or your breakfast.

It might be - it's going to be the grossest video you've probably seen all week. But you should still watch it because it's fascinating.

You know how to sell it.

turn 2 : The video is gross, but still interesting enough to watch.

Answer: Disgusting.


He went to his local bar and he didn't sit on the sidelines there. He took center stage and actually played a kind of Balkan fiddle called a gusle. And everyone stood around and clapped and applauded him. And he was sitting under a portrait of Radovan Karodzic, this man who was the hero for most of the people in the bar. And not one of them spotted the resemblance.

He lived across the stairwell in his block of flats from a woman who worked with Interpol. And her - every time she went into work, she logged on to her computer and saw the world's most wanted, including Osama bin Laden and Radovan Karodzic. And the penny never dropped. It was like a long-running performance that only came to an end really when his brother made a vital slip.

He made a phone call, right?What happened?

He made a phone call. And he used a SIM card that he shouldn't have used. It was one that was on the files of the people chasing Karodzic.

To put you on the spot a bit, does a sentence like this that comes 21 years after the Srebrenica massacre serve as a deterrent to alleged war crimes being committed today, let's say in Syria and/or Iraq?

turn 0 : The woman's job with Interpol put her in a position to identify Karodzic but she failed to recognize him.

How did the woman's job with Interpol relate to Karodzic?

Answer: Interpol


The writer Michael Kinsley, who's a friend of this program, wrote about the surge a few months ago. Look at the numbers before the surge. Look at the numbers after the surge. This is what the Bush administration calls a success. One hundred and thirty thousand Americans in Iraq at the beginning and at the end. This country will still have about 130,000 soldiers - American soldiers in Iraq. Michael Kinsley said, have we really succeeded anything or have we just kind of changed the metric in some way?

Oh my Lord. I mean, what we have in Iraq, and I just got back, you know, less than two weeks ago. What we have in Iraq is a government that is elected by its people. It's the only Arab-Muslim country of that type, of that form of government in that region. It will have a long- term security relationship and a strategic relationship with the United States and be aligned with the United States. That is a major positive outcome for us, particularly given the fact that in 2006 we nearly lost the country and suffered a humiliating defeat.

Things do look an awful lot different than they did two years ago. You had a significant role in that, in thinking about what should be done at a time when it was a very unpopular plan to be putting forth. No one was - there wasn't a very big cheering squad for that. I wonder if you sit back on an evening now and feel some kind of sense of satisfaction?What is that?'

Well, I think there were a lot of people that, you know, have a hand in it.

turn 3 : having a hand in it implies being an agent, playing a part or the reason why something happens,  and not meaning to have a part of one's hand inside something

Which term describes the implication of "having a hand in it" in turn 3?

Answer: Agent


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.

What was the subject of the implied turn in the dialogue?

Answer: book