That's still not always easy, but that's a message that can succeed. If, however, you have a muddled message, if it seems like you're planning on having some retrenchment of a program for no good reason, you're not articulating a good and compelling reason to do it. That tends to be much, much worse.

There is a paradox. The Affordable Care Act has become popular, as we mentioned, but in the same polls when you ask people about Obamacare, they say that they don't like it. Now that Obama is out of office, are people paying more attention to the actual policy and its effect on their lives?

Well, what I'd say is that earlier on, I pointed out to the fact that if you look at surveys, you find that people say that the federal government should insure universal coverage. Now, of course, there are lots of ways to go about doing that. As for Obamacare in particular, it certainly has created some constituencies. But are there ways to change the law that would be broadly popular?I think the answer is yes.

But to do that, you'd really need to have a coherent, unified critique of Obamacare. And that's the big problem for Republicans because if you're looking at Republican objections to Obamacare, they've come from pretty much every direction. People have criticized it for all kinds of reasons that are oftentimes somewhat contradictory. And that means that you don't have a kind of common narrative about, what's the problem here that we're trying to solve?

turn 1 : "Obamacare" The actual meaning of this turn is not different from its literal meaning. It refers to the Affordable Care Act, which was signed into law by President Barack Obama in 2010.

Which policy was signed into law by President Barack Obama in 2010?

Answer: Affordable


If we can't see the stuff, how can we prove it?How close are we to discovering the hidden these dimensions, if they exist at all?These are the sort of things my next guest ponders at his day job, and he's here to tell us a bit about the dark side of the universe. Michael Turner is a cosmologist and professor of astrophysics at the University of Chicago in Illinois. Welcome back to SCIENCE FRIDAY, Michael.

Great to be here, Ira.

Always good to talk to you. What do you make of the idea that a particle could turn into an invisible twin of itself in a parallel world?

turn 3 :  "Well, as we often say in cosmology or theoretical physics, that idea might be crazy enough to be true."  The actual meaning of this turn is different from its literal meaning. It implies that sometimes ideas that seem crazy or impossible might turn out to be true in the field of cosmology or theoretical physics.

How do ideas in the field of cosmology or theoretical physics that seem crazy or impossible turn out to be true?

Answer: True


Hobbes wrote about the challenges his generation faces in a December article for Highline, which is put out by the Huffington Post. Its headline, "Millennials Are Screwed," caught our attention this week. And we asked Hobbes to explain his pessimistic prediction.

Healthcare, housing and education are more than five times more expensive than they were for our parents. There are fewer steady jobs. Wages have stagnated since the 1970s. I mean, I can go on and on and on. And so its weird that we're constantly talking about how millennials should do this differently, and millennials should do that differently. But we dont talk that much about - hey, the country around us can do some things differently, too.

So you obviously believe that the baby boomers messed up your life?How did they do that?

Well, I've gotten a lot of emails since the article came out from boomers that are saying, we've fallen off the ladder, too. And if you're 55 years old, there's a lot of discrimination for getting back into the workforce. But what we're seeing is that those impacts are concentrated on the young. So I think there's really three paradigm shifts. The first one is work has become much lower quality, basically - that there's fewer decent jobs now. Many of the jobs that are available are contingent work or sort of have been farmed out to contractors. Many fewer jobs provide things like pension, benefits or health care these days.

turn 0 : "caught our attention" means that something drew our interest, not that it physically grabbed us.

Which word describes the way the headline "Millennials Are Screwed" caught our attention?

Answer: Attention


How do you feel about the United States now?

It was my home, and it is my home. And it will be my home because I have nowhere else to go. If I went somewhere else, I wouldnt be alive.

Is there something you'd like the Army and the Department of Defense and everyone to know about you?

I am more patriotic than many Americans. I am ready to lay my life down for this country and for the safety of its people. Im not a bad person, and I have never committed a crime. My life is in danger if the institutions like USCIS and DOD does not help me.

turn 1 : The United States is the only place where the speaker can survive.

Which country is crucial to the survival of the speaker?

Answer: USA


So this is the story. In Islam, you can't remove a picture which has a cross in it. That was my wife's understanding. She - that's what she gave me to understand. And she said, don't ever remove this. And then this restaurant became very lucky for us. We - from being hand to mouth, we became self-sufficient. So this proved to be a lucky painting. Plus, this was a colorful painting, and this was all we could afford at the time. So we want to keep it, and we want to keep that cross as long as I'm alive and kicking.

It's a sign of how so many communities have built Houston into what it is today - influencing each other, melding into something unique. Lashkari has applied that to the dishes he serves. His signature chicken curry, cooked in huge metal pots in his sweltering, fragrant kitchen, is made with Mexican tomatillos and cilantro. It's incredibly delicious. And we ate that along with the best saag paneer, a spinach and cheese dish, that I have ever tasted.

We do a lot of fusion right now. This restaurant is famous for its fried chicken. It's fried the Southern way, but it's - the chicken - the raw chicken is marinated with Indian spices. My white gravy is made with cashew nuts and almonds and coconut. So it looks like a white gravy of the chicken-fried steak, but it's totally different.

Yeah, yeah.

turn 3 : "So Pakistani and Indian food with deep Texas roots." - This turn is literal in meaning because it accurately describes the cultural influences on the food.

How would you describe the fusion cuisine served at the restaurant?

Answer: Fusion


Yeah. And that took a lot out of my legs. I was pretty fatigued by the end of the game, and I'm feeling it today.

And do - I bet you are a little tired.

But at - towards the end of the game, where you aware of the record?And where you aware you'd broken it?

I wasn't aware, actually. I think I was just so tired and so focused on scoring the basketball. There's a stretch late in the second half where I think I hit seven or eight consecutive threes, and I knew something special was going on after that.

turn 3 : If late in the second half he could hit seven or eight consecutive threes and he knew something special was going on after that, then he was definitely aware of the record

How was the player feeling at the end of the game?

Answer: Tired


Germany - you want to look out for Germany. They've won two World Cups, too. But the Germans are having some issues. The reigning FIFA world player of the year, Nadine Kessler, she's out after knee surgery. One of their star midfielders broke her leg. Of course, we can't forget about Japan. Japan are ranked fourth, but they're the reigning World Cup champions. A talented young player to keep an eye on is 20-year-old Asisat Oshoala from Nigeria. She just won the BBC's female footballer of the year award. Not so young as the Brazilian team, but the team. . .

But Marta - they've got Marta.

Exactly, they got Marta. She's the best player in the world - FIFA's footballer of the year five times. She's so good she doesn't need a last name, Scott. She's just Marta.

She could balance of Volkswagen on her foot. She's that good.

turn 3 : "balance a Volkswagen on her foot" - This turn is hyperbole, an exaggeration used for emphasis, and means that Marta is an exceptionally talented football player, rather than literally being able to balance a car on her foot.

What does the turn "balance a Volkswagen on her foot" mean?

Answer: Talented


It sounds like he would have a great personal incentive to keep good relations with Russia.

Well, he's a very outspoken and always been. I mean, he was the oligarch who funded the Orange Revolution. Which is, you know, basically the Ukrainians - the Orange Revolution - they realized that they are not Russians, and they are Ukrainians. So he's - among the oligarchs, he's the most pro-Western oriented. At the same time, you know, also among the oligarchs, he has the biggest holding in Russia. So that's - that's going to be an interesting - an important dimension, I believe Because he could be the man who can make an agreement or strike a deal both between the European Union and Russia. Now, how he's going to do that is a different question, and I think it's not going to be that easy.

Have you had the chocolate?

Oh, the chocolate is good actually, decent quality, which, you know, when - when we're speaking about quality that's, you know, European standard, if you like.

Does he have good relations with President Putin?Do we know anything about that?

turn 4 : 5: The speaker is implying that they do not know anything about the oligarch's relationship with President Putin.

How does the speaker feel about their knowledge of the oligarch's relationship with President Putin?

Answer: Unsure


I don't really describe myself. I don't have a - I don't label myself really. I've done some interviewing in the past and just, you know, strike up a general conversation with people usually in sort of a casual environment. And for some reason, usually, people will talk to me.

And I have to say, you've got great researching skills. I read that you even dug up Carter Page's undergrad thesis, and you spoke with his U. S. Naval Academy thesis adviser. That's amazing. Why did you do that, and how did you go that deep?

I don't know. I just - I have a curiosity about this whole situation, and I really wanted to get to the bottom of it. So I - you know, the easiest way to say it is no stone left unturned.

You say, you know, you want to contribute to the investigation, but how are you different than a journalist?

turn 2 : "no stone left unturned" - This implies that the speaker is determined to investigate thoroughly and not overlook any possible leads or sources of information.

Which phrase suggests the PersonA's determination to conduct a thorough investigation?

Answer: No-stone-left-unturned


You've been following temporary staffing trends for more than two decades now. What sectors are relatively insulated from layoffs?

Well, the sectors that are most resilient are the higher-skill sectors, or if you can get into industries that are involved in education or health care or government. Those are the areas where you get the most bang. We're also seeing a nice increase in the mortgage-processing area, because one of the things the government's doing is lowering the conforming rate for mortgages. And so, there's kind of a rush to refinance.

When you say higher skills, are you talking about engineering, things of that sort?

Well, even within, say, clerical admin, there's always demand for good, you know, personal assistants. There's always demand for engineers or, you know, highly skilled folks. There are sometimes fewer jobs in those areas but for good people, you can get employed.

Now, geographically, where are the hot spots for temporary work?

We're seeing the best demand really around the D. C.  area. You know, Maryland, Virginia, the District of Columbia, of course the government's kind of gearing up, and there's lots of activity to, you know, take on some of these new projects. Another good area is Texas. Texas still has some residual goodwill related to energy and utilities. Beyond that, there is most of the - most every area of the country is feeling some pinch. Some of the toughest places are California, Nevada and Florida.

turn 1 : Those are the areas where you get the most positive information.

Answer: Information


OK.  Give us the background now. He has been charged with eight felony counts, including perjury and obstruction of justice.

Correct.

Remind us what happened.

Well, this all began quite some time ago. We're talking about a case that involves the firing of a couple police officers. And supposedly, these police officers were fired because they were investigating misconduct on the part of the mayor. And the mayor came up with a settlement, an $8. 4 million settlement that was paid out of the city's coffers.

turn 0 : implies a request for a summary of the facts of the case

Which felony counts was the individual charged with?

Answer: eight


Both the trains slowed. I was standing there with my bag over my shoulder, ready to jump. It was windy. It was cold. It was kind of getting dark. And so they finally lined up the cars correctly, and I was told to run across the loose rocks and jump on to the other train.

The conductor on the other train pulled me on to that car. Once I was onboard, another conductor came through the car, and she said to me, don't get up when we get to Milwaukee. What I heard from her was don't get up, or I will kill you. I did not move the rest of the trip.

So I get to Saint Paul. I'm looking for my brother. He's late. So he gets there, and I ask him, why were you late?And he says, well, I checked the train schedule, and it said it was running behind. Oh, that was because of me.

A travel nightmare with a happy ending from Anne Fleury in Milwaukee. Send us your stories, please. Go to weekendeditionsaturday@npr. org. Click on contact. Put Travel Nightmare at the top of your message.

turn 0 : The conductor was warning me not to get off the train when we arrived in Milwaukee or there would be consequences.

Which city did the train arrive in where the conductor warned the speaker not to get off?

Answer: Milwaukee


Reading this book, the thing that always shone through was that you never took no for an answer. You talk about, despite all your successes, always feeling like you might never be good enough, or that people were judging you. And yet, you always sort of came back swinging, sometimes literally.

I love the word no (laughter). Because of the ADD and the dyslexic, I couldn't follow anyone's formula at all. So no to me was the yes that I needed to hear. And I wanted to succeed so I could grow my team and grow my staff as well. And a lot has to do about Boston in general. I wanted to be somebody, you know?I think so.

Barbara Lynch - her book is called "Out Of Line: A Life Of Playing With Fire. "Thanks so much for joining us.

Thank you so much.

turn 1 : Here, the speaker implies that they have a unique perspective on the word "no" due to their personal challenges with ADD and dyslexia. The literal meaning of "no" is a negative response or rejection, but the speaker sees it as a positive thing because it drives them to find alternative paths and overcome obstacles. It signifies resilience and determination in the face of adversity.

How does the speaker interpret the word "no"?

Answer: Positive


Yeah. I mean, maybe you should - give it a shot. And then let me try it after.

That is so good.

Converted her. Fan of grapefruit.

You know why?'Cause it doesn't taste like grapefruit.

Right. Is it good?Is it to boozy?

turn 4 : (5) Refers to asking if the new food is good or too strong in terms of alcoholic content.

How would you describe the new food based on its taste and alcohol level?

Answer: Good


Donald Trump came to the mics and said, you know, he thought it was great that they were taking their country back again, obviously echoing his own campaign slogan of make America great again and saying that it might just be good for the Brits to have their currency dropped to a 30-year low in its value because it will make their products cheaper and will bring more tourists into the country. And then he talked a little bit about how some. . .

To his golf course, I believe he specifically said.

Some of those tourists might want to play golf in Scotland. And he happened to be talking about his own golf course there in Scotland and spoke about the virtues of that attraction.

The U. S.  Supreme Court, of course, had a decision this week which blocked the Obama administration's plans for immigration programs. Does that decision, and for that matter, do the results in the United Kingdom suggest something about the potency of immigration as a political issue?

turn 1 : as it is the only turn with an implied meaning different from its literal meaning.

What was Donald Trump echoing with his statement about taking the country back?

Answer: Great


But banning food products from Western countries had an immediate effect. And - but there was also a lot of contraband. And so one of the measures against the contraband was incinerating food once it was exposed as contraband. And it - really it was a display of something that I think inspired terror in a lot of people in a country that has known famine and in a country where a lot of people have feared starvation in living memory.

Yeah. We certainly have our own struggles with bigotry in the U. S. But it's hard not to go through your book and not be staggered by the persistence in Russia of anti-Semitism and prejudice against gays. What role does this play?

You know, I actually wouldn't call it prejudice against gays because I think it conveys the sort of impression that it comes from the grassroots, that this is - that the Russian population is homophobic. Not that it isn't. But what we're really talking about is a concerted campaign by the Kremlin over the last five years to single out and target LGBTQI people as, you know, scapegoats in the country, as the chosen other.

Towards the end of your book, you use a phrase that chills me, where you say that in Russia today, quote, "life is a foreign agent. "

turn 2 : In (3), “life is a foreign agent” does not mean that life is a foreign operative, but rather that life in Russia is heavily regulated and monitored by the government.

Which phrase from the book in (3) chills B?

Answer: Foreign-agent


Tomorrow, car sales numbers for November are due out, and they're not expected to be good. That could lead to more dealerships shutting down, and that could mean a big loss of revenue for local governments. For example, this year, the state of California has lost at least two billion dollars in sales taxes due to the drop in car sales.

To get a better sense of how local governments are coping, we're joined now by Marshall Bond. He is the city manager for Monroeville, Pennsylvania. Thanks for joining us, and why don't you tell us how many car dealerships are in Monroeville?

Just about every major domestic and foreign manufacturer sells cars here in Monroeville.

And so, how much of your budget comes from the revenue from car sales at these dealerships?

We have a business tax which obviously is, I'd say, probably of that - I'd say total tax is probably about 15 to 20 percent is based upon our related car industry.

turn 1 : The guest will provide insight into how local governments are dealing with the issue of car sales.

Which issue will the guest provide insight into?

Answer: Car


Right.

. . . Little inspiration pieces.

A road map.

Yeah, a little road map. You know, you want to make a right out of nowhere. . .

turn 3 : when A says "You know, you want to make a right out of nowhere," they are not talking about a physical right turn while driving. Here, "make a right out of nowhere" implies taking an unexpected or unconventional action without a clear plan or prior indication. It suggests being spontaneous or inventive in finding a solution or approach.

What does "make a right out of nowhere" imply?

Answer: unconventional


Super Saver and Calvin Borel one full length from Derby here. Noble's Promise runs in second. Patty O'Connell is now third. Make Music for Me, Big Mountain, (Unintelligible) on the outside and they're coming down to the finish. And it is Super Saver.

Wow. Now it occurred to me, when we were during some preparation on you - like a baseball announcer, all he or she has to do is go, when there's a home run - Yoho.

(Laughter).

But you have to rattle off eight or nine names that might have been unfamiliar to you - just a couple of - I mean, how you do it?

turn 2 : (3) is a sign of amusement, indicating the speaker was laughing at the metaphor.

Which turn indicated the PersonA's reaction to the metaphor?

Answer: Turn2


"The Interview," a bromance.

Tamara, are these mostly symbolic sanctions?I mean, North Korea's already under significant sanctions.

Significant. There have been four UN Security Council resolutions adopted since 2006, as well as two U. S.  sanctions programs. These are largely targeted at North Korea's weapons development - nuclear weapons development. So you could easily argue that these new sanctions are just piling onto a pretty big pile already.

U. S.  officials insist, though, that these are new and different because they name 10 individuals, most of whom work for the country's main arms dealer. They say that this naming them is going to make it very hard for those people to do business basically anywhere in the world. The White House also says that there are more sanctions yet to come.

turn 3 :  Implies that the new sanctions are going to make life very difficult for the individuals named, and that there may be more sanctions in the future.

How will the named individuals be affected by the new sanctions?

Answer: Difficult


Mercy. It could have been - could it have been prevented?Aside from maybe not inventing it, could it have been prevented somehow?

Great question, and yeah, here's the thing - the software flaw is something in the Microsoft operating system, in Windows. Microsoft released a patch for it way back in March. So in an ideal world, you would have installed the patch and been protected from this onslaught, this ransomware campaign. But obviously, we don't live in an ideal world, and it's not reasonable to expect every local IT guy to update immediately.

So 15 seconds we have left - we know a lot of people listening to us are online. What do they do or not do?

Well, absolutely backup your data. Have a way to have your data backed up in a trusted cloud provider or an external drive because the fact is if you backup your data, this kind of attack loses its fangs.

turn 1 : (2) Ideal world: An imaginary or hypothetical perfect world.

Answer: Ideal


. . . Because I have Nusayba. And she is alive and smiling and well thanks to an anonymous live donor, who came through at the last second. . .

Yeah.

. . . And gave a piece of his liver, which is now in my daughter's belly. And she lives. What more can we ask for?My life is complete.

We can reveal his name, too, can't we?

turn 0 : the donor person allowed part of their liver to be used right before the person was to die.

Answer: Daughter


Yeah.

You know, again, as you say. . .

Door to door is about it.

And that's about it. And by the time everybody realized the scope of this disaster, it was too late. You could not evacuate people in time. And so it was basically described as an unleashed monster.

turn 3 : The disaster was so severe that it was impossible to save everyone, and the situation was out of control.

Which word describes the disaster as it was described in the conversation?

Answer: unleashed


He used to love football because at the end of the year, we left him a gift. And it was a T-shirt, a real T-shirt of the Euro 2016 of France with his name behind the T-shirt and the number 41 on the top because we were 41 students in his class.

Heda says that she and her classmates have been talking and sharing thoughts with each other on Facebook and remembering their teacher.

I will never forget him, and he was the best ever teacher I ever had before. And I am so powerless with all this and I really want to be thankful for everything he did for us, for the class and also for me.

That's Laurence Heda, a student of Michael Pellegrini, who was killed, along with his mother and his grandparents in the Nice attack.

turn 1 : Heda and her classmates have been connecting and sharing memories of their teacher on Facebook.

How did Heda and her classmates remember their teacher?

Answer: Facebook


And, you know, there are many, many different ways to sort of be a poet in America, and some of us work in libraries and some of us work in garages and some of us teach children how to read and some of us work in hospitals. And the thing is just we're passionate about poetry, and I think that's a beautiful thing. We can't be all in one place. We shouldn't be. We have to be scattered about in honor to keep poetry what it has always been.

What are you learning reading all these entries?

Oh, my goodness. I'm learning that the poems that I'm - I've read so far are lush and lyrical and sorrowful and unpretentious and gorgeous and syntactically stunning and well-chiseled. And I can't tell you how many times I've stopped reading to say, how did she or he get her mind and heart around that so beautifully?And so there's some gorgeous books of poems that are out there and that are in this pile this year, and I'm just loving the fact that I'm basically reading poetry all day.

I mean, I've never had the pleasure to have that kind of job before. And when he National Book Award folks called, I thought, oh, this is going to be quite a summer. And it is. I have the books stacked up knee-high, several piles of them. That pile has a label on it, and another pile has another label on it. And I just kind of sit down in the midst of it all and lose myself into that beautiful language.

turn 3 : The person has a great many books in stacks around his home.

Answer: That


We're coming over the initial shock. It's a very strange situation to live in one of the wealthiest countries in the world. And we have been living in more luxury than almost any other nation on this planet, and now all of a sudden we find ourselves almost like beggars.

You talk about the swift difference between being so wealthy to now being in a totally different place. Is this what everyone - is the average person going through something like this?Or is this just a select few that went from being so wealthy to so not wealthy?

The general public here has been very, very well off. But now people that are starting to lose their jobs - hundreds of people that used to work in the banks have been losing their jobs recently. We know that a lot of companies are going to become bankrupt. We had almost no unemployment in the past years. We've been importing workers from Eastern Europe because we didn't have enough people to work in our companies.

So, how are people coping with this?Are they selling off their belongings?What are they doing?

turn 0 : Despite being one of the wealthiest countries, people are struggling to make ends meet.

What is the situation of the people in one of the wealthiest countries in the world?

Answer: Incorporating


A whistleblower has told Congress that at least 25 people were granted security clearances by the Trump administration after career employees recommended denying those clearances. Those 25 include two current senior White House officials. The whistleblower's name is Tricia Newbold. She's an 18-year career employee who currently works at the Personnel Security Office. That's the office that recommends for or against granting security clearances to members of the administration. She gave these details in private testimony to the House Oversight Committee last month.

Joining me now is a member of that committee, Jamie Raskin, Democrat from Maryland. Welcome.

I'm delighted to be with you.

So Tricia Newbold flags three particular instances involving senior White House officials who are kept anonymous. Can you tell us a little more about these officials who were initially denied security clearances but those decisions were overruled?

turn 3 :  "Flags" does not mean that Tricia Newbold actually used flags to indicate the instances involving senior White House officials. Instead, it implies that she drew attention to these instances or brought them to the committee's notice. This is an example of a figurative or idiomatic use of language where the intended meaning is different from the literal meaning of the words used.

What does the word "flags" mean in turn 3?

Answer: Drew


And, of course, we have bioenergy here, too, and the debates about things like corn ethanol. That's another big contentious issue here in the Midwest. And one where, again, middle grounds might have to be found between groups that are in very different poles on that issue.

And what do you think is the most promising - again, the symbolic areas, those are always going to be difficult. But are there other conversations that could be had that, as you say, skirt the ideology?

Well, it's very interesting. Regardless of, you know, how you think of him politically, the Obama administration has actually done more, may be by accident - or may be on purpose - to think about, to take on climate change than all previous administrations, really, combined. Our CO2 emissions in the United States have gone down pretty dramatically in the last few years, partly because of the recession, of course, but partly because people are retooling and getting more efficient.

The American car fleet is getting lot more efficient. We finally got those CAFE standards going up again, which is fantastic, after about 30 years of going nowhere. And maybe that's a benefit of bailing out Detroit. We could work with them to make cars more efficient, the cars Americans want to buy. We've also - the fracking, moving away from coals, where it's natural gas, has helped a lot, although we have to watch the other aspects of fracking. And also, renewables are beginning to make a bigger and bigger dent in the American electricity supply and other energy supplies.

turn 3 : Efforts are being made to increase the efficiency of American cars and shift towards renewable energy sources

What is being done to reduce CO2 emissions in the United States?

Answer: Retooling


Nice to be here, Lulu.

Why study Mars's core?What can it teach us?

We know the outside of Mars, and we understand the inside of the Earth. And one of the reasons we're interested in Mars is because it's a planet of a similar sort of size to the Earth and Venus. So getting into the interior of it will help us understand how long it took for it to cool down because it's now a cooler planet than the Earth. It no longer does all that exciting plate tectonic stuff that the Earth does. And we'll get a sense of how stiff the external crust is, how malleable the mantle is and whether the core is liquid or not. Those are all the things that really matter for the physics of the Earth, so we assume they're going to matter for the physics of Mars, too.

The first successful Mars landing was almost 50 years ago, which is quite a while. And many have failed since then. Why?How hard is it actually to get there?

turn 2 : Studying Mars's interior will help us understand Earth's physics.

How can studying Mars's interior benefit Earth's understanding of physics?

Answer: Earth


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 1 : The implied meaning of this turn is that the speaker believes that the U.S. will suffer from the consequences of withdrawing from UNESCO, both on a global and a national level.

How does the speaker feel about the U.S. leaving UNESCO?

Answer: Loss


And so - like, for instance, sly, when a person is sly like a fox. There's a Scottish word called slicket(ph), which I love, you know. It's sleek, oily. Slicket - I couldn't vote for him. He's got slicket eyes.

That's nice.

You know, and so I refuse to change it. But I'd rather explain it to you than change it, you know. And Scotland has such lovely words, too, like a turkey, for instance, it's a bubbly jock.

Bubbly jock?I've not heard that.

turn 0 : The reason why he couldn't vote for him couldn't be because he got a slicket eyes

How did PersonA describe the person he couldn't vote for?

Answer: Slicket


My father believed the world was divided between those who were mentally and physically strong and those who were weak and lazy. For this, I had to undergo a physical and psychological training.

Can you tell us about those nights in the cellar?

From the age of 6, I had to spend one night a month in the basement meditating on death. I sat on a stool, alone, in the dark, surrounded by rats. And I had a cardigan with small bells on it. I wasn't allowed to let the bells tinkle, as it meant that I was moving. It was one of his exercises.

There are just too many instances of abuse and cruelty to recount - I mean, the way he didn't turn on the heat, the way he made you bathe in his dirty water. He said he gave you his energy that way or something.

turn 1 : "those nights in the cellar" - this is a euphemism for the traumatic and abusive experience that the speaker had to endure as a child. It is a way of avoiding directly mentioning the abuse, perhaps to downplay or conceal its severity.

What does the phrase "those nights in the cellar" refer to?

Answer: Traumatic


The children of Jamal Khashoggi have begun receiving compensation. Khashoggi was the journalist from Saudi Arabia who vanished last year. After initial denials, Saudi authorities now acknowledge he was killed after he walked into a Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. The newspaper that once published Khashoggi's columns, The Washington Post, now reports on apparent early moves toward paying blood money to Khashoggi's relations.

Greg Miller reported this story for The Post. Good morning, sir.

Good morning.

What have the children been paid?

turn 0 : Jamal Khashoggi was killed by Saudi authorities after he walked into a Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.

Which journalist was the topic of the compensation story?

Answer: Greg


Thanks so much for having me on.

Can you tell me a little bit about Nebraska's land and what it means to its residents, the farmers?

Yeah. So Nebraska is in many ways a typical Great Plains state. Because the Missouri River cuts through along the eastern edge of the state, that's where all of the population originally settled. And so you have major industrial centers in south Sioux City and in Omaha. And then you have the capital educational center of Lincoln. But when you travel west of Lincoln, there's almost no one there. The small farming communities have gotten smaller and smaller in the last 50 years. And you can drive for hours essentially seeing only flatlands that are planted to corn and to soybeans and occasionally dotted with hog barns and feedlots for cattle.

Speaking to that disappearing landscape, I'd like you to read a page from your book, page 69.

(Reading) To understand, first remember - Nebraska is a place. It sits square as an anvil in the center of our maps. And yet somehow, everyone manages to forget it exists. Maybe that's because Nebraska is also a land of ghosts, of small towns dwindling to the point where in another generation they might simply cease to exist.

Why are they disappearing?Where are they going?

turn 4 : Nebraska is often overlooked or disregarded by people, despite its significance and potential.

Which state is often disregarded despite its significance?

Answer: Nebraska


So it was a very protracted civil war, but during the 17-month period that Rios Montt was the leader of the country, the scorched earth campaign that he presided over was the, by far, the most violent period in this protracted civil war. The United Nations, it was instrumental in establishing a truth commission for the country in the late 1960s after the civil war ended. And it was chaired by a German - a law professor.

And it found that there were acts of genocide against the Ixil Mayans during this period that the trial covered. And so its findings confirmed after extensive research that, again, as you said, there was a very protracted civil war, but this period was, by far, the period of most staggering violence.

And that commission, I believe, found that of the 200,000 people who were killed over the course of the whole civil war, I believe they found that 83 percent were Mayans. And that was the foundation for their finding that acts of genocide were committed.

And as I understand it, in the cities of Guatemala (unintelligible) there were many individuals who were targeted, identified as labor leaders or insurgents, one way or another, and murdered or disappeared. In the countryside it was indiscriminate. Everybody was a target.

turn 0 : The civil war had good parts and bad parts. He lead the country and destroyed as much of it as possible.

What was the most violent period during the protracted civil war as mentioned by PersonA in turn 0?

Answer: Subject


Well, on Iran, there's been reports in the past week that he is moving to set up a U. S.  interests office in Iran, which is not quite an embassy, but it's sort of a transition to an embassy. He has - the Treasury Department for the past couple of years has begun a very fine-tuned sanctions program focusing on getting international banks to stop doing business with Iran. So, a little bit of sticks and carrots is happening already, and that may create the basis for a more comprehensive approach.

And finally, let's talk about Russia. Relations were frayed between the United States and Russia over the summer during the Georgia contretemps. And I'm wondering, is there anything there that Senator Obama can do, anything happening now to ease his path to restoring diplomatic relations?

Well, you know, much of this seems to be resting on this plan to put missile defenses in the Czech Republic and Poland. President Medvedev of Russia has said, if you do that, we're going to put short-range missiles in Kaliningrad.

It seems to me that Obama is not so enthusiastic about missile defense as Bush was. He has said, yeah, I'm in favor of the program if it can be proved to work. Well, it hasn't been proved to work, so I think he can work out a deal with Russia where we gently back off of missile defense; they back off everything else. I think there are some diplomatic possibilities here that have not been explored by the Bush administration because of their doctrinaire advocacy for missile defense.

turn 2 : Russia is opposing US plans to put missile defenses in the Czech Republic and Poland.

Which country is opposing the US missile defense plans in the Czech Republic and Poland?

Answer: Russia


What is - let's start with this. What is your personal collection to the work and the images in this book?

Well, to me this was a labor of love. I've been living in the U. S. I came back to England. It's my homeland. I came back to London, my home city, and I felt that the culture of the young black people in particular here were suffering from a kind of deficit, historically speaking.

There were younger people in my neighborhood who were bereft of history, who took their idea of themselves from watching their kind of generic hip-hop video material that they got from the video screen rather than really inquiring into the particular history and experience of our communities in this country.

As I looked at the book, I was trying to find a theme, and I don't know if I found one or not. What was, in your view, the major trends or themes that you saw unfolding over the century that are depicted in these photographs?

turn 1 : The implied meaning in turn (2) is that the author created the book out of a desire to educate young black people about their cultural history, which they may not have learned from mainstream media sources such as hip-hop videos.

What was the reason for the author creating the book?

Answer: Deficit


Much less than the NFL football players got.

Far less. Far less. And, I mean, we - this is a big issue. I mean, in 2011, there were three guys - Wade Belak, Rick Rypien and Derek Boogard - who all died within six months of one another. They were all enforcers - two buy suicide, one from drugs.

And it really was a wakeup call to the hockey world and to people who do that job of fighting for a living. And they kind of looked at these titans of the sport to say, wait a minute, if those guys who we look up to, who we idolize, who we see as the toughest enforcers on skates can die from this, then maybe we can too. And that's what I get into with my first character, James McEwan. He kind of goes into a mental health tailspin because he sees these guys perish. And he goes, well, this could happen to me, too.

Some of the players you interviewed suggest ways to reduce fighting in hockey. They have solutions. Tell us about some of their ideas.

turn 2 : It made the people that work in the sport of hockey realize the importance of what was happening. James McEwan's mental heath went down sharply.

Which character goes into a mental health tailspin after seeing enforcers in the sport of hockey perish?

Answer: James


And, of course, we have humanitarian assistance programs on the ground providing lifesaving assistance to the thousands of people who are escaping, going into safety. The worry is, first of all, within Idlib itself, it's a governorate with 3 million people living. This is the area where many people had fled from throughout the country. So there's a displacement that is happening on the doorstep of Turkey with 3 million people inside. And it has, also, all the elements to create further regional destabilization should this escalation continue.

What we are calling for is a cessation of hostilities. There must be a peaceful way forward, a way which - a solution that does not involve residential areas being bombed, a solution that is not military and that - a solution that ensures the protection of the children, the women, the families, the civilians who are living in this area.

And there have also been strikes from the rebel side.

There have been strikes on both sides. There have been, also, victims on both sides. There's been civilians that then also have circulated from government areas, which have also been affected. And it's equally unacceptable to civilians on both sides to find themselves the victim of this conflict.

I gather the U. N.  has tried to protect civilians from attack by sharing information about the whereabouts of schools and hospitals with the government so they will know to steer clear. Has that not been successful?

turn 0 : The displacement is happening on the border of Turkey.

Which country shares a border with the displacement happening in Idlib?

Answer: Turkey


I know it does.

How you doing, Tony?

I'm doing great. Listen, you heard the conversation we just had with Dave Zirin about the intersection of sports and politics. Do you agree with the basic premise that it's an issue that is ongoing and ever changing?

Oh, yeah. Absolutely, you know, Dave makes great points. What I thought was very interesting, Tony, was before the Olympics, LeBron James was going to become very interested, you know, about slave trade, and slavery in Africa. And he was making some points, saying I really want to do this, I think I'm going to do it, I think I'm going to speak out, and by the time they got to the Olympics, Tony, they had sat on LeBron. And suddenly he had changed his tune, he was well, this is nothing but sports, and we just want to keep it to sports. And to me, once again, it reinforces this whole idea of here you've got this team of multi-millionaires led by LeBron and Kobe, and these guys basically were intimidated. They were intimidated into not saying anything. So yeah, sports is very political by definition, and by the absence of it. It's just a phenomenal contradiction.

turn 3 : LeBron James was silenced by the Olympic organizers and not allowed to speak out about slavery in Africa.

Which topic was discussed in the conversation with Dave Zirin?

Answer: Slavery


Let's clear this up immediately: blonde, lithe, the initials V. P. So, is Vanessa Pierson Valerie Plame?

The great thing about fiction is that you can fix things and make things better. I think Vanessa is a smarter version of where I was. And it's definitely informed by my experiences in the CIA.

Well, that raises another question. So, did you take some top-secret operation and just thinly fictionalize it to this book and, you know, are. . .

. . . are there Russian agents reading this now and saying, oh, this is what we were looking for?

turn 1 : The great thing about fiction is that you can fix things and make things better.I think Vanessa is a smarter version of where I was.And it's definitely informed by my experiences in the CIA. The implied meaning of this turn is that the speaker is suggesting that their experiences in the CIA have informed their fiction writing, and that the character Vanessa is a version of the speaker that is smarter and more successful.

Which character is mentioned to be a smarter version of the speaker?

Answer: Russian


So you had to come prepared to tell a good yarn, tell a good story or something.

Yeah, well, a good science is a good story. We're all storytellers, you know, all of us, from the novelist to the artist trying to say something new and take us in a new direction on canvas to scientists who have discovered something. And when they discover something, they want to tell a story. They want to fill out and explain to others why, where it came from, what's happening, what kind of a process is going on and where is it going to lead?

And you talk about it - and there is a chapter that I think it's entitled "I Never Change. "And you are - does that mean you stay true to yourself, or you wear the badge of being a free thinker?

I - well actually I became, like so many kids, fascinated by insects when I was about nine years old. And, you know, it's a saying, every kid has a bug period. I never grew out of mine, and thank heavens I didn't. I usually spent a lot of time alone. We traveled a lot; I was an only child.

turn 2 : You are a free thinker and that is very obvious to everyone you meet.

Which characteristic is very noticeable about you to others?

Answer: Free-Thinking


So you can actually go to their job section and look for opportunities with the Office of Personnel Management using their website. Now they say that these are for non-career positions, whether in the White House, or in any federal department, agency, or commission. So this is interesting. I mean you just fill out the form below and you know, right on this website. I'm looking at it right now, and submit if you think you should be working for Obama and Biden.

It looks like - and other folks on NPR have spoken about this as well. There are so many questions - basically you have to have apparently lived a life of a saint in order to be able to pass some of these. . .

Some way of putting it.

Litmus tests. I mean is that really true or does it just seem that way because they really ask you basically have you ever jaywalked, have you ever - of course, not literally, but kind of.

Right, right. Well, I mean the point is this. Look, why waste time?I mean they're going to do what they need to do to process applications the way the federal government would do anyway. So why waste the time?The point is be transparent. I think what they're also trying to say here is send a message, be transparent with us because we're going to find out one way or the other. We're going to look at - if we really seriously are looking at considering hiring somebody, we're going to look at their online footprint, and I do think that they actually do mean that. They are going to look at that online footprint.

turn 1 : The requirements for these positions are very strict and may seem excessive.

How would you describe the requirements for these positions?

Answer: Strict


Well. . .

. . . National security officers out there speaking about it?

I could tell you a couple of dozen major news reports that turned out to be false based on the actual report that Robert Mueller issued. So when the president called those stories fake news at the time, you know, folks like you dismissed it, but it turned out he was right.

Now, it does seem like he's dismissing it, and he's being dismissive of it. I'm not sure he completely understands the implications of the impeachment inquiry. I think Nancy Pelosi is the smartest person in Washington right now. And I think she didn't pull the trigger on this without knowing that she had more ammunition in her guns.

turn 3 : They don't think Nancy Pelosi would begin impeachment proceedings if she wasn't sure that what she knew would get the president impeached.

Which person did Nancy Pelosi outsmart in Washington?

Answer: None


What are you going to do when your internet connection goes down?

We have actually, so far, been able - we have reporters who are also out of town that we're in touch with. We're determined that we're going to keep reports on this storm on the internet, no matter how we do it. We've got a lot of backup for that at www. dailycomet. com and at Houmatoday. com.

We're determined that we're going to keep reports on this storm on the internet, no matter how we do it. We've got a lot of backup for that at www. dailycomet. com and at Houmatoday. com. We didn't stop yet and we don't plan to stop.

You have reporters out trying to cover this story all over where this hurricane is going. There must be some point where you say and where the reporters say to you "Hey, I got to stop for a while because there's a hurricane coming. "

turn 1 : Despite any obstacles, they are committed to reporting on the storm via the internet.

How are they planning to report on the storm?

Answer: Internet


We argued that six months was way, way too short. You're talking about trying to go into archives, documents, find materials. Unfortunately, this was what was included in the legislation. And we've urged the Polish government to open that deadline - indeed, to open the program to people who never filed claims or for whom no claim - buildings for which no claims were filed.

But the Polish government didn't agree.

And what makes this important, so many years after the terrible events we're talking about - after the crimes we're talking about?

We're facing a situation where, in the next few years, we will be living in a world where there won't be Holocaust survivors. It's a population, obviously, that's very elderly, very sick and passing away very rapidly. So we think it's a matter of justice and morality to address and to conclude this issue before that last of that generation disappears.

turn 2 : Unfortunately not. We're hoping that the Polish government will look again at this issue and make this process easier not only in terms of the deadline but also what documentation is required. Make sure that archives are open and material is accessible because if you have a right and legislation but not the means to enforce it - and particularly for many of the Holocaust survivors and their families, virtually all of whom live outside of Poland, it's very difficult. They don't speak the language. They don't live in the country. To address even the administrative issues is extremely difficult.  The implied meaning of A's statement is that the Polish government did not comply with their previous request or suggestion. A expresses hope that the government will reconsider the issue and make the process more convenient, not just regarding the deadline but also in terms of required documentation. They emphasize the challenges faced by Holocaust survivors and their families who live outside of Poland, including language barriers and administrative difficulties.

Which word describes the difficulties faced by Holocaust survivors and their families who live outside of Poland?

Answer: Difficulties


Always a pleasure, Neal.

And how big is this change?

It is big. The previous record was in 2007, where a very large percentage of this ice melted away. This year, it's already bigger than 2007 by an area the size of Texas. This is - this really shattered that record which in itself was a pretty dramatic departure from the average.

And, well, if things melt, it's because things are warmer, right?

That is exactly right. And what happens also is the Arctic ice has been getting thinner over the years. And so it used to be that you can have some warm summers up there, and you wouldn't melt it all away because you'd have 10 feet or 20 feet thick of ice. And you'd melt some of it, but you wouldn't melt it all the way through. But because of this warming trend up there, it is where the planet is warming faster than anywhere else. The Arctic, what we've seen is the ice getting thinner up there. And so a fairly small pretubance will actually melt a lot of the ice because it's thin to begin with. You don't have to melt 20 feet of ice. You might melt three feet of ice.

turn 4 : The ice is thinning, making it easier to melt, so a small increase in temperature can cause significant melting.

How does the thinning ice affect melting?

Answer: Thinning


Julie, you've been covering this area for a long time. What strikes you about this moment?I mean, is this as significant as it looks?

It's hard to tell. As I said, the AMA's been kind of everywhere on abortion issues. It looks like they're maybe coming out - finding this to be such a threat to the doctor-patient relationship that they're willing to take a leading role. It remains to be seen exactly where they will go from here.

That's Julie Rovner, chief Washington correspondent for Kaiser Health News.

Thanks for coming in.

turn 1 : The AMA has been inconsistent on abortion issues and it's uncertain where they stand now.

Which organization has been inconsistent on abortion issues?

Answer: AMA


Can you explain to us why a general manager or coach wouldn't, just in football terms, necessarily snap at the opportunity to sign Colin Kaepernick?

I think you have to ask yourself, can this player, in this case a quarterback, can he help us win?And how do you win in the league right now?It is not 40 years ago when you can win 17 to 10. You have to rack up the offense. And what Kaepernick basically does - his skill set, the best part of it - is he does not throw many interceptions. He had four last year against 16 touchdown passes. That's a really good ratio.

But someone like Matt Ryan of the Falcons is throwing the ball down the field on these fading outs towards the sideline on a rope. And that's not something Kaepernick has the accuracy really to do. So he's someone who helps you tread water, don't make mistakes, and other players on the team can come to the fore and make the plays that win a game. So in a way, he's a bit of an anachronism. His timing is not ideal for the league right now.

I'm a Bears fan. And I got to tell you that I was skeptical that Colin Kaepernick wasn't being signed because of his political stand. And then the Miami Dolphins signed Jay Cutler. . .

turn 1 : Implied meaning: The speaker is expressing their disappointment or dissatisfaction with the outcome of a situation or decision, without directly stating it.

How did the speaker indirectly express their disappointment or dissatisfaction in the dialogue?

Answer: Implication


We get the impression from the reporting of our colleague Adrian Florido in Puerto Rico that this was - the protests that drove out the governor, they were a protest against the governor but really against the whole political system. And the descriptions you've just given of the various positions would seem to back that up. Does anybody have credibility to take the job?

I think there are people that do have the credibility and that have the experience. But I - it's not clear to me that political leadership has heard the message that has been delivered loud and clearly by the thousands, in some cases hundreds of thousands of Puerto Ricans that took to the street to let, you know, their distaste and their indignation known.

What do you mean they haven't heard the message - meaning that the political leadership doesn't understand how angry people are?

I think that that could be the case, and it is demonstrated by the fact that there are reports of backroom dealing over who could be that next secretary of state that could take over the governor's position.

turn 3 : backroom dealings meaning out of the view of the public and not with good intent

What do the reports suggest about the nature of the backroom dealings?

Answer: Secret


What are some of the reasons you think more people's families, I guess I should - I almost said why more people are choosing to be cremated. And that might technically be true - but usually after their death.

So cremation is simply cheaper than burial. Of course, when you consider a funeral or a memorial service or celebration-of-life expenses, those are extra. And consumers also report that they see extra value with cremation and that they have more flexibility. To put it bluntly, death, even when it's anticipated, is inconvenient.

We don't want to lose our loved ones. We don't want to drop everything and gather and grieve and do what we need to do. But we must. And we can do that. But as families are spread across the country in various states, it's more and more difficult to bring people together on short notice. Cremation can expand the timeframe of grieving and memorializing your loved one.

Because there's more cremations, more problem to run into with scattering remains?I mean, I know, for example, they're very particular about it in the San Francisco Bay area. And I know from experience you can't get your ashes scattered there in Wrigley Field in Chicago.

That is true. And you might've caught the news where cremated remains were scattered at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City at the intermission, which canceled the rest of the production.

I missed that. Oh, my word. Most of us maybe, you know, get some malted milk balls at intermission, not scattered remains. But go ahead, yeah.

turn 4 : This is an example of hyperbole, as B is exaggeratedly expressing surprise at the idea of scattering remains at the Metropolitan Opera House.

How did PersonB react to the news about scattering remains at the Metropolitan Opera House?

Answer: Damage


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

And what has it gotten back?

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

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

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

How much money can productions receive back through the tax incentives in Georgia?

Answer: 30%


Mm-hmm. I'm Ira Flatow. This is SCIENCE FRIDAY from NPR, talking with Anthony Leiserowitz of the - he's the director of the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication at Yale. How can you follow up with this?Can you keep coming up with new polls so we can follow this?

Oh, absolutely. We'll be doing this at least twice a year and, of course, we have lots of other colleagues around the country that are also surveying on this exact same topics.

And will we know if this does move into the - more into the political discourse as well as the public discourse?

Well, I think we'll see it. I mean, first of all, you can see it in the amount of - number of times that the president talks about this, that candidate Mitt Romney talks about this, as well as across the board. I mean, remember, it's not just the presidential election. There are some Senate races and congressional races all over this country. And what we're seeing is that a lot of people are beginning to ask the question about climate change.

turn 1 :  "Oh, absolutely." - This is a literal response that affirms the ability to conduct new polls twice a year and that other colleagues are also surveying on the same topic.

What is the frequency of conducting new polls on the same topic?

Answer: Twice


. . . the French press is hard to nail because there's. . .

Yeah.

. . . so many variables that are outside of your control.

Right. Right. And it's our Video Pick of the Week up there on our website, and it's beautiful animation.

turn 0 : The French coffee machine that presses beans is hard to understand.

How would you describe the French press based on the conversation?

Answer: Crowding


We're trying to create the largest long-term study of aging in dogs that anyone has ever done, with the goal of trying to understand how genes and environment determine healthy aging in dogs.

So it's not just that old rule of thumb that one year is seven years in a dog's life?

On average, that's true. One of the amazing things about dogs, though, is that there's tremendous variation. If you go to the dog park, you'll see large dogs and small dogs. They also vary tremendously in their lifespan. And we're trying to understand why they vary so much.

Big dogs, I'm told, live shorter lives than small dogs.

And that's unusual because if you compare different species of mammals, from elephants to mice, it's the large species that live longer. So dogs are doing things in reverse.

And no indication as to why that might be yet?

turn 1 :  (2): This is a rhetorical question that implies that there may not just be a "rule of thumb" when it comes to aging in dogs.

What is the goal of the largest long-term study of aging in dogs?

Answer: Understanding


Well, the - there in every single state, and the data changes state by state, but in every single state, there is a huge disproportionality between the number of particularly African-Americans, but also Latino youths, who wind up in high-level facilities, as opposed to Caucasians youth who wind up in high-level facilities.

And by high level you mean the higher security, more. . .

I mean, higher - yes, more intensive, more secure facilities. Ironically, or maybe not so ironically, when you look at high - facilities that have a high-level of treatment, you'll see disproportionally white youth in the high-level of treatment facilities. But from the very first day, when we start with arrests, which I'm sure you're very familiar with, but moving on through the system, there is continuous and increased disproportionality.

That doesn't even deal with the real disproportionality in the system, between families that have assets, and the families that have fewer assets. So, youth in the juvenile justice system are primarily African-Americans and Latinos that are almost entirely low-income youth.

turn 2 : White youth are overrepresented in high-level treatment facilities.

What group is overrepresented in high-level treatment facilities?

Answer: White


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

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

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

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

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

How did Stax Records become known for its impact on soul music?

Answer: Impact


So in some senses, it's unverifiable. You know, I guess one of the best ways to think about this memorandum is that when asked, Devin Nunes refused to share this memo either with the DOJ - or the Department of Justice - or the FBI - the very people accused in the memo, or with the Republican chairman of the Senate intelligence committee. So that tells you a little bit about his level of confidence in the allegations that are made.

Apparently, Democrats are drafting their own memo in response to this memo. So now we're going to have dueling memos?What's in that one?

Well, we haven't completed it yet, but it will be a memorandum which points out the factual inaccuracies in the original one. Again, it's a bit sensitive because in - there's sort of an evil genius to this first memorandum because it does make reference to very highly classified intelligence that almost nobody has seen. But in as much as we can, we'll try to lay out the facts around these acquisitions - sorry, these allegations. And, again, just make the point that, you know, along with, you know, the belief that there was wiretapping of Donald Trump, you know, that there was improper unmasking - this is the latest in a steady stream of unfounded allegations designed to undermine the FBI in particular.

I'd like to understand a little bit about what the committee, at this point, is doing in the House that is investigating collusion between Russian operatives and the Trump campaign. It's been nearly a year. Have you found an - evidence of any crimes?

turn 2 : The first memorandum makes unfounded allegations to undermine the FBI.

Answer: Allegations


Yup. And then, suddenly, it came back, and then it went back down. And they scratched their heads for quite a while. And finally, what they realized is that there was so much radiation there that it was doing what's called saturating the detector. So it just couldn't count anymore. It was just overwhelmed. And then when they would go out of the radiation belts, it would come back down to a reasonable level that it was designed for, and it would start counting again. And so it took them a little while to figure that out. But once they did, that was the discovery of the radiation belts.

And now we have the probes to follow up. Thanks, Craig Kletzing, for joining us today.

You're very welcome. Thanks for having me.

Craig Kletzing is a professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Iowa.

turn 3 : The speaker is thanking Craig Kletzing for joining them and giving them insight on the radiation belts.

Which professor gave insight on the radiation belts?

Answer: Craig


Right, right.

. . . these invisible energies, these kind of cosmic influences and attractions and repulsions. So the notion was that the seed contained - you know, was pulled by the sun to drive up a clock. The seed was embedded in a cork in a tub of water, and it was shown, in certain cases, you know, to, when he displayed it, to - no matter which way, whatever you did with the cork, it would go right back and display the accurate time.

Wow.

But it was really a parlor trick because there was also a magnet embedded in the cork. And so if he had enough time beforehand to set this parlor trick up, before people arrived to see it, he would figure out, relative to magnetic north, where the sun would be, and he would set it up so that it would always show the correct time.

turn 2 : The trick was not really performed in a parlour - it is simply a saying that means that there was more to what was happening than people could easily see

What does the term "parlour trick" mean in this context?

Answer: Magnet


What does it mean to put your hat in someone's ring?Does it mean that you are, for example, trying to lead your constituents that you're trying to lead other people, who are a part of the Congressional Black Caucus or part of Congress?What exactly does you putting your chips on the table mean?

For the past 20-something years, I have been putting out a sample ballot. And if people don't get it at the time that they think they should, my office is inundated with calls. You know, through the media, through your sample ballot operation, I let people know what's on my mind. And I try and let them know why I'm doing what I'm doing and then they make their decision.

Congresswoman, I've had a chance to come to your offices in South Los Angeles and you have a multi-racial coalition of staffers - black, white, Asian…

That's right.

turn 1 : The literal meaning of "putting out a sample ballot" is distributing a document that contains a list of candidates or initiatives. However, in this context, it means actively campaigning for specific candidates or positions by providing guidance on who to vote for.

Which term describes how the Congresswoman campaigns by distributing a document that contains a list of candidates or initiatives?

Answer: Sample-ballot


Beppe Grillo of the Five Star Movement - which you mentioned - and the Democratic Party have the numbers to do that. And I think if the Grillo people are not - if they are wise and responsible, I think they should do something. They got a lot of votes, now they have to do something with that. Italy doesn't have the time to wait for another year, another election. The market cannot wait. Europe does not wait.

Yeah, they're not waiting, but Mr.  Grillo, so far, has been very uncooperative.

Look, I read something that Mr.  Grillo said today, and it is that he expect Mr.  Berlusconi - therefore the right - and the Democratic Party - therefore the left - to form a sort of grand coalition government, and say - and then there will be a disaster. And there will be - and I will - and there will be another election, and I will be a winner on the rubble - he used the expression macerie, that means the rubble - of Italy.

We don't want rubbles. We are a good country of Southern Europe, and we want to be a successful country. So I think that even the deputies of Mr.  Grillo are not happy with that. They're now in parliament. They've got a job to do. I'm sure they can find 10, 15 points that they share with the Democratic Party, and form some kind of government, and start from there. I mean, to just say, I want to destroy everything, so next time I've got to have(ph) 50 percent, it's totally irresponsible.

turn 3 : Mr. Grillo's desire to destroy everything for personal gain is irresponsible.

How did PersonA describe Mr. Grillo's actions as a political figure?

Answer: irresponsible


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

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

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

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

turn 3 : The person makes a great many large financial deals and is loud and confident.

Which diplomat is described as having a brash and wheeler-dealer personality?

Answer: Sondland


And prosecutors then stepped up and said, we're going to have a no drop policy. In other words, we're going to assume, as often is the case, that the woman is going to ask, hey, don't prosecute him. Let him go. And he says, no, the State of Ohio or the State of Arizona or wherever you are says, this is our charge. This is a crime, and we're going to follow through.

Then it's up to the judiciary. And everyone used to look to the judiciary. Now, you have to be serious and sentence these guys. That in and of itself was not working, because once he was out, you are sending the man and the mindset back to the same home and the same woman with the same mindset. And so the taking it seriously and simply incarcerating was not resolving the problem.

So, what other ways are there?

Now, we are taking a more holistic approach to the problem. It is an approach that tries to sew up the seams of the system. I had a domestic violence group come to me and say, look, Judge, we aren't getting what we need. We are not getting to the women soon enough. You are not getting the men to domestic violence programs well enough or quickly enough.

turn 0 : drop policy implies to neglect an already made policy in favor of someone

Answer: Assume


Now what we didn't hear was a huge thunderous applause that you got from the crowd. Would you run for office again?And if so, what office?

I do - I would like to run for office. I really believe very firmly in public service. I enjoyed my years as lieutenant governor. And, you know, as a small-government Republican, really began to appreciate beyond the rhetoric of just saying, you know, I want a smaller government, but really focusing on how you make government work for people and how you make it efficient - more efficient partner in our daily lives.

And so I walked away from the office with a great appreciation for the value of public service and the importance that you can play in helping small businesses, in getting healthcare where it needs to be, and in dealing with problems of crime and the things that lead up to people to do things that create problems in their community, recidivism, and drug addiction, and things like that. So yeah, I'd like to get back to it. I'd like to run for governor of Maryland one day. And we'll see if that ever happens. But yeah, it's on the table. I don't know if it's in the cards yet, but it's at least on the table.

So you're chair of GOPAC, and it aims to elect more Republicans into office. So what are you working on specifically this time around?Are there any races or any strategies you're working on?

turn 0 : "thunderous applause" implies loud, enthusiastic applause from many in the audience

Which type of applause did PersonA get from the crowd?

Answer: loud


Well, it's a heck of a lot more. So the total incentive package, when you include some training grants and other things like that, is $7 million over 10 years that they're being offered now. What critics are complaining about is that it appears from a certain perspective that the state is essentially rewarding Carrier, even as it ships some of the jobs to Mexico anyway. From another perspective, they're retaining, you know, a thousand jobs at least. And those jobs do produce revenue for the state through state income taxes and sales tax, and the state would argue that it - and Mike Pence would argue - that they come out ahead still on that.

I'm wondering if that doesn't make sense to you, given the fact that if those employers just left the state, there'd be no tax revenue for the state of Indiana to tap, and even more people losing jobs.

This is the gray area of economic development. You know, how many of these workers would find other jobs in this state?And in terms of these incentives, you know, these don't even appear to be the primary factor in Carrier's decision to keep these jobs here.

Is it felt that the most persuasive argument was the fact that United Technologies, which is the parent company of Carrier is a federal contractor and needs to have good relations with the federal government, which Mr.  Trump's about to head?

turn 1 : The state is trying to make the best out of a bad situation by providing incentives to Carrier, even though it will still be shipping jobs to Mexico.

Which company is the parent company of Carrier?

Answer: UnitedTechnologies


We're talking with NPR foreign correspondent Deborah Amos, with us from our bureau in Beirut. You're listening to TALK OF THE NATION from NPR News. But does that suggest that people believe that some sort of conference, some sort of agreement will freeze things in place, at some point?

Well, maybe if we get to Geneva 10 as many. . .

. . . analysts talk about here.

Not funny, but it's funny.

turn 0 : The agreement will cause things to come to a halt with no further changes.

Which word in the dialogue suggests that PersonA may not be taking the situation seriously?

Answer: Funny


And I can tell you though when people of color hear white people say, I was taught to treat everyone the same when racism comes up, they're usually rolling their eyes. And they're definitely not thinking, oh, right, I'm talking to a woke white person right now. They're usually thinking this is a dangerous white person. This is a white person who has no self-awareness and is not going to be able to hold and affirm my reality, which is fundamentally different than theirs in a society which is deeply separate and unequal by race.

And you actually, in this book, very specifically target white progressives. You say that white progressives cause the most daily damage to people of color. What do you mean?

Yeah. First, let's define a white progressive. In my mind, it's any white person who thinks they're not racist - thinks they get it, thinks they are less racist, who's listening to the show right now thinking of all the other white people that really should be listening to this show right now.

Right. It's never us.

turn 0 : White people saying they were taught to treat everyone the same is not enough to combat racism.

Which people of color's reaction is described when white people say they were taught to treat everyone the same?

Answer: People


But Barack Obama blew right straight through half a million, a million. He's now approaching a million and a half donors. And of course they are not all giving the maximum amount of money, most of them are just giving 100 dollars or less, or 200 dollars or less. Nonetheless, the size, the base of that fundraising operation means that he can raise all the money that he needs, including, very possibly, money that would go to help retire Hillary Clinton's campaign debt after she does drop out, assuming some day she does.

Well Ron, thanks so much.

Thank you, Farai.

That was NPR's senior Washington editor Ron Elving, and he joined me at NPR headquarters in Washington, D. C.

turn 3 : "joined me" - This is an idiomatic expression that means to come together for a meeting or an event. It does not mean that Ron Elving physically joined the person he is speaking to.

How did Ron Elving participate in the conversation with Farai?

Answer: Participated


So I want to try making now the Syrian version of ful.

OK.

OK, I'm going to grab the red beans.

Helou got this recipe from Haj Abdo (ph), a vendor in Aleppo. All he made was ful and always had a crowd. That's how she first noticed the old man. This was years before a war broke out in Syria. She says his shop and the whole neighborhood is gone now. But back then, locals absolutely raved about his cafe. And while his ful is typically Syrian, it uses the sesame paste called tahini. Abdo had a special technique.

turn 3 : Haj Abdo's ful recipe is highly regarded by locals and uses a special technique despite his simple cafe.

What is the main ingredient used in Haj Abdo's Syrian version of ful?

Answer: tahini


Yeah.

That is just a staggering figure. Is the battle to keep San Francisco affordable already a lost battle?

That's a very good question, Ailsa. And I would - you know, I'm still optimistic that we can turn things around here and right the ship in San Francisco. We can't just keep supporting job creation and growth unchecked. And now in 2019, it's time for us to ask the tech sector to start paying their fair share in taxes so that we can support everybody to be able to live and thrive in our city.

San Francisco Supervisor Gordon Mar joined us from member station KQED in San Francisco. Thank you very much for speaking with us.

Thank you, Ailsa.

turn 2 : San Francisco needs to start asking the tech sector to pay their fair share of taxes so that everyone can live and thrive in the city.

Which sector should start paying their fair share in taxes for the betterment of San Francisco's residents?

Answer: tech


And now we'll go to another Dickerson. This is Brian Dickerson. He's a political columnist for the Detroit Free Press. And we're going to talk about Michigan. It is one of the key swing states in this election. Welcome to the program.

Thank you, Madeleine.

Well, both candidates have stumped a lot in Michigan, and is either candidate getting more traction?

Well, the most recent polls this week are a little mixed. But generally, the average of the reputable polls has been showing Obama steadily in front since about mid-June and picking up some momentum in the last two or three weeks.

turn 3 : "But generally, the average of the reputable polls has been showing Obama steadily in front since about mid-June and picking up some momentum in the last two or three weeks." - This turn has a literal meaning and is also used with its actual meaning.

How has Obama been performing in the reputable polls? (Answer: steadily)

Answer: Steadily


I was actually wavering in the blocks. And I saw on the video that some sort of bad form. But they fired the gun and I took off and things were going OK. They weren't going great, my strides were a little bit off. But I never hit an off-leg on a hurdle. As I went around the second turn and came into the final 100 meters, I looked to my left and realized that I was right in the middle of the pack. And that really surprised me. And at that point, I figured as long as I finish, this is a success. And as I got to the very end, right before the finish line, I glanced up at the scoreboard which showed the clock running. And realized that I ended up with a pretty good time. And so I crossed the finish line. I beat my personal goal by two seconds and managed to beat one other runner in the race.

Well, that raises this question professor. You're - I mean, you're a teacher right?

Correct.

You have devoted your professional life to helping, encouraging, enriching the lives of youngsters, right?

turn 2 : (3) While the topic being discussed is "big" and "bold," the implication is that the author's focus is on how individuals hurt each other on a day-to-day basis rather than just the headlines and news stories.

Answer: Daily


OK.

Lots of people have them. It's not open-heart surgery. Stents are often put in through the wrist these days. So - yes, so it's not super invasive. And people can go back to work if they choose after this procedure in just a few days, even a couple of days.

I'm trying to think back to what I know about Bernie Sanders' health generally and his past health history. Has he had any kind of signs of heart trouble?

I mean, what we do know is that as of January 2016, when he was campaigning last time, his doctor wrote a letter. The campaign put it out. And the letter said that Sanders had no history of cardiovascular disease at that time. He also had a normal EKG. So right back then, he seemed healthy heart-wise. Now, people may remember recently he canceled some other events after that last debate. That was very minor. He was recovering from a hoarse voice, his campaign said. This is very different.

turn 1 : It's not an extremely hard and complicated procedure to perform.

Answer: Stents


Good morning.

Good morning.

Thank you for having me.

Do you still feel a wall wouldn't be effective?

Absolutely. No. I mean, again - and I've said this before - a wall is definitely not going to be statistically significant. And the current existing wall, in fact, has had many issues. In reference to breaching the wall, I know some of the reports out had, existing walls have been breached thousands of times. And again, going back to the price tag that is going to cost the American taxpayer - it's just an incredible amount of money that's just going to be wasted.

turn 4 : A wall is not a good solution for border security and would waste taxpayers' money.

What is the main reason for PersonA's opposition to a wall?

Answer: Inefficiency


These were all - the Hobbits. They were all living, you know, 50,000 years ago, all of these quite diverged groups of humans were living on Earth, and we're now quite lonely. We're the only group on Earth right now.

So something happened to them that didn't happen to us, that we survived?

That's right.

And the fact that - did they - do you think they knew of one another?

turn 0 : The speaker is not actually referring to the Hobbits from J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth but rather early human groups.

How is the speaker referring to the Hobbits?

Answer: Early


Thursday is our day to look at the world of sports, and the world is, indeed, looking at sports this week by way of the Olympics in Beijing. But what are the prospects for American athletes?Here to help us with that is New York Times sports columnist, Bill Rhoden. Hey, Bill.

Mr.  WILLIAM C.  RHODEN (Sports Columnist, New York Times; Author, "Forty Million Dollar Slaves: The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of the Black Athlete"): The great Tony Cox, how're you doing, man?

I'm doing great. You know what?Here's my question to you about the Olympics. You know, we know that Yao Ming carried the Olympic torch through the gates of the Forbidden City. We know that Michael Phelps, Allyson Felix, are some big stars. We are hoping for things from them. We're hoping for things from the U. S. A.  men's basketball team. Here's my question. Is America really interested in the Olympics?Are people going to watch?

Well, there's always - and just as a caveat, I mean, the Olympics were always sort of my favorite sporting event, because I do think it's - you know, you've got people who've just trained for this one moment for four years. So, that's great. But you know, having covered about four or five of them, you know, sometimes you're over there and you're like, is anybody reading this stuff, you know?

turn 0 : Despite potential lack of interest, the Olympics are still a significant event.

What is the writer's favorite sporting event?

Answer: Olympics.


And then I decided to come out. Now it's been going on several hours. I'm several streets away from the Champs-Elysees, Scott, but the people - it's like it's the second revolution coming because people are turning over - they're building barricades in the street. We're still - we've got helicopters overhead. They're still firing tear gas. And everyone around me is wearing a yellow vest.

Now, fuel prices have gone up - I have read, I think - 23 percent over the past year. And protesters blame the government for this.

Well, the government - the French pay some of the highest gas prices in the world, like, about more than $6 a gallon, Scott. And the government says it's going to raise the taxes again in January to finance the transition to an ecological economy - you know, more environmentally friendly fuels.

And, you know, for people who have to drive to work - blue-collar workers, just everyday people - this is outrageous. They say they can't make it anymore, so they've come out into the street. And, Scott, this movement has no leaders. There are no unions behind it. There are housewives. There are retirees - regular people. There are people who have never protested before. So it's turned into a movement. No one knows where it's going to go now.

turn 2 : It will be difficult to keep the unemployment rate at 8 percent and it is likely to increase.

How might the French government's plan to raise taxes affect blue-collar workers?

Answer: Outrage


Are Jews in Germany already hiding external markers of religion?

Yes, they have for quite some time. Jews in Germany who wear yarmulkes often wear baseball caps to hide their yarmulkes because there is a feeling of unease. There aren't incidents all the time. And yet, one doesn't want to court that sort of danger. That said, of course, there's a great wish that this doesn't have to be, that one can wear a yarmulke openly. And here on the streets of Berlin, generally, it is no problem. But no one wants to be the person where it is a problem.

Right.

And even - it's not just wearing kippahs. It's also speaking Hebrew, it's wearing Magen David Jewish star necklaces. Any outward sign can be a problem.

turn 1 : Jews in Germany are hiding their religious symbols due to safety concerns

What are Jews in Germany wearing to hide their yarmulkes?

Answer: Cap


We're hoping that this research kind of paves the way to looking at novel high-speed adhesives. So how do you grab things - difficult things - very, very quickly?And so, like, if you were to grab something that's dusty, like a brick, or furry, duct tape's not going to be able to stick to either of those things. You know, you're going to have to use something like claws or grabbing mechanisms. But we think that with this new type of thick, viscous fluid coating a very soft substrate, that it will be able to grab oddly textured things very quickly. So in my mind, I'm dreaming of a - like, a frog tongue attached to a drone, and the drone can fly around and pick up packages really quickly and fly away.

Do you mind me asking - after a day in the lab - I'm just guessing- do you just want to go home and fast?I mean, it must be difficult to eat anything.

(Laughter) There are times that - especially in the beginning - where I had the smell of frog in my nose for at least an hour, and I couldn't eat anything. But by the end of the study, I'd been - you know, I was eating frog legs every week - part of the study.

Oh, no. Seriously?

turn 2 : The implied meaning of this turn is that the speaker has become used to working with frogs and can even enjoy eating frog legs as part of the study.

What did the speaker eat as part of the study?

Answer: Frog,legs


But there are an unestimated huge number of them that are already in circulation and, one would presume, if they were to be outlawed, an underground market. I mean, does the bump stock just go far enough?

Well, I don't know. I mean, look, I think most Americans do support an individual's right to own a firearm. I certainly do. Now, the issue then becomes, you know - I don't think it's practical to suggest that we could have some kind of gun confiscation movement in this country. There are just probably hundreds of millions of firearms that are owned privately.

I wasn't suggesting that. But I mean, what about limiting the number of weapons or rounds that can be contained in a magazine, which used to be the law.

Well, that's a debate we will likely have. Some states have moved in that direction. But I would suggest that the other issue that many of us are talking about, too, is continuing to enhance background checks for the purchase of private sales of firearms. That is an issue that many of us are advancing. Pat Toomey and Joe Manchin advocated for legislation a few years. I had strongly supported it. Now, I don't want to suggest that, you know, enhancing background checks in any way would have stopped what happened in Las Vegas. From what I've learned so far, I mean. . .

turn 3 : (4) Implied meaning: Background checks should be enhanced for the purchase of private sales of firearms to help prevent tragedies similar to Las Vegas.

How does PersonA suggest addressing gun violence prevention?

Answer: Background


And, you know, there are many, many different ways to sort of be a poet in America, and some of us work in libraries and some of us work in garages and some of us teach children how to read and some of us work in hospitals. And the thing is just we're passionate about poetry, and I think that's a beautiful thing. We can't be all in one place. We shouldn't be. We have to be scattered about in honor to keep poetry what it has always been.

What are you learning reading all these entries?

Oh, my goodness. I'm learning that the poems that I'm - I've read so far are lush and lyrical and sorrowful and unpretentious and gorgeous and syntactically stunning and well-chiseled. And I can't tell you how many times I've stopped reading to say, how did she or he get her mind and heart around that so beautifully?And so there's some gorgeous books of poems that are out there and that are in this pile this year, and I'm just loving the fact that I'm basically reading poetry all day.

I mean, I've never had the pleasure to have that kind of job before. And when he National Book Award folks called, I thought, oh, this is going to be quite a summer. And it is. I have the books stacked up knee-high, several piles of them. That pile has a label on it, and another pile has another label on it. And I just kind of sit down in the midst of it all and lose myself into that beautiful language.

turn 3 : The person has a great many books in stacks around his home.

Answer: Kneehigh.


Well, we don't have a clear answer on that. That's not something that either side is answering in black and white. But the unusual nature of this information sharing certainly raises that question again with Manafort. And Manafort of course does face the possibility of spending the rest of his life in prison with the conviction in Virginia and then the plea deal in Washington. And the president certainly didn't do anything this week to try to head off talk of a possible pardon.

No, he - in fact, he said that's still on the table. Why should I take it off the table, right?

Exactly. exactly.

And a March 5 sentencing date for Paul Manafort, right?

turn 0 : "raises that question again with Manafort" - The literal meaning is that the unusual nature of information sharing raises a question about Manafort. The actual meaning could be that the information sharing suggests Manafort may have information about the president that could lead to a pardon.

What does the unusual nature of information sharing suggest about Manafort?

Answer: Pardon


ORDOÑEZ: Well, Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney was on shows this morning defending the administration, defending the White House, saying Democrats like Swalwell, who we just heard, are trying to score political points on the tragedy, saying that about some of the other Democratic candidates who are still in the presidential race. Mulvaney himself is calling the shooter a sick person and says drawing anything other than that is wrong or fair - trying to blame the president is unfair.

This was a sick person. The person in Dayton was a sick person. No politician is to blame for that. The people responsible here are the people who pulled the trigger. We need to figure out how to create less of those kinds of people as a society and not trying to figure out who gets blamed going into the next election.

ORDOÑEZ: And Trump himself, you know, at a rally in Charlotte last year, he said the White House didn't blame Bernie Sanders when one of his supporters went out and shot a Republican lawmaker during a baseball practice. They're saying they want the same type of response.

: And where does the White House stand in terms of policy solutions?

turn 1 : No politician is to blame for the shooting in Dayton

Answer: Dayton


That is Binyamin Appelbaum. He writes about economics for The New York Times, and he's written a new book, called, "The Economists' Hour" that traces what he calls a revolution in the way we think about economists.

This quiet but really important revolution that happens, really, beginning in the late 1960s and the early 1970s, where economists begin to gain tremendous influence over public policy in the United States.

In fact, that young economist who told his wife he had no future at the Fed, that was Paul Volcker. He became one of a small group of economists who made themselves indispensable to U. S.  presidents. Volcker rose to become the chairman of the Federal Reserve in the Carter and Reagan years.

So I asked Appelbaum, how did a bunch of economists go from nobodies to being important people?And he said it's pretty simple. In an era of real economic problems, they promised solutions.

turn 0 : Binyamin Appelbaum is a writer for The New York Times and has written a new book about economics.

How did Binyamin Appelbaum gain influence?

Answer: Writing


Ron, tomorrow, President Obama will sign the stimulus bill in Denver, and then it's on to Phoenix, and then, he'll round out the end of the week with a trip to Canada. Why so much travel?

I think he's learning from the last few weeks. When he stayed in D. C. , the economic stimulus package got stalled. When he got back on the road, got back on the stump, the energy in the atmosphere changed quickly. And being the campaign Barack. being in campaign mode, talking back to Washington from out in the country, that worked better than being the Washington Barack Obama talking to the country. He wants this symbolic energy to be flowing in that direction. He wants to be the voice of the people talking to the federal government, not the symbol of the federal government talking to the people.

NPR senior Washington editor Ron Elving. Thanks, Ron.

Thank you.

turn 0 : Obama's travel is strategic to push for the stimulus bill.

Answer: Denver