Well, one of the first things you do when you find out somebody who shares your name is say, oh, where's your family from?So I told him my family was Romanian and many had come over after World War II. And he told me when I asked him that his family was indeed descended from a sort of aristocratic Austrian family and that he was clearly not wealthy now. There had once been a family fortune, but as he put it, mother lived too long.

Mother lived too long.

Mother lived too long.

And so this acquaintance blossomed over the years, and so you got to know him a little bit.

turn 1 : would be that a mother was still alive and living for a long time, while the actual meaning is that due to her long life, the family fortune had been depleted.

Which phrase caused the depletion of the family fortune?

Answer: Living


Ibiza being the Spanish island where this video was filmed.

Exactly - just blathering on and on to a Russian woman who they believed was the niece of a prominent Russian oligarch.

And I'll just insert here that I have not had the opportunity to verify exactly what is being documented on this video. But what it has done is raise all of these questions in Austria about the extent of Russian influence in Austrian politics. Is that right?

Absolutely. And, I mean, it's funny because these are actually fake Russians. This is - these are not necessarily people that were sent from the Kremlin. We don't really know the provenance of the video. Some people believe it's an activist collective. Other people are speculating that some secret services of various countries were involved. But the most important thing to say is that Vice Chancellor Strache hasn't denied any of the assertions.

Right. Well, let me insert a practical question here. Where does this leave the government of Austria?Who's in charge today?

turn 3 : Vice Chancellor Strache has not denied any of the assertions

What has Vice Chancellor Strache done in response to the assertions?

Answer: denied


Well, what it does is it does away with the prohibition against rating on pre-existing conditions, meaning that if you have a pre-existing condition - and about a third of us do - that you could be charged a much higher rate for insurance. So let me give you an example. Somebody is working, they have insurance, and they have a catastrophic illness - cancer, some other calamity. They have to stop working because they need to get their condition taken care of. If they're out for 60 days, they lose their insurance. And now, they have to pay whatever the insurance company decides is the premium because they are - now have a pre-existing condition. Somebody in that situation may never be able to accumulate enough money to pay the very high premiums and get back on the cycle of having continuous insurance coverage.

Now, of course, Speaker Ryan looks forward to what are called now high-risk pools. These would be plans that are essentially devoted to try and accommodate people who have expensive and pre-existing conditions. You're not convinced that would do it.

Well, I think that the problem with those is in the fine print. First of all, very often they are not adequately funded. And many of the high-risk pools have lifetime caps, lifetime limits.

What kind of reforms would you like to make?

turn 3 : Implies that the speaker would like to see further reforms beyond what is suggested by Speaker Ryan.

Which speaker wants to see further reforms beyond what is suggested by Speaker Ryan?

Answer: Speaker


So, Emery, let's find out a little bit more about where you started and your family. You grew up in Hilton Head. And a lot of folks know it now as a resort town, but I'm sure it's changed a lot. What do you remember from your childhood?

Oh, I remember Hilton Head when they were only about 1,500 people, at most, living here. I grew up here in the '40s and the '50s and I tell folks that I thought everybody in the world was Gullah except Dick and Jane.

So what does Gullah mean to you?What does it mean in terms of how you speak, how you dress, how you tell stories?Tell us what it means on the inside to be a part of Gullah culture.

Well, to be a part of Gullah culture meant that you pretty much knew who you were - we still do know who we are. And by that, I mean, everything that we saw when we grew up, Gullah people produce it - we produce our own food, we produce our own stories because we told them to one another, and made our boats, gather our own food, had our own spiritual life because we have little praise houses in every neighborhood. And the leaders of those praise houses were Gullah family members. And family was very important because families live close together. To us, Gullah was a world to itself.

turn 1 : In this turn, the speaker is comparing the size of Hilton Head when it was a small town in the 40s and 50s to its current size now as a resort town.

Which decade did Emery grow up in Hilton Head?

Answer: 40s


There's something magical about that part of a meal that really seems to have inspired the book. Like, the beginning, when everyone is, like, just arriving and gathering and, like, what you want to serve in a moment like that.

Yeah. I mean, even just hearing you describe it that way, it's the best moment of a party. So, you know, everyone's hugging and kissing, and there's catching up and clinking of wine glasses. And it's just the best moment. And I think when those first platters of food start to roll out of the kitchen, it's just a celebration.

Do you ever really sit down, or is it constant movement, like, more plates coming out and just kind of wandering around and eating and talking?

What I love about antipasti is that even in a restaurant, oftentimes they'll have sort of a big communal table in the center of the restaurant, and they'll allow you to come up with, you know, your plate and a big spoon and just kind of point to or pick through and serve yourself whatever you want from the antipasti spread. So that's kind of the most interactive moment of the meal, which is maybe also why it's one of my favorites.

turn 1 : "everyone's hugging and kissing" - This is a common expression used to describe a warm and friendly greeting between people, but it doesn't always literally mean that people are hugging and kissing.

How would you describe the greeting between people during the best moment of a party?

Answer: friendly


What if Dr.  Martin King Jr.  were alive today?Would he be proud of America's progress on civil rights?Maybe he'd say we let him down by allowing the activism that fueled his movement to die from neglect. And what would King think of Obama's historic White House bid?Can you tell us anything new about his own assassination?

In his new book, "What Would Martin Say?," Clarence B.  Jones uses King's life and speeches to guess where the late reverend might stand on the Iraq war, affirmative action and black leadership. Jones knew King well. He was one of the reverend's closest advisers. Jones even helped write the famous "I Have a Dream" speech.

Clarence Jones, welcome to NEWS & NOTES.

Hi, thank you so much. Glad to be here.

turn 1 : The book "What Would Martin Say?" uses King's speeches and life to guess his possible stance on current issues such as the Iraq war, affirmative action, and black leadership. The author, Clarence B. Jones, who was one of King's closest advisers, provides his interpretation of King's views.

What does Clarence B. Jones use to guess Martin Luther King Jr.'s stance on current issues?

Answer: King's-speeches


UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER #2: Under the command of General Eisenhower, Allied naval forces supported by strong air forces began landing Allied armies this morning on the northern coast of France.

Ships deposited more than 150,000 Allied troops on the beaches of Normandy. German forces were waiting in the cliffs above, and they unleashed. Meanwhile, paratroopers boarded planes, took to the air and dropped behind enemy lines.

Oh, it was a lot of noise - one after another.

What did it sound like?

turn 0 : Allied forces have begun their attack on France

Answer: Command


No, I think this will be about fact. That's why I added a number of authors and historians to this commission. When these monuments were erected, they were to celebrate but also, I think, to intimidate individuals, as well. They were there to continue to convey what I think is, you know, alternative facts and history. At the end of the day, these individuals defended a time and a purpose that would probably have me and my ancestors in bondage. And that should not go untold.

Some, though, would say this is a cop-out. New Orleans has torn down a number of its Confederate monuments. The city of Charlottesville, Va. , voted to sell its statue of Robert E.  Lee. Why not remove these statues?

Well, first I will say that our monuments commission will obviously listen to all sides. They'll listen to those who think that we may be trying to rewrite history. We're going to listen to people who think that we should remove the monuments. My charge to the commission is to tell the whole truth. For some, this was the third rail in Richmond politics - that you can never touch Monument Avenue. And I think that right now this is an opportunity for us and a responsibility for us to write the next new chapter for the city of Richmond.

Levar Stoney, the Democratic mayor of Richmond, Va.  We've been checking in with him throughout his first year in office. And we will be doing so as the year rolls on. Thank you so much for joining us.

Thank you, Lulu.

turn 1 : Some may view removing statues as a cop-out.

What is the potential criticism of removing statues?

Answer: Cop-out


One person called them old guard reactionaries who are grabbling for crumbs from the table. Another called them seat warmer saying they have nothing new to offer. And that led to a larger conversation about Obama's support among blacks where black folks stand on the Democratic Party.

That's right.

But from what I've read on our blog, not everybody thinks the black history month is a good idea.

turn 1 : And we are in good old Black History Month now. Of course, we are black 365 days a year. (The literal meaning of this statement is that February is designated as Black History Month. The actual meaning is that black history should be celebrated and acknowledged every day, not just during the month of February.)

Which month is designated as Black History Month?

Answer: February


The former late head of Fox News.

That's right. And so he was pretty enamored of Herman Cain's life story - that he was this, you know, pizza magnate and that he had this 9-9-9 plan. And he was very kind of compelling character.

So not necessarily the current president?

Well, no. But, I mean, I can't say that, you know, Donald Trump doesn't invade the psyche a little bit. I was around Donald Trump quite a bit during those years. And I did interview him quite a bit. So he also permeated some of my thought process. But that wasn't who I was channeling.

turn 1 : "Pizza magnate" in (2) is a metaphorical phrase. While Herman Cain did own a pizza chain, the use of "magnate" elevates his status to that of a successful and influential businessperson. The literal meaning of the turn is that he was the owner of a pizza chain, but the actual meaning is that he was a successful and influential businessperson in the pizza industry.

How was Herman Cain's status described in the dialogue?

Answer: Influential


What is the biggest need right now?I mean, where are these people going and, specifically, children who may have lost family members?

Yeah. Well, the biggest need in general is everything. They need food, shelter, jerrycans for clean water. You need water trucks with clean water to go there. Imagine that a flooding contaminates everything. That is why diseases are bound to break out. And it's already happening. There is cases of cholera mentioned or reported in Beira.

There is a system where children - where parents can fill in the name of their children that they are missing. And then, you know, that is accessible for aid organizations. And the aid organizations in the field will look for those children and try to get parents and children back together again. If that doesn't happen, children will go into the governmental care while the aid organizations keep looking for relatives where they can live with.

And I understand that even though the floodwaters are now receding, there is a chance for secondary floods. How is the community preparing for that?

turn 1 : Diseases are not breaking out but might begin to happen due to the situation.

How are diseases currently affecting the situation?

Answer: None


But yes, they do make them vulnerable. But to my knowledge, he has no problem with his feet. And there was another horse with three white feet who did pretty well, and his name was Secretariat.

Oh, yeah. OK.  Victor Espinoza is Chrome's jockey. What do you expect from him?

He's a very talented rider. He has been here before. He won two legs of the Triple Crown with War Emblem a few years ago. He's made beautiful decisions in terms of where to position the horse and strategy is everything in the Belmont. This is a riders race.

I don't know if he will win, but this afternoon, pin your heart on this beautiful little horse and this odd cast of characters around him. The pantheon of Triple Crown winners admits only the truly great. So if he is good enough to do it, you will be looking at a horse for the ages.

turn 3 : the meaning of "pin your heart on this beautiful little horse and this odd cast of characters around him" is to invest your emotion or faith in Chrome and his team, even if there is no guarantee of success.

Which horse's jockey has won two legs of the Triple Crown before?

Answer: Chrome


But then today, the insurgent leader said he couldn't guarantee the safety of this team because of the fighting that's going on in the city of Slovyansk, and so he released them. And I should say - or I should mention that another Western observer of this team, a Swede, had already been released last weekend for health reasons.

Do we know where they are now?

They've returned to Donetsk here and basically south of Slovyansk where they were being kept for a number of days. And they had some trouble getting here because of the fighting that's going on between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists along the way. The German leader of the team says he and the other former captives' spirits are high.

What is the latest on the fighting?What do we know?It seems to be going on in several locations throughout Ukraine.

It's still continuing to some extent in Slovyansk, but it seems the focus today is on a city south of there about 10 miles called Kramatorsk. I was there yesterday, and I could see the separatists preparing their defenses. They set up tractor-trailers to close off the main road to Ukrainian armored vehicles. And it was also evident that some of these separatists were very professional-looking masked-soldier types with automatic weapons. And I hadn't seen these people before in the area.

turn 4 : In turn (5), when the speaker says, "And I hadn't seen these people before in the area," the actual meaning is that the speaker has observed armed and masked separatists in the area who appear to be professional soldiers. This statement implies that the separatists are not just a group of local civilians who have taken up arms, but rather they may have received military training and support from a foreign government or organization. This implication is a departure from the literal meaning of the words used in the turn.

Which aspect of the separatists observed by the speaker implies that they may have received military training and support from a foreign organization?

Answer: Military


He was instrumental in the Times that year winning a Pulitzer Prize for its coverage. And it was after the Kerner Commission came out with its report in 1968, looking at the great divide among the racism in American society that pointed to the American news media in particular, that needed to do a better job in covering the great diversity of American society.

What are the upsides?What are the upsides for journalism as it evolves, because it has to evolve?

The upsides are the incredible access you have to audiences now. Anybody in this age can be a publisher, a writer, a communicator. And there are tremendous possibilities.

Well, Neil, thanks so much.

turn 0 : to be instrumental in this context means that the person was needed for something happening.

How was the person described in turn 0 important?

Answer: Important


First of all, Ford says it doesn't need the money right now. It needs a line of credit in case. And they believe that they can make it, that they can make it through these hard times. So, there is one big difference. They don't have to go to the extremes that, say, GM does, who say they need money right now.

Jean, I'd like to go back to GM for a moment, and I know you mentioned Larry Burns is a friend. If you were to point out one thing that you think that they're not doing that they should be doing at General Motors, what would that be?

You know, they have been just slow, very slow. They have brought out many, many vehicles in the past - and he is absolutely correct when he says, you know, nine of the last 10 vehicles that have come out have been great vehicles. Two of the next 24 will be what Congress is asking them to do.

So, they're addressing the issues. They have the Chevy Cruise. They have the Malibu, which was an Automobile Magazine All-Star last year, its first year out. We called it better than a Camry. They have a Malibu hybrid. They have the Cadillac line, CTS, CTSV. They have Volt. They have very good vehicles coming out. They have been perhaps slow to ax the ones that are not so good.

Jean Jennings is the editor of Automobile magazine. Thanks, Jean.

turn 0 : Ford doesn't need the money right now, but GM does

Which company needs a line of credit instead of money right now?

Answer: Ford


There's a new commission by the president to try to look into this attack - series of attacks. What's that commission trying to do?

Well, this is a situation, Farai, that's been growing since '94, since the end of apartheid and the election of African National Congress. The problem is this. Fundamentally, the issue of poverty has not been tackled in a satisfactory way by the government. And you've had among the mass of poor people at the bottom, the so called black Africans, a very high level of patience actually waiting for something to turn around, and it hasn't.

Instead, there's been much more emphasis on the development of a black capitalist class, opening up the borders to trade, et cetera. And not enough paid attention to the grievances of people at the base.

When you have the situation like this, it is very easy for opportunists to take advantage of the situation and explode it in a very unproductive way and that's what happened. So, people's anger about the situation was channeled, much like we've seen here in the United Sates when people go against immigrants. Instead of understanding the way that the system is working and that it needs to be challenged, people start going after the vulnerable groups. So, they went after the Zimbabweans, they went after the Mozambiquens and they went after the Ugandans.

turn 0 : "look into" in "look into this attack" means to investigate, so the actual meaning is the same as the literal meaning.

Which word in the dialogue means to investigate?

Answer: Look


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 1 : "I bet you are a little tired" - This expression is a form of a rhetorical question that is not meant to be answered. It is a way of showing empathy or understanding for the speaker's situation, rather than actually asking if they are tired.

Which word did PersonB use to show empathy for PersonA's situation?

Answer: Tired


And you can do that just out of a gut feeling, or experience or cracking the file?Or how does that work?

Well, it uses statistics. You know, it's kind of a little bit like the whole money ball argument that we hear about baseball. But it goes through the file, and it looks, and it kind of sees that - you could say the noise in the image is not right, and often it's a little too random. It's almost a little bit too perfect, you might say.

And then the statistics comes out, and it says oh, well, you know, it gives you a number, and the number is over a threshold, and you say oh, that's an alarm bell, and I'll look at it.

It must be an interesting history to this whole steganography idea.

turn 1 : In turn 2, A is using the metaphor of "money ball" to refer to the use of statistics to determine if an image is a false one

What metaphor does PersonA use in turn 1 to refer to the use of statistics to detect false images?

Answer: Money-ball


I don't know what a - difference between an executive order and a proclamation is.

Well, proclamations seem to be more rare. They do kind of echo of something royal, but it has basically the same effect as an executive order.

And how would this change what somebody who wants to apply for asylum must do?

Well, it's trying to bar asylum for people who enter the U. S.  in between ports of entry.

turn 1 : Proclamations are rare and have a royal tone but have the same effect as an executive order

How would you describe the tone of a proclamation?

Answer: Royal


And how did this start?

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

How many stories do you typically get?

We run between 300 and 450 submissions in issue.

turn 1 : (2) is different from its literal meaning. While the speaker is describing the history of their literary magazine and how they started accepting submissions, the implied meaning is that the magazine has been successful and has been accepting submissions for a long time.

How would you describe the success of the literary magazine?

Answer: Good


Now, what about the bloggers who are, you know, in our camp. What story are they hitting?

Well, in the Democratic side, among bloggers, the Web site Blogpolls, which measure these trends, posted about Hillary Clinton outnumbered blog post about Barack Obama, leading up to last weekend, South Carolina primary. And interestingly, on January 24th, two days before the voting started in South Carolina, posts about Bill Clinton spiked and they equal the numbers of posts about Barack Obama. But after he won in South Carolina, post about Obama spiked and he's been the most blogged about candidate ever since. Now, on the Republican side, John McCain has been and is the most blogged about candidate.

What about on News and Views, our own blog?

Well, lot of issues people are talking about. They run the spectrum. They're talking about Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's text message scandal, suggesting an affair with his female chief of staff, which could lead to perjury charges. We called it textual healing on our blog.

turn 3 : A: Well, a lot of issues people are talking about. They run the spectrum. They're talking about Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's text message scandal, suggesting an affair with his female chief of staff, which could lead to perjury charges. We called it textual healing on our blog. The actual meaning: They are discussing various topics or subjects, including the scandal involving Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. Literal meaning: They are physically running across a spectrum, discussing the scandal involving Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.

Which scandal is being discussed on News and Views blog?

Answer: Scandal


Yeah. I know Chicken Street. But tell us what you saw at the site of the bombing.

When I heard it, I came out from the store, and I immediately saw people running from the direction of (unintelligible) the smoke billowing into the air. So I walked in the opposite direction towards the smoke. And the closer I got, the more damage there was - obviously, broken windows further away from it - and then closer to it, you know, cars on fire and completely crushed by the force of the explosion.

And then at the ground zero of the site, you know, a number of bodies that was in the immediate vicinity - I saw probably 12 to 15, all, you know, really just mangled and - you know, almost as if they were melted together. It was just a pile of bodies - you know, most of them dead, some of them still alive. I even told one man who was trying to make a phone call, you know, in this morass of bodies.

And then all around, there was, you know, the usual chaos that infuse these attacks - security forces running around with their weapons drawn, general chaos, smoke and noise, car alarms, and, you know, small explosions of oxygen tanks and petrol tanks exploding. And, you know, within a few minutes, you have these - I guess you'd call them first responders - rushing in to take the injured and the dead away.

turn 2 : "a number of bodies that was in the immediate vicinity - I saw probably 12 to 15, all, you know, really just mangled and - you know, almost as if they were melted together.It was just a pile of bodies" - the speaker uses figurative language to describe the state of the bodies they saw, which were not literally melted together, but were instead severely damaged.

Which language did the speaker use to describe the bodies they saw?

Answer: Figurative


Thank you very much for having me.

Can you describe the scene for us in Sana'a now?

The situation in Sana'a at the moment is very insecure and unpredictable. It's very scary, obviously, because the airstrikes come at any time. And now with the fuel crisis that's going on, Yemen is a country that is basically based all its - basics let's say from importing - the food, the fuel, the wheat - everything comes importing and talking about the main things that would allow the people to be alive. And now at the borders - the blockade in the borders - this is creating a huge catastrophe that is ahead of us at the moment.

Oxfam had been pushing to end the fighting, at least to get these shipments into the country. Are you worried about future shipments?

turn 2 : "It's very scary, obviously, because the airstrikes come at any time." - The literal meaning is that the airstrikes are unpredictable and can happen at any moment, causing fear and uncertainty among the people. The actual meaning may also convey a sense of desperation or helplessness in the face of the ongoing conflict.

How would you describe the situation in Sana'a?

Answer: Insecure


I made up my own mind. I figured that at some point it would turn into a mandatory evacuation and I wanted to get ahead of the traffic.

You know, to have gone through this once is bad enough. To be going through it a second time, I can't even imagine what that must have been like. As you were getting closer to having to make the decision to get up and get out, what went through your mind?

I immediately remembered what it was like three years ago, and I think that I was in sort of disbelief. I couldn't believe that I was going through it again. And I - the first thing I thought of was OK, what do I need to take with me that I want to see again?Because I immediately thought of what happened during Katrina and how, you know, it just caught us all off guard, and I just wanted to be prepared.

What did you take?

turn 2 : I learned from my past experience and prepared accordingly.

How did the speaker act based on their past experience?

Answer: Evacuation


Can I ask you just when you wrote this thread, what prompted it?What was the moment that sort of made you think, this is something I need to write right now?

I live in - I jokingly refer to it as the wilds of Connecticut, and there's nothing wild about it. But I live in the woods about 10 miles away from Sandy Hook. And when that incident happened, my daughter was in elementary school. My son was in middle school. The schools went into lockdown. I think I became radicalized on that day against gun violence. Every time one of these events happens, it affects me really deeply.

And so I found myself on the kitchen floor. My daughter wanted help with her homework, and I was sort of tweeting as she was reading me an essay she was writing. But it - I just felt like I needed to try to say these things in the best way that I knew how in that moment. And I - you know, there was no real forethought to it. It was just a kind of expression of deep, deep sadness.

Michael Ian Black is a comedian, actor and writer. Thank you so much for joining us.

turn 1 : The Sandy Hook shooting radicalized A against gun violence.

How was PersonA affected by the Sandy Hook shooting?

Answer: Radicalized


The government is treading a fine line. On one hand, it acknowledges that this is a regime that cannot survive, and that this is a matter of time, only. At the same time, because it's a neighbor and because the borders are still open and there is some trade going on, in addition to other reasons, the government is careful not to take matters, sort of, beyond a certain point. But I think that there is wide consensus in the region that understands that this regime has no chance of survival. The problem and the questions is, how many more people will be killed before it leaves the scene?

Again, Turkey - we know that the Free Syrian Army uses Turkey as a safe haven. Injured are brought back to be treated in medical facilities. The fighters return there to rest and re-equip and then come back. That's a very porous border in that situation. What about Jordan?Is Jordan allowing the Free Syrian Army effectively to operate from its territory?

No. There are no military operations being conducted out of Jordan for the Free Syrian Army. Jordan has received a number of defectors from Syria, including the ex-prime minister of Syria and several army officers who have defected to Jordan. But they have not engaged in any military activity, so far.

Why no?

turn 0 : The government is cautious in its approach towards the regime, but it's clear that the regime is not going to survive. However, the government is worried about taking action that might destabilize the region.

How is the government approaching the regime?

Answer: Carefully


Now, we're going to head east to New York. NPR's Robert Smith spent the day in the raucous Harlem Armory yesterday. He joins us now. How are you doing, Robert?

I'm doing great. And no offense to Cheryl; she's talking about the hometown pride for Barack Obama. They like to point out in Harlem that before he moved to Chicago, Barack Obama went to Columbia University and lived in East Harlem. So, there you go.

All right. Well, how did they process this spectacle yesterday?

"Process" is a tame word for it. It was an out-and-out party. Everything from giant video screens on 125th Street; there were big events at the Schaumburg Center for Black Culture and at the Apollo Theater. I went to a schoolchildren event at the Harlem Armory, and if you can imagine the sound of about 5,000 middle-school students in a concrete bunker like the Armory screaming at the top of their lungs, you can imagine, it not only hurt your ears, but it was a little hard to follow the inauguration with that much excitement in one place.

turn 1 : Harlem residents take pride in Obama's previous residency

What is one fact about Obama that Harlem residents like to point out?

Answer: Columbia


No, that felt great. Did it make up?I can't go back to my life pre-June 1, 2017, where I'm getting smeared. And as a Muslim, being attacked with the worst anti-Muslim trope you can say is that I'm a Muslim and I'm a terrorist. So it was very painful. It was painful to have friends and family express concerns. It was painful to contact security at Daily Beast and my radio channel to say, hey, we might be visited by white supremacists coming to kill me. And they might kill innocent people I work with. That was all horrible.

But through this all, I've never once questioned doing this. This is the right thing to do. It's the thing we have to do. And I'm happy we got the judgment. And we're going to continue. And I hope it inspires others and gives them a roadmap to say, don't be silent. There are lawyers who will represent you - I'm not kidding - free of charge for this kind of work to make it clear that we're not going to cower from these people. We're going to sue them. We're going to win. We're going to get their money.

That's Dean Obeidallah. He's the host of "The Dean Obeidallah Show" on Sirius XM. He's a columnist for The Daily Beast. And he's a comedian and a former lawyer. Dean, thanks so much for talking to us.

Thanks for having me on, Michel. I appreciate it.

turn 1 : It's important to stand up to hate and bigotry by taking legal action.

How did Dean Obeidallah respond to being introduced on the show?

Answer: Thanks


So, I think, you know, I didn't expect her to do anything huge after "Dream Girls. "I think that's just sort of the name of the game. When you're an African-American actress, you take what you can get. And this is a big film. It's a small role, but it's in a huge movie that will probably do incredibly well. I just thought she was ill-fitted. I didn't think she belonged in it.

Kelly Rowland, you mentioned her name, Destiny's Child.

MS.  SAMUELS: Right.

She basically said she wanted the part.

turn 3 : The literal meaning of the turn is that Kelly Rowland expressed interest in the part. However, the actual meaning may be that Kelly Rowland was not mentioned before this turn, and the speaker may be changing the subject or trying to steer the conversation in a different direction.

How did the speaker steer the conversation?

Answer: Change


After Army Private First Class Brian Orolin returned from Afghanistan in 2011, his wife, Donna, could tell something wasn't quite right. He became paranoid. He suffered constant headaches and would isolate himself in his bedroom with the lights dimmed. And then on November 19, Brian left his wife and two children in Spring, Texas. He has been missing ever since.

At StoryCorps, Donna Orolin remembered the day he returned from Afghanistan.

He was literally the last person off the plane, and he was just so excited to see his daughters. I dressed the girls up and put little bows in their hair with his unit on them. And I put a sign out front that said welcome home, Specialist Orolin. He just couldn't wait to be dad - husband again, but then, things were different.

We used to hold hands all the time before he left. When he came back, he didn't like to be touched, so I had to remind myself to not rub his back, not sneak up behind him and give him hugs. And pretty much his sense of purpose was gone. He would say that he was just going to go away somewhere some day and disappear, and we'd never find him.

turn 3 :  implies Donna was trying to remain supportive of Brian, despite his lack of interest in physical contact.

Which action did Donna take to support Brian's emotional state upon his return from Afghanistan?

Answer: Support


After Army Private First Class Brian Orolin returned from Afghanistan in 2011, his wife, Donna, could tell something wasn't quite right. He became paranoid. He suffered constant headaches and would isolate himself in his bedroom with the lights dimmed. And then on November 19, Brian left his wife and two children in Spring, Texas. He has been missing ever since.

At StoryCorps, Donna Orolin remembered the day he returned from Afghanistan.

He was literally the last person off the plane, and he was just so excited to see his daughters. I dressed the girls up and put little bows in their hair with his unit on them. And I put a sign out front that said welcome home, Specialist Orolin. He just couldn't wait to be dad - husband again, but then, things were different.

We used to hold hands all the time before he left. When he came back, he didn't like to be touched, so I had to remind myself to not rub his back, not sneak up behind him and give him hugs. And pretty much his sense of purpose was gone. He would say that he was just going to go away somewhere some day and disappear, and we'd never find him.

turn 2 : implies Donna was trying to make Brian feel special by dressing the girls up and making a sign, but Brian was still not the same;

What did Donna do to make Brian feel special upon his return from Afghanistan?

Answer: Dress


I think hemp is certainly an opportunity for small-scale farmers like myself. And I see the future of agriculture in trouble on the major commodities such as corn, wheat and soybeans because these prices are too low for farmers to stay in business.

And is that because the timing is such that, you know, waiting it out has different meaning in farming than it does in other jobs, for example, right. I mean, like, waiting out, you have to plan so far ahead and - that you can't just - it's not a 90 day problem. Is that what I'm hearing from you?

Exactly. And for the people that are listening, most Americans pay their bills every 30 days. Farmers pay their bills basically twice a year. Like right now, I'm getting ready to sell my winter wheat, which is coming for harvest next month. So I receive a payday there - hopefully it's a fair payday - and then my soybean crop later on this fall.

So we plan our operations a year out. And I thought by now that there would be a big change in the commodity price for soybeans. And that simply hasn't happened. And this president is playing footsie with American agriculture and American farmers here.

turn 3 : In this case, the speaker is using the idiom "playing footsie" figuratively to mean that the current president is not fully committed to supporting American agriculture and farmers, and is instead giving them only superficial or insincere attention. The speaker is not suggesting that the president is actually playing the game footsie.

How is the idiom "playing footsie" being used in turn 3?

Answer: Figuratively


Thank you, Linda. Happy to be here.

Is it fair to say what I said in this introduction that a Clinton or Sanders win in Nevada could depend on how the Hispanic vote breaks?

You're absolutely right. Here in Nevada, the Latino vote has been decisive in the past several election cycles. We saw it in 2006 in my race for state assembly, where we tripled Hispanic turnout. We saw it in 2008 for the caucuses here for Hillary Clinton to win the popular vote. And then we saw it again in 2012. You know, we saw President Obama get re-elected and win Nevada thanks to the Latino vote.

What do you think is going to move the Hispanic community in Nevada to the polls in 2016?Is it going to be immigration reform?Is it the problem of jobs, new jobs, higher paying jobs?

You know, I believe it'll be a combination of a few different things. You're seeing right now Republican candidates Donald Trump, Rubio, Cruz, even my opponent Cresent Hardy, who have taken a pretty strong stance against immigration. And, you know, Latinos not only care about immigration, we care about every other issue - jobs, health care, education. But immigration usually tends to be the litmus test for candidates. If you support immigration reform with the path to citizenship, then we know that you are welcoming to our Latino community.

turn 2 : The literal meaning of (3) is "We know about Internet-radicalized lone-wolf scenario. It's very interesting and unusual to have a woman involved and a couple involved." However, the implied meaning is that the speaker finds it notable that a woman and a couple are involved in the scenario, which may suggest a stereotype or bias about the typical profile of individuals involved in internet-radicalized lone-wolf scenarios.

What does the speaker find notable about the involvement of a woman and a couple in the scenario?

Answer: Notable


You know, it's not fair to put the blame on the entire system. You know, we countlessly says in sexual assaults it's not a fraternity problem. It's not an alcohol problem. But we also can't be naive enough not to point out that there seems to be a theme happening where people have this groupthink and are able to hide behind a larger organization.

Can you give us any more insight as to what the conversation on your editorial board's been like?

We were shocked and disgusted when this information came out. You know, one of our first editorials was just somewhat emotional - us explaining that we are very frustrated that this has happened. We are disgusted. These actions are vile, and we, as a student newspaper, are putting our foot down. We're not going to stand for it. As more information has unfolded, specifically the anonymous interview that came out in Philadelphia magazine - that was another topic of one of our editorials.

I don't know that story.

turn 2 : "putting our foot down" - This phrase means that they are taking a strong stance against something. Its actual meaning is figurative, not literal.

What does the phrase "putting our foot down" mean?

Answer: Strong


Today's verdict concludes Hosni Mubarak's retrial. He'd been convicted and sentenced to life in prison in 2012. The verdict was overturned on appeal. In the courtroom today, people burst into cheers, but those who protested in his rule say this is a sign Egypt's revolution has been defeated. NPR's Leila Fadel joins us from Cairo. Thanks for being with us.

Thank you.

And what happened in the courtroom?

Well, basically, the judge dismissed the charges against Mubarak; charges of the killing of hundreds of protesters in 2011 who went to the streets to walk against his rule. He was acquitted on separate corruption charges. And he's expected to go free soon. He's currently serving time on a separate corruption case, and he was convicted of three years on that. His minister of interior, who was reviled for brutal police tactics, was also acquainted as were his deputies. And it left a lot of people asking, well, who is accountable for the more than 800 people that were killed in 2011.

turn 3 : (4) "And he's expected to go free soon." - The literal meaning of this sentence is that Hosni Mubarak is expected to be released from prison soon. However, the implied meaning is that there is outrage and concern among some people about Mubarak being released after being acquitted of charges related to the killing of protesters during his rule, and that this could be seen as a sign that justice has not been served.

Which charges were dismissed against Mubarak?

Answer: protesters


Oil aside, do the two countries have different interests in the region?

Saudi Arabia is particularly worried by the U. S.  trying to reach a nuclear deal with Iran. Saudi Arabia sees Iran kind of backing groups in Syria and in Lebanon and in Yemen and Iraq. And Saudi is seeing itself as increasingly surrounded. And it, you know, Saudis don't really think the U. S.  understands how deeply concerned it is about regional security and about its own security right now.

We understand that there are activists in Saudi Arabia - human rights activists, activists for women's rights, greater women's rights in Saudi Arabia - who had wanted President Obama and other U. S.  officials to kind of step in and voice their concerns. No indication whatever, that happened. Is there disappointment?

There was. Saudi women that I talked to after the visit said they didn't really expect Obama to kind of endanger the makeup visit by bringing women's rights up or just human rights up. And they said in that sense, the trip met their expectations. Saudi activists say that there is a state crackdown going on - on dissent and free speech - since the Arab Spring uprisings. And they say it's kind of a very dark time in the kingdom for them, and they think the U. S.  is not really doing too much to help them out of it.

turn 3 : (4) Although the response appears to be saying that Saudi women did not expect President Obama to bring up women's or human rights during his visit, the actual meaning is that they did not want him to bring up those issues during his visit, as it could have endangered the visit.

What did Saudi women say about Obama bringing up women's rights during his visit?

Answer: Ingenuity


Well, thank you.

As we note, you've got some photographs of some very splendid interiors, including, for example, the New York Public Library. But maybe less to be expected, tell us about the Handley Regional Public Library in Winchester, VA.

Well, I have been born and raised and lived all my life in California. And so the American Civil War is something quite distant from my experience. But I'm always amazed when I travel in the east, the closeness of that period. So this was a library in Winchester that was built by a Confederate sympathizer and then, the library itself is this beautiful structure, both inside and out. But the walls inside were covered with portraits of Confederate generals, which really was sort of astonishing to me, and to see again, the closeness of that history.

Did you ever feel, in shooting pictures of public libraries, that you have been in the process of documenting a vanishing species?

turn 1 : Implies that B is asking A to tell them more about a library that may not be as well known as the New York Public Library.

What library did PersonA discuss that was built by a Confederate sympathizer and had portraits of Confederate generals on its walls?

Answer: Handley


Perhaps it really was all Steve Bannon inviting Michael Wolff into the White House, giving him unfettered access. But the White House is - and the West Wing is a small place. And it's hard to ignore. I certainly saw Michael Wolff when I was covering - when I've been covering the White House for the last year. It's kind of hard to ignore the guy.

Yeah. And just briefly, I'm just curious about this idea that somehow, you know, this may not really damage the president. I mean, how much of a blow do you think this will be?Or is this just another one of these scandals that seems to erupt and then be forgotten when the next one comes in?

I think it has a small, marginal, cumulative effect, right?I mean everybody sort of has baked in that that the president is not normal, is not - certainly not a normal president, doesn't operate in the normal way. I think what will change - say, that 36, 38 percent approval to something a lot worse - is if something happens catastrophic, if there's a drop a severe drop in the stock market or, God forbid, some kind of national security disaster, something bad for the Mueller investigation. This is only hurting his ability to weather a big storm like that. It's giving nobody who's on the fence, trying to figure out if they can still support him any reason to do so.

That's Michael Warren, a senior writer at the Weekly Standard. Thanks for coming in.

turn 0 : Steve Bannon is responsible for giving Michael Wolff access to the White House, which is hard to ignore.

How would you describe Michael Wolff's presence at the White House according to what PersonA said?

Answer: Unignorable


That may be the case, but - I don't have foresight in the future, that could very well be the case. But what we do know now is that there has been a precipitous decline in Harlem's black population. And that decline has taken place over the past two decades, and the main issue has been one of affordability as it is in other inner-city areas - inner-cities across the country. Harlem just mirrors that.

Let me return to one point that you made in terms of certain historical facts. About Harlem never having been a black community, or even built by blacks. Well I beg to differ with that. And Ms.  Suggs really does not have a grasp on her history. We know from the 1600s that the Dutch arrived in Harlem with slaves who helped to build Harlem. That is from the 1600s because we know about the Harlem Reform Church of the 1600s. And just recently, because of the 125th Street rezoning - a major public policy issue that will change the physical landscape of Harlem - we have in one of the public-mandated environmental impact statement the acknowledgment of an African burial ground which is at 125th Street east of Second Avenue from the 1600s.

So blacks have always had a presence in Harlem. They built Harlem, and so their investment - the historical investment - of blacks in Harlem certainly did not begin with the great migration or the Harlem Renaissance. Blacks' presence in Harlem, their - the building of Harlem certainly precedes that and into the 1600s.

Here's my final question. I have less than a minute for your answer. When a neighborhood gentrifies and it becomes more mixed racially and class-wise, is this more about race or about class?

turn 2 : Blacks have had a historical investment in Harlem since the 1600s, predating the Harlem Renaissance and great migration

How long have blacks been invested in Harlem?

Answer: Stimulus


Tell us about that nuanced way.

Sure. What is important here is that the Kurds of Syria - look, I don't want to get in too many alphabet soups with you, but let's call them the PYD, as they're known in English - are indeed an offshoot of the PKK, the Kurds of Turkey. The PKK are the internationally recognized terrorist group, the avowed enemies of the Turkish state. For the past many months, the United States and most of our other coalition partners have drawn a distinction between the PYD, the Kurds of Syria, who have been battling against ISIS very fiercely since last October, on the one hand, as people that we needed to work with and on the other hand, the PKK, whom we recognized years ago, as an enemy of our Turkish ally. That distinction is really important to us, and the Turkish government practically have accepted that distinction.

Has something changed with Turkey?Because the last time we spoke with you, Mr. Ambassador, it was to ask you if Turkey really was an ally in the effort against ISIS.

Well, I think there can be less question of that now. The United States' larger strategy with respect to Syria in the region remains to be articulated beyond the need to defeat and destroy ISIS. The Turks continue to see the strategic problem in different terms but now very much including the need to defeat ISIS. So there's more common ground than there was before, and it's more overt and explicit.

turn 1 : Implied Meaning: The speaker's use of sarcasm suggests that they do not believe the statement they just made is true, and instead are expressing the opposite sentiment.

How did the speaker express their true sentiment in turn 1?

Answer: Opposite


Brazil is one of the leading producers of two very important crops: soy and corn. But lately, frozen credit has made it nearly impossible for farmers there to afford the basics that they need to grow those crops. Brian Willott farms 2,000 acres of soybeans just outside Bahia, Brazil. He joins us now by phone.

Welcome, Brian, and can you explain for us how the credit situation there in Brazil has affected you and other farmers?

Credit's a big problem right now. No farmer can survive today without credit, and since the credit crunch hit, everyone's credit has either been cut, delayed or more expensive. And it's got everyone here quite worried.

What do you use loans for?How important is it?What do you use it to buy?

turn 2 : Credit is important for farmers to survive and the credit crunch has made it more expensive and difficult to obtain

How has the credit crunch affected farmers in Brazil?

Answer: Treasury


The videos of the embryos. He does sort of time lapse of human development, and it was really fascinating to watch, going from this sort of little hard to, you know, nondescript ball to what you would recognize. . .

As an embryo.

. . . as an embryo or a fetus.

This is SCIENCE FRIDAY from NPR. I'm Ira Flatow talking with Flora Lichtman about our Video Pick of the Week, and it's a - videos of embryos, all different kinds of embryos. So you got the film, the footage. . .

turn 1 : This is an idiomatic expression that refers to a selected video for the week, rather than a literal pick of a video.

Answer: Shattered


Yeah. That - yeah.

OK. I mean, this is the kind of thing that's kind - it just amazes me that we didn't know the answer to this. But apparently there was, you know, a study about a hundred years ago, and some people thought that maybe there was an oil on the legs of the spiders. And then other people didn't believe that and thought that the spiders just avoid the sticky parts of the web because it does - it turns out that not the whole web is sticky. I didn't know that, but just the spiral part is the only sticky part of the orb web. The structural lines. . .

So the spokes are not sticky.

The spokes - right, not sticky.

Answer: Spiral


I'm Farai Chideya and this is News & Notes. Staycation. It's one of those newfangled words that's caught on fast. A vacation is when you vacate. You take off, you stay in a hotel, or camp out, or see the sights. A staycation is - well, you got it. With soaring gas prices and plane tickets, this was supposed to be the summer of staying at home. But was that prediction off the mark?If you're thinking about traveling soon or for the winter holidays, what should you keep in mind?With us to talk about both of those issues we've got Madeline Nunn, senior travel agent with the Richmond, Virginia, branch of the American Automobile Association, or Triple-A. Hi, Madeline.

How are you?

I'm great. So, back in May, a Rand McNally survey found that two-thirds of Americans planning road trips this summer said they would shorten their trips or cancel them all together. Summer is wrapping up, so what actually panned out?

Well, actually, the staycation thing is sort of a myth, so to speak, because Americans are traveling. They're traveling because they are hard-working and they need the rest and the revitalization. They need this vacation. So, what we're finding is that they're not staying home, per se. Some are just staying a little closer to home. And sometimes they're limiting the length of time that they may take for this vacation.

turn 0 : Staycation is a vacation taken close to home.

What is the newfangled word that has caught on fast according to PersonB in the dialogue?

Answer: Staycation


All right, Mario. We have to jump in. RushmoreDrive. Give me the skinny.

OK, RushmoreDrive. The skinny is this is a black search engine. And I think it's time for a black search engine. The answer is going - the question is going to be whether or not this will be successful due to advertising. The Pew Internet says that 56 percent of African-Americans now use the Internet, so is there really a need for a black search engine?I put in "Farai Chideya. "I was able to see news about you, videos, your blog posts, images. . .

Scary!

It's comprehensive. It's clean. Hey, you're all over the place, what can I say?I think there's a real need for this. The issue is going to be whether or not they can market it right.

turn 1 : This implies that the speaker is proposing the need for a black search engine, even though there are other search engines available, and believes that it could be successful with proper marketing.

How comprehensive is the black search engine discussed in the dialogue?

Answer: Comprehensive


And from New York, Serena Blanchard, as in: From Serena, 1988. Thank you for being with us.

Thank you for having me.

I wanted to write a poem for my father's book. I wanted to write an introduction. Apparently, he was looking for some form of dedication page. So I was tying my shoe one day, and I came up with a poem, and I offered it to my father and to Stan. But I think Dad can probably explain the rest from there.

turn 2 : (3) B: Now, Ms. Blanchard, you were only 8. So how did you wind up getting cited in this eminent textbook?  The literal meaning of this turn is that the speaker is asking how an 8-year-old got cited in a textbook. However, the implied meaning could be that the speaker is curious about the circumstances that led to this unexpected accomplishment, or that the speaker is impressed by the achievement and wants to know more about it.

What did Ms. Blanchard offer to her father and Stan?

Answer: Poem


Do you go back and see your plays often after they're up and running?

Yes, I do. I mean, in the old days, I didn't, and I was very sorry for it. And I had to learn to do it because we have something we call, especially in the world of large shows, a lot of people killing babies where the director comes back and basically says, you know how they used to just come in and say hello?Well, you know, I think instead of coming in now, pirouetting with a finger up your butt, why don't you just go back to coming in and saying, hello?

And we do that fairly frequently because people do get bored, and they elaborate without even necessarily knowing they've elaborated. What's unusual is that the guys in "Death of a Salesman" simplify. They don't add. They simplify and they get truer, and they find each other more. I've never quite seen it to this extent, but it's very exciting to see and I'd like to go back and see it as often as I can.

You described some playwrights, Beckett, for example, as somebody whose work seems to back away from you the closer you get it. But Miller's play, you say, is not like that.

turn 1 : A: I regret not reviewing my plays in the past.

How does PersonA refer to directors' behavior in large shows?

Answer: Simplify


The inspector general also alleges that lucrative government contracts were given to friends and former colleagues of the bureau. And this isn't the first criticism by the inspector general of the Minerals Management office. Last year, that office was accused of making mistakes in the royalties that calculated for the industry. It saved companies more than 10 billion dollars. So, at the very least, this latest investigation gives ammunition to the people who say that the Bush administration is too close to the oil and gas industry.

And so, this directly affects taxpayers and consumers?

Well, you know, the head of the Minerals Management Agency says, no, that the agency has been collecting the proper amount of royalties, but the report says some oil companies were allowed to revise their payments downward after their contracts were finalized. And outsiders have to wonder why would the industry be giving gifts to employees of this agency, if they didn't want something in return?

OK. Still on oil, another story. OPEC announced it will be cutting production. What does that mean?

Well, they do want to cut production to keep the price high, but you know, Saudi Arabia said today that it isn't necessarily going to stick to those quotas and produce what the cartel imposed late on Tuesday. So, the prospect that Saudi Arabia might continue to crank out high levels of crude is pushing oil prices down, even as Hurricane Ike barrels down on the Gulf of Mexico.

turn 2 : The oil industry may be involved in bribery to get favorable treatment

What allegation is made about the oil industry?

Answer: Bribery


And?

And it got huge. I don't know.

What happens?How does something go viral on Craigslist?I don't even know.

I don't know. I mean, I tweeted about it, and then it started getting passed around. And, you know, people started writing posts on blogs. I think someone called it, like, the most beautiful Craigslist missed connection post ever.

(Laughter) That's a very competitive category.

turn 2 : viral implies that the information spread around quickly to other people

What does the term "viral" mean in the context of the Craigslist post?

Answer: Spread


So alphabetically, Jeb Bush, Ben Carson, Hillary Clinton, Martin O'Malley, Bernie Sanders, who'd you like?

You know, I liked the fact that they all came. The important thing for the Urban League was that each of these five candidates accepted our invitation, came, and I think offered a serious perspective from their own point of view. They came in here. They talked about race. They talked about economics. They talked about the criminal justice system. They talked about cities. These issues don't get discussed on the main stage in many, many political debates and discussions. And so why we wanted them here, so they could talk about equality, talk about opportunity, develop those ideas in a way that will not, and - or, I should say, historically has not happened in this campaign up until this point.

Mr.  Morial, another unarmed black man was killed by an officer in Cincinnati. I wonder if you have some ideas you want to bring to our attention about how to try to repair a shattered relationship between black citizens and police.

It's an American tragedy of untold proportions, particularly as we've seen it play out in the last two years. Our ten-point justice plan recommended that body cameras and dash cameras be mandatory for all law enforcement all the way across the country. But we also believe that more must be done when it comes to police officer hiring, police officer training, and police officer accountability. The community wants to and must trust its police if they're going to be allies is in what we all want, and that is safer communities.

turn 1 : "talk about race", "talk about economics", "talk about the criminal justice system", "talk about cities" - these phrases are not meant to be taken literally as in simply having a conversation about those topics. Rather, the speaker means that they want the candidates to address these topics seriously and meaningfully, and to offer their perspectives and ideas on them.

How did the speaker want the candidates to address the four topics mentioned in turn 1?

Answer: Serious


Amyloid is a very big one. We need to fulfill our research obligations there to examine it to the hilt. But there could be other proteins, the Tao protein, Alpha Synuclein, a variety of other proteins that could be involved, and hence we need to throw the landscape open with respect to what might be other potential targets in the various cascades that are described to produce the results of Alzheimer's disease.

I have about 20 seconds left, but just in this last little bit, there's a clinical test - a clinical trial to test this drug starting soon. Will these new studies affect that trial?

No, I don't think so. I mean, I think that the phase one trial of Bexarotene going forth in humans to test its safety and efficacy I think is entirely appropriate. So I would not pull back. I mean, there are some cautionary notes in these papers, but I wouldn't sabotage the overall program by this.

Thank you for joining us today.

turn 0 : We need to examine it as much as we can possibly can. We need to get people involved with Alzheimers to learn about  other things that can cause the disease.

How many proteins are mentioned as potential targets for research besides Amyloid?

Answer: FOUR


I think a lot of people are afraid of science, really, which is bad news for everybody, because we really all need to understand a certain amount of science in order to make decent policy about the world we live in. But the truth is, translating scientific ideas from physics and mathematics and biology into vernacular English is difficult enough, and then translating it into fiction so that it's all there unobtrusively is extremely challenging.

And that was both a daunting and a really fun part of this novel, because I had to - in order to write about - in order to bring the reader into this world of scientists studying climate change in front of their eyes, they have to know something about the physics of why warm air holds more moisture. I wrote in this novel about the difference between correlation and causation. One of my pet peeves. . .

. . . with journalists who - when they report on science. There - this novel even mentions the ice-albedo effect. I was really excited listening to your previous half hour when I heard that word, albedo effect. That's in my novel. But it's not every easy to do, and it requires a certain comfort with the literature and with the subject to begin to translate that into plot and character and to make it really compelling so that people who might think they're afraid of science can read this novel, enjoy this novel without knowing that they're being educated in science.

I mean, it sounds like you felt compelled to really get the science right in this, even thought it's fiction, to get that accurate.

turn 2 : The novel educates readers about science in an unobtrusive way

How does the novel teach readers about science?

Answer: Unobtrusively


Yes. So I had shut what was left of the door, and I go outside. The waves are, like, 7, 8 feet above me, crashing over my head.

How did you survive that?

So a few days before, my sister made me promise to get a life vest. I said, yeah, yeah, yeah, I'll get one. But I didn't. And I was removing a dock ladder just so it wouldn't get damaged in the storm. And I was removing it, and a life vest floated up to me.

A life vest just came to you. That's incredible.

turn 0 : crashing over my head means that the waves were so big they were above the person's head.

What was the height of the waves in relation to the person's head?

Answer: 8


But a number of scientists say the issue has become so politicized that we're ignoring the real facts. They say study after study have shown that emergency contraceptives like Plan B inhibit or delay ovulation, they do not interfere with implantation.

Dr.  Kristina Gemzell-Danielsson has conducted some of this research. She's professor and chair of the Division of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Karolinska Institute in Sweden, and she joins us from Bergen, Norway. Welcome to SCIENCE FRIDAY.

Thank you.

Are these abortion pills?

turn 1 : "She joins us from Bergen, Norway" implies that the speaker is conducting an interview remotely with someone who is in a different location.

How did the speaker conduct the interview?

Answer: Remotely


That's quite a big change. Now either at this point people just think the Master of the Universe have all crashed, but they haven't, they haven't yet.

And I'm sure they'll figure out a way to survive and thrive.

I'm not - I don't - I'm not asking for anybody - tears for them because nobody is going to - a lot of these people have already put away the necessary nut, they call it. That is an amount of money that you've salted away in weather proof investments, that will yield enough interest for you to live a very high life in a place like Greenwich. I would say though that today, that nut has to be at least $40 million. If interest rates on bonds sink low enough, you might need 50 million. But I think it wouldn't hurt to live a little more simply, you know.

Tom Wolfe, he's the author of "Bonfire Of The Vanities". Thank you very much.

turn 3 : THERE IS A BIG CHANGE THE PEOPLE HAVE ALREADY LOST THEIR MONEY

Answer: Money


. . . near-Earth objects, and they are very, very useful.

Yeah. What kind of metal?You looking for platinum, gold?What's the holy grail here?

Well, there's lots of different types of asteroids, and each type has a different concentration of different types of elements. So a certain type of asteroid is very high in nickel and iron. Those are useful, ultimately. Another type is very high in water, which is extremely useful. Other volatiles as well, things like methane, which you know better as natural gas.

Let me stop you there for a minute because we have plenty of water on this planet. I mean, do we have to go to an asteroid to mine it?

turn 1 : The speaker in (2) is implying that they are looking for something rare and valuable, such as precious metals or other valuable resources, rather than simply asking what type of metal they are looking for.

Which type of asteroid has a high concentration of water?

Answer: Water


OK.  Let's start with those navigators you spoke of. Now, in what way have they been considered quite necessary?

So the navigators give people in-person one on one help to help choose a health plan and to sign up. And, you know, health insurance is very confusing. There's deductibles. There are the premiums. There are copayments, so it's really hard to know what services you're going to get and what it's really going to cost. But HHS says after several years, they aren't really necessary anymore because now people understand insurance better, so they don't need that kind of intensive help. Navigator defenders, though, don't agree because they say now their role is to get to those people who still after all these years haven't gotten insurance.

The ones that in a way are most confused. . .

Exactly.

turn 1 : Despite HHS claiming people understand insurance better, navigators still play an important role in helping uninsured individuals choose health plans

How do navigators still play a role in helping uninsured individuals?

Answer: Intensive


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

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

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

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

turn 0 : tens of thousands refer and implies large number

Which 'peak' is mentioned in the dialogue?

Answer: late


Well, I would say that he is a guy that tends to see silver linings in dark clouds. And, you know, this is a man that, in private business, had 10,000 lawsuits over his career, so I think he has a unique ability to sort of quarantine in his mind the impact some of these things have.

And what's the risk in that?

Well, I think the implications, again, is that it's not just about Zelenskiy. It's not about the Ukraine. It's not about Rudy. It's - the can has been opened. Now we have to see if there's good soup inside or worms, right?They're going to be looking for stuff - the House Democrats - that are not going to be very glowing and positive about the president. So if we think these revelations are not good - and now they might get an expedited subpoena power with the impeachment process under way. It's not good.

Does the seriousness of this cast a shadow on the White House?Are they concerned about what, for instance, is going to be coming out today?

turn 3 : Does the seriousness make the government look or feel bad about it?

What question does PersonB ask in response to PersonA's statement about the seriousness of the situation?

Answer: Concerned


We're playing the waiting game. We had a submarine try to break loose on us in Muskogee, and it's a completely unique problem. When you talk to the state emergency management officials, they don't know how to handle a World War II submarine.

So let's paint a picture for people listening, trying to imagine what you are able to see. Usually, the Batfish, which is how many feet long?

Three hundred eleven feet long.

Normally, it sits in the middle of a big kind of lawn - meadow. Is that right?

turn 3 : The Batfish is not on water but on land.

Answer: Muskogee


So - but they did these kits, which also are - each one of them is a box that contain a lot of evidence that could be tested. And so yes, we have a problem in this country with rape culture. You see that going on right now. It's never been more evident than it is now - rape culture, sexual harassment culture, all of that.

And so training was also needed. Back then, when we first started, we had found police reports in some files that we pulled where police officers were writing very disparaging things about our victims - not believing them, dismissing their cases, not bothering to work on them. And so that was a part of it as well - not just the neglect, not just no money but just active rape culture in play, where they just did not care.

Based on your expertise, this is happening in a number of cities and counties. Isn't it?

Yeah. There are estimated to be over 400,000 untested abandoned rape kits in this country. And I don't know if you're familiar with Michigan Stadium right here in our state. It seats over 100,000 people. When I tell people that the amount of untested kits in this country that they're estimated to be - you can fill up the biggest college or national football stadium in the country four times. And that's if each kit represents a victim - which it does - and you think of game day at Michigan Stadium four times over, that's how many we have in this country. And that's probably a conservative estimate. It is absolutely horrible. And hopefully, it is changing, albeit very slowly.

turn 1 : Police officers have been dismissive and neglectful towards rape victims.

How were some police officers treating rape victims?

Answer: Disparaging


And how have the volatile markets affected the pension funds that you're responsible for?

Well, it has definitely had an impact, but like most pension plans, we're extremely well-diversified. But we still are down a little over 20 percent for the fiscal year, which is - started in June 30. But we're down less than the Dow, and less than the S&P, because we're in a fairly diversified portfolio, with just over half of our exposure to the equity market at all. We have an exposure of almost 40 percent to bonds and about 10 percent to real estate.

But as you mentioned, you are down. So, what happens to the city employees who are scheduled to receive their pension now or in the near future?

With San Diego's pension system, like most pension systems around the country, the current environment in any particular month is less important than the one day a year you take a snapshot of our assets and liabilities. And for us, that's June 30th. So, the current economic impact hasn't had any real impact yet, and we won't know what, if any, impact it has on the plan until June 30th, when our actuary will take a snapshot of our assets. The market may have recovered with the new administration and a new economic team and the stimulus measures being talked about in Washington. Who knows where the market will be June 30?But that's the date that will have an impact on our plan and most around the country.

turn 1 : Pension plan has been impacted by volatile markets, but due to diversification, it has not been severely impacted.

What is the reason for the pension plan being less impacted compared to the Dow and S&P?

Answer: Diversification


Alan Dershowitz is a fine legal scholar. He's welcome on this show any time. But in any event, one had to make note of that. Way before Steven Spielberg and "Jaws," did - what's still called the Chappaquiddick incident in which a young woman, Mary Jo Kopechne, died when she was in the back of a car driven by Senator Edward Kennedy, went off the bridge at Chappaquiddick. Did that bring the worst kind of attention to the vineyard?

I think that that was when people first started to think about - see, the vineyard entered the world stage because of Chappaquiddick. And this kind of remote island that was a secret in many ways became not a secret. It was about three or four years later, I think, in '73, that Spielberg decided he wanted to film "Jaws. "And the vineyard came up as a setting because it was so authentic, although that word's kind of annoying these days. But it was so authentically weather-beaten and New England-y (ph).

And Spielberg had looked at some places on the West Coast, but a lot of the beaches there in the background might have a high rise. They were developed in some ways. This was an extremely undeveloped part of the world. It's tried to remain undeveloped, though now it seems as if almost every house there has a swimming pool. A friend of mine once said, and I quoted this, that "pretty soon, the island will be a donut. "

Pretty soon the island will be a donut.

In other words, there'll be land surrounded by a hole filled with water.

turn 2 : "It's tried to remain undeveloped" - The island itself does not have the capacity to try to remain undeveloped. This is a personification of the island that means the people living on the island have tried to prevent it from being developed.

Answer: People


It's always the fights inside the family that can get rough. Things got rough this week in the Democratic Party after freshman Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota made more remarks many saw as anti-Semitic. The House finally passed an anti-hate resolution condemning anti-Semitism and - well, a lot of things, I think, including dandruff. Did it solve or aggravate divisions?Susan Davis, NPR congressional correspondent, joins us. Sue, thanks so much for being with us.

Good morning, Scott.

Everything better now?

(Laughter) Well, every Democrat in the end did vote for the resolution, so they were unified in the end, but it certainly did provide a roadmap for the kind of divisions we might see going forward.

turn 3 : Despite being unified there are many roads to go forward to in order to find their goal to reach.

What did the resolution provide for the Democrats?

Answer: Unity


Thank you.

What's your concern?Why did you write this letter?

Of course, as I don't have to tell you, it is a fact that Chinese hackers have been accused of stealing intellectual property from U. S.  businesses and breaching U. S.  government systems. That's a concern for you, too?

turn 2 : America is an exceptional country, the best in the world. But we have our blind spots. And in our history, you'll see discrimination against Asian-Americans. We've had the Chinese Exclusion Act, Alien Land Laws and then, in World War II, we interned over 100,000 Americans who happened to be of Japanese descent. And recently, we have a number of Asian-Americans that have been arrested - indicted for alleged spying - and then having all those charges dropped. And this is a long history of discrimination. We want to make sure that this does not keep recurring.  In this turn, the actual meaning goes beyond the literal meaning of describing the history of discrimination against Asian-Americans in the United States. It implies a desire for awareness, acknowledgment, and action to prevent such discrimination from happening again in the future.

What is the topic of the discrimination mentioned in turn 2?

Answer: Asian-Americans


Yeah. A chap called Paolo Campana seems to have been the first with the idea that you should eat a dish of pasta all'Amatriciana and donate some money to relief efforts - a euro, two euros, a couple of dollars. That was taken up fairly quickly by the Red Cross here in Italy. They've got a very clever campaign based on the fact that the ama in Amatriciana is love, so, you know, kind of playing on that and asking people to donate money when they eat a dish of pasta. A lot of restaurants here in Italy got on board very quickly. Paolo Campana said that he had 700 within a day of putting the idea up and lots of restaurants outside Italy.

Do you have a favorite version of the dish?

The simple one, the purest one, yeah. I don't particularly want it with onion or garlic. I think they overpower it. And I prefer just a little bit of hot pepper rather than black pepper, which is what some people put in. Interesting, you know, there's an idea to have a virtual sagre. I mean, these food festivals, they're called sagre, and they take place in every little town in Italy. And some people have put forward the idea that over the weekend, you cook a dish of Amatriciana, have some friends, post a photo, use a hashtag and donate some money to the relief efforts. That's a fun idea. You can, of course, just donate money to the relief efforts without having to cook.

Jeremy Cherfas wrote about pasta all'Amatriciana for NPR's The Salt, and he spoke to us from Rome. Thanks so much for being with us.

turn 2 :  (3) implies the speaker's approval of the idea of having a virtual sagre

What did Jeremy Cherfas do for NPR's The Salt?

Answer: Wrote


But I think that the common thread in a lot of these cities is just that these systems are old. The systems are old and maintenance has been deferred on them. And, you know, in different ways and at different times, that's starting to catch up.

(Laughter) Yeah, you could say that. I mean, I think that, you know - and certainly, when you think about it, these are some of the oldest pieces of infrastructure we have. Often when we talk about the crumbling infrastructure, folks are worried about our highway system or our bridges and so forth. But as you said, New York subway system is 112 years old. Boston's is even older. The rail system in San Francisco is also quite old. So this is some of the oldest infrastructure we have. And so it's not that surprising that it's starting to give out.

It's a special kind of horror to be delayed for, let's say, even half an hour or even five minutes, for that matter, in a subway car that's stalled that has no electricity that's well underneath the ground and the air is stifling. And that - just the fear of that happening is enough to drive people away, isn't it?

turn 1 : "So it's part of the crumbling infrastructure problem in America?" Implicated meaning: B is implying that the issue discussed in the previous statement is an example or a manifestation of the larger problem of deteriorating infrastructure in the United States. It suggests that the old and poorly maintained systems mentioned are indicative of a broader issue.

Which problem is the issue discussed in the previous statement an example of?

Answer: Infrastructure


I was so exhausted. And all of sudden, we just had this baby. The nurse was handing me this baby, and she's poopy. And it just was so messy. And it just - both of us immediately just started crying. It just was so joyful. It just felt perfect.

Before Hazel was born, though, Lindsey had a lot to worry about.

When she was 20 weeks old - the 20-week ultrasound, she was diagnosed with a fetal heart condition. So we weren't sure what condition she's going to be in when she came out. And she just let out this big scream and just kicking. It was just like she burst into the world. And, you know, just immediately we kind of knew this is a healthy baby. She is alive and. . .

She let you know.

turn 3 : In turn (4), "She let you know" implies that Hazel showed through her actions that she was healthy, even though her diagnosis had been uncertain.

Which action showed that Hazel was healthy?

Answer: Actions


So it's worth pointing out the reason the special counsel did not indict the president was because he said Justice Department policy says you cannot indict a sitting president. What the president's lawyers then argued in this case is the president cannot even be investigated. And the judge said, no, that the investigation has to be allowed to go forward. And if it can't, it would mean not only the president, but - and I'm quoting here - any accomplices could escape being brought to justice.

Do we know of any accomplices?I mean, who might the judge have been referring to there?

So we don't know exactly. But we do know that the president's business is being examined for falsifying business records because those hush money payments - they were claimed to be a legal retainer, which they were not. Third parties are being examined as well. This is a major aspect of the DA's argument, which the court has now agreed with. You have a local prosecutor looking into local crimes, and he's saying, what?No one can be held to account if they did a crime with the president. If you extend this argument, the president could have actually shot someone on Fifth Avenue, the judge was implying. And if he did, no co-conspirators could be held to account if you went along with the Trump lawyers' arguments, according to the federal judge today.

So the Second Circuit has issued a stay. What happens next?

turn 0 : The president can not be indicted while in office

How was the president's immunity from indictment explained by the special counsel?

Answer: Justice-Department-policy


Have you been able to solve any specific problems in real time yet?I mean, you can see where, for expatriates, this is probably relieving to have something that you can do to help to try to help because it has to be frustrating to live outside the country and have your countrymen and probably your relatives going through all this. And you probably feel like, you know, what can I do?

Yes. So in the hackathon, we had 17 submissions. Three of them were completed, and four our ongoing. So like, you know, one of the ones that, you know, we're pretty excited is related to this Twitter data where people are, like, requesting medicines or offering medicine. A team built a Twitter bot that replies to those requests and try to match - do matchmaking between offer and the match.

That's exciting. I mean, I'm guessing this has been a fulfilling project for you. I mean, how has it made you feel to work on this and to see your work starting to grow?

Amazing. I think this is the best I've felt in a long time - to actively solve and engage with, you know, challenges in the country has been very gratifying for us as a team.

turn 0 : Expatriates may feel a sense of relief from being able to contribute in some way, despite being outside the country.

Which group of people may feel relieved by being able to contribute in some way, despite being outside the country?

Answer: Expatriates


Sure, end-to-end encryption means that whether it's a phone call we're on or an email message we're sending or any form of electronic communication, that the content of that communication is encrypted from your device, such as your phone or PC, unto the other person's device at the other side, wherever they might be on the planet Earth. So end-to-end encryption, keeps things encrypted and that means that law enforcement, without a warrant, cannot read that information

They can't intercept or break into. . .

Correct. Now, with a warrant, they can always go to the information service provider and attempt to get that information. But even then, they may not be able to because the party selling the encryption services may be a third party and may not even know who the parties are that are communicating.

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

turn 2 : Implied Meaning: Even with a warrant, law enforcement may not be able to get the information they are looking for because the encryption service provider may not even know who the parties are that are communicating.

Which party may not even know who the parties are that are communicating?

Answer: Provider


The show was political. I mean, it didn't shy away from really difficult issues, took sharp aim at President Trump on several occasions. Did that play into Netflix's decision to cancel it, do we have any idea?

I don't get any sense that Netflix canceled it over the political content. If anything, the political content is one of the reasons why they treated this cancellation a bit differently and a bit more gently than they ordinarily do - because there were not a lot of shows out there about a Latin American family with a predominantly Latinx cast dealing with these issues about immigration, LGBTQ issues. You know, every episode has some kind of hot-button subject. You know, one of the characters is a recovering alcoholic. Another has PTSD from serving in the military. So it touched on a lot of things.

And that was one of the things the audience loved about it. I don't think, based on a lot of the other content Netflix has, that that would have been a reason to get rid of it. I think it was purely a financial decision or, you know, whatever the finances actually were.

And the show can't just get plucked up by someone else.

turn 1 : Implicated meaning: The political content of the show is one of the reasons why Netflix treated the cancellation differently and more gently than they typically do. The show dealt with many sensitive and relevant topics, making it unique and important for representation.

Answer: Hot-button


Sure.

We are always so grateful when you come on this show. I got to tell you - we got a lot of noes from Republicans who didn't want to come on this show and talk about gun policy, except, you know, maybe they'll go on Fox News. If the Republicans are proud of their record on guns, why not be interviewed about it?

Well, I can't speak for all of my colleagues on this. I mean, we obviously have a very serious violence problem in the country and particularly a firearm violence issue. And that - you know, we must address it. That said, we also have to respect the rights of people who own. . .

OK.

turn 2 : (3) Implies that while the issue of violence and firearm violence must be addressed, the rights of gun owners should be respected as well.

How should gun owners' rights be treated according to turn 2?

Answer: respected


And what did Ben Bernanke say to you in terms of admitting that perhaps that was a mistake, or anything else?Did he say to you that he made any mistakes along the way?

Well, I think he did, you know - as I say, the sort of news in the article was that he did concede that the Fed and he had been slow to understand really what was going on with this subprime crisis. I mean, it's easy to be critical. A lot of people on Wall Street didn't understand it, either, a lot of people in the Treasury Department. In fact, it's very hard to find anybody at all who really understood the full scale of this, you know, going back six, twelve months.

There were people saying that there was going to be a housing, you know, a housing collapse. I'd even said that myself. But nobody really realized how intertwined the financial system was with the financial markets. And nobody realized that a drop in house prices would basically render much of the American financial system insolvent, which is what has happened.

John Cassidy is a staff writer at the New Yorker Magazine. His article on Ben Bernanke is in this week's issue. Thank you very much.

turn 0 : along the way means in this context throughout a period of time

How did PersonA describe the news in the article regarding Ben Bernanke's admission?

Answer: Slow


You centered your article around a book that came out in May - "The Black Witch" by Laurie Forest. It had some buzz. Kirkus says, quote, "engaging character set in a rich alternative universe with a complicated history - a massive page turner that leaves readers longing for more. "But in March, the buzz took a turn. What happened?

A blogger who had an advanced reader's copy of the book disagreed with the reigning buzz and penned a 9,000 word review decrying it, basically, as an end-to-end mess of unadulterated bigotry. So this blogger disagreed with the premise of the book, which basically centers on a girl becoming enlightened to the fact that she's been indoctrinated into an ideology of racist superiority.

And once she had formed this opinion, she - you know, she wrote her review. And she got online and basically called for the activist crowd on young adult Twitter to boost it. And because of online dynamics being the way they are and because of how fast outrage travels, on Twitter especially, it really just blew up into a huge controversy that lasted for multiple weeks right up until the book released.

Did a lot of people who kind of piled on bother to read the book?

turn 2 : The speaker is implying that the initial positive buzz surrounding the book was overshadowed by the negative review and the controversy that followed.

Answer: Buzz


Now, how does Ukraine come in?

It's very confusing, but let's see what I can do here. So on the Internet, things move really fast. It's like a huge game of telephone. So once this firm caught the attention of the far-right online, they discovered that it was owned by a Russian American man who had previously done some work for a think tank called the Atlantic Council. It's a D. C. -based think tank, sort of works alongside NATO. And it's a pretty innocuous place. It does research on misinformation and digital warfare, things like that.

And there's a Ukrainian oligarch who was on one of the advisory boards for the Atlantic Council. And it seems somewhere along the line, the Ukrainian oligarch became the owner of CrowdStrike. This is not true, of course. But when things are moving so fast online, facts start to combine together, and it becomes very confusing.

So the idea is people who are on the far-right, conspiracy theorists, went looking for a connection, went looking to say, who are these CrowdStrike guys?And once they do enough looking, they're able to find a Ukrainian oligarch who they say, aha, this is the connection. So what about this server that the president implied was somehow in Ukraine?I mean, he - on this call talked to Ukraine's leader and brought up CrowdStrike. What would he be looking for?

turn 2 : Somewhere along the process of the situation forming he becmae owner of Crowdstrike.

What was the position of the Ukrainian oligarch in the advisory board of the Atlantic Council?

Answer: Advisory


Firefighting is dangerous - raging flames, choking smoke, hot, floating ash - but what about the long-term health effects that persist after the fire's been doused and firefighters have gone home?The Chicago Tribune investigated links between fighting fires and deadly cancers that can catch up to those first responders long after they leave a scene. Karen Ann Cullotta reported the story, and she told us she started looking into it after two firefighters in the Chicago area died.

I wrote obituaries for both of them, and I was kind of taken aback that they were both young, and these were what was being called line-of-duty deaths cancer deaths. So I started asking around different fire departments and saying, you know, is this something you're seeing?Is this something that's being talked about?And without exception, every department I spoke with said this is pretty much all we're talking about.

Is it the toxic smoke?What is it?

Yeah. So there's just - there's a lot of questions - unanswered questions. And while there's been research into this for years, it's still unfolding. They've always known that, of course, inhaling smoke is dangerous. But now, these studies are looking at these toxins that are in the smoke and that settle on the skin. So it's not just inhalation. It's actually getting into the skin and into the blood stream from exposed areas.

turn 0 : Firefighting can have long-term health consequences for first responders, including deadly cancers.

What is the potential risk for firefighters?

Answer: Incorporating


We've seen the symbolism internationally too, haven't we?

We have. And perhaps the best-known example - in a small town in Thailand last month we saw three students who were arrested after protesting last spring's military coup by flashing the three-fingered salute - that's a symbol of District 12, Katniss' district in "The Hunger Games. "And you see things like that all over the world now. You see protesters in various parts of the world who not only wear T-shirts with "Hunger Games" slogans, but also have begun to use that three-finger salute as a symbol of protest not only in Thailand, but I'm told in Ukraine and other places as well.

What are we to make of the fact - I've wondered about this Stephen, the dystopian theme seems so popular as opposed to ethereal ones these days.

Dystopian novels always tend to feature a disaster followed by the good guys versus the bad guys in a very basic Manichaean sense. There's good and there's evil and there's no question about who the good and evil are. And we live in a political era of - where people on the left think everyone on the right is evil, everyone on the right thinks everyone on the left is evil. There's a tendency to paint our enemies as larger-than-life. And that fits perfectly with the general design of the dystopian story.

turn 3 : Why does the dystopian genre fit the current political climate?

What is the symbol of District 12 in "The Hunger Games"?

Answer: Three-fingered