I'm Tony Cox, and this is News & Notes. Ending a relationship is never easy. The person breaking up often tries to use words to soften the blow. I'm not ready to be in a committed relationship or it's not you, it's me. And the person being dumped is left trying to figure out just where things went wrong. A year ago, author Rachel Skerritt decided that she wanted to get to the bottom of all of her ex-boyfriends' vague explanations for ending their relationships. So, she called the men in her past and asked them to tell her exactly why they stopped wanting to be with her. Rachel joins me now. Welcome to News & Notes, Rachel.

Thanks, Tony.

Rachel, why in the world would you want to know this?

Well, I'm a tough cookie. I should say that first off, but I'm also a writer and the idea came to me after that whole "He's Just Not That Into You" phenomenon, the book not the movie. And a lot of my friends were reading it as if they had found, you know, the answers to everything. Oh, he's just not that into me, that explains it. But there was this whole missing why piece, why not. And as you said, guys seem trained to give these stock answers so as not to hurt feelings, but I really wanted the real deal. . .

turn 3 : Tough cookie is not literal. She is not a cookie. She is suggesting that she is strong enough to take criticism from others.

What is the meaning of "tough cookie" in turn 3?

Answer: strong


Well, yeah. He calls Obama a bad or sick guy. That is an extraordinary thing to hear from a sitting president about his predecessor. We should note there has been no reaction from President Obama yet and no evidence, no confirmation, to support this claim. But it's not going to calm the waters.

Boy, we have investigations that are unfolding at the FBI. There are several committees that are gathering at Capitol Hill. What's the landscape they're looking at right now?

So, as you said, the FBI is investigating. We don't have a lot of visibility into where they are in that investigation or what the time frame is because they don't comment on active investigations. We just know that they are - they're doing them. On the Hill, we have - we know a little bit more. The Intelligence Committees have the lead on investigating all of the Russia stuff. We know they are reviewing documents. They're trying to think about who to call to come testify. And they confirmed this week - the House Intelligence Committee, for example, confirmed they are looking into links between Russia and the campaigns; also looking into all these recent leaks of classified information.

I must say, it doesn't seem like the last scalp has been put on the wall.

turn 3 : "last scalp" is being used as a metaphor for a definitive conclusion or resolution to a situation or investigation.

Which phrase is being used as a metaphor in turn 3?

Answer: scalp


Ambassador Araud, that raises a larger question: What's the future of the United Nations if it can't find a common course of action for what is one of the preeminent disasters on the planet?

But, you know, I'm always, frankly, I'm always a bit surprised by this sort of question because actually United Nations itself, you know, it's a group of these united nations. The United Nations may work on when its members decide to work together on a lot of issues. For instance, the (unintelligible) conflict. The members of Security Council are so divided that the U. N.  can't do anything, as you know. So, the United Nations is effective when on some issues, the member states decide that they have a common interest to find a common solution. And there are a lot of issues where we don't succeed to do it. Frankly, on Afghanistan, Iraq, the (unintelligible) conflict, the whole of the U. N.  is very marginal. There are issues in Africa where we are working together. But on a lot of issues we simply can't, and it's not the responsibility of the United Nations; it's the responsibility of the nations, which disagree.

Yeah. Looking forward to your next rotation?

My next rotation, it's in 15 months.

turn 2 : "Looking forward to your next rotation?" - This is an expression of anticipation and excitement for the Ambassador's next assignment.

How did PersonB feel about the Ambassador's next assignment?

Answer: Excitement


See how he do his mom?

Ms.  O'BRIEN: Ira struggles to provide for her large family, working two jobs: as a real estate agent and a licensed massage therapist.

I can't stop. I push myself more now than I ever have. There's times that, especially the summertime, I didn't come home until like 8 o'clock at night sometimes.

So what did you learn from talking to her?

turn 0 : See how he treats his mom poorly or disrespectfully

Answer: poorly


Mr.  Jones…

Yes?

…when you think about the issues of justice and in - for so long, we as African-Americans have and many of us have debated what does justice mean in this life, what does justice mean in the next life, do you think that there is racial justice?Do you think that there will be racial justice on this Earth?

Yes, I do. I believe that we are at a profound transition point. Martin King would say today, there's no way we can make the transition to the 21st century unless we leave the baggage of slavery and racism behind.

And I think to talk about current events, I think that he would both be disappointed and appalled in what's going on in the political discourse. He would be disappointed because when the Senator Obama is criticized in the speech he gave in Philadelphia, Martin would say, well, hold on, America seems to be deeply afflicted by amnesia about how it cheated these African-American people over the past 20th century.

But I think he'd applaud the fact that Senator Obama did what should have been done earlier and needs to be done. You see what Senator Obama did, he walked into the national living room of America and acknowledged and then talked to the 800-pound gorilla of race relations that everybody knew was sitting in there for the 20th century.

turn 5 : The speaker believes that Senator Obama did the right thing by addressing the issue of race relations in America, which has been a long-standing problem. The reference to the "800-pound gorilla" suggests that this is a difficult issue that people have been avoiding for a long time.

How does the speaker describe the issue of race relations in America?

Answer: Difficult


It has.

Get out.

The time has flown. And you are flying. You are flying across the ocean. You are leaving us.

Great segue.

turn 2 : the time has flown means time went by fast.

Which word describes how time passed according to turn 2?

Answer: B


Hello.

What's going on in your city?

Well, what's going on in my city is a similar dynamic of what's taking place in other cities across the United States right now. We've had 130 percent increase in homicides related to arguments and fights between individuals or groups unrelated to other criminal activity. They've got easy access to firearms. We've seen all of these cities have seen many more shots fired at each individual incident. Some places it's a fight over synthetic drug markets. So there are a number of variables, but they all revolve around a fairly narrow slice of these advantage communities that is very concerning.

Chief Flynn, not so long ago, you were getting credit for a low homicide rate. What changed?

turn 1 : can be interpreted as a way to inquire about the current situation in the city, not just the events taking place.

How would you describe the dynamics of homicides in the city? (Answer: "similar")

Answer: similar


And in addition to all else, the administration's actually delaying an entire piece of the website for another entire year?

That's right. Small businesses were supposed to be able to sign up online to enroll their employees through the federal website starting this month. That was already delayed from October 1st. Now, that won't happen online until next November. They can still compare plans online but they'll have to use paper applications and go through an insurance broker or an agent or an insurance company directly, unless they're one of a handful of states that actually has its small business exchange up and running. The administration's been pretty candid about this. They've said their top priority is to make the website work for consumers first. Pretty much everything else taking a back seat.

NPR's Julie Rovner. Thanks so much.

Thank you.

turn 1 : In (2), the speaker is discussing the delay in the implementation of an online enrollment system for small businesses through the federal website. While the speaker is providing a factual description of the delay, the implied meaning is that this delay is causing inconvenience and frustration for small business owners who now have to resort to paper applications and other means to enroll their employees. The speaker also suggests that the administration's priority is to make the website work for consumers first, implying that the needs of small businesses are not being prioritized.

How are small businesses affected by the delay in the implementation of the online enrollment system?

Answer: Paper


Of course.

Why if the students two were traveling in five buses - why the target was just two?And also, these two buses were exactly the two buses that the army and the Federal Police - start to monitor it since three hours before. I mean, these two buses were the two buses where the students were traveling from the school to Iguala. Why?So what I was able to found is that in these two buses were inside in secret parts of the bus. . .

The secret compartment.

. . . Yes - heroin - 2 millions of heroin. They. . .

turn 1 : They had something on the bus that the authorities were interested in.

What were the authorities interested in?

Answer: something


Yeah.

You once said to (laughter) a contestant - I wonder if you even remember it. I'm going to do my bad Paul Hollywood imitation now. (Imitating accent) Your ganache lacks shine. So. . .

Yes, I do remember that.

(Laughter) Yeah, I mean - it was something. It was a few years ago, that. And it was to do with, obviously, with the outer coating on the cake. And the ganache is basically just chocolate cream. Normally, when you're dealing in a plain chocolate, so you can do 50-50. So 50 percent cream, 50 percent chocolate and just leave it to melt - and then pour it all over a cake. It sets, and you get a beautiful shine. You've got to be careful when you're setting it, and that's where it came from.

turn 3 :  "B: Every now and then in the family, if we want to gently or comically upbraid each other, we go, (imitating accent) your ganache lacks shine." This turn implies that B and their family use the phrase "your ganache lacks shine" in a playful, teasing manner to gently criticize each other, rather than actually referring to the shine of the ganache itself.

What does PersonB and their family use the phrase "your ganache lacks shine" for?

Answer: Teasing


So you had the U. K.  negotiating bilateral agreements with, like, Australia and Canada and India, right?And then I read you also had Germany forming its own bloc with members, countries that it had relationships with. And the U. S.  did something similar.

That's right. The origins of the British trading bloc really go back to World War I. And a lot of the considerations are of a military nature, a geostrategic nature. They were bottlenecked in some supplies, especially for the military, and that's why the British government was thinking more about how to secure its supplies. And that happened on the German side as well. Germany was preparing for war. They were gearing up for war, so they needed to make sure they had the right supplies, especially for the military.

Now, you write that if similar patterns play out today, we could see a, quote, "reorientation of world trade around China- and U. S. -centric trade blocs. "How likely do you think that is?

Well, it depends on the politics. The White House wants to have a more bilateral approach where the U. S.  deals with one individual country, as opposed to a group. And China now wants to create a system of its own. So that does include establishing a sphere of influence in Asia. And each of them will want to build up their own realm where they have the power in the region.

What do you think is at stake here?If this approach continues, what are your main concerns?

turn 3 : The US and China both want to establish their own spheres of influence in the region.

Which countries are mentioned as potentially reorienting world trade around their own trade blocs?

Answer: China-and-U.S.


Now let's turn to West Africa. For more than a decade, Liberia has been struggling to recover from civil war. It has a female head of state now, and it also has big supporters in the U. S.  One of them is Bob Johnson, who founded and later sold Black Entertainment Television. Now he's building a four-star beachfront resort near Liberia's capital, Monrovia. Bob Johnson recently told me why he decided to invest millions of dollars in Liberia's economy.

It's part of a commitment I made to President Johnson Sirleaf and the people of Liberia, to help Liberia recover from some 13, 14 years of civil war. And it came about as a result of my participation, as well as President Sirleaf's participation in President Clinton's global initiative that he hosts every year in New York. And the charter is, do something, small or large, but do something. And so my something is to help Liberia.

What are we talking about in terms of the kind of money it takes to make this happen?

We are putting in approximately 12 to 13 million dollars in the construction of this hotel and the opening of the hotel, which is scheduled for March of '09. It'll be an 86-room hotel, as I said, situated on the beach, great facility for everybody from government officials and expats who want to go back and visit Liberia, as well as business people who are looking to do business in post-conflict Liberia.

So, do you expect to get a tourist crowd eventually?

turn 0 : Bob Johnson is supporting Liberia's recovery after civil war

Which country is mentioned in Turn 0 as having a female head of state? (Answer: Liberia)

Answer: Liberia


Right now, the police - I can't tell you for sure. I can tell you as to my prosecutors, what we did is we took the supervisor and the people involved in our charging decisions, and they actually help us work the system. So the process that we have created actually was a collaboration with people in my office. So they are supportive, and they're intrigued by what it's going to look like.

Again, we want to make sure that there are no negative unintended consequences to this. So we're going to be looking at it very closely. We are working with the Sanford people to make sure that we create the right metrics, you know?The goal here is to do something that will do the right things. And part of that will be learning and seeing if there are any negative unintended consequences that - we want to go back and fix them very quickly.

That is George Gascon. He is the district attorney for the city and county of San Francisco. George Gascon, thank you so much for talking with us.

My pleasure, Michel.

turn 0 : The prosecutors collaborated with the supervisor to manipulate the system.

Which office did the prosecutors collaborate with?

Answer: My


Well, the president fires the attorney general. The new guy fires the special counsel. History repeats itself. No, the president - President Nixon understood the Constitution. He understood how to govern. He knew he was walking a tightrope. So when a lot of different people in Congress, the public, the courts stood up and showed their courage and they were outraged and started to push back, he backed down. He let the investigation continue. And 10 months later, he resigned. This time it looks like a circus where the clowns are walking a tightrope in slow motion and some people are cheering as if it's a joke. But it's not a joke.

Mr.  Doyle, I must say you sounded almost wistful speaking about Richard Nixon.

(Laughter) Well, yeah. You know, I've never compared Richard Nixon to Thomas Jefferson before. Never thought I should. But I told someone yesterday that compared to Donald Trump, Richard Nixon is Thomas Jefferson.

All right. I'll leave that as your opinion.

turn 0 : The current situation with the president and the special counsel is chaotic and lacks the same level of understanding and respect for the Constitution that Nixon had.

How did Nixon respond when people showed their courage and pushed back during the investigation?

Answer: Nixon


It's been busy, definitely your traditional day after Thanksgiving where the phone starts ringing earlier in the day, and it just keeps on ringing. We're going to have a lot of people. They're going to have a lot of company over from yesterday and a lot of the people trying to be helpful in the kitchen, and they're going to put those potato peels down the drain and carrot peels and all the stuff that normally wouldn't go down the kitchen sink drain.

Kevin, I've been one of those people before, a few years back. I actually had a busted kitchen sink on Thanksgiving Day, and I couldn't find anyone open that day. By the next day, I was in a panic. Do you get the panicked calls the day after?

Oh, yeah. Yeah, definitely. You know, people, they're going to find out that a lot of the plumbers have not opened and that maybe their regular plumber that they call always is not going to answer their phone or say that they'll get right back to them. They get a voice machine or something.

Because you can capitalize on people's need the day after Thanksgiving, do you charge any more today?

turn 0 : The amount of people who will be calling Kevin for plumbing help is likely to be significant due to the increased activity in the kitchen on the day after Thanksgiving.

Which day might Kevin receive panicked calls?

Answer: Thanksgiving


No, so Wim van Egmond is an artist, and he was trained as an artist. He was a painter at first, and he was really into painting from these scientific illustrations, biological illustrations from hundreds of years ago. And he said, well, you know, I could just do this myself. So he purchased his first microscope about 20 years ago and since then has been kind of perfecting the technique.

But when he started, you know, he was also working with film, like Roman Vishniac. And, you know, when he had to look up what he was looking at, these organisms, he was looking in reference books, things that are just unthinkable these days, of course you would just Google.

So he said that, you know, progress has gotten much faster because now you can just look and see your result immediately. You don't have to develop your film, and - you know, and so he's gotten - it sounds like he's gotten - he's sort of refined his techniques much more quickly in the days of the digital camera.

Now I know you like to limit the size of your video pick to like three or four minutes.

turn 1 : "when he had to look up what he was looking at, these organisms, he was looking in reference books, things that are just unthinkable these days, of course you would just Google." Literal meaning: Wim van Egmond used to search for information about organisms in reference books, which is an outdated practice now that we can easily search on Google. Actual meaning: Wim van Egmond used to search for information about organisms in reference books, and nowadays it's more common to use online resources like Google for such searches.

What was Wim van Egmond's outdated practice of searching for information about organisms?

Answer: reference


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 2 : his is an idiomatic expression that refers to a conversation or discussion, rather than a literal act of talking with someone.

What does the idiomatic expression in turn 2 refer to?

Answer: Race,Economics,Criminal,Justice,Cities


Look. We - no - we have low-skilled workers who come to this country all the time. . .

Low skills is different than no skills.

. . . Well, low skill - that's what the chief was talking about. We're talking about bringing in the best and brightest from around the world. That's not what is occurring now. But let's not pretend for a second we have a mean, heartless immigration policy. We have the most generous immigration policy in the world. So to pretend as though, somehow, we're closing off to the world is just ridiculous. What this president and what the chief of staff was talking about is we want people in this country who have a lot to offer the United States, who are the best and the brightest. And right now our immigration system as such - we don't get that.

I'm afraid I got to come back to the McCain question one more time because, you know, we wouldn't keep asking it if someone in the White House would say, look. I wish it hadn't happened. He's a great American. He's given great service to the country. He might be in his last days. Let's just shut down this controversy and say, thank you for everything you've done for America. But why won't the White House say that?

turn 2 : The US immigration policy should bring in the best and brightest from around the world

How does the US immigration policy prioritize immigrants?

Answer: Best


And could you please describe the dish for us?

Yeah, without getting into all the controversy surrounding the dish, basically it consists of guanciale, which is the cured, salted cheek of a pig, tomatoes, usually tinned or jarred, not fresh tomatoes, pecorino, which is sheep's milk cheese, and a little bit of dried hot chili pepper, which the Italians called peperoncino.

And it was, at one point, distinct to this area of Italy.

It's hard to be absolutely hard and fast about these things. But, yes, I mean, there was a version which is currently called pasta Gricia, which is without the tomatoes, and that's definitely from this region. And it's probable that the version with tomatoes, which is called Amatriciana now, is from the region. But some people think that the tomatoes happened in Rome. Rome has certainly taken the dish to its heart, and you'll often find it described as a Roman pasta.

And what's the controversy that you were trying to avoid?

turn 4 : Implies that the speaker has knowledge of a controversy related to the dish, but doesn't want to talk about it.

Which aspect of the dish does the speaker avoid discussing?

Answer: Controversy


Well, that's a big part of the checkout of the - what we're doing for the first month or so is just going through and sort of systematically checking out each part of the rover, all of the science instruments, the basic mobility, capability, the arm, the different pieces just to make sure everything is okay after the voyage to Mars.

And then we'll start doing the science mission and really, in earnest, you know, start exploring the area around Bradbury's Landing. It's - in the case of ChemCam, we also get the benefit with the laser that we were actually able to do some early science measurements, as well. And so, as part of the checkout, we got science data in addition.

Do you have a rock in mind that you want to zap in earnest?

We did, yeah. Well, we actually zapped pretty much the area right around where the rover landed. And it's actually interesting to the scientists because the plume of the rocket engines actually, sort of, scoured out an area on both sides of the rover, which normally Mars is covered, all the surface area is covered, with a lot of dust.

turn 2 : This implies that B wants to know if A has any Rock in mind that they want to use the rover's instruments to study.

What benefit did they get from using the laser as part of the checkout?

Answer: Area


For sure. I remember I approached my mom with an article by the CDC and asked why, according to the CDC, vaccines don't cause autism and why mercury is not this extremely dangerous substance and poison found in vaccines that, you know, some people like herself would claim. And her response was simply, that's what they want you to think.

And I was just blown away that, you know, the largest health organization in the entire world would be written off with a conspiracy theory-like statement like that. And so moments like that I can recall back to, where I just thought, like, the concern with the evidence is not here.

When did you get vaccinated?When did you start?

I had two vaccines when I was 2 years old. My mom claims that one of those did not happen, or it happened against her will, and the only vaccine I should have gotten was a tetanus shot when I was 2. And that was it. Alongside that, I've never got any other vaccines - hepatitis, polio - anything.

turn 0 : to approach someone with something in this context means you are showing them something

Which organization was written off with a conspiracy theory-like statement in the dialogue?

Answer: CDC


Yeah. I think people are starting to back away from that a little bit because there are enough little pockets where you could get some ice accumulating every summer and not melting out because, basically, you have the wind that pushes that together and piles it up. So you have always have a few places where it's piled up. But on the other hand, that will be a fairly small part of the Arctic, quite a small bit. So it's not - so for practical purposes, the ocean will look ice-free, and the North Pole may be sort of in a large area of no ice at all. Occasionally, right now, there are cracks and there are openings that drift around. And so, sometimes, the North Pole itself is in an ice-free area.

Open water, yeah.

But it could be possible to be in a large area of open water in the coming decades. That's the expectation.

The other enormous area of a white, reflective surface is the ice cap that covers the island of Greenland, the biggest island in the world. And that this summer also had a really powerful melt.

turn 3 : The ice cap on Greenland is melting rapidly

Which island has the biggest ice cap in the world?

Answer: Greenland


There were a bunch of others, "The Rover Boys," a whole bunch, all out of this little, tiny factory.

Wow. Anything like it around today?

There are a million things descended from it. As far as I know, there's nothing really like it that would center each one on. . .

Yeah.

turn 0 : bunch of others implies there are so many others available

Answer: literature


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

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

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

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

turn 1 : B: "what kind of reception is he going to get?" - This question is not referring to the physical act of receiving someone but rather inquiring about the kind of response or treatment the nominee will receive from others.

Answer: Questioned


You got a sinus infection but you taking a yeast infection medicine figuring if you lay down, it'll work its way up.

Do you believe in Mars and Venus, the whole idea that men and women are totally different?

I really do. And if I can get women to understand that every man that sleeps with you is not going to love you, then half of us will be all right.

What about the other half?

turn 1 : "Mars in Venus" is a reference to a book that asserted that men and women are very different. That's what it implies.

Answer: Marsvenus


The truth is that there were many extremely brave people who decided to risk not only their own lives but also the lives of their families to rescue Jewish people. But the truth is also that there were many Poles who decided to betray their Jewish friends and their Jewish neighbors who were often living in hiding. And in addition to that, there were also those who didn't remain passive. But they were actively participating in a killing process. We cannot run away from this. We need to talk about this openly.

What I'm hearing you saying is that you're worried that the lessons of the Holocaust - that it wasn't just something that was done to people, but it was something that people also participated in either actively or passively - will be lost.

Yes. Well, in that sense, we are going back to this time in Polish history - and I'm talking specifically about the communist era - when the memory of the Holocaust was constantly distorted, twisted, politicized or just abused. And I'm just very concerned that we are now - we'll be following this path.

Are you concerned that if you say what you just told me in Poland, you could be prosecuted now?

turn 1 : The speaker is worried that the lessons of the Holocaust might be forgotten or ignored

How is the speaker feeling about the possibility of the lessons of the Holocaust being disregarded?

Answer: concerned


Yeah, South Korea, the Netherlands. We played, you know, the reigning champs, Serbia, and we also played Turkey. So yeah. Yeah, we had a good four games of full play.

I understand the French team looks strong.

They are strong. They're very good. There's a lot of good teams here. I mean, this is the highest level of 3x3 in the - 3 on 3 (ph) basketball there is around the world.

Do you feel you're kind of in on the ground floor of a sport that's going to become more popular around the world?

turn 2 : 3x3 basketball is highly competitive with many skilled teams

How would you describe the level of competition in 3x3 basketball?

Answer: Competitive


Sir, why do we need a Space Corps?What threats do you see it defending us from?

Well, clearly, we've got some very serious, aggressive behavior by both the Chinese and the Russians in space. They have realized that that's a great equalizer if they can get good at it, and they're getting good at it fast. Unfortunately, we've become, just like every other war-fighting country, very dependent on space. But the truth is, it's not just our military; our country has become very reliant on space. Anybody that has a handheld iPhone or other device, that device is using space.

Because of satellites.

Satellites. So the Russians and Chinese have realized that if they can take our eyes and ears out, which is what our satellites are, they might actually be able to compete or have an advantage against us.

turn 3 : Satellites are crucial for military and civilian operations, and losing them would give the Russians and Chinese an advantage.

How would losing satellites affect the advantage of the Russians and Chinese?

Answer: Advantage


So I'm afraid he's not someone who looks at the situation in the same way that Western leaders do. He has different calculations, and he's trying to see if the Syrian state can be held together by Mr.  Assad. And I guess he will wait until it becomes completely apparent that that will not happen.

We're speaking with Fiona Hill, co-author with Clifford Gaddy of "Mr.  Putin: Operative in the Kremlin. "Her recent piece in Foreign Affairs, "The Real Reason Putin Supports Assad: Mistaking Syria for Chechnya. "You can find a link to that article at our website, go to npr. org, click on TALK OF THE NATION. And this is TALK OF THE NATION from NPR News.

Now, there is some suspicion that Syria may devolve into, well, different little warlord states, including an Alawite state led by Mr.  Assad based in the western part of the country near the Mediterranean. That's where the Alawites, 12 percent of the population live, and that's the element from which Mr.  Assad's family comes as well. At that point in the game, what does Russia do?

Well, you know, it's a very good question. I think it will depend on whether Assad asks for some kind of recognition for that state as the rump state of Syria, with the expectation that the rest of the territory might be regained. And if you think back to 2008, Putin actually has a track record already established, a recognition of entity.

turn 0 : I'm afraid in this context means that the person doesn't like what they are saying but its true

How does "I'm afraid" convey the PersonA's attitude in turn 0?

Answer: Disagreement


Right.

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

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

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

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

What is the name of the historic figure mentioned in turn 3?

Answer: JuliaChild


In a word, Ari - schadenfreude. I think at this moment, whether you look at politics or society in general, there is a lot of concern about fraud, about misrepresentation, people not being who they say they are, not to mention a lot of resentment of wealth and privilege and all the trappings that come with it. And the way this story has unfolded, the fact that these families really seem to believe that the rules should not apply to them - that's been galling to many people.

And then look at the setting, right?So elite colleges are the source of such cultural fascination. Some would say obsession. Highly selective colleges - you know, they only enroll about 1 percent of all college students. So they're very, very small. But then again, they have these brands that are known all over the world. And they're supposed to stand for merit, for hard work, for the best and the brightest.

And so when you look at something like this or, even bigger, the legacy admissions or the fact that some wealthy donors can write a check and get their kid into college that way supposedly, it - all of this is really going to undermine the idea of having institutions in our society that represent hard work and being kind of excellent.

So where do these cases go from here?

turn 0 : Implied meaning: People are feeling resentment and anger towards people who think they don't have to follow the same rules as everyone else.

Which emotion are people feeling towards those who believe they don't have to follow the rules?

Answer: Resentment


. . . To do is to keep family units together while they go through court proceedings so that they can have their cases adjudicated. That's the responsible thing to do. Everybody agrees that we don't want to separate families. But we do need to enforce the laws passed by Congress. How long that will be was determined by how long the adjudications taken.

And you know right now those cases can take years. Is that your plan, to hold families for that length of time?

Absolutely. The president's - absolutely not. The president's been asking repeatedly for more resources to speed up the process. And, again, we want to make sure that we're keeping families together while still enforcing the laws passed by Congress.

So you said absolutely not. But do you have your own limit?

turn 0 : "Everybody agrees" is not literal, it implies that nearly everyone agrees, that there's broad consensus.

What does the turn "Everybody agrees" imply?

Answer: Broad


I don't think that that's what Israel really wants. I don't think they've made that decision. But I think we know in these circumstances things could escalate, get out of control, despite the intentions of the parties who are involved. And in this case, I think Israel was hoping that the Palestinians would stop firing rockets sooner than they have. They may feel compelled to do more, but that would obviously be an extremely dangerous bet.

These events, of course, are occurring at a time when there is an election coming up in Israel. Help us understand popular opinion in Israel on this subject.

Well, I think from an Israeli perspective, there's a consensus that it was simply unacceptable to live under the constant threat of Palestinian rockets, which led to as many as a million Israelis having to sometimes take shelter. So, there is that uncertainty, that constant sense of insecurity, even though the number of Israeli casualties have been extremely low. But that was something that most Israelis were not prepared to live with, and that's why you were finding this wall-to-wall, this quasi-unanimity behind this operation.

Help us understand Egypt's role. The Egyptian prime minister came to Gaza yesterday. Obviously, under the Mubarak regime that would have been unthinkable. What's Egypt's role in events now?

turn 2 : They don't mean literally wall to wall but that everyone was for it.

Which phrase did the speaker use to describe the consensus behind the operation?

Answer: wall-to-wall


Now let's turn to West Africa. For more than a decade, Liberia has been struggling to recover from civil war. It has a female head of state now, and it also has big supporters in the U. S.  One of them is Bob Johnson, who founded and later sold Black Entertainment Television. Now he's building a four-star beachfront resort near Liberia's capital, Monrovia. Bob Johnson recently told me why he decided to invest millions of dollars in Liberia's economy.

It's part of a commitment I made to President Johnson Sirleaf and the people of Liberia, to help Liberia recover from some 13, 14 years of civil war. And it came about as a result of my participation, as well as President Sirleaf's participation in President Clinton's global initiative that he hosts every year in New York. And the charter is, do something, small or large, but do something. And so my something is to help Liberia.

What are we talking about in terms of the kind of money it takes to make this happen?

We are putting in approximately 12 to 13 million dollars in the construction of this hotel and the opening of the hotel, which is scheduled for March of '09. It'll be an 86-room hotel, as I said, situated on the beach, great facility for everybody from government officials and expats who want to go back and visit Liberia, as well as business people who are looking to do business in post-conflict Liberia.

So, do you expect to get a tourist crowd eventually?

turn 0 : Bob Johnson is supporting Liberia's recovery after civil war

What event led to Bob Johnson's decision to invest in Liberia's economy?

Answer: Civilwar


Yes. I will be a compulsive gambler until the day that I die.

So, how - what changes have you made in your behavior specifically to avoid going back to where you were?

Well, that's the good thing about the program. We do have a recovery program. We do have people in there that help with financial situation, emotional situations, etc. I needed to have completed the 12 steps of recovery and on a continuous basis at least 2 meetings per week. I need to know what the other people who are coming in or still suffering and that the disease is still out there. And by attending meetings, I will always know and I will never forget that compulsive gambling still exists for the compulsive gambler.

Well, sir, thank you for sharing your story with us.

turn 2 : The 12-step recovery program helps A cope with financial and emotional situations and reminds him/her that compulsive gambling is still a threat.

Which program helps PersonA cope with financial and emotional situations?

Answer: 12-step


Justice Brennan wrote the majority opinion. But the swing vote holding that it was protected speech was Justice Antonin Scalia.

And President-elect Trump has often said he wants to appoint justices like Justice Scalia.

I think that's right. And I would hope that anyone who he would appoint would have a very solid respect for First Amendment values. I think it's crucial to our politics and our democracy that we respect even protests that really get on our nerves or that really we find deeply offensive.

But are we living in a time when people - and many of them on the opposite side, politically, from President-elect Trump - say they shouldn't have to put up with speech or accept speech that they find offensive, hurtful?

turn 2 : speaker is talking about the importance of respecting speech that is offensive

What is the topic of the speech that should be respected?

Answer: Offensive


Let's remind ourselves - Consumer Financial Protection Bureau created in 2010, a independent consumer watchdog. How did it find itself at the center of this drama?

Yes. So it was created as part of the Dodd-Frank Act and came in the wake of the financial crisis. And it has been controversial ever since its creation. It was the idea of Elizabeth Warren, now a senator, and it has been a fight every single step of the way. The financial services industry fought it, Republicans in Congress fought it and tried to block it, including for two years not confirming its first director. And their argument is that this agency can overreach and that it's unaccountable. Supporters say that that is very necessary independence. And so that's how it got. . .

Yeah, the point is to be unaccountable, yes.

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

turn 2 : The implied meaning of "Yeah, the point is to be unaccountable, yes" is that the financial services industry and Republicans in Congress have been trying to block the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau because it has the independence to act without being accountable to those groups.

Which group has been trying to block the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau?

Answer: Financial-services-industry


Hi, Lulu. Thanks for having me.

So Bashar al-Assad, the president, it seems has prevailed with Russian and Iranian support. Only one major rebel area remains. Has he won?

Well, it depends how you define victory. He has, for the moment, won the right to stay. And it does seem like the world, in many ways, wants to sort of normalize his presence. But I think it's pretty clear that it's not a victory of any real kind.

And the damage that has been done and that has been wrought does not appear to be facing any kind of true reconciliation or any kind of true reckoning. There's a lack of justice. There's a lack of accountability. And there's the presence of an incredible amount of impunity.

Well, take me into Syria. What are people feeling there now after these eight long years?

turn 4 : The person was not actually taken to Syria, they were just told what was going on there.

Answer: B


He says that. But the question is, is this chaotic approach getting any results?He doesn't have a better deal with Iran. He doesn't have any deal with North Korea. And you have to wonder what other countries are thinking. Even Mexico, after approving a free trade deal, a no tariff deal, all of a sudden, he turned around and threatened tariffs on Mexico for an unrelated issue. So it makes it unclear for other countries who want to deal with the United States, whether they're our allies or our enemies.

And then, at least with Iran, the situation is unchanged. What happens next time there's a conflict in the Gulf?

All right. Let's look at another policy turnaround. As we've mentioned, the president has, as you know, talked tough on immigration for a very long time. It's his signature issue. Earlier in the week, he said he would deport a million immigrants starting today, but now he has postponed those raids, and he says he will resume them if the Democrats don't agree to change the asylum laws. What's going on?

Well, it's more whiplash as - on his way to his first big rally of his reelection campaign, that's when he said he was going to deport millions. Immigration has always been the go-to issue to energize his base. On the other hand, he has competing political imperatives because his immigration policies are costing him with independent voters, with suburban women. And it turns out that Nancy Pelosi did call him over the weekend, asked him to delay these raids, which were going to deport thousands, not millions.

turn 3 : The whiplash means that a person turns their head around quickly as the other person change's their opinions.

How does turn 3 describe the situation in the dialogue?

Answer: Unclear


And, my gosh, you've had an interesting careers.

Well, I did science at school, largely, when I was a teenager and I became a doctor. I did five years medical school and became a doctor and was terrified for every single second of my medical career. I'd seemed to emerge from medical school with a qualification but nevertheless, I seemed to know nothing and was so scared and. . .

(Laughter) Forgive me, I'm so glad I didn't blunder into your practice.

Well, do you know, patients liked me 'cause I was really jolly and nice and what they didn't realize is they'd probably been much better off with some mumbling introvert who actually knew something. And in fact, I dreaded it. And my only happy day as a doctor was one sunny summer day where we got no admissions at all and I sat on the lawn outside the hospital and read "The Longest Journey" by E.  M.  Forster. That was the only happy day, and in the end, I didn't go back. And I thought, well, what could I do?I'm not qualified for anything else. I thought, the only thing I've done is comedy. And I applied for and got a job with BBC Light Entertainment in radio.

turn 3 : Implied meaning: The speaker's use of euphemisms, understatement, or hyperbole may be intended to soften or intensify the impact of their words, or to convey a subtle subtext or implication.

Which literary technique did the speaker employ in their speech?

Answer: impact


. . . To do is to keep family units together while they go through court proceedings so that they can have their cases adjudicated. That's the responsible thing to do. Everybody agrees that we don't want to separate families. But we do need to enforce the laws passed by Congress. How long that will be was determined by how long the adjudications taken.

And you know right now those cases can take years. Is that your plan, to hold families for that length of time?

Absolutely. The president's - absolutely not. The president's been asking repeatedly for more resources to speed up the process. And, again, we want to make sure that we're keeping families together while still enforcing the laws passed by Congress.

So you said absolutely not. But do you have your own limit?

Which word in turn 0 implies that there is broad consensus?

Answer: Broad


There is no good precedent for thinking that these peace talks will work well for exactly the reason that you have said. The Syrian regime and its allies should - have at no point countenanced the idea that Bashar al-Assad will step down. And then the opposition negotiating committee reiterated in London this week that they foresee a six-month transitional period at the end of which Assad is no longer the president of Syria. So that's a pretty big sticking point.

And starts on Monday?

Starts on Monday at sundown, which is also the beginning of the Muslim Eid festival, yes.

Alice Fordham in Beirut. Thanks so much.

turn 1 : expression of surprise, as the speaker is asking if the peace talks are starting on Monday despite the big sticking point.

What festival starts on Monday along with the peace talks?

Answer: Eid


I'm Farai Chideya, and this is News & Notes. The UNITY Convention, considered to be the largest annual meeting of journalists around the world, kicks off tomorrow in Chicago. The convention brings together the National Association of Black Journalists, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, the Asian-American Journalist Association, and the Native American Journalist Association.

This year's theme is a new journalism for a changing world. Joining us to talk about the gathering is UNITY president Karen Lincoln Michel. So Karen, can you give us a diversity report card of how the industry is doing overall regarding journalists of color?

Yes. The Radio-Television News Directors Association just released a survey yesterday that showed that there were some slight gains that were made in television among women and minorities. And I'm not sure if that also showed if the work force is shrinking in broadcast, but there some gains made there. But it's still below the levels of people of color in the U. S.  population.

There's a recent employment survey of minorities in the newsroom done every year by the American Society of Newspaper Editors. And this year's showed a very slight increase in the number of people of color in supervisory positions. Now granted, the whole industry shrank by about 2,400 positions, and nearly 300 of them were people of color. But in this climate, I think you need to build on small gains like the slight increase in people of color in supervisory positions.

turn 2 : The representation of minorities in newsrooms is still inadequate.

Which association is not represented at the UNITY Convention?

Answer: color


It's perfect.

Yeah, bubbly jock. And an owl is a hoolet. And that, again, is based on the sound that it makes. And - but my favorite is a wood pigeon, is a cushie-doo.

That is an absolutely dead-on approximation of its sound.

Isn't it lovely?So a frog is a puddock and sparrow is a speug. So I've never used speug in a sentence, but when I was a boy, we used puddock. So I don't go around trying to convince everybody that my culture's better than theirs, but sometimes it suits my face better. It sits nicely in my mouth.

turn 3 : suits refers to make proper or fit in and not a set of clothes to be worn

Answer: Proper


Yeah. It was over in an hour or something, right?Yeah.

Exactly.

The emperor Augustus almost cracked up on your watch.

Yeah. That was - the Vatican exhibit was coming into the Met, some Leonardos, really fine, fine pieces of art. The Augustus was one big crate. And as the truck was coming down the ramp, you could see the truck driver was going too fast. And the top of the crate hit the concrete support beam in the garage, and all you heard was a crunching of wood. And my heart almost stopped.

turn 3 : Their heart did not almost stop but they did fell very close to panic when they heard the sound.

Which emotion did PersonA feel when they heard the sound?

Answer: Panic


You know, Scott, it's really hard to say. Most of the people we've talked to here in Edmonton over the past few days say what's happening with FIFA has nothing to do with what's going on on the field. There's definitely a worry here, though, that the media will fixate on it. And at FIFA's opening press conference in Vancouver, the president of Canada's soccer association got a barrage of questions all about the drama, and he basically said, look, this is perfect timing for the Women's World Cup. It's the purest form of the game. It's soccer to the core. Let's focus on that because that's what this sport needs - some purity, some positivity. And let's not forget, Scott, this is the biggest women's sporting event in the entire world. And a half a billion people are expected to watch today's opening game between Canada and China, so it's a big deal.

And more national teams than ever, right?

Yeah, that's right. The World Cup is held every four years, and this year there are 24 teams, which is eight more than four years ago. It should be really exciting. Canada is a giant country. So they're going to be traveling around a ton from the West Coast of Vancouver all the way to Moncton on the East Coast, which, you know, hey, I've never even heard of that place so that should be. . .

I've been to Moncton.

turn 3 : "I've been to Moncton" - means the speaker has visited Moncton before, rather than literally carrying or moving to that location.

Answer: Moncton


More than two million homes were in foreclosure by the end of last year and that has left entire neighborhoods practically abandoned. Some homes have been vandalized, used as drug dens, swimming pools become fetid, and lawns choked with weeds. Cathy Cardenas has a solution to that. She wants to make some money too. She's the owner of a new company called Designer Home Tending and she joins us now from Salt Lake City. What is Designer Home Tending?

Well, Designer Home Tending is a completely no-cost service that we offer to real estate agents and their sellers. We put qualified home tenders in a home to clean it up, bring life back into the property, and this most of time helps the house sell a lot faster than it would just sitting vacant.

What's a home tender?

A home tender is a person who moves into a house, they manage the property, they move into it, they have to have beautiful furniture, they decorate it like a model home, they take care of all the lawn maintenance, getting to weeds down. They care for the outside of the house for - they pay the utilities, cooperate for real estate showing. So it's nice because it gives them instant relief to the sellers who were already circling hard enough just to make their mortgage payment. And then to have all these other - to be relieved of these other expenses is a great service, and by having a home tender there's definitely been proven that the house would sell 40 to 60 percent faster most…

turn 0 : Lawns were not choked but had a vast amount of weeds in them that was killing the grass.

How were the lawns described in the dialogue?

Answer: Weeds


Many of the smartest people in the world, the most engaged people in the world are also linguistically colorful, and sometimes you have to. . . .

Backtrack a bit. On that note, have you called the senator or spoken with the senator since. . . ?

I spoke with his staff. Our friendship remains intact and I do not want anything that was said in any guise to distract from his message and our support for his campaign.

Now during the '84 campaign you called New York "Hymietown" while speaking with a black Washington Post reporter, and you got a lot of heat for that. So, this I understand occurred when you spoke when you thought a mike was closed. So what have you learned about interacting with us in the media from all this stuff?

turn 0 : linguistically colorful implies being very good or bright in linguistic

What quality are many of the smartest and most engaged people in the world implied to possess?

Answer: Language


Yes, I - my mom has a cleaning company, and she cleans for a lawyer here locally. And once she started working there, it just turned into, like, a really big place. Like, it was not easy for her to do by herself, so. . .

You pitch in after school or on weekends or. . .

We took Sundays and sometimes Fridays to clean up the office, which was probably the best days for us because after church, we'd just head towards the office and clean.

And that all went to your quince fund.

turn 0 : A's mom's cleaning company grew rapidly after taking on the lawyer's office as a client

What was the reason for PersonA's mom's cleaning company growth?

Answer: A


Yeah, it's a fine line. There is definitely a vernacular in law enforcement that is regional. On the West Coast, we call them suspects. On the East Coast, I think they call them perps - or maybe that's just the New York or the New England region. . .

Perps, short for perpetrators.

Yeah, short for perpetrator. And for a long time, our crime scene investigators weren't called crime scene investigators. They were crime scene analysts or forensic specialists and whatnot. And just about everybody has now changed their scientific investigations division to be called CSI. 'Cause you got to, you got to answer the phone: CSI, Smith.

Have you had screenwriters, aspiring novelists or actors say to you what kind of person is a cop?Why do they do it?

turn 2 : The turn that has an implied meaning different from its literal meaning is (3). In this turn, the speaker is discussing how the names of crime scene investigators have evolved over time, and how many departments have now adopted the name "CSI." However, the implied meaning is that popular culture, specifically the TV show CSI, has had an influence on the naming conventions of law enforcement agencies.

Which TV show has had an impact on the naming conventions of law enforcement agencies?

Answer: CSI


Well, what do you say to those people who find that analogy overblown, who say whatever drawbacks Vladimir Putin has a democratic leader, on the other hand, he hasn't undertaken to extinguish an entire people the way Adolf Hitler did?

Certainly in 1938, Adolf Hitler had not yet undertaken the Holocaust. In 1938, his arguments were reversing unjust borders, uniting old German speakers with the motherland, correcting historical injustice. This the same kind of argumentation Mr.  Putin uses. Now, of course, as of today, the analogy with Hitler remains overblown and may it remain so. Having said that, I really do not see an example of this kind of blatant land grab in recent post-war European history.

Any concern that Ukrainians who feel anxious might wind up fleeing to Poland?

We've had our first 100 refugees, Tatars from Crimea, entering Poland over the last couple of days requesting political asylum, and we expect more. If the situation on Ukraine's eastern land borders with Russia flares up - and I'm pretty sure it will - it won't be very difficult for Mr.  Putin to whip up trouble there to make proper conduct of presidential elections impossible - then I can imagine that the numbers of refugees will not be in the hundreds but in the thousands, and Poland is Ukraine's major outlet on the European Union. So, yes, the country is getting prepared to receive and accommodate refugees. But, of course, we hope that they will not arrive.

turn 1 : In turn 2, the speaker is implying that even though Mr. Putin's arguments may sound familiar to those of Hitler in 1938, the analogy between the two is still an exaggeration.

Which year was Hitler's argumentation reversing unjust borders and uniting old German speakers with the motherland?

Answer: 1938


Before the pardon, he was thinking about working through the Justice Department to help Arpaio off. And this was not because, necessarily, the merits of the case. The Washington Post reports that this was because the president saw Arpaio as an ally, a loyalist who needed to be protected.

You mentioned Congress comes back after Labor Day. Do you think Republicans go it alone and maybe pass what laws they want and then send them up to President Trump for his signature at this point?

When it comes to tax reform, Congress will take the lead. The White House is not trying to outline the details. Look for Congress to try to set where the rates are on corporations and on individuals and just try to get the president to sign it so he can maybe get a victory. That's what they've been seeking in Congress. They weren't able to get health care through. They're going to try to get a simple tax care package through.

Robert Costa is national political reporter for The Washington Post. Robert, thanks a lot.

turn 1 : All the turns in this conversation appear to have their literal meanings, and there are no metaphors, figurative language or idioms used.

What is the nature of the language used in this conversation?

Answer: Literal


And she - my wife went and found the chaplain at Northwestern - a Lutheran chaplain who'd never performed a wedding before. She came to our room and performed the ceremony, just the three of us. It was a lovely, personal, intimate ceremony. And immediately after the ceremony, I took some pain medication and peed in a cup.

Well, that's one way to say l'chaim, isn't it?I made a short list: addiction abuse, adultery, abandonment, imminent incest and just plain old hatred. So is every family is a little bit like the Westons of Osage County?

What we have seen by doing this play is that the story of this family is pretty universal. And the dinner scene alone, in the theater - I can tell you that some people are howling with laughter, and other people are in tears and crawling under their seats. They find it very upsetting to watch because it hits pretty close to home.

"Fiddler on the Roof" with the F word?

That's one way to look at it.

turn 3 : (4) B: ""Fiddler on the Roof" with the F word?"

Answer: Play


Like what, as you see it?

Well, there are a few things. First of all, ABC did try to get the case dismissed in the early going and the judge declined to do that. They tried to remove the case to federal court, which is a pretty well accepted strategy. But they couldn't remove it to federal court. So they were going to end up trying the case, really, in the plaintiff's backyard. So I think that those were risks combined with the fact that there's obviously a great deal of sort of free floating anti-media sentiment out there these days, which is hard to quantify. And the amount that was being requested by the plaintiff was, you know, billions, literally, billions of dollars.

Does a large settlement like this just embolden other people to sue media companies?

Well, I think that after we see a large verdict or a large settlement, we do tend to see an uptick. Many plaintiffs and their lawyers think that maybe media entities are easy get-rich-quick targets. I think that's a mistake.

turn 2 : is asking if a large settlement will encourage others to file lawsuits against media companies

How do plaintiffs and their lawyers perceive media entities after a large verdict or settlement?

Answer: Easy


You bet.

OK. The rope broke in my hands.

The rope broke in my hands. I'm writing that down right now.

That's good to know I could be of some use. Dave LaBounty of "The First Line. "Thanks so much for being with us.

turn 0 : The speaker may be hinting at a hidden agenda. They may be suggesting that the people they are talking to are not being completely honest and may be hiding something. This could be in a business situation, where the speaker suspects that the other party is not giving them all the information they need to make an informed decision. It could also be in a personal or romantic situation, where the speaker is suggesting that the other person is not being completely honest.

What is the speaker potentially suggesting with their turn in the dialogue?

Answer: Hiding


Is this - does this - this explanation of how it works, does this offer you and other scientists an opportunity to study other materials or find out other ways things might work and become semiconductors?

Absolutely. I think the reason we were able to figure it out is because we have these very powerful probes like this very high-energy, very powerful X-ray source and these supercomputers where we were able to look at the atomic level of how the atoms are arranged and when they're arranged in a certain way why they exhibit this behavior.

And we can try and reproduce that in other materials and maybe even enhance it in design from the bottom up, new types of materials that have very strange properties.

And I think it's quite fascinating the tools that you use. One of the tools you used was an aerodynamic levitation furnace. It sounds like out of a science fiction movie.

turn 3 : It's a high level concept but it's exaggeration to say that it's fictional.

Which statement in the dialogue suggests that the tools used by scientists are fascinating?

Answer: Fascinating


You know, while the cat was away the mice could play, and the gangsters increased their power, because being gangsters, a lot of them didn't have to serve. You know, they got out of the draft and a lot of men were aware and effort was focused elsewhere. So, their power increased and that's why you had a lot of gang wars at the end of the '40s and the beginning of the '50s. And I grew up in that era. But I also grew up with gangsters, because my father had to deal with them in various capacities and we lived among. . .

Your father ran the film company.

My father ran London Films. He made films like "The Red Shoes," "The Third Man. "And he had had a long career in the film business, which was bifurcated with a career in intelligence. He had to deal with gangsters, and sometimes he would take me with him. Also, I went to school with their children. So, my rendition of gangsters is a little different from screenwriters' rendition of gangsters because screenwriters only know what they see in other movies. I actually grew up with these people and I think I have a pretty realistic take on it.

I was struck by something that Harry Copeland tells his aunt at one point in Staten Island. He says there was more light and air in the war than now. What did that mean?

Well, that I take from my own experience.

turn 3 : In (4), the question "What did that mean?" implies that the listener wants an explanation of the deeper meaning or significance behind Harry Copeland's statement, rather than a literal interpretation of the words "more light and air in the war than now."

What does turn 3 imply about the listener's interpretation of Harry Copeland's statement?

Answer: Interpretation


The narrower strike, I think, on chemical weapons, there probably would be - would have been a favorable vote because most - this is a - this has nothing - in a sense, it's not Syria. We're against chemical weapons wherever and however they're used. So that kind of strike, I think, has a justification in international law and in history. But it's the idea of a - intervening in this tragic civil war, I think, is a much broader question.

A while ago, Senator King, you were among those people in the Senate who supported greater support for Syrian rebels in the hope that they might be able to overturn the Assad regime. How do you feel about that now?Has the time for that opportunity passed?Does a strike like this promote that or have got nothing to do with it?

I don't think it has much to do with, as I say, the overall calculus on the battlefield in the civil war. And I'm afraid you may be right. Clearly, the momentum at this point is with Assad. The critical moment was when Russia came in in support of the Assad regime. And then you add Iran, Hezbollah and the other support that they're getting, all you'd have to do is look at the map. Two years ago, the opposition controlled a great deal of the country. And now, that territory is narrowing. And the fight now, this alleged chemical attack, took place in the Damascus suburbs.

So what should the U. S.  strategic goal be as far as you're concerned?

turn 2 : The opposition has lost territory and the alleged chemical attack took place in Damascus suburbs

What is the location of the alleged chemical attack?

Answer: Damascus


OK. So let me break down - let me ask you to break down what that means. What is the yield curve, and what does it mean when it's inverted?

So the yield curve represents interest rates at different maturities. So usually, it's the case that a longer-term interest rate has a higher rate than a short-term interest rate. So think of a certificate of deposit at your bank. If you lock your money up for five years, you expect to get a higher rate than, let's say, locking it up for six months.

But in certain rare situations, things get backwards, and it turns out that the long-term interest rate is lower than the short-term rate. And that's called an inverted yield curve. That's exactly the situation we've got right now. And it is a harbinger of bad news.

So unemployment is at a 50-year low. The GDP is growing. Does that have an effect on the yield curve?

turn 2 : The inverted yield curve is a bad sign for the economy.

How is the yield curve viewed as a harbinger?

Answer: backwards


If you dig into this latest employment report, the unemployment rate for those with a college degree is roughly half of the national average. But a new report by the nonprofit Center for College Affordability and Productivity says that roughly half of those college graduates who have jobs are now working jobs that don't require a college degree. People with Ph. D. s. are driving taxis and waiting on tables. They are earning much less than expected, and certainly bargained for when they began to rack up college debts. Dr.  Richard Vedder co-authored the study. He's also a distinguished professor of economics at Ohio University and joins us from member station WOUB in Athens, Ohio. Dr.  Vedder, thanks so much for being with us.

Glad to be with you, Scott.

Help us understand what this means.

Well, it means there's a lot of people that are going to college, I suspect most of them with expectations that upon graduation they will make a pretty good living and live sort of an upper middle-class American life. But instead, a lot of them are getting jobs upon graduation working as bartenders, taxi drivers - a million of them are retail sales clerks, 115,000 of them are janitors. They're getting jobs that I'm fairly certain are less than what they're expected when they began the college experience.

turn 1 : Implied meaning: The speaker's tone or choice of words may suggest that they have reservations or doubts about a particular topic or decision.

Answer: Reservations


Well, there's no doubt about that. So the near-Earth asteroids number about 500,000, but we only know of 9,000. And the reason that they're so interesting, Ira, is because they are actually energetically easier to reach than the surface of the moon. So we've been to the moon many times, and the moon is a great place, which is very worthy of our exploration. But just to give you an idea of how close some of the asteroids are, they're easier to reach than our own moon.

Yeah.

So they're not way out there in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. These are. . .

Right.

turn 1 : The turn "Yeah" in this context implies agreement with the previous statement, understanding, and interest in the topic, which is different from its literal meaning.

What did PersonB say in response to PersonA's statement about the near-Earth asteroids?

Answer: Agreement


That's essentially what it is, except the other person will never know that you put their name down unless they also put your name down.

OK.

I mean, I make fun of it. I'm probably still going to use it, right?OK (laughter)?

So - well, to that end, though, what kind of feedback are you hearing about this so far from the other countries where it rolled out?And I know it just started here, but - so what are you hearing so far?

turn 3 : The person wants to know what other countries thought about it once it started.

Which question does PersonB ask about the feedback from other countries?

Answer: Feedback


We should note that USA Today, which when it was founded in 1982, said it would never endorse a candidate for president - didn't want to go to that kind of - didn't want to participate in that kind of politics - has not endorsed a candidate but has said, in some departure from their usual policy, Donald Trump is unfit to be president, so don't vote for him.

You know, we know that people don't read newspaper editorials by and large. And if they ever read one, it's usually something like this in the presidential season. But we know that people read about them and hear about them.

And that's where, in the age of social media, they may actually matter more because people are going to be talking about this wipeout, this refusal of people who, remember, historically, have almost always gone with Republicans, to go with Donald Trump.

OK, now Miss Universe. Did Hillary Clinton set a trap for Donald Trump, which he sprang on himself?

You know, this story could have gone away in 24 hours or 48 hours. It could have had some impact on Monday night and perhaps, then, just gone away. We've heard an awful lot of high impact stories come and go already in this campaign.

turn 1 :  (2) What's an editorial worth in this age of social media?

How do people usually read newspaper editorials?

Answer: By


From what I can tell, as an observer of the trial, it has. You have to bear in mind what the juror's going to be focused on are the documents. In a white-collar criminal case, it's hard to ignore what the documents say. You've got tax returns that they're putting in. You've got mortgage applications that they've entered into evidence. You've got emails. The witnesses are putting those emails - those other communications - in the context. But to a large degree, the record is all written.

And just in the 25 seconds we have left, any idea what direction the defense is going to take?

It's hard to say. The defense can put witnesses on, or the defense can choose not to. The defense can put the defendant on or can choose not to. I think that's probably unlikely in this case. I don't think Paul Manafort will end up taking the witness stand. But I think, at the end of the day, they're going to end up pointing their finger at Gates as a dishonest business associate who really is the one responsible for these crimes.

Tim Belevetz, former federal prosecutor, now in private practice. Thanks so much for being with us.

turn 0 : The documents hold significant weight in determining guilt in white-collar criminal cases.

How are white-collar criminal cases determined?

Answer: Documents


Yeah, so when Zazi got picked up in the fall of 2009, he immediately started cooperating. And from then on, for the last 10 years or so, he's cooperated against a number of high-profile trials in the U. S.  - the third in command in al-Qaida, another American and a British operative. He cooperated with law enforcement over 100 times, did interviews there. They described his cooperation as extraordinary, some of the best they've seen in terrorism trials.

Do we know why?

You know, sometimes when these things happen - and I've interviewed a few individuals who've joined al-Qaida and other groups like this - they have an awakening moment when they're looking, sitting across the table from an FBI agent. It becomes very real to them in a way they hadn't seen before. For Zazi's case, he decided that he made a mistake, and he wanted to rectify that.

There are three men who were involved in this plot. Two of them cooperated with the government. But the third guy decided to go to trial rather than plead guilty. He's in prison for life now. I don't want to sound cynical, but it does seem like a change of heart is a good legal strategy.

turn 3 : The heart was not changed but the opinions of the person were.

How was the heart affected in the case of the third guy?

Answer: Crowding


Studios can hold out. They're in bad shape. I mean, they're going to be hurt by this environment economically. But that doesn't mean they can't survive for quite a long time with a strike underway. And that means that people would - I mean, it would just be so devastating; people would lose their jobs. And that wouldn't just be the actors; it would be people who support productions. The actors, unlike the writers, they can close down a movie very quickly. So, it would be an immediate and potentially a long-term and the devastating impact not only for the economy here, but for the Screen Actors Guild if it turned out to backfire.

So, Kim, what happens from here?What's the next steps?

At some point, they can declare an impasse, and the Screen Actors Guild will go to its members and ask for a strike authorization. That requires 75-percent approval of those voting. There certainly are some very high-profile actors - George Clooney, Tom Hanks - who are very opposed to this and who probably would go out there and try to persuade people to vote and vote it down. But with 75-percent approval of those voting, not of the membership, of those voting, that would mean they would have strike authorization and they could initiate a strike.

And if there is a strike, what would that mean for viewers?Does that mean even more hours of reality TV?

turn 0 : to hold out in this context means to wait

What would be devastating if studios couldn't survive for a long time with a strike underway?

Answer: Impact


And what's your budget been?

Our budget is around $130,000. And that might sound like a lot, but it's a lot - it's way, way cheaper than, you know, most space programs.

SpaceX probably spends that on lunch.

Sounds about right.

turn 2 : SpaceX spends a lot of money on their projects

Answer: lot


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 : The Republicans are not willing to discuss gun policy in an open and honest way.

What is the topic of discussion in turn 1?

Answer: Fox


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

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

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

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

turn 2 : Despite feeling terrible, Vic has a compulsion to eat.

Which feeling does Vic experience when he wakes up in the morning?

Answer: Scared


Oh, by all means. I mean, the family in particular has been just, I mean, courageous. I've been at this 50 years now, and sometimes families withdraw, and we understand that. But this family has been a model of participation in all of the rallies, the demonstrations that we've had, and some of the members will be arrested. Therefore, they have sent a message across the city, indeed across the nation, rallying young people because Sean was about 22, 23, rallying young people to this cause.

Now, you and Reverend Sharpton's National Action Network were involved in protests around the shooting death of Amadou Diallo. Civil disobedience played a big role in those protests. What do you think those protests taught you, or what did you learn from them?

Well, you know, we've been doing this across the years. There's nothing new about a civil disobedience. But having 1,200 people arrested in a daily civil disobedience venture is phenomenal. It made an impact upon the police department itself and upon the politics in New York. Giuliani was the mayor at that time.

We hope that we will have a residential law. That is to say that policemen should live where they work. So that would mean you kill where you live. And I suspect that if you're going to kill where you live, you'll be more inclined not to kill, and we hope that there would be an independent civilian complaint review board that would review the behavior of the police.

turn 3 : The implementation of a residential law for policemen and an independent civilian complaint review board would decrease police brutality.

How would the suggested measures impact police behavior?

Answer: Decrease


Thank you for having me.

You know, I've heard about this going on in Ithaca, New York, and the largest of these systems we're told is in Western Massachusetts. I believe they call it BerkShares there. They've circulated about $2 million in BerkShares in two years. So, how do you explain this idea of local currency to the average person?

Well, we talk about Equal Dollars as a community currency and bartering system that essentially serves as a companion to the U. S.  dollar. It's what maybe our ancestors did like seeds, gold, silver, copper, beads, cattle, diamonds, spices, things that people have used over the years and centuries to expand their current way of acquiring goods and services. It acts as a non-interest-bearing, spendable, transferable discount. And it…

How does it work in terms of, you know, going to the store?Can I get on the bus with it?Can I catch a cab?Can I buy a refrigerator with it?

turn 3 : B doesn't literally want to know whether they can do all those things. The "I" is meant to refer to anyone... can any person buy a fridge with this currency.

How is the "I" in turn 3 meant to be interpreted?

Answer: Anyone


Well, I don't think anybody really knows, except the two of them, because it was a meeting without staff, without any advisers present. Senator Feinstein came out this morning and spoke to reporters. She hosted the meeting at her home. She said that it seemed very cordial. The two sat in comfy chairs in her living room.

They sipped water. They talked for about an hour and that they were laughing as they left. So, we know that the mood was fairly pleasant, and what Senator Obama's advisers tell us, is that they talked about how to move forward and how to achieve party unity, and how to bring together the factions of the Democratic Party that had supported each of the two of them separately, how to bring them both together to now beat John McCain in November.

So, was it a bargaining session?Was it my votes for a VP slot, something like that?

Well, actually, we're told by Senator Chuck Schumer who's an ally of Senator Clinton's in the Senate that no, they did not discuss the vice presidential chatter. It's hard to imagine that they didn't though, given the fact that it's what's everybody - it's what everybody's talking about right now.

turn 1 : implies that the meeting was focused on discussing how to achieve party unity and defeat John McCain in November. However, the actual meaning could be that the meeting was a bargaining session where Obama and Clinton discussed potential terms for Clinton to drop out of the race and endorse Obama. This is not explicitly stated yet is a possible subtextual meaning.

How was the meeting between Obama and Clinton?

Answer: Pleasant


And then we're going to measure not just their genotype and their environment - things like air quality, water quality, their social setting - but also all the molecular biology that might help us to understand how it is that genes and environment shape aging.

Do you have a dog, Doctor?

I have a dog. I had two dogs until last year.

Oh, I'm sorry.

Our 11-year-old Weimaraner passed away. By 11, he was pretty geriatric. I have an 11-year-old mutt. And when I take her to the dog park, people think she's a puppy. She looks like a 1-year-old. And she's still very vigorous.

turn 4 : "Passed away" doesn't mean to actually leave a physical place, it's a nicer way of saying someone or something died.

Which word is used as a euphemism for death in turn 4?

Answer: Passed


Well, we'll have to wait and see. The purpose, obviously, is to send a signal that those members of the armed forces that choose to work with the opposition, if they are under sanctions, will have those sanctions lifted. And those who might be facing sanctions would not face them if they chose to work with the opposition. We're going to have to wait and see how that's received.

How important is the support that this government has received from Cuba, and Russia and maybe other countries, as well?

It's important. On the Cuban side, some of the support has been exaggerated in terms of numbers. But without a doubt, the support they provide in the area of counterintelligence has been critical to. . .

They send intelligence agents to help work the streets of Caracas, or wherever.

turn 3 : Cuban intelligence agents work in the streets of Caracas

Which country is known to provide counterintelligence support by sending agents to work the streets of Caracas?

Answer: Cuba


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

Which neighborhood did Obama reside in before moving to Chicago?

Answer: East-Harlem


Eastern Congo may be the most dangerous place on Earth, and it's getting worse. A rebel army is moving on the biggest city, Goma. Hundreds of thousands of people are running for their lives. This is the region of infamous ethnic killing between the many people who call themselves Hutus and the far fewer Tutsi.

Hez Holland is a correspondent with Reuters. He's been reporting from Goma. He joins us now. Hez, welcome. And remind us, this is also a region of enormous wealth - timber and minerals. People have been fighting over it for a long time.

At least. It's historically been a curse, what with the mineral wealth and, as you said, the timber, has been something that has been fought over for - since the Belgians. It's always been a place where minerals have been extracted and exploited, and the people have always been just pawns in the great game of any kind of colonial power, really.

Well, now, there's this rebel group led by a man named General Nkunda. He is a former Congolese general. And it is moving on the city of Goma. What are you seeing there now?

turn 0 : Eastern Congo is a dangerous place due to rebel armies and ethnic killings

Which region is being discussed in the dialogue?

Answer: Eastern


Yeah, thank you.

So tell us what the article said.

Well, it's very interesting. It's in the Jesuit magazine La Civilta Cattolica. It's a very historic magazine, the Jesuits, of course, being the same order that Pope Francis - an order of priest that Pope Francis is a part of. And what's very interesting is that these two authors are known to be quite close to him. One, Antonio Spadaro, was the person who interviewed him in 2013 and made a big splash. And what they're saying is that they're concerned about ties between fundamental evangelicals and, kind of, right-wing Catholics in the U. S.  that are focused only on very neuralgic issues and kind of dividing in politics.

And the article, I believe, specifically talks about xenophobic and Islamophobic views.

Yeah. What the authors say is that, you know, Pope Francis has really been trying to create a culture of dialogue encounter, really working with people across all the spectrums. And what the two authors in this article are saying is that these right-wing groups in the U. S.  have been really doing the opposite. Where Pope Francis is trying to build bridges, they're trying to build walls. And they're playing up concerns about migration, about refugees. And they're kind of operating in the exact opposite way of the pope which, for a Catholic, is obviously a very strange thing.

All right, this article also directly mentions President Donald Trump and his adviser Steve Bannon. What does it say about them?

turn 5 : "Directly mentions President Donald Trump and his adviser Steve Bannon" - The literal meaning is that they are specifically referred to by name in the article.

Which two individuals were specifically referred to in the article mentioned in the dialogue?

Answer: Donald,Steve


What happened with Dr.  Strauss was upsetting. It was one night in your life. How has it stayed with you over the years?What's it done to your life since then?

So that building was fairly close to campus. And so for the next probably three, four or five years, you know, I went by that building a lot. It was hard to relive what's going in there. Again, you just kind of bottle it up and put it away. I'm, you know, upset with Ohio State. But I'm upset with Strauss, but he's dead. So I'm even more upset that Ohio State, a large institution that I have significant ties to and that I - you know, I met my wife there, asked her to marry me, have lots of friends from there. I've donated my time, donated money. And now I'm finding out that they failed me.

When the box opened back up on Memorial Day, I've had trouble sleeping at night. I sometimes wake up the middle of the night and see him standing over me doing what he's doing. And I still - there's one picture of him on the - a local TV station and Columbus' website - a color picture that I can't look at. If I see it, I just get sick to my stomach. So the box has been opened back up now, and it's been a struggle.

What would you like the university to do at this point in your life?

turn 2 : Bob experiences trauma and nightmares as a result of the abuse he suffered from Dr. Strauss.

Answer: Bob


Michael was 23. He was the son of Nelson, who was the governor of New York at the time. As you said, his father had opened the Museum of Primitive Art. So he was collecting primitive art from the Asmat, who were incredible, beautiful carvers. And he was on a makeshift catamaran in a lot of rough, turbulent water, and they got into trouble. And they ended up drifting. . .

Like, capsized.

. . . a day. And. . .

. . . capsized on this catamaran. He's there with this guy called Rene Wassing, the Dutch anthropologist, and his last words are: I think I can make it.

turn 3 : In this turn, the speaker uses the phrase "I think I can make it" in an ironic or sarcastic manner. The actual meaning is that the person's last words were probably expressing optimism or confidence, but the speaker implies that it was unrealistic given the dire circumstances.

What was the tone of the PersonA's use of the phrase "I think I can make it"?

Answer: ironic


Oh, it's kind of odd. Really, it's quiet. The streets are quiet. There's this wariness, though, that, you know, death could burst from the sky at any second. Obviously, this is something that Israelis are experiencing as well with rocket fire there. But here, there are no warning sirens. There's not an Iron Dome to intercept anything. The military strength of Israel is tremendously more powerful than the military strength of Hamas or Islamic Jihad or other groups here. In some cases, Israel does warn people about strikes. For example, I spoke to a woman this morning whose neighbor is part of Hamas, that that person got a phone call this morning to get out of the house. He alerted the neighbors. This is sort of normal. She burst into tears. Her husband said, don't cry in front of the children. She took the kids to a friend's. She went to work.

And a normal life continues in the midst of all this?

Well, in some ways, it has to. If you aren't right next to a rocket attack, you might not even know it happens - or close enough by to hear it. I did speak to a man this morning whose, you know, baby came two weeks early three days ago. And he had to take the baby boy to the doctor last night at night. He had to do it even though he didn't want to be driving around at night. So, yes, people do carry on as they can.

And briefly - we don't have much time - but there have been similar flare-ups like this in recent years. Is there any sense of what's coming next in this conflict?

turn 3 : Implied meaning: Is there any indication of what will happen next in the conflict?

Which word in the dialogue implies a sense of uncertainty about the future of the conflict?

Answer: Indication


You're a breast cancer survivor. Your husband passed away. One of your other children was in a serious accident, and yet when you deal with the Imus ordeal, you say I've never felt so powerless in my life. Why did that touch you so much?

You know, Farai, one of the things that maybe people didn't know is that here I had a team of 10 players, and five of those young ladies were freshmen. Less than a year before that, they were sitting on bleachers at a high school graduation. Some of them that came to me had braces on their teeth. They had dreams and aspirations of becoming doctors and psychologists and musicians and all the like.

And here while they had done something that they should be commended for because throughout the year, the year had been a tremendous struggle. They had been pushed to the brink, and yet somehow they survived. And beyond surviving, here they were standing before a national audience and being honored as one of the top two teams in this nation.

And I was so proud of them because I could remember seeing some of them cry or think that they couldn't and then to see their faces on television or USA Today and, you know, this is what it's all about - for us as leaders and as parents and as people that care about our young people - to take them to places that they don't think that they can go, have them accomplish those things, and then with that level of security and confidence, they can take on the world.

turn 0 : Despite facing several difficult situations, the Imus ordeal made the person feel powerless

Which ordeal affected the person the most?

Answer: Leaders


Didn't Elon Musk know all this before he sent out that memorable tweet on August 7?

Well, a lot of people think he should have. Let's go back to that August 7 when he sent out that tweet and said I'm considering taking the company private, funding secured at $420 a share. And analysts immediately were very dubious that Musk could pull this off. Where would he get the 10 billions of dollars to take the company private?Did he really have the funding secured as he claimed?And that is something that the Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating, according to multiple reports. And Musk said at the time - or Musk said that two-thirds of the investors would stick with Tesla if it went private, but he really had no way of knowing that.

And why did he want to take the company private in any case?

Well, he's always chafed at the demands of Wall Street - the quarterly earnings reports, the pesky questions from analysts. He famously called one analyst's question boring and boneheaded on an earnings call earlier this year. But perhaps even more than all this, Musk. . .

turn 3 : boneheaded implies being stupid or stubborn, and not a head full of bones

How did Musk respond to one analyst's question on an earnings call earlier this year?

Answer: Boring


Well, you could say both. You know, in 2010, the parent company declared bankruptcy. There's significant debt surrounding and hanging over National Enquirer's parent company. But you can't separate this from the scandals. The Washington Post, in its reporting, claims that the hedge fund manager who's sort of controlling owner now of American Media says that he's disgusted by what he's learned. This is not really anything new for the Enquirer, but don't forget the legal trouble the Enquirer has been in. You know, it got dragged into the investigation of Michael Cohen and others. It had to, essentially, negotiate with prosecutors in order to avoid prosecution. And indeed, the Bezos scandal may raise the legal stakes once more.

I mean, we've probably all joked at the grocery store checkout stand, like, looking at the headlines - who would ever buy the National Enquirer?Well, now it's like a more serious question. Who would buy the National Enquirer?

Well, you know, in a straight world, you might say TMZ, the digital gossip site. It's hard to know. It's a damaged brand. It is a notable brand. Somebody may buy it as a plaything, or there's been speculation Jeff Bezos would want to strangle it, buy it and put it out. . .

Wow. That would be. . .

turn 1 : The National Enquirer is not a credible source of news and is often joked about.

Answer: Joked