I think what to look at closely is oil, and oil here on the island. Cuba has - is not able to meet its own energy demands by itself and has become very dependent for the last 20 years on Venezuela's cheap oil that they're sending to Cuba. What they've done is made an exchange where Cuba gets the oil that it needs, and then Cuba sends doctors and professionals to Venezuela. And that has been severely hurt by the economic crisis in Venezuela right now. And you see that in there's gas rationing right now, and the Cuban government trying to get as much as they can in dollars and foreign currency.

One thing that they've done - you know those classic U. S. , American cars that are still here on the island?Well, those taxi drivers are feeling the pinch of the gas shortages and the oil situation right now. They have to pay very high licenses. This is new only in the last couple months. And they have gas rationing cards that they can only buy a certain amount of gasoline every month.

And Raul Castro has actually come out and warned that hard, austere times are coming. Are Cubans concerned about what they might be facing?

Definitely. And you hear that a lot.

turn 1 : The pinch is not physical but just a tightening of finances due to the situation.

Answer: Financial


It's - conservative - that about eight to 10,000 people died. And that this, to this day, is still the greatest natural disaster to hit this country in terms of devastation, in terms of death toll. It's almost hard to fathom how incredible - the power of this storm and what it did. It literally wiped a city off the map.

And you point out that after this happened, the idea that, you know, that Galveston really had only itself to blame. I mean, this was a natural port, and it was built on a sandbar. It was in most places only about 8 feet above sea level. And to have built it there in the first place would be crazy, and they rebuilt it anyway.

It really was a feat of engineering and of sheer willpower that they constructed a seawall - a 17-foot seawall that ran about three miles. But that wasn't enough. They realized that to protect downtown, they were going to have to raise it. So they literally raised about 500 buildings anywhere from 8 to 18 inches so that it was less susceptible to flooding.

As a weatherman, do you think that you can say now that what happened to Galveston is impossible, that it won't happen again?I don't mean that the storms won't happen again. I mean, Hurricane Katrina was a hideous storm that killed a lot of people, and the property loss was terrible. But do you think that the lessons of storms like that, but especially of Galveston, mean that the loss of life and property on that scale really isn't likely to happen again?

turn 3 : "But do you think that the lessons of storms like that, but especially of Galveston, mean that the loss of life and property on that scale really isn't likely to happen again?" - The literal meaning of this turn is whether the lessons from Galveston and similar storms will prevent a recurrence of such a disaster. The actual meaning is whether the efforts to mitigate the effects of such disasters can prevent such high levels of loss of life and property.

Which lessons are being referred to in turn 3?

Answer: Lessons


High bar, yeah. So the federal indictment is supposed to be unsealed today. What are you going to be looking for as someone who's been following this case against R.  Kelly for a long time?

Well, I'll be looking for a couple of things - one, looking to see if there are new alleged victims in here. You know, the case that's in state court, there are four alleged victims in there. Many of them were already known. They had either already come forward or - yeah, have already come forward and told their stories of alleged abuse at the hands of R.  Kelly.

I'll also be looking to see when the alleged crimes happened. You know, all of the alleged crimes in state court happened 10 years ago or more. Those kinds of cases are really hard to prove, you know, when they're that old. I'll be interested to see if any of these happened more recently, if there are any allegations that he's done anything in the last decade.

WBEZ reporter Patrick Smith in Chicago for us this morning. Thank you.

turn 2 : Recent crimes are easier to prove than crimes from 10 years ago

What kind of crimes will be of interest to A, according to turn 2?

Answer: recent


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

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

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

Right.

turn 1 : The joke about $50K and $5 million is not literal, but it expresses the belief that white collar crimes are larger and easier to get away with.

Which crime is the subject of the joke mentioned by A?

Answer: white-collar


What would happen in a civil contempt is that you would basically be trying to hold the attorney general - get a court order that he was in contempt. And the court would have a hearing. And Justice Department would intervene, and they would fight the contempt citation. And then the court would have a ruling. And that's how the process kind of operates theoretically. What normally happens is the court does not like to step into executive legislative disputes, and they will urge both sides to try to accommodate one another. I think it would only be if the court determined that the Justice Department was really in bad faith would they then hold the attorney general in contempt.

Let me ask you this. If this matter does land in court, if litigation is actively pursued, that could take months. It could take years even. And if the goal is to get information from Attorney General William Barr, how is this an effective strategy?Pursuing a contempt case could result in a huge delay, right?

I think the reality is is that the rules of subpoenas right now as we're discussing in many ways work in favor of the executive for the exact reason that you are hinting at in your question, which is they can run the clock. They can probably run the clock on the enforcement question for months, if not years. And they might be able to even run it up to the next election.

Right. So if the White House intends to stonewall, do you think it's even a wise strategy on the part of the Democrats right now to be talking about contempt?

turn 0 : bad faith implies that the Justice Department is acting improperly and knows they are doing so

Which term describes the Justice Department's behavior if the court holds the attorney general in contempt?

Answer: Improperly


Yeah. It's the fastest and oldest field game in the world, as far as we're concerned, and the only sport that I can really compare to - and you've alluded to it yourself - would be lacrosse. And to American viewers or listeners, sometimes I try and explain it as ice hockey on grass except for the ball leaves the ground and travels at speeds of up to 140 kilometers an hour. It's extremely brave. They wear minimal padding. And it's a full-contact sport.

And tell us about the hurling stick because I've seen those. They're - if I may - to an American audience, they look a little bit like something you'd use to handle a pizza in a brick oven.

(Laughter) I've been told they look like a large spoon. It's a coral-shaped (ph) stick. And at the end of the - at the bottom, it's called a bas where you strike the ball. The ball is made of leather. And it's called a sliotar. The hurley's supposed to reach from your foot up to your hip and is generally about 33, 34 inches for a grown adult.

Do you think that hurling expresses some intrinsic aspect of the Irish spirit?

turn 0 : Comparing hurling to ice hockey on grass is a better way to explain it to American viewers than saying it's the fastest and oldest field game in the world

Which sport is compared to ice hockey on grass in the dialogue?

Answer: hurling


Is there a danger of South Koreans becoming too complacent?

I think that they do talk about that. But there's also reality, which is when you have this incredibly materialistic society, it's literally a, you know, (speaking Korean) style (speaking Korean) land, then, you know, the reality of this war with this nation under Kim Jong Un kind of doesn't strike anyone as a realistic thing. And, yes, there is a danger to it. But at the same time, life does go on. And life is a very, very, very fast and active one in South Korea.

So we've been talking about war. What about peace?Do the South Koreans even think about the possibility of detente anymore, the possibility of the border reopening?

I mean, I think the issue of one Korea reunification is one of those politically manipulated one. You know, the left parties used it. The right has used it, certainly, in South Korea. So it's almost like this sort of symbol whenever they need to use sort of national security in order to unite people or get their agenda across. So it's almost become a tired one, where everyone - if you were to talk to them and you interview South Koreans, they'll all say, reunification is necessary. Do they want it?They would pause. Do they want to pay for 25 million North Koreans?Do they want refugees?They don't really want that.

turn 3 : The speaker is suggesting that the issue of reunification is often politically manipulated and has become a tired symbol. Despite many South Koreans acknowledging the necessity of reunification, they may not be willing to deal with the potential consequences such as the financial burden of supporting North Koreans and accepting refugees.

What is the potential consequence that many South Koreans may not be willing to deal with despite acknowledging the necessity of reunification?

Answer: Consequences


Oh. . .

. . . Believe and understand it should be.

. . . A large number.

But. . .

turn 2 : It implies that A believe and understand what B means to a large extent.

Which word describes PersonA's understanding of PersonB's statement?

Answer: Large


He apologized for the messages and essentially blamed the fact that he worked really long days and often used this group chat to - as he said, you know, relieve stress. That did not sit well with people, obviously. He ended up, like you said, having to ask most of his inner circle to step down. But that has not appeased anyone. The outcry and the demands for his resignation have only grown. Not only from his political opponents - also, essentially everyone within his own party here in Puerto Rico has abandoned him. And now there is talk within the legislature of beginning the process of removing him from office if he doesn't step down on his own.

And has he said that he is considering it?Or what is he saying about that possibility?

No, he's basically dug his feet in and has said he is not going to resign. He said he was, you know, elected governor by the people of Puerto Rico, feels like he has a lot of work to do and intends to continue doing it. A big question is obviously how because he has lost the confidence of everyone within his government, and no one really sees him having the capital needed to govern.

That is NPR's Adrian Florido joining us from San Juan.

turn 0 : The person in question had to ask his close associates to resign due to the controversy

Which people had to be asked to resign by the person in question?

Answer: InnerCircle


Do the doctors in these cases have any sort of ethical obligations with regards to the number of embryos?

I think they really do. Mega multiple births - seven, eight babies - are, as you pointed out, hugely risky, very dangerous to the mother. I don't know of any case where some of the children were not severely disabled as a result of prematurity or complications. The doctors have to try and do what they can to avoid it. And to be blunt, anybody who would transfer embryos - seven or eight embryos at a time - into a woman, I think, is basically close to malpractice.

And if you super-ovulated a woman using drugs, you've got to monitor that woman very, very closely. And if you see too many eggs, I think you need to advise them they better not have sexual relations or artificial insemination. They're going to make too many babies.

So if that took place, if the latter took place, what could they say to the mother and what they can legally do?I mean, isn't really up to the mother whether or not she carries these babies?

turn 1 : Transferring seven or eight embryos at a time into a woman is close to malpractice

How many embryos is close to malpractice according to A?

Answer: Seven


Well, I was abused by a priest when I was a child. And it caused me a great deal of difficulty with my life afterwards. I had a lot of problems with anxiety and depression.

How old were you when it happened?

I had just turned 13. I was in a children's hospital. And the priest who assaulted me was the Catholic chaplain of the hospital. And he also took indecent photographs, which had a lasting effect on me.

You were one of two sexual abuse survivors on the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors. Yet you resigned March 1. Can you tell us why?

I did because I accepted the appointment to the commission in the hope that the church was really beginning to show, you know, a sincere wish to change. And after three years, I resigned on some specific issues. But, basically, it was the resistance from some quarters in the Vatican to actually change.

Does it surprise you that someone as high up as Cardinal Pell has been accused?

turn 2 :  "indecent photographs" - This phrase refers to sexually explicit photographs, rather than simply inappropriate or offensive photographs.

How would you describe the type of photographs taken by the priest?

Answer: sexually


This was James Maynard at the University of Montreal.

Yeah, James Maynard, he got the current world record, which is 600. And that was very recently. That was November the 19th he announced it. It was all done on the Internet, and at one stage the record was tumbling at about every half-hour. So, mathematics, which usually takes place over months and years, for a period of a few months was going gangbusters fast. And this record was tumbling down. It seems to have settled at 600. It might creep down. I don't think the methods that we've got now will bring us down to 2. But 2 is within grasp. And because this ancient problem about 2 is within grasp, I would say 2 is absolutely the number of the year in mathematics. It's the number mathematicians have been talking about.

Keith, are there implications for this finding for those of us who think it's got nothing to do with us whatsoever should know nevertheless?

turn 3 : 4) A: "You can bet that whenever there's an advance to do with prime numbers, the intelligence community is absolutely on top of it. Because in our knowledge of the prime numbers lies pretty well all of the secret codes that we use for communications around the world. It's all to do with the difficulty of computing some of the things we know theoretically happen in mathematics."

What lies in our knowledge of prime numbers?

Answer: Secretcodes


Well - I mean, I believe on Friday, certainly a lot of people thought that they had a deal in hand. Senator Schumer left the White House thinking that it was very close. And he says it got undone somewhere in the White House. It's not clear. . .

Well, I can't speak to that. I wasn't a part of that. But I don't think it was probably quite as imminent as they thought.

Look, I think the president's actually been very clear about the things that he wants. He wants to address border security, he wants to deal with chain migration, and he wants to deal with the lottery. And he's certainly willing to provide legal status for DREAMers. So if those are your four principle points and they've been known for months, there ought to be a way to reach an agreement.

Border security means a wall?

turn 3 : B implies that they are skeptical that border security means a wall.

How does PersonB feel about the meaning of border security?

Answer: Skeptical


You know, and you're not going to get, you know, 80,000, you know, ticket-holders to hold it down. So you know, you just kind of figured out - you know, some days I've toughed it out. Some days I've gone on air with a very bad migraine, because that's my job.

Has anyone ever just run a tackle into you by accident, shaken up your brain, anything?

I have never been sideline road-kill. I've made it a point to always know where the action is and to not get caught up in it. There are times, though, when my back is turned, I'm doing a stand-up, for example, and you could see everybody. Their eyes are getting big, and they're just kind of like - you know, my cameraman's really good about pulling me out of the way.

So no, I haven't had any kind of brain scramble to that extent, but yeah, I can see where you're going. A lot of these players who suffer from concussions, eventually, you know, sometimes they can turn into migraine sufferers as well.

turn 2 : The reporter tries to avoid getting caught up in the action.

What does the reporter's cameraman do when the reporter's back is turned?

Answer: Pulling


Thank you. My mistake.

. . . Just 10 days apart.

We included France, which is nice. I apologize.

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

turn 2 : A forgot to include France in something but is apologizing for the oversight.

Answer: Apologize


So it's like, your mind can't be stuck on this. You're just like, I'm here, so I'm trying to figure out, how do I even go to school, try to look nice, so the kids don't roast you?You're trying to figure out, how do I talk?How do I, you know, engage?But now we kind of just laugh at it. We make jokes out of anything. That's how I cope with a lot of stuff. I just make jokes about it or just laugh about it. Hip-hop is rooted - was birthed in New York. So it's like there's a history of, like, flipping your story into something positive. And then, you know, we're still here. You know, everybody's alive. Everybody's living, doing their own stuff, trying to chase their dreams. So we try to keep the energy, like, positive and optimistic - you know?- because that's the only way, I feel like, to really live a good life.

(Singing) What's up with you?Won't stop loving you. How you want me to?

Rapper Thutmose on his debut album, "Man On Fire. "Producer Christina Cala caught up with him at the South by Southwest Music Festival.

(Rapping) Tell me what your view is. She from Malibu. She want to hang out with the cool kids.

turn 0 : roast you means to make fun of you, not literally cooking someone

Answer: Fire


What is your guideline?When do you tell an officer he or she has to start recording?

NOPD policy requires them to record the entire encounter until any police action has ceased. So what we're finding out though sometimes the cameras aren't on. Sometimes they aren't wearing the cameras. And those are clear violations, but then there were also supervisors telling officers things like turn it off during, you know, sensitive matters, but not defining what a sensitive matter could be.

We're also hearing complaints that only parts of interactions are being recorded. That's one of the things we're hearing now. So the misconduct is occurring off-camera, but then they're recording, you know, perfectly professional encounters on camera. So that's one of the things we're also hearing now. And. . .

That's a big complaint and, of course, you wouldn't have any - ironically or incongruously - you wouldn't have a video record of that misconduct, but you would have a video record of them doing it right.

turn 2 : Officers are selectively recording only parts of interactions, thereby hiding misconduct that occurs off-camera and only recording interactions that appear to be professional.

What are officers selectively doing during interactions?

Answer: Recording


That's correct.

. . . Epstein's lawyers. OK, because I was asking about Epstein's lawyers.

Oh. Well, he - they aren't saying anything right now. They haven't seen the charges. So until they see the charges, I don't know how much they really want to say. They want to understand what they're up against to start with.

And so what are the lawyers for the victims saying?

Well, like I said, they were shocked, stunned. I don't think - I think that they suspected that something was happening with the Southern District of New York, which was investigating this and brought the charges. But I don't think they thought that it would happen this fast. I thought they thought it would be a very long process to try to get him. That's what makes me suspect that maybe they have a very good witness on their side.

turn 0 : "understand what they're up against" implies understand what they're confronted with.

How does PersonA describe the reaction of the victims' lawyers?

Answer: Shocked


Fall color is peaking in New York's Adirondack Mountains. There's already been a first dusting of snow on the summits. North Country Public Radio's Brian Mann set out in his canoe to take in autumn's big show near Lake Placid, and he sent us back this audio postcard.

I'm paddling up the Chubb River, wildness all around me, tamaracks here by the shore and willows. This could easily be northern Canada. It's really crisp out here. You can really taste fall now in the air. And there is this kind of stained-glass look to the hillsides, like splashes of crimson red. I mean, just truly tropical red.

There's brilliant sun, and the maple and birch are lit up. As the river winds into the mountain valley, it narrows and narrows again, so I'm squeezing through a vein of water to get to the hiking trail, willow branches squeaking against the canoe. I pass a beaver lodge and turn. And suddenly, I'm right on top of a pair of indignant mallards that go whirring into the sky.

All right, guys, don't mean to scare you.

turn 1 : It could be Canada because of the weather and the way it looks.  The hillsides have a large variety of trees that have different colored leaves on them.

Answer: Chubb


It certainly looks like he has taken a fatal downturn, and he needs to turn his campaign around totally. And he needs to show us that he really wants it. He has the organization, the money. There is still time. There'll be more debates. He can do it if he really wants it, but he's got to show us that.

A lot of talk about the way CNBC ran the debate. And as a matter of fact, the Republican National Committee has suspended its agreement with NBC for a later debate. How do you read this?

Another effective counterpunch, really. Moderators had tough questions here. They were challenging, and they bordered at times on the insulting, contemptuous. The candidates were bristling at this. And then Ted Cruz really unloaded on it with a big screed about the mainstream media bias, and it brought down the house - very sympathetic audience, by the way. And all of the candidates started fighting back, things got unruly. And then after the debate, the candidates' staffs all complained to the Republican National Committee chairman, and he pulled the plug on NBC's contract. You know, we're going to have some - probably see some format changes here with regard to some of the other upcoming debates on other networks that the Republicans have contracted with.

Regardless of any political motives, could the debate format stand some tinkering after we've seen three of them?

turn 2 : The implication of this statement is that the RNC pulled the plug on NBC's contract as a result of the reaction that the candidates had to the debate format, not necessarily due to any political motives.

What was the reason behind the RNC's decision to suspend its agreement with NBC?

Answer: Debate


Our hope is that the cessation of violence is imperative if there is to be some semblance of normalcy in the election. If this rate of violence continues, then certainly there is no way we can have a free and fair election. We are hoping that when the various delegations of observers start arriving, we may see a decline into these violent activities of the regime and these rogue elements.

You have worked now with MTV to do PSAs that call for a free and fair election. Why did you decide to work with MTV on this?

Well, you know that the background actually started as some form of informal contact, then it developed into a contact with Dispatch group. So Dispatch, which is a youthful band, staged this concert on Zimbabwe. And we are now - I was in New York, I had a meeting with them, and that's how our relationship has developed.

Do you think that global youth, people not just in Zimbabwe, but, you know, in all the different places around the world that, for example, might plug in to public service announcement like this, or just people who are young and are listening to music and, you know, going online for their news, do you think that they can help advocate for the free and fair elections in Zimbabwe?

turn 3 : Young people globally can advocate for free and fair elections

How can global youth help Zimbabwe's elections?

Answer: Advocate


Is this situation just overshadowed by other refugee and humanitarian crises in the world?

I think so. I think its a challenge that, you know, Uganda is the third largest refugee-hosting country in the world now, but I think most people dont realize that. When we think about refugees, we often think about the Syria crisis, which is the world's largest. We think about people who are crossing the Mediterranean. But we're not thinking about the now almost a million people who've crossed this land border into Uganda but have also fled from South Sudan into Kenya and Ethiopia and even into Sudan.

We're also in a situation where the administration has sent very limited aid budgets to Congress. And fortunately because the commitment that Congress continues to show, they've actually rejected those steep cuts to humanitarian aid and provided strong funding - robust funding for humanitarian assistance. But we need to see that funding really get out of the bank accounts in D. C.  and get out to the ground, where it's needed.

Has Uganda been been so welcoming?The international community has thought there's relatively little reason to get involved.

turn 2 : We're also in a situation where the administration has sent very limited aid budgets to Congress. And fortunately because of the commitment that Congress continues to show, they've actually rejected those steep cuts to humanitarian aid and provided strong funding - robust funding for humanitarian assistance. But we need to see that funding really get out of the bank accounts in D.C. and get out to the ground, where it's needed.  Implicated meaning: Despite the administration sending limited aid budgets to Congress, Congress has shown commitment by rejecting steep cuts to humanitarian aid and providing strong funding. However, it is necessary for the allocated funding to be effectively utilized and reach the areas where humanitarian assistance is required.

What has Congress done to the funding for humanitarian aid?

Answer: Strong


It's been wet in Texas this year, really wet, with record amounts of rain, and that means Texas right now is hot, wet and green. This is making the animal world happy, particularly insects. Take the tarantula hawk wasp for example. What - you've never heard of it?Well, it's so big and so nasty that it attacks tarantulas, who are, as you know, themselves big and nasty. Texas Parks and Wildlife invertebrate biologist Ben Hutchins joins me now from Austin to tell us about this wasp. Hi, Ben.

Hi.

OK, so I've been doing a little research and the tarantula hawk can wrestle and then throw these big, hairy Texas tarantulas onto their backs and then sting them into submission. How in the world is this possible?

Well, it's a pretty spectacular show. And, you know, we actually have several different species of tarantula hawk, and each one has its own different approach. So some will actually flip over onto their back and crawl upside down underneath of the tarantula to sting the tarantulas. Others will dart under there and grab the rear leg of the tarantula and then flip it over. And the tarantula hawk will actually use its back legs to pin down the tarantula's fangs to keep itself from getting bit. And then it delivers that sting, usually at a chink in the armor of the tarantula, so at joints in the legs or in the abdomen of the tarantula. And they can sting multiple times as well, so they'll get in there and make sure that that tarantula is paralyzed.

turn 3 : Implied meaning: The speaker is suggesting that they are uncertain about the future outcome of a situation, and are not making any definitive statements or commitments. The tone and context of the statement could suggest that the speaker is being cautious, non-committal, or may be waiting for more information before making a decision.

What is the tone of the speaker in turn 3?

Answer: Uncertain


Do you remember some of the people you were able to help?

I do, yeah. There was a couple in particular who kind of lived in a - not assisted living, but it was designated for elderly couples. And they needed help. I mean, they had almost three feet of water in their home. So you couldn't get there by boat necessarily. And you couldn't get there by lifted Jeep, either. So the only option was to go in with an inflatable kayak. And the husband had just had heart surgery, so it was really difficult getting them out. You know, they needed to bring all their medications and everything.

But we just brought the inflatable kayak into their house and got them out the best way we knew how. The front entrance of their neighborhood was completely blocked off by water. There was a gate entrance. You couldn't even get in, so we had to bust down a fence to the back of the neighborhood to bring them out, so. And that flooding. . .

And let me - you - these were strangers to you. You didn't know who they were.

turn 3 : (4) "And let me - you - these were strangers to you.You didn't know who they were." implies a different meaning from its literal meaning. The speaker is not simply asking for confirmation that the people the other person helped were strangers to them, but rather expressing surprise or admiration that the person was able to help strangers in need.

How did the speaker feel about the person's ability to help strangers?

Answer: Surprised


The United Nations, in a new report, paints a picture of just how violent Venezuela has become. The U. N.  human rights chief says security forces have killed nearly 7,000 people over the past year and a half. She says, quote, "a shockingly high number of these were extrajudicial killings at the hands of what interviewees called death squads. "All as President Nicolas Maduro has vowed to stay in power.

NPR's Philip Reeves joins us now with more on that report. Philip, can you give us a little more detail on what the U. N.  team found in Venezuela?

Yeah. This takes a very broad look at the crisis in Venezuela over the last year up to this May. But a couple of things really leap out at you. One is the treatment of men and women in detention. The report says people are frequently arbitrarily detained and cites evidence of a variety of forms of torture - routinely used, it says - against prisoners by the intelligence or security services, others a form of punishment or to get them to talk. And that includes electric shocks, suffocation by plastic bags, waterboarding and sexual violence.

And the other striking section concerns those extrajudicial killings you mentioned. The Maduro government says, since the beginning of last year, some 7,000 people were killed in security operations, as you mentioned. And it says this was for resisting authority, as it puts it. But the U. N.  rights team believes many of these may be extrajudicial killings.

turn 3 : The Venezuelan government is responsible for many extrajudicial killings.

Which country is the focus of the United Nations' report on violence and extrajudicial killings?

Answer: Venezuela


When you lament where the company is, do you feel there are steps that can be taken to bring it back to the loftier values that, you know, you first believed were true?

Yeah, I think there are steps, but I don't think they're kind of what Uber should do. I think they're what regulators and lawmakers and sort of society should do. I mean, sort of a very easy step would be to, you know, re-examine this independent contractor status of their drivers and see if there's some way to have them be employees or gain some equity in the company. That would be one way.

So basically you're saying, as we're about to hoo and ha over the massive figure of possibly a hundred billion dollars in worth - regulators, pay attention and protect the drivers and the little people in the game?

Yeah. And I think actually, you know, Uber going public may prompt that - which we are seeing strikes. We are seeing protests from drivers. And we're in this moment where lawmakers, presidential candidates, regulators are paying more attention to this industry and its effects on the world. So I don't think Uber's IPO is going to be the end of the story for its drivers and for its culture. I think it's, you know, maybe the beginning of a new, more restrictive, you know, oversight over the company.

turn 2 : Regulators should protect the interests of drivers and other small players in the industry

How should regulators act towards protecting the interests of drivers and other small players in the industry?

Answer: Employee


Hi, how are you?

I'm fine, and we're very glad to have you. Let me ask you about South Carolina's primary, the first in the South. This is supposed to clear out some of the underbrush and let us see which candidates are survivors, also to show us something about this region. Could you give us a thumbnail sketch of why South Carolina matters?

South Carolina, because it's the first in the South, is the first test candidates face as whether or not they will have Southern appeal. And that's a big deal because the entire 11-state South makes up 59 percent of all the Electoral College votes you need to win the presidency in the general election. So if a Republican candidate in the modern era can sweep the South, they become president. But if a Democratic candidate can crack the South with two states, they become president. And South Carolina is the first test of support in this region.

Up to this point now, we've been watching Republican voters react to Donald Trump and Republican candidates try to overtake him. Is South Carolina in 2016 in some kind of position to clarify that?Should we look for anybody to break out maybe in the GOP debate tonight, or is Trump just going to sail through South Carolina and presumably the South?

turn 3 : Implied meaning: Is South Carolina in a position to determine the fate of the Republican primary race between Donald Trump and the other candidates? Will there be any candidates that stand out in the GOP debate tonight, or will Trump be the clear winner?

Which state's primary election is considered as the first test for a candidate's Southern appeal and can determine the fate of the Republican primary race?

Answer: South


Five hundred pages, yeah.

Yeah, it doesn't seem so simple. Republicans seem pretty certain that the tax bill is going to pass. How big a victory would it be?

You know, it's a pretty big deal. All year, Republicans struggled to get anything done, even though they had full control of the federal government. Now they have this big accomplishment they can point to. And I think that was part of the reason here. You saw a lot of Republicans like Bob Corker of Tennessee saying, I have big concerns, but I'm going to vote yes. A lot of people in Congress just wanted to get a victory. But look at the polling. It's not a popular bill.

It's not.

And you can already hear the Democrats putting together their campaign message against this. I mean, they were going to argue Republicans haven't done anything in Congress. Now they can argue the only thing Republicans have done so far is big tax cuts for the wealthy. So you can hear the messages already.

Indeed, you can. Big deal for the Republicans, but it's not the only issue to come up this week. There's a government funding fight that we're looking at on the horizon and the ongoing Russia probe. And this weekend, we're seeing more pushback against the Mueller investigation.

turn 3 : Both A and B agree that the tax bill is not popular

Which bill do PersonA and PersonB agree is not popular?

Answer: Context


Help us understand. Just how good were the Lightning before this collapse?

Oh, quite good. They had 62 wins in the regular season. That tied the all-time NHL record for wins in a season. This was a team that was doing historic things in the regular season. Consider this. Thirty of their 62 victories were by three goals or more. So every time they stepped on the ice, they weren't just winning. They were blowing away their opponents.

So it's safe to say any sane hockey analyst (laughter) basically would have said that the Lightning was going to win the series, right?So what happened?

(Laughter) Well, I think Lightning defenseman Ryan McDonagh put it best. Everything that they did so well in the regular season, the Columbus Blue Jackets did it better in this series. But the bigger picture is this for the Lightning. They clinched a playoff spot in early March. They've been on cruise control for months. The Columbus Blue Jackets had to win seven of their last eight games just to get into the playoffs. So when push came to shove and adversity hit in the series, the Lightning had a bad six days compared to a great 82 games in the regular season, and then they were swept.

turn 1 : "blowing away" in line 2 - The phrase "blowing away" is being used metaphorically here to refer to the Tampa Bay Lightning's dominant performance against their opponents, rather than literal blowing.

Which record did the Tampa Bay Lightning tie in the regular season?

Answer: Record


Investors are ecstatic about central bankers working there. Listen to this, the German DAX Index up about 10 percent, the French CAC 40, up more than nine percent. Now, they are both measures like the Dow 30, which on Wall Street jumped 500 points in the morning.

In Britain, Prime Minister Gordon Brown put $65 billion of government money into three British banks. NPR's Rod Gifford is in London. We're going to him. Rob, hello. I think that people are saying it is this British plan, the so-called British plan that seems to be may be spurring a little bit of a recovery around the world. What is the British government doing, and what does it want in return?

Well, as you say, Alex, Gordon Brown is getting a lot of kudos from this, because he was the one who put this plan forward last week. What they're doing, as you say, is to put a lot of government money that is taxpayer's money, $65 billion worth of it, into three British banks into order to - they hope - free up the bank to bank lending, and the whole crisis of confidence that has struck British banks as it has done elsewhere.

In return - some very important conditions they want in return. Right upfront, leaders of these banks that have got into trouble must step down. Bonuses are being frozen for other executives who stay on and crucially, the demand that these banks maintain mortgage lending and small-business lending at 2007 levels, levels of last year.

turn 2 : The British government is being praised for its plan to save the banks.

How is the British government being perceived for its bank-saving plan?

Answer: Praised


In fact, no. My impression is that the fact that these asylum seekers and the poor conditions in which they lived became public, this is shameful and disgraceful for Hong Kong. And that is what makes them a target.

They're trying to get to Canada. And their association with Snowden may be creating problems there?

It's certainly possible. We completed all of their applications and requested urgent treatment because of their vulnerability in Hong Kong months ago. They initially told us that they were expediting the files. And then two months later, they said that they were not expediting the files. But they didn't say why. And this is why we've decided to go before the court to force the government to meet its commitment - one that our clients relied upon. And now they're at the 11th hour facing imminent detention and eventual inevitable deportation, and Canada is the last hope.

And what is your best guess as to what has prompted what seems like a change of heart on Canada's part?

turn 1 : that the asylum seekers may be facing problems in their attempt to get to Canada, due to their association with Snowden.

What association is creating problems for the asylum seekers in their attempt to get to Canada?

Answer: Association


DR.  MEENAKSHI WADHWA: Thanks, Ira.

Let's talk about your collection. How did you get a collection?

So, this is actually part of a great story too. There's a really famous collector, an Arizonan, Harvey Nininger, who had this wonderful collection. He is probably the person who I would say was responsible for bringing up the science of meteorites to the United States. And he had this great passion for meteorites. Actually, in the natural world in general but a great passion for collecting these space rocks. And he did this in the 1930s and '40s, and he had this wonderful collection, probably the best in the world.

And towards the late 1950s, he actually sold - he was basically deciding what to do with it and wanted it to have a life beyond his at some point and he sold half of it to the British Museum.

Wow.

turn 3 : life beyond his means that something lasts beyond his lifespan

Which word describes what the collector wanted for his collection?

Answer: display


You'd hear it - kind of like a whistling noise. And you'd also hear the trees kind of swaying outside the windows.

After the storm passed, they were able to return to their hospital room, where they slept through the night.

First thing in the morning, I went home to check on my house. I saw multiple trees down in our neighborhood. Some were even close to some of my neighbors' houses. But it was a relief when we found out that my house was intact.

They'd lost a grapefruit tree. Their yard was a mess, though, and the power was out. So Susie went to Gainesville to recover at her parents' house. Ben spent the week cleaning up at home and thinking about what preparations to make for the next hurricane.

turn 2 : The speaker's house was not damaged by the hurricane

Which house was intact after the hurricane?

Answer: My


. . . in HD glory.

. . . up there at sciencefriday. com on our webpage. You can also take it along with you on your iPad or iPhone or Android. But they run - this is an amazing photo. It's - because this thing is huge. It's very long. The antenna is very, very long.

It is very long. And they run it from base to tip through their mouth. And they do this all the time. And Coby Schal wondered, why are they spending all this time grooming?What are they actually grooming off?And he said there have been a lot of hypotheses about this, but no one had actually tested it. So they did a couple of things that are - it's so funny. So first of all, to test why a cockroach grooms, you have to prevent the cockroach from grooming, which presents an interesting challenge: How do you get the cockroach to cooperate with you?

And they came up with something sort of like one of those dog cones that prevents dogs from scratching. But it's a teeny, tiny antenna cone made from the tip of a pipette that they put on the base of the antenna. So the cockroach can't actually pull it down. So on a cockroach now, they have one antenna that's being groomed and they have this other antenna that the cockroach can't groom anymore. So they can see what happens to the dirty antenna, and they find that all of this gunk starts to accumulate on the antenna.

turn 2 : Preventing a cockroach from grooming presents an interesting challenge means it's difficult to get a cockroach to stop grooming

What did they use to prevent the cockroach from grooming?

Answer: Pipette


. . . Strong title. What do you mean by that?

I think it was meant as sort of a nonpartisan way of talking about what's gone on in the confirmation process on Capitol Hill and how both sides have tried to put their thumbs on the scale and try and steer these judicial nominations in the direction they wanted. And so there is bias on it, and it's been bias on both sides, honestly. I know people don't like to talk about both sider-ism these days, but, you know, both parties have had a lot to do with how mucked up the process has gotten.

All right. Well, we'll get to that. But let's start with where you start in the book, where you talk about the importance of a decision that the majority leader Mitch McConnell made - Republican leader - made in February of 2016. What was the decision?

I think this was one of the most consequential decisions in American history, really, as it turned out. We didn't know it that night. But Mitch McConnell is on a - the Senate majority leader is on a vacation in the Caribbean. The news comes out that Justice Antonin Scalia had died. And Mr.  McConnell that evening decided that President Obama, with 11 months left in his term, would not get an appointment to the Supreme Court.

turn 1 : Both political parties have biased the judicial nomination process.

How has both parties affected the judicial nomination process?

Answer: Biased


They had contracts for a five-star hotel in Amman, Jordan. They wound up being held in a room for 45, 50 days without knowing what was going to become of them. They were loaded into gypsy taxicabs, driven down the most dangerous road in the world, the Amman to Baghdad highway, which I think you had some experience with, as well, right?

Indeed, too many times. The Highway of Death.

And, predictively and foreseeably, they were kidnapped from two cars that got away from the rest. It was the first mass execution video of this horrible modern era of terrorist theater that we've all come to know, but it was a blip. The deaths of contractors - it was a parade every day. It was horrible, and it's the most horrible thing I've ever seen in my life. And, sadly, I had to watch it several times just to understand, you know, what happened to them really.

Your book begins with Kamala.

turn 1 : "Highway of Death" implies the Amman to Baghdad highway because of the many deaths and violent incidents that have occurred there.

Which highway is referred to as the "Highway of Death"?

Answer: Amman


Vladimir Putin says the U. S.  airstrikes on Syria were an act of aggression. And yet, despite defiant words and claims that U. S.  missiles were intercepted and did little damage, Russia has not retaliated. To help us understand why, we're joined by Angela Stent of Georgetown University. She's also a State Department veteran from the Clinton and Bush administrations. Good morning.

Good morning. Good to be here.

So can you remind us why Russia has interests in Syria at all?And briefly - I know it's a complicated story.

(Laughter) Well, the short version of this. So the Soviet Union and Syria were allies during the Cold War, at the end of the Cold War. So, you know, Russia lost many of its positions in the Middle East, but that relationship with Syria has always been important. Then Putin was horrified by what happened in the Arab Spring, particularly what happened in Libya, and he was determined to shore up, you know, his ally, his partner in Syria. And he went into Syria in September 2015 in a big way - bombing - really to show the United States and the rest of the world that we were trying to isolate Russia after what happened in Ukraine, but Russia was definitely back. Russia also has its own - only warm-water port in Syria and a significant airbase. And it's really used this intervention now in Syria to increase its influence in the Middle East as the U. S.  has withdrawn.

turn 2 : well refers to good and not a hole dug in the ground

Which word used by PersonA has multiple meanings and is clarified by turn 2?

Answer: Well


Several of them. I mean, Espanola had only 14 individuals left in the 1960s, and then it was 12 females and two males. A third male was found in the San Diego Zoo and brought back to Galapagos (unintelligible) 1975. And there have now been about 2,000 young tortoises released back to that island through the reproduction program at the tortoise center here on Santa Cruz.

The same holds true for several of the other populations. I would say many of the populations are out of danger. But we're still, given the exploitation from the 1800s, the total tortoise population of Galapagos is still about 10 to 20 percent of the original population. So we have a long way to go to bring them back to the original populations.

A couple of questions tweeted and asked by listeners of the same ilk, saying: Would it be possible to clone him?

OK, this is an interesting thing, and we are trying to save some of Lonesome George's tissues, cells. Cloning in reptiles has really not been developed at all, and we're doing - a few mammals seem to be doing OK, but in general the technology, the methodology to actually clone reptiles is decades away.

So hopefully they will be able to maintain cells as in cryogenics, and who knows in the future, but at the moment, it would be impossible.

turn 0 : "released back to that island through the reproduction program" - This implies that young tortoises were bred in captivity and then reintroduced to the wild on the island of Espanola to increase the population, rather than just physically released.

What was the purpose of the reproduction program for tortoises on the island of Espanola?

Answer: Increase


Hi.

So we're going to start off with a letter about a rule known as the 72(t) rule. It comes from Joan Fantasia(ph). She lives here in Los Angeles. She's a retired journalist from the L. A.  Times. She's 53 years old. And she asks, can you explain the 72(t)?There is no way I can hold out until age 59-and-a-half to get my 401(k) money. What's going on here, Michelle?

Well. The 72(t) rule is a rule from the IRS that states that if you have an IRA, an individual retirement account, you can withdraw a fixed amount of money for a minimum of five years or until you're 59-and-a-half, whichever comes last. That's an important point. So, let's say you're just a year into this and you turn 59-and-a-half, you still have to play out that five-year rule. So it's whichever comes last. And basically owners have to still pay ordinary income on the distribution, but you don't have to pay that 10 percent penalty. So, since she's so close, she could utilize this. But you have to be very, very careful about that because if you miscalculate and you don't take enough or you take too much, you're going to be hit with that 10 percent penalty.

Here's a more general question. This comes from Loreen Lynn(ph). And she says, I am a fool with money. Is there a general book or books that cover the basics of finance?What do you recommend, Michelle?

turn 1 : B is changing the subject to ask about the 72(t) rule instead of just saying hi.

Which rule does PersonB ask about instead of just saying hi?

Answer: 72(t)


They're all priceless.

Exactly.

Tell us about the priceless ones in your collection. How many do you have in your collection?

We have about - in excess of 1,800 different meteorites. If you consider. . .

turn 0 : Indicating that they are priceless means that they have high value.

Answer: Priceless


Hopeful or not, I think the obvious answer is yes, I am a student of Zimbabwe, I am still very hopeful. But we are calling on President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa always been mandated by SADC to meet it in the Zimbabwe crisis, to look seriously in (unintelligible) and move away from this quiet diplomats which is not producing the desired result, and probably as the AU summit sits on Saturday with eight African leaders to take a position on Zimbabwe. The deployment of a peacekeeping mission is now long overdue. The people of Zimbabwe have suffered enough.

Clever, I want to thank you so much for talking with us.

You are welcome. Thank you very much.

Clever Bere is president of Zimbabwe's National Student Union. He spoke with us from Harare, Zimbabwe.

turn 0 : Simultaneous use of soft-laser for exposure to the cochlea and administration of Ginkgo biloba extract for 4 weeks on a 20-50% of patients has been reported to be useful. Soft-laser mechanism of action is unknown, but it has been proved that light leads to athermic stimulation of biochemical processes

Which treatment method has been reported to be useful for a certain percentage of patients?

Answer: Treatment


Well, I was there at the time and I didn't think that Ukraine would take off at all. The first problem was that there were no good economic thinkers at all in Ukraine. All the thinking was really done in Moscow. And the other part was political, that Ukraine came together through a coalition of Ukrainian nationalists in the West who wanted to have an independent state and the old corrupt nomenklatura who wanted to stay in power, and in effect they did.

Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians have been camping out in downtown Kiev, calling for change, more of a turn towards the West. What do you make of the protest movement when you have this agreement?Is it the kind of thing that in the West we might see and identify with and therefore maybe exaggerate the strength?

Well, what this is, is not about trade agreement - that's the lesser part. It's about European values. It's about democracy and rule of law. Ukrainians are tired of corruption and poor governance. They want to live as in Europe.

You wrote a book in 2009, "How Ukraine Became a Market Economy and Democracy. "

turn 2 : The actual meaning is different from its literal meaning. The speaker is saying that the protest movement in Ukraine is not just about a trade agreement with the West, but rather about the desire for European values, democracy, and the rule of law. The literal meaning would be that the protest movement is not solely focused on trade agreements.

Answer: Corruption


The resignation of Michael Flynn as national security adviser came after leaks from anonymous sources inside the intelligence community. Anonymous sources have always been a source of tips for reporters, but they've been especially prominent in the first days of the Trump administration. Last night, President Trump called the American news media the enemy of the people. NPR's David Folkenflik joins us. David, thanks for being with us.

Always.

When The Washington Post broke this story, they cited nine current and former officials and said they spoke on condition of anonymity. What kind of editorial decision-making goes in to having a report like this appear?

You can be sure that this rocketed up to the very top of the news hierarchy at a newsroom like The Post. Just the very fact that they took nine sources that they clearly went out of their way to try to check, cross-check, double-check and question what they were about to report that the stakes were that high, that the ramifications of what they were going to report would be so significant that they were going to take this very seriously indeed. And I think you can see that by the solidity of the reporting as far as we know so far. And I think that's also a reflection of how uncertain this story has been to date. You know, if - you may remember before the election, The New York Times had reported that the FBI had found that there were no signs of, you know, such contacts. And I think on this subject, there's a care being given by The Post, by The Times and by other serious news organizations.

turn 1 : This is an expression of agreement, but it also implies that the speaker is willing to continue the discussion.

What does the PersonA's turn in the dialogue imply?

Answer: engagement


If Ms.  Sadler did - and that's something that the McCain family or Ms.  Sadler can comment on - those are private conversations, if, in fact, they happened. What I can tell you is that from the White House's standpoint, the alleged comments came in an internal meeting, and I can't comment any further.

In an interview with NPR on Friday, chief of staff Kelly said of undocumented immigrants, they're not criminals but not people who would easily assimilate into the United States into our modern society. They're overwhelmingly rural people. In the counties they come from, fourth-, fifth-, sixth-grade educations are kind of the norm. They don't speak English. They don't have skills. But as a number of experts have pointed out, that statement John Kelly made is just not true.

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.

turn 1 : This statement implies that that undocumented immigrants are uneducated, rural, and lack English proficiency, and therefore, cannot assimilate into modern society, is a biased and stereotypical view.

How does Chief of staff Kelly describe undocumented immigrants in the United States?

Answer: Undocumented


That's right, that's right, and we essentially within the DNA give the instructions for that cell to read out the viral protein.

OK, so you put the cell to work, and then what happens?What's the second stage?

Well, then after a few months, we come back and we boost the immune response, and we can do that in one of two ways. We can actually inject the standard inactivated vaccine, the one that you and I get every year in our flu shot, or we can also do it by using a different type of carrier, a viral vector, an adenovirus, that can do the same thing.

In our human studies, we've actually done it with the standard flu vaccine.

turn 0 : The cell doesn't literally "read" the protein, it merely reacts to the stimili.

How does the cell respond to the viral protein?

Answer: Reacts.


And so if we organize the production and the processing and distribution of organic foods on a large scale, there's efficiencies to be had. This is actually kind of an experiment, a test. You know, how much of the extra costs that you pay when you buy organic food - how much of that is just the fragmented nature of the business?How much of it is the small-scale aspect?And how much of it is inherent in organic production?

Well, there's no question that Walmart is kind of the king of logistics. But if you talk to some of their suppliers, they'll also complain that Walmart is the king of squeezing them and making them produce the product ever more cheaply at their own expense.

Right. So you could say this is a threat to some organic producers who are used to higher margins. On the other hand, I mean, the organic production is expanding, and if Walmart wants large quantities, they may have to outbid other producers. There is a limit right now on the amount of organic food for sale. They say they want to expand that, and there's no reason why they couldn't. There's lots of land out there. Right now, organic is actually a very small part of American food production, people say 5 percent or less. So there's no reason why Walmart couldn't expand organic production if they offered a good price. The question is can they do it cheaply?

Part of this has to do with trust. Are people going to stop going to Whole Foods and go over to Walmart 'cause they can get the eggs $2 cheaper?I'm a little skeptical.

turn 3 : Implied meaning: The speaker's tone or body language suggests that they may be withholding information or not fully expressing their thoughts and feelings on the topic at hand.

How does the PersonA's tone/body language come across in turn 3?

Answer: Withholding


Yes. Everywhere we looked, we found these networks using very, very similar tactics. And often, not - they're different from what I think we have seen in the U. S.  elections where Russian operatives set up groups for a very long time. And also, like, in European countries, we saw those groups operating for years, sometimes starting as a lifestyle page or a movie page, and then slowly, but surely, shifting to becoming a far-right page. That is a clear, deceptive tactic to pull in more and more people into their stories.

And this disinformation that you were finding - it tended to skew to the far-right, or were people on the far-left - were there other groups skewing it in different directions?

Yes. So we started looking at what actual disinformation is spreading and looked who's spreading is. And time and again, we went down a rabbit hole to the far-right. But in Italy, for example, we also found a lot of populist, but they're not far-right parties. So it was not only far-right, but mainly far-right - what we found in our research.

And you said you went down the rabbit hole of who was creating this. Just speak a little bit more about that. Was this official groups, random individuals - or can you even tell?

turn 2 : Far-right parties were the main spreaders of disinformation.

Which political groups spread most of the disinformation according to the research?

Answer: Far-right


A year or so ago, the world was turned upside down - or part of the world was turned upside down - when we decided that it was it OK to say over ten instead of more than ten. And the internet change has brought a lot of reaction, too. Somebody tweeted, after we announced the change, AP has lowercased internet. Somewhere tonight, galaxies are burning.

(Laughter) And you know what?The AP and NPR will be there to cover them.

Absolutely.

Tom Kent, standards editor of the Associated Press. Thanks so much.

turn 1 : The controversy and uproar caused by the change to saying "over ten" instead of "more than ten" is amusing.

Answer: Controversy


I suspect that more than a wee dram has been ingested in Scotland, particularly over the past few months, between people grousing about being under the thumb of London and the U. K. In the end, did a lot of Scots decide they kind of like the English?

I really don't think this is a kind of loving of Britain. I think that we had a double negative affect here rather than a positive embrace of what's British. It was more to do with a fear of how we might mess up if we go it alone, I think. There is just something within the Scottish psyche, I think. It's fairly confrontational, the psychology of the Scots. We tend to not wholeheartedly embrace something and say, you know, oh God, we love being British or we love you or, you know, we'll say, ah, you're not bad. You know, that's a very Scottish expression. I think that's what we've done with England and the rest of the U. K.  You know what; it's not that bad rather than suddenly discovering our Britishness.

Ewan Morrison, author and screenwriter, author of "Tales From The Mall," joining us from Glasgow, Scotland - still the U. K. Thanks very much for being with us.

Thank you for having me.

turn 1 :  "It was more to do with a fear of how we might mess up if we go it alone" - The actual meaning is figurative, as the fear of the unknown future is not a physical object that can be "done" or "messed up", but rather a concept or emotion.

What was the reason for the Scottish not wholeheartedly embracing something?

Answer: Fear


It's out of sight. It's really high. We have actual concentrations and standards that are somewhere like four, five times lower than that. So, these are all very, very high numbers, even when they're low on the Chinese scale.

It sounds as though you could project things ahead for the beginning of the Olympics. What would you expect?

Well, it's pretty good right now. But I've just been looking at the extended forecast for winds, and the middle of next week, things are going to change quite radically, around the 3rd or the 4th. The big high-pressure system from out over the Pacific is going to kick in, and that's going to produce strong winds coming over the polluted areas to the south of Beijing, and it's going to pick up a lot of pollution. And according to these forecasts, it's going to be a pretty dirty end of next week. And unfortunately, that coincides with the Opening Ceremonies a week from today.

Ken, these are official Chinese numbers that you're working with, and you are sitting there in Rhode Island looking at these. Are the numbers trustworthy?

turn 3 : (4) Implied meaning: Can you trust the accuracy of the Chinese air pollution numbers?

Which number is Ken looking at in Rhode Island?

Answer: Numbers


You know, this is a very opaque system in Iran. And it's tough to sometimes know to what extent an action was sanctioned from the very top. And in some ways, President Trump gave Iran an out by saying that this was just a big mistake. This was a misunderstanding.

Could have been a junior officer somewhere or something like that.

Exactly.

Could it have been a junior officer somewhere?

turn 1 : The speaker suggests that a junior officer may have been responsible for the action, not a higher-ranking official.

What kind of officer might have been responsible for the action?

Answer: Junior


In the book, you describe what could be seen as a very mundane moment. Stax's owner, Jim Stewart, seated at a small desk in a small office. And across from him at the same desk is a man named Al Bell. I'd like you to read just a little bit for us.

(Reading) Jim was white. Al was black. Jim owns Stax Records. Al was joining the staff to promote the records - get them played, get them sold. It was 1965 in Memphis, Tennessee, the heart of the American South. Throughout this wide region, race mixing was nothing short of an assault on the social realm. Inside Stax Records, whites and blacks had worked side by side for half a decade. People who couldn't publicly dine together were making beautiful music that the public - black and white - loved to hear.

There was a core group that became kind of a house band.

Booker T and the MGs.

turn 1 : The second turn implies that Jim and Al working together at the same desk was an act of defiance against the racial norms of the time.

Which racial norms were defied by Jim and Al working together?

Answer: segregation


Yeah. They're like, oh, my God. Make that face again. That's so funny. But it's not like that. And the reason I talked about it and shared when I did was because there started to be all these compilations of my tics that were made by the fans, which they just thought it was, like, goofy Billie is making a bunch of faces. And they're funny. Let's make a video about it, which is, of course, out of love. And they think that's funny. And they didn't - they don't know, you know?

O'CONNELL: Especially if they think you're doing them on purpose, then it's totally out of love.

They think I'm doing it on purpose. But I felt almost, like, attacked in a way, which was kind of stupid. But it's something like I've lived with my whole life and, like, not been open about because I didn't want it to label me, you know?

Sure, you don't want the whole - that to be the second sentence of every every paragraph about you.

turn 0 : "And they're funny.Let's make a video about it, which is, of course, out of love." - The implied meaning here is that the fans are making videos out of love for Billie, but they do not realize that these tics are a result of a neurological condition.

How did the fans react to Billie's tics?

Answer: Funny


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

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

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

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

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

Which two women have backgrounds in regulation and policy?

Answer: Carol


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

Well. . .

Stega-, sounds almost like a dinosaur.

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

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

turn 4 : B is asking for a more detailed explanation of the difference between steganography and encryption

How is PersonB trying to clarify the distinction between steganography and encryption?

Answer: Clarify


Well, they're very angry, obviously. I mean, in Argentina, they're already facing really very hard times. Inflation there is among the highest in the world. The economy is - you know, they've got this boom-and-bust economy that's right now in such a mess that the government very controversially decided to sign on to this huge $56 billion IMF bailout. There are strikes and protests over President Mauricio Macri's austerity program, regularly.

And right now, Steve, there's a very highly charged political environment - I mean, even more highly charged than usual - because presidential elections are coming up in October. Macri's fighting to keep his job in the face of a remarkable resurgence by the former president, Cristina Kirchner, who's running with her former cabinet chief, this time on a ticket to be vice president, despite a stack of corruption charges against her.

Plenty of debate to come on who can keep the lights on. Philip, thanks so much.

You're welcome.

NPR's Philip Reeves.

turn 0 : The situation in Argentina is very bad due to high inflation, strikes and protests, and the government's decision to sign a huge IMF bailout.

What is causing the political environment to become more highly charged than usual in Argentina?

Answer: Elections


You know, the study that came out I think is scaring people in thinking that you're going to have to through like a two year master program to learn how to have black kids, if you're white parents. And it's honestly, you could probably knock it out in two hours. It's really not that difficult, there's a few things that you should know. And bringing your kids up in a diverse neighborhood is the most important of that.

And then, you know, if you have friends that are the same race of your kids, you just, you ask them for questions, and it's helpful to have them as a resource, it's something you definitely want to keep next to you when you're raising your kids.

My sister and I made my parents cooler by bringing in some color to the Stigger family. And that's the benefit of it. It is a little more work as parent, but you get so much more out of it. And it definitely helped me and my sister to have the viewpoints of two white people and still have the viewpoints of us as biracial kids.

If you were talking to someone who was, you know, say 10-years-old, what kind of advice would you give that age a person for dealing with an experience like yours?

turn 0 : black kids implies children of African American people and not black colored kids

Which type of kids is implied by the term "black kids" in the conversation?

Answer: African


So do you think this would leave us in a better or worse position after these talks?I mean, it's a question whether or not this will actually go anywhere.

Well, it's - I mean, there's always a possibility that you would have the division laid out and follow-up meetings that strengthen that effort, and it goes somewhere productive. And that's what we all hope for. We'd like to see a denuclearized Korean peninsula. But I suspect it will be more of a pronouncement in which the two countries express interest in that direction. And then the details will get bogged down.

Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon, thank you so much for speaking with us.

You're very welcome. Take care now.

turn 1 : The talks don't move, but they would cause people to have more talks that could cause events to happen.

What would be the outcome of the talks according to turn 1?

Answer: Stimulus


And the early history of baseball is replete with teams that raided other teams for their catchers.

Oh, and particularly in the 1870s that the best teams were the ones with the best catchers. You really couldn't be successful without one. And Deacon White stood above everybody else to the point where he played on five consecutive championship teams. And he went from team to team and the championship just followed him around wherever he went.

He was quite a good hitter too.

He was a great hitter. He was a way above-average hitter, playing a position where, you know, the defense was so all-encompassing as a skill that you could, you know, you could really just put anybody there if they could field the position and not worry about their bat. But he was a consistent . 300 and above hitter.

turn 2 : hitter refers to as a skilled gamer or sportsman

What was Deacon White known for apart from being a catcher?

Answer: Hitting


That's what won, finally, the attention of the old man. And only when he was tough did the old man respect him. And I think when his father became incapacitated, Bobby began to resort to who he was as a kid. As a kid, he was - he hung around all the time with African-American kids. Those were his playmates, even in Hyannis. He was - he, you know, Father Feeney - when Father Feeney said no salvation outside the Catholic Church, he railed against that, which was so extraordinary in that very Catholic family.

You know, Ralph Bunche - he insisted that that great African-American statesman get to speak to a integrated audience at UVA when he was in charge of the lecture series down there. There's all kinds of evidence of Bobby in the beginning being a liberal in the best sense of that word. And I think it just came more to life after Jack was gone and after the old man was out of action.

Will American voters these days - and donors and journalists, for that matter - let a public figure change in public the way Robert Kennedy did?

Well, I think the hardest thing for him - and to me, the sweetest part of the book - was his evolution on Joe McCarthy. There's no doubt that he loved the guy. It came through right to the end when he was driving in the car at National Airport. And Kathleen, his young daughter, said he was so stricken by the news that McCarthy had just drank himself to death at Bethesda Naval Hospital that he drove around the airport three times. He was just distraught.

turn 2 : (3) Implied meaning: Will modern society be open to and tolerant of a public figure's change in opinion?

Answer: book


How do you think people view the people that you grew up with now?

Well, I think - especially when we're talking about Appalachia, I think it's the same stereotypes we've been dealing with forever. I got off a plane in Arizona, and the person who was driving me said, you know, what do people where you come from think of your books?And before I could answer, she said, or can they read?

Oh.

And I looked at her, and I was kind of angered by that. But at the same time, I don't think she meant it that way. But I said, you know, of course we can read. And we even got shoes, you know. I think, in a lot of ways, we're dealing with the same stereotypes we've dealt with forever.

turn 1 : "Well, I think - especially when we're talking about Appalachia, I think it's the same stereotypes we've been dealing with forever." Implication: The speaker believes that people from Appalachia are often subject to negative stereotypes that persist over time.

What stereotypes is the speaker referring to?

Answer: Appalachia


Well, you're a gifted counselor. What do you think it might be?

I think it's triggering our students who have already experienced trauma and secondary trauma, and they've seen things. And we've seen students go through all kinds of emotional reactions during drills - panic and sadness and grief and fear because during those drills, you really don't know what's happening.

Given your history, given what you do now, given how close you come to some of these terrible issues, issues that are often too terrible to contemplate - if there are any one, two or three things you can change or say need to be done right now, what would they be?

I think our schools are doing everything they possibly can to make the environment safe. And I think one of the things that needs to change is it is not a conversation just for our schools anymore. What's happening is our world and our society are now entering our schools. And so we need to address our world and our society.

turn 3 : Schools alone cannot solve the issue of safety, society as a whole needs to address it.

Answer: Address


Did you get an answer?

We did not. I guess - I suppose an answer in sort we're saying why; we don't know when it's going to be released. And then as we dug into it further, the answer that we really got was it was a White House decision.

You're hearing this from who - from - when you're reaching out to the Pentagon, they're telling you - ask the White House?

Correct. Yes.

turn 1 : They asked more questions to find out the answer and got one.

Which word describes what PersonA and PersonB were seeking in the dialogue?

Answer: Answer


Well, there's no secret about this. The chief justice has been very clear. He doesn't want the court to be seen as a partisan institution. The other members of the court, both liberal and conservative, go around saying that this isn't a partisan institution at all. That's the message they want to convey, which is sort of hard at the moment.

But is that possible in this day and age, when we know by their - in their own account, conservative Republicans have tried to win elections so they can win Supreme Court appointments and you have several Democrats running for president now on the issue of enlarging the court?

You know, I wish I knew whether it's even possible anymore to have a Supreme Court that doesn't look partisan. I had always thought you really could. But if you look at the two cases before the court that are overtly partisan, the gerrymandering case and the census case, both would structurally allow Republicans to entrench their power even more than they have in the last decade or two. And I think it gets harder to sell the court as an apolitical institution, which is, as I said, what every member of the Supreme Court still tries to do.

You know, I interviewed Justice Stevens about a month and a half ago for a piece about his new book. And even he, a lifetime Republican, although deemed a Liberal on the court, appointed by President Ford, said it was hard for him to see the current court as apolitical. He said he still has hope, and so do I, but it's difficult.

turn 2 : The gerrymandering and census cases before the Supreme Court would allow Republicans to increase their political power.

Answer: Gerrymandering


She says, look, we've got to do something some investment on sort of global warming issues, energy, independence issues. Let's use the recession to start creating a green economy.

Now, when you look at someone who is no longer in the race, John Edwards, he was often portrayed by supporters and portrayed himself as someone who was going to make ending poverty the center of his campaign. How would his approach have differed from both Senators Obama and Clinton?

Well, actually it turns out at the end of the day, the Edwards approach is fairly similar to sort of a combination of the Clinton and Obama proposals, and that's not surprising. Because John Edwards was the person who came out with a plan first - I thought it was the best plan - and the other candidates fit in in a lot of issues, actually copied John Edwards. In fact, John Edwards was - has truly been a forcing figure during this election, compelling Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, both, to be more progressive than they might otherwise have been.

Well, let's talk a little bit about political philosophy. We've talked a bit about trickle-down economics, but then there's also the model of the government getting directly involved. Certainly ending the great depression by creating jobs itself - everything from jobs for writers and artists to road building, infrastructure. That does not seem to be a model that's been followed, certainly not to that extent - in decades. Is that even on the table, the whole prospect of the government actually stepping in and doing job creation itself?

turn 1 : "How would his approach have differed from both Senators Obama and Clinton?" - The literal meaning is a question about how John Edwards' approach to ending poverty would differ from the approaches of Senators Obama and Clinton. The actual meaning is a question about the policy differences between the three candidates.

How was John Edwards' plan similar to a combination of Clinton and Obama proposals?

Answer: Similar


Well, the French have the best intelligence and penetration of their communities in Europe. So there's going to be, as Eleanor said, a search for accomplices. The eight gunmen were killed. Seven of them blew themselves up with suicide belts, and one was shot. And Hollande restricted border access right away last night 'cause there's this concern that suspects or accomplices could escape. So this is actually exactly what happened during the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris earlier this year. You'll recall there was a gunman who took hostages in a kosher market. And police were searching for a woman that was with him. It turns out to be his wife. And as they were searching for her, she suddenly surfaced in Syria with ISIS. So they've put all these travel restrictions in place in hopes of avoiding a repeat of that.

Dina, France bristles with visible security. This is the second major attack in a year. What makes France this target?

Well, there's sort of a perfect storm going on in France. It's the third highest - it has the third highest number of foreign fighters who've gone to Syria from Europe. About 200 of those people have returned to France. And that's just too many people to keep an eye on. I mean, in fact, during the Charlie Hebdo attacks, they said one of the reasons why they stopped watching the Charlie Hebdo attackers was because they thought they had more severe threats that they needed to keep an eye on.

NPR's Dina Temple-Raston, thanks so much.

turn 0 : The French government is taking extra steps to ensure that any potential accomplices do not escape.

How did Hollande respond to the possibility of suspects or accomplices escaping?

Answer: Restricted


Yeah.

Now, from what I hear you saying, you don't want to clean it out. You want to get more stuff in there. You're going to be cleaning out the good bacteria, would you not?

Well, that is a possibility. Although if you have problems, you clearly have some bad bacteria there that would be - that you could possibly clear out as well. What we're thinking is that perhaps something like a nasal clear out with saline are indeed anti-microbial, coupled with these rehabilitation approaches. So when you it clear it out, that you reinstate the appropriate organisms at that site, that that might be the best approach we could take for treatment.

And that, you know, 15 percent of chronic rhinosinusitis sufferers are - have good outcomes and resolved their disease symptoms with anti-microbials. So clearly, we're missing a part of the picture. We're currently - there's something missing that we need to add, and we think it's restoration of these organisms that may actually maintain a balanced immune response of these site and protect these mucosal surfaces. We actually think that something kind of an equivalent of a microbial shield at these sites (unintelligible).

turn 2 : A suggests using anti-microbial and rehabilitation approaches to clear out bad bacteria and reinstate appropriate organisms.

What is the approach that PersonA suggests to reinstate appropriate organisms?

Answer: Restoration


Yeah. It's just pretty much everything.

Yeah.

But overall, is this space open to entrepreneurs of color?This space - meaning online social networking. Is there still room for new innovation?

Yeah. I think that's a great question and it absolutely is. I mean if anything, what we've seen now and what I've been preaching is that we need to start being more niche. More niche-focused is actually the better. So we come from a long way of having these broad sites that would just aggregate a whole bunch of people and just be this commercialized area to now to seeing real value and having super niche sites. It's kind of this whole thing that goes back to this idea of the long tale having fewer people that may be really passionate about a certain thing, than having a lot of people that may not really ultimately be interested.

turn 2 : Entrepreneurs of color may face challenges in the online social networking space

Which group of individuals may have difficulties in the online social networking space?

Answer: Entrepreneurs


We just have this mythology about America being a melting pot and, you know, welcoming of immigrants. And we have our democratic ideals. And yet the true history is one of racism, of white supremacy. And peoples of color have never been particularly welcomed into this country. A lot of people still don't even know the history of the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II, so I want to go out of feeling youthful, you know, in my old age. And I think that that's something that I can talk about, you know, educate people. So what else can we do?

Chizu Omori is a writer living in Oakland.

Thank you so much.

Well, thank you for allowing me to speak up.

turn 0 : Melting pot doesn't refer to an actual pot, but is a metaphor for the country's population being a mix of different ethnicities and national origins.

Which metaphorical term is used to describe the population of the country in turn 0?

Answer: Meltingpot


There are politicians from a wide variety of political parties that complain that the prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, who is an Arab Shiite, that he has simply too much power. And critics have taken to calling him a dictator on TV over the last week. They're comparing his style of governance to Saddam Hussein. And they're basically holding up ratification and calling for a reform proposal that would curb many of Nouri al-Maliki's powers.

Meanwhile, Maliki's advisers are accusing these parties of using the American-Iraqi Treaty as a way to twist the prime minister's arm. They're calling this a desperate ploy for rival politicians to try to win popular support from the Iraq people.

So, Ivan, what are the prospects now for this status of forces agreement?It's intended to replace a U. N.  mandate which governs U. S.  troops being there. It's set to expire at the end of this year.

Well, that raises a lot of questions. The Iraqi prime minister has said he will not extend the United Nations mandate. The U. S.  has threatened, from what we're hearing from some Iraqi lawmakers, to begin withdrawal immediately.

turn 1 : Maliki's advisers accuse rival politicians of using the American-Iraqi Treaty as a desperate ploy to gain support from the Iraqi peopl

Which treaty are rival politicians accused of using as a desperate ploy?

Answer: American


Is this a book about how someone becomes a terrorist?

In part. I talk about this as a sort of - as a Genesis moment for the book. But I remember distinctly I was watching this interview with a foreign affairs expert. And it was in the wake of the - there had been these sort of protests in an Afghan village against the U. S.  military presence in Afghanistan.

And the interviewer's question was something along the lines of, why do they hate us so much?And as part of his answer, this expert noted that sometimes the U. S.  forces have to go conduct these nighttime raids in these villages. And when they do this, they'll sometimes have to hold the women and children up at gunpoint. And they'll tear the places apart. And then he added, you know, in Afghan culture, this sort of thing is considered very offensive.

And I thought, you know, name me one culture on earth that wouldn't consider this sort of thing offensive?And so part of the book is - has to do with this idea that we all suffer the same way, and we become damaged by suffering in the same way regardless of which part of the world we grew up in or what we believe.

turn 1 : The literal meaning: The speaker mentions that they discuss this as a significant starting point or origin for the book. The implied meaning: The speaker suggests that this event plays a crucial role in shaping the themes or direction of the book.

Which event is mentioned as a crucial starting point for the book?

Answer: Event


Thank you. Thank you for saying snot-like. Not a - I don't believe we've had that phrase on our show before. So what is there. . .

It's a first.

Well, we spent a few years studying the frog tongue.

turn 2 :  (3) B: What is there about this delightful mucus of the tongue? - Implied meaning: What interesting properties does frog tongue mucus have?

Answer: frog


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

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

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

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

How does PersonB view the issue discussed in the previous statement?

Answer: Example


Well. . .

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #3: What differences when this occured?

Would it be the safest places to be like I mentioned before?

It would certainly be the safest place to be, and it would actually feel much like a joyride. The difference is that you're not necessarily planning on it.

turn 2 : The speaker is suggesting that the situation might not be as serious or dangerous as it initially seemed.

How does the speaker describe the situation?

Answer: Safe


I've always felt like with Britain that there was always a kind of low-grade racism that one experienced almost on a daily basis. Like, in America, you feel it's a much bigger convulsion. And the society is kind of reckoning with it in a more sincere but more troubled way. In England, it was always very light, you know?So it was - you'd come in and the guys on the walkie-talkie would be like, ah, you're the Indian fellow who's going with Gabriella. And it was like - so like. . .

A limerick.

Yeah. The first line of a limerick. But obviously, there was an implication because at that point, there was no one of my shape and size and color around, you know?So it was definitely there.

You focus in this piece on Princess Michael of Kent, who recently, of course, caused controversy when she wore a blackamoor brooch when she met Meghan Markle, who is biracial. And you say that that isn't surprising that she would have done something like that.

turn 0 : Daily racism in Britain is subtle but still present

How would you describe the racism experienced in Britain?

Answer: Subtle


Diane Standaert of the nonprofit Center for Responsible Lending in Washington, D. C. , joins us now. Thanks very much for being with us.

Thanks for the opportunity to speak with you.

We're talking about car title loans and consumer finance loans. What are the differences?

Car title loans typically carry 300 percent interest rates and are typically due in 30 days and take access to a borrower's car title as security for the loan. Consumer finance loans have no limits on the rates that they can charge and also take access to the borrower's car as security for the loan. And so in some states, such as Virginia, there's very little difference between the predatory practices and the consequences for consumers of these types of loans.

How do people get trapped?

turn 4 : The implied meaning of this turn is that the speaker is asking how people can become trapped in debt due to car title loans and consumer finance loans.

How do car title loans and consumer finance loans lead to financial ______?

Answer: Debt


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

Correct.

Remind us what happened.

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

turn 2 : a request for a reminder of the timeline of events leading up to the current situation.

How many police officers were involved in the case mentioned in turn 3?

Answer: couple


Yeah. The numbers aren't necessarily looking his way.

No.

Glenn Thrush is the chief political correspondent of Politico. Thanks so much for being back with us.

Great to be here.

turn 3 : Glenn Thrush is a highly respected journalist and it is an honor to have him join us.

Which journalist is honored to join the conversation?

Answer: Glenn-Thrush


Given that judges do have discretion in a lot of cases about, for example, whether or not someone can get a misdemeanor as opposed to a felony, do you think this really is effecting who's in prison right now?

Well, first, you have to realize, the first person who deals with whether there's a felony or a misdemeanor is the prosecutor. And it's prosecutorial discretion as to what they get charged with. A judge has no control over that. Now, they can work out a deal, or, in a preliminary hearing, reduce a charge or whatever. But the prosecutorial discretion is what most people don't see that tends to be skewed a great deal. So, by the time it gets to a judge, a big chasm may have already arisen about the level of charge that's been leveled on a particular individual.

Judge Toler, who's going to fix this?

We all have to fix it. And we have to fix it by being conscious of what's going on before it goes on. When I went to classes after I was elected a judge, I said, if you remember nothing else I tell you today, when you're 18, you vote. And you register to vote because it does make a difference, six votes in my race. We have to be conscious of the judges, one, and number two, I think we have to change judicial education.

turn 1 : Prosecutors have more power than judges in determining charges

Which legal authority holds more discretion in determining charges?

Answer: Prosecutors