Oh, my goodness, the crisis keeps deepening by the day. Yesterday, some of the parties called for a vote of no confidence. The chancellor, Sebastian Kurz, was hoping that he could get rid of Interior Minister Kickl, who has also been the center of several scandals himself during the course of the 18 months that they've been in government. The other ministers of Transport, Defense and Labor said, we're going to leave, too.

So you're describing all sorts of behind-closed-doors machinations going on here. But bottom line - as Austria prepares to go to bed tonight, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz is still in charge of the government, but he doesn't have much of a government now that his coalition has fallen apart.

Exactly.

How is this playing as you are out and about interviewing people on the streets of Vienna?

turn 0 : The government is in a state of crisis due to political machinations behind the scenes, but Sebastian Kurz is still in power despite losing his coalition.

What is the current state of Sebastian Kurz's government?

Answer: incharge


And it all comes down really to these apple trees. The husband, James, is obsessed with apples, growing the sweet apples. She, Sadie, the mother, is - well, she's a drunk. She's looking for applejack. She likes the spitters - not the eaters - the spitters.

Yes, and Johnny Appleseed is a little bit like her drug dealer because he comes along twice a year in his canoe to see how they're doing. And he sometimes takes off the barrels of apples and brings them back pressed for them as cider. And, you know, I don't think he does it maliciously, but he is, as I said, he's a businessman. So he's got a slightly different take on it all.

And why don't you describe what Johnny Appleseed looks like in your novel as you paint him?

Actually, some of the myth is true. He did sometimes wear a tin pot for a hat. His clothing was interesting, shall we say?He often wore a coffee sack that he cut holes out of and a rope for a belt. So, yeah, he was a strange guy. He was actually making all this money, not for himself, but really because he was what they called a Swedenborgian, a very peculiar Christian sect. And Johnny Appleseed spent a lot of time proselytizing. And he'd go on this kind of rant, and a lot of the settlers - I read some hilarious accounts of them going, oh, this guy, we don't understand a word he's saying, but, you know, he's kind of entertaining, so he's harmless.

turn 2 : The author's portrayal of Johnny Appleseed's appearance highlights his eccentricity and unconventional ways, which contrast with his successful business dealings and religious beliefs.

Which characteristic of Johnny Appleseed's portrayal contrasts with his successful business dealings and religious beliefs?

Answer: Eccentricity


Yeah, it's light and it's very dark at the same time, yeah.

Well, that's what you go for or what?

Yeah, you got to have a little bit of - a little bit of an edge, I think.

You have a woman in a classical gown looking out over the sea coast in the moonlight holding a lantern. The caption - night after night she watches the sea, longing for her husband's departure (laughter).

turn 2 : This is implying that A believes art should have an interesting or captivating element to it.

Which element of art does PersonA believe should be present according to the statement?

Answer: Captivating


I think it's a story that can stick with you for many different reasons. If you leave a film, if you put down a book, and there is something that you didn't know before or something that has informed you about the world you live in that you care about but you didn't know before - if you can walk away from any kind of story with that, I think that's the goal of storytelling. I believe this is a film that does that.

And so that's what I love about this film - is it really has moved people. And it's become more, I think, socially important today than it was when we made it. There's been a lot more attention being given to Indigenous and Native American people within our country since we made the film. And there is also this whole epidemic that every day, we're learning more about men in power and sexual assault. And those are what this film is about in a very specific story.

Elizabeth Olson, speaking with us from Atlanta. Thanks so much for being with us.

Thanks for having me.

turn 2 : The literal meaning of (3) is "Thank you for speaking with us from Atlanta."  The actual meaning is "Thank you for your time and input."

How has the film become more socially important today?

Answer: Epidemic


Well, it's a little more complicated than that. They have to then process the signals that they receive back from the ground. As you say, most of them come back from leaves. And I think, what, they handed you the disc and you flew it out and gave it to the computer guy.

Well, that's right. And in fact, it is very complicated. The LIDAR machine has inside it a highly classified thing called an IMU, an Inertial Measurement Unit that was developed for the military for use in guided missiles. And in order to get an export permit for the plane, the State Department required that the plane be guarded by armed soldiers at all times when it was on the ground because this is a very highly classified piece of equipment. Because it's important to locate the plane in the air in three dimensions as it's flying to within an accuracy of about a centimeter. I mean, that's incredible.

Mm-hmm. So you rushed this data off to the computer guy and he did his magic. How did you - what did you - when did you actually see the picture?

Well, I brought it back from that evening on the island of Roatan, and he processed it. He had to crunch the data. There was also data that had to come from Houston that had been collected by them, and all those had to be combined to make this map. And he was working till the wee hours of the morning making these maps. And then the Internet connection was down so he went to bed. His name is Michael Sartori, by the way. He was a really fascinating guy.

turn 2 : his magic implies he performed so skilfully and amazingly

Answer: Magic


When the novel "Angels Make Their Hope Here" begins the Civil War is not far off. It's 1849 and the U. S.  is riven by racial conflict. Inside the world of the novel a man named Duncan Smoot is about to save a young girl from slavery. Her name is Dossey - Dossey Byrd as he calls her. He brings her to Russell's Knob, a settlement in the New Jersey Highlands, that's a sort of idyllic interracial enclave where everyone is free and blacks and whites and Native Americans intermarry. This is the third work of historical fiction from Breena Clarke whose previous novel, "River Cross My Heart," was a selection for Oprah's book club. Breena Clarke joins us now from our New York bureau. Thanks for being here.

Oh, well, I'm really happy to be here, Tamara. Thank you for having me.

I'd love for you to start by reading the description of Russell's Knob.

OK. The first building in the village was a small, stone house that sat like a muddy, brown bird hiding herself in dense foliage. Outsiders and casual climbers were meant to miss seeing the cleverly disguised house and the cut that led to the town. If you knew the cuts, you could find the town.

turn 3 : (4) "sat like a muddy, brown bird hiding herself in dense foliage" - The literal meaning is that the small, stone house was situated in a way that it resembled a bird blending in with the surrounding foliage. The figurative meaning could be interpreted as the house being intentionally hidden from outsiders and only visible to those who knew where to look.

Which house was compared to a bird hiding in dense foliage?

Answer: Small


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

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

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

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

turn 1 :  "writing very disparaging things about our victims - not believing them, dismissing their cases, not bothering to work on them."

Which action did the police officers take towards the victims?

Answer: Dismissed


And did people confront you?

The Daily Stormer readers clearly thought it was me from the comments that were directed at me that very clearly said that I hope - Dean better hope he dies of natural causes before we get him, things like we should hang him from an elm tree. And in their comments, they clearly saw - thought I was a terrorist. And just so it's clear for people, The Daily Stormer is not your average white supremacist neo-Nazi publication, if there is such one. It is one where readers go to, they exchange information. They animate each other into action.

And readers of The Daily Stormer have committed acts of violence. James Jackson, who I wrote about that May 2017 article, came to New York in March from Maryland to start a race war and killed an elderly African American man and thankfully was arrested before he could kill others. And others have read this publication. So when they say confront you there, it's not a normal publication saying, go challenge his opinions. It is direct action, encouraging people to literally confront me and to commit acts of violence.

OK. But I'm just curious about why, if you feel that these people are promoting and fomenting violence, why isn't this a criminal matter as opposed to a civil matter?I mean, a civil matter is between two private parties, and the only consequence could be money, right?That's the only way it can be a remedy. But if you feel that this group is actually encouraging violence, why isn't this a criminal complaint?

turn 1 : The Daily Stormer readers are not just exchanging information but also inciting each other to commit violent acts.

Which publication is not just exchanging information but also inciting readers to commit violent acts?

Answer: Unknown


Scott, I've never seen anything like this really in China. I've been in and out of here for close to 20 years. And so I was talking to this low-level manager, and he said officials here were getting kickbacks to approve coal mines and other businesses.

Yeah.

They were using shell companies to invest. So what they were basically doing was - they don't really care about the real economy. They were just looking for ways to profit. And so you sort of see this breakdown in the system where you've got the wrong incentives and corruption is driving a lot of this.

Have you been able to talk to people, Frank?

turn 0 : A "kickback" in this case refers to a bribe or some other incentive, no actual physical interaction is happening in reality.

Answer: Bribe


Right. So X, for example, it's been estimated that costs of apparel and clothing for a family of four could go up by $500 if we put 25 percent tariffs on all remaining Chinese imports as has been threatened. If we not only raise the tariffs on this $200 billion to 25 percent but then go for the remaining 325 billion that haven't had tariffs on them yet, that hits everything - all food, all apparel. And it also hits things like technology and hardware.

We're talking about real money for American consumers. Negotiations do continue today. What do you expect to happen in them?

Well, I still think it's likely that we will get something that is called a deal by the end of June. I think it is more likely than not because President Trump, for political reasons, would also like to get a good deal. The stock market is going to have a strong response today against this. It's going to go down. He won't like that. And we're entering the political season in which he wants stability.

So I think a deal is more likely than not. But it will only be a brief hiatus in this long-term, contentious U. S. -China relationship.

turn 3 : "But it will only be a brief hiatus in this long-term, contentious U.S.-China relationship" has a figurative meaning that is different from its literal meaning. The literal meaning of the turn is that a deal between the US and China would only be a temporary break in their long-term, contentious relationship. However, the figurative meaning is that even if a deal is reached, the underlying tensions and issues between the two countries will remain and could resurface in the future.

What is the figurative meaning of "But it will only be a brief hiatus in this long-term, contentious U.S.-China relationship"?

Answer: Underlying


Winston Churchill, we always have to quote him once in a while, right?He said that jaw-jaw was better than war-war. And no matter how awful the war of words may get, it's only serious, really, if it leads to real war. And if North Korea is truly a nuclear power now, any thought of a military solution is somewhere between horrific and unthinkable.

And the Mueller investigation's widening?

We do see more evidence that the Mueller investigation thinks it has some kind of goods on Paul Manafort, former campaign chairman for Donald Trump. He also seems to think he can use whatever he has on Manafort to pry loose more stuff on other campaign figures. Is this going to reach the president himself?At this point, that does not seem to be indicated. But this probe is going to continue and get a lot more uncomfortable for the president before it's over.

NPR's Ron Elving. Thanks so much.

turn 0 : Jaw-jaw is better than war-war meaning diplomacy is preferable to military conflict.

Which phrase did Winston Churchill use to express his preference for diplomacy over military conflict?

Answer: Jaw-jaw


Hudson is confident that Broadway Federal Bank won't be harmed by the recent spate of bankruptcies and bailouts. Though the bank specializes in real estate and caters to minority investors, it never got caught up in the subprime mortgage game that has become the downfall of other banks.

In order to play in that game, you had to have large volumes and small margins, which has made mortgages like commodities. So the Countrywides, the WAMUs, the big mortgage companies, you would lose your shirt trying to compete with it. So, really, the small banks had to stand on the sidelines while a lot of money was being made by churning these loans and fees, and people were making huge amounts of money, banks were very profitable, and we weren't able to participate. But now, you know, the kind of like slow and steady feels very good right now.

Now, Hudson says he's starting to get a lot more calls from people who want to put their money in Broadway Federal.

Here's what used to happen in the old days. People would only put 100,000 dollars in Broadway because they knew that was the maximum FDIC insurance. They put a million dollars in Bank of America. They figured, well, I only - because Bank of America only has the same insurance as we do, only a 100,000. So they left 900,000 dollars uninsured because they said, well, that's Bank of America. I'm only worried about Broadway. I'm not worried about Bank of America.

turn 1 : Small banks were unable to compete with big mortgage companies in the subprime mortgage game, but now slow and steady feels good.

How did the small banks feel about competing with big mortgage companies in the subprime mortgage game?

Answer: Unable


What else can you tell us about the suspected shooters?

The authorities have two suspects in custody right now, one 18-year-old man and another juvenile suspect. The 18-year-old was identified as Devon Erickson. He appeared in court earlier today wearing a red prison jumpsuit. He has shoulder-length hair dyed black and purple. The DA is asking for no bond to be set on him right now, but a hearing to file criminal charges against him is set for this Friday afternoon. The other alleged shooter is a 17-year-old person who was also in court today. Parents of the student who died, Kendrick Castillo - they were present at the hearing today as well.

Have authorities said anything about - of the motive behind the shooting?

Right now they're still investigating, and they haven't said whether there was a clear motive or not.

turn 0 : B is asking for more information about the suspects

Which suspect had hair dyed black and purple?

Answer: 18-year-old


You can never protect someone by stripping them of their rights. The premise is that unless California lawmakers become complicit in denying California athletes equal rights, then somehow those players will be harmed. And that's just a false premise.

And before we let you go, do you feel like you're making headway?Like, you know, part of the reason you got started with this - you were a former UCLA football player yourself. You saw the NCAA suspend your teammate for accepting a bag of groceries when he had no food. You know, you've seen a lot over the course of time that you've been working on this. And I'm just wondering if you feel like your arguments are making headway. Are people starting to take the questions around how college athletes are treated more seriously?

I do think there's progress. Not as fast as I would like - you know, you look at the multi-year scholarships are now available, the name, image and likeness lawsuit from Ed O'Bannon that resulted in stipends. There's still a ways to go. Let's put it that way. But I do think there's reform. I think a lot of key people are listening, especially lawmakers.

That is Ramogi Huma. He is the founder and executive director of the National College Players Association, an organization founded to advocate for college athletes.

turn 2 : Reform for college athlete treatment is progressing slowly, but key people are listening.

What is progressing slowly for college athletes?

Answer: reform


OK. So it's clear that this poll is showing there is broad support out there for at least some changes. So how much guidance should Congress take from a poll like this to do something?

Well, you know, whether Congress will do anything actually is very much up in the air. And there's a real sense of urgency for Congress to act, especially among Democrats and some Republicans, after this summer because we saw so many mass shootings. . .

Right.

. . . I mean - Dayton, El Paso, Odessa, Texas. But here's the thing. This all comes down to President Trump. Congressional Republicans are not going to take a risk passing anything that could be seen by groups like the NRA as anti-gun, unless President Trump comes out and gives them political cover, which he hasn't yet. And Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is not exactly going to bring anything to the floor unless he knows that President Trump is definitely going to sign this. And it's kind of risky of a move for Republicans if they don't come out for these things because, you know, the NRA was outspent for the first time in 2018 by groups that want to see these restrictions in place.

turn 3 : Congressional Republicans won't pass the bill unless the President makes sure they will not be hurt politically.

How does the passage suggest Republicans will only pass the bill?

Answer: Political


Do you have to be a certain kind of person in order to do this and do it well and get satisfaction from it?

You know what?I don't think so. I think that it could just be anybody. Anybody that genuinely wants to - that inner feeling of just feeling complete and feeling loved, basically. When you feel the love with - inside, then ultimately, it's easier to kind of give to other people and to do this type of work, and I think it's a component that we're all built with.

You've done it for ten years, can you do it for ten more?

Absolutely. Absolutely.

turn 2 : You have done this challenging job for 10 years so do you have the energy/desire to do it for 10 more?

Which number turn mentions the duration of time the person has been doing the job?

Answer: 2


He was.

He wrote many articles in magazines and newspapers, so I guess you could see where he might get carried away a little bit. He was popularizing science to come up with something maybe that was sort of like Einstein said, a little literary license maybe.

Yeah. Einstein regretted having put the term in, but he didn't use those precise words. And this became interesting to me because this is almost Einstein's most quoted phrase. So you know, it was interesting to see has he actually used those words.

Yeah. That is quite interesting. Let's talk about another strange fact that's in your book. You write that Vladimir Nabokov, the author of "Lolita" and "Pale Fire," actually came up with a scientific theory about butterflies at one point.

turn 1 : He did not just get carried away but he exaggerated his claims.

Answer: Exaggerated


Well, in short, yes, sort of. This river is high because of extreme rain. So when it rains here now, it rains more than it used to in the past. And that's in line with what we would see under climate change conditions. The National Climate Assessment predicts that when it rains, it's going to rain more in the future because warmer air can hold more moisture.

And actually, already, we're seeing that in the Midwest and along the East Coast. Sometimes 50% more rain is falling in a single rain event than used to earlier this century. I hear a lot of flood plain managers use the word unprecedented. It's the kind of rain that we just haven't seen in the past.

What does this mean for places in the Midwest and South?

Well, there's a lot of stress on infrastructure that really was not built to hold this. So all along the river, along rivers like this, there are levees. And in places like this, they were actually built to make sure there's enough water for barges to ship things down the river. They really were not designed to hold back floodwater at all, and they really weren't designed to hold back this amount of water for this long.

turn 3 : Levees were not built to handle current floodwater levels

Answer: Floodwater


Same for the rap charts and also pop. I mean, you said that this is a city that has an impact on black music. You know, Atlanta has made black music popular music. These are artists that are on the Hot 100, the biggest songs in the country. So, I am very hopeful.

Dee Dee, same thing.

Right. For me, you know, I look at the new emerging talents like Jazzpects and Hollywierd and Proton. You know, I see a whole new 'nother birth of musicians coming up, and again, just being on the live music scene last night, I was at the Smith's Olde Bar to see Anthony David and Jazzpects and Redlands and Proton and Yellow Wolf, which are all underground artists that are stemming away from the norm.

Jazzpects is fusing hip-hop and jazz. And Yellow Wolf, on the total opposite the spectrum, is a white rapper that is - he has a group called the Dixie Mafia that is a really, really - he is an excellent rapper, that is fusing a lot of the blue grass and country and, you know, middle-America stuff with hip-hop.

turn 3 : Yellow Wolf is blending bluegrass and country with hip-hop

Which artist is fusing bluegrass and country with hip-hop?

Answer: Yellow-Wolf


No. OK. The regime have been mistaken for certain things. We used to have corruption. It's not new. Everybody knows that. But most of the Syrians think that the corruption and the mistakes the regime have, it's not to be correct this way.

This way meaning. . .

Destroying the country, killing people.

What do you think about the regime killing Syrian civilians and perhaps with chemical weapons?

turn 2 : The regime has been causing damage to the country and harming innocent people.

What has the regime been doing to the country and innocent people?

Answer: harming


Yeah.

I love salt.

You didn't see that coming. (Laughter) You love salt.

I totally didn't.

That's an essential mineral.

turn 2 : Implicated meaning: A is teasing or mocking B for not realizing that B loves salt. The phrase "You didn't see that coming" implies that B's love for salt was unexpected or surprising.

How did PersonA react to PersonB's love for salt?

Answer: Laughter


We normally surveyed the coastline up and down the West Coast. The second year, we went to a joint ocean adventure, the Indian Ocean expedition. And there I went to the Philippines, Jakarta, Malaysia, Singapore, India, West Ceylon, which is now Sri Lanka, Penang, Midway, all of the ports between California and India and back.

You also learned to do karate while you were on that ship, right?

I hung out with a bunch of guys from the Islands, Hawaiian guys, and that's where I first heard of Ed Parker. And I started talking to him and the philosophy and how they had to take care of themselves, and we would punch the metal sidings around the quarter deck to toughen up our hands. And of course, they showed me a few things. Why I got started, I was with a bunch of Hawaiian guys, and we were on Waikiki, and there was a little Chinese guy that didn't sail with us, but a couple of - I guess mainlanders were bothering him. And he tried to walk away several times, and they caught up with him. And then it was like, in a flash, and it was over with. All these guys were like on the ground, and I said, what was that?And that was, of course, some kung fu. And Ed Parker teaches kung fu on the streetside.

And Ed Parker went on to become one of the best-known names in martial arts.

turn 1 : A learned karate from Ed Parker during his ocean adventure.

Which martial art did PersonA learn from Ed Parker during his ocean adventure?

Answer: Kungfu


Well, thereafter, we may be singing Christmas carols in the Capitol. It's brinksmanship, of course. They're just trying to get everybody focused and trying to get everybody to actually vote for the basic spending bills, get Congress to do their routine business. It's not routine, though, because Republican leaders can't get enough of their members to vote for spending bills. So they need Democratic votes to get the bills across the finish line. And those come with a price tag, including, for example, the issue of the DREAMers, the. . .

Yeah.

. . . People who were brought here by their parents when the parents came to the country illegally.

And how do they breach the differences between the House and Senate bills, when the promises some Republican Senate leaders made to get the votes of, say, Susan Collins of Maine and Jeff Flake of Arizona, seem to be no longer - are not contained in the House version?And the House leaders say nope, we're not going to have them.

turn 3 : seem to be no longer - are not contained in the House version?And the House leaders say nope, we're not going to have them," respectively.

How do Republican House leaders respond to the promises some Republican Senate leaders made?

Answer: Nope


Obviously, everything in this book is something that I concluded is accurate and true. That's a process of, do I trust my source?No. 1. And then I, you know, like to hear it a couple of times.

I'm thinking of the famous Watergate stories by Woodward and Bernstein. It was said that their standard was they wanted to hear two sources. Was that your standard?Anything in here is by two sources?

Most everything in here is either by multiple sources or, in some cases, by someone I absolutely trust.

Does the president talk to you anymore?

turn 1 : A relies on multiple sources to ensure accuracy, unlike Watergate reporters who required two sources

Answer: Woodward


Yeah, just a little.

(Laughter).

Did the Roy Moore allegations come far enough before the election to swing the vote?Or are people just not telling pollsters the truth because it's a loaded subject?

Well, I think that Roy Moore was already pretty unpopular with a certain part of the Republican electorate in Alabama. So he has solid support among people who have known him for years and like what he's doing. But if you're a Republican who voted for Luther Strange, who was his primary opponent, you might be making the choice of, do I sit at home, or do I go out and vote for Doug Jones?

And I think what'll really, you know, end up swinging the election are these Republican voters who really just find what Moore did a bridge too far. They already didn't like him. And now this is just beyond the pale for them. So I do think, you know, in the polling average, it's not great for for Roy Moore at all. So we might definitely see a change. And I think Alabama being rated a toss-up is kind of a crazy thing to see. . .

turn 2 : This implies that the Voters who had two options of sitting at home during the election or they vote for Luther who is considered to be a clown than to vote for the unpopular Roy Moore.

How did some Republicans who voted for Luther Strange feel about Roy Moore during the election?

Answer: dislike


Struggling yes, and because our ballots were delivered late this time. There was a delay in approval from the State Board of Elections which affected everybody in the state really. Consequently, the printer had to work all weekend to get the absentee ballots to us and he walked in about two o'clock yesterday afternoon. So then of course we had three volunteers yesterday afternoon folding those eight and a half by fourteen ballots and putting them in the - in a sealed envelope that then goes in the pack that we had previously prepared.

We've been hearing that there is a big increase in the number of people who want to vote early this year about a third of all voters nationwide. Are you seeing that where you are, an increase?

Well we don't have early voting in Virginia in the same sense that North Carolina for instance does. In Virginia you have to have a reason, one of the reasons listed on the absentee application for needing to vote absentee.

What are those reasons?

turn 2 : In Virginia, it is difficult to vote early without a valid reason

What is the voting process like in Virginia?

Answer: Limited


And then the women also said they wanted their jacket to look like that. They wanted to wear a male tie, which is unusual. Usually women wear, like, kind of a little crosshatch-looking tie. But they wanted to wear a long, male tie. And they wanted a pencil skirt.

Were the women and the men in the military polled about this?

Yeah. From different ranks, they had people come in and look at the uniforms or hats, you know, sent the prototypes to them and said, what do you like?Is this comfortable?And what would you like to see?

So they get some sartorial input.

turn 0 : The women wanted to wear a male tie and pencil skirt, which is unusual for women's clothing.

What did the women want to wear that is not typically worn by women?

Answer: tie


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

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

But that sounds theoretical. You took it seriously.

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

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

How did the conversation with the head coach lead to the possibility of competing in a Division III intercollegiate competition?

Answer: Conversation


Well, one last question about this because there is speculation that this weather may be due to the loss of ice during the summertime at the polar region. Is there any evidence for that being the trigger?

No, that has a lot of other dramatic effects on our climate, but for stratospheric warming events, what we're looking at are very large systems, such as the one that was off of the northeast coast of Japan. Also it's been correlated to sunspot activity. So that's kind of a factor that doesn't affect the troposphere so much, but it does involve some (unintelligible) content action in the stratosphere. So we're seeing a correlation between a solar activity and then these big, very unstable systems late in the season like we saw off the northeast coast of Japan.

All right, well, people always blame stuff on sunspots, so. . .

That's right, it's hard to prove them wrong.

turn 0 : Trigger implies that it is the cause of what happened in the polar region

What is the speculation regarding the cause of the weather in the polar region?

Answer: Loss-of-ice


I stopped the clocks because, A - my contract was running out, and, yes, I am eligible for retirement 'cause I'm 72 now. But the hand-wound ones, they're big cast iron weights. If the weights, when they run out, fell over, it would take three men to reconnect all the wires going through the pulleys and things, so it was on a safety grounds that I stopped them.

Why did you stop both hands at 12?

Well, I stopped them at 12 o'clock because every time I get a clock on my working license, and my father-in-law before me, people seem to think, oh, that clock is at 12 o'clock. And they look at their watch or something, and they'll say, oh, it's stopped. Whereas if I left it at any time, they don't seem to pick it up quick enough.

Well, Mr.  Mitchell, may I ask, are there a lot of other people doing a job like yours or is that number dwindling these days?

turn 3 : "are there a lot of other people doing a job like yours or is that number dwindling these days?" The literal meaning of "doing a job like yours" is performing a similar occupation. However, the actual meaning is whether there are still many people employed as clock repairers or if the profession is declining.

What is the actual meaning of "doing a job like yours" in turn 3?

Answer: Clockrepair


I think his great forte is understanding the problems that we face. He's had great experiences. You know, he was raised - a good part of his youth was in France. He speaks French fluently and understands Europeans quite well, and his being the Allied commander in Europe was absolutely a perfect fit. And he can expand that in giving advice in problems, literally, all over the world.

I read that James Jones went to Georgetown University, where he played basketball. Do you have any sensed of maybe whether he and President-elect Obama might discuss security issues over a game of hoops?

I wouldn't doubt it. President-elect Obama would also find he's a competitor. That ought to be an interesting basketball game.

Congressman Ike Skelton of Missouri. Thank you.

turn 2 : President-elect Obama and James Jones may engage in an exciting basketball game because both are competitive, not just because they will discuss security issues.

How might President-elect Obama and James Jones's basketball game be described?

Answer: Interesting


It doesn't really seem to be dominating conversation here. I mean, there is an Israeli election coming up, and Netanyahu's opponents are using this to kind of accuse him of flip-flopping. But I think it really shows that, as Netanyahu faces reelection next month, he needs Trump's support. Trump tweeted that he didn't want to see these congresswomen going there, and I think a lot of Israelis see that as Netanyahu bowing to Trump's will.

That's NPR's Daniel Estrin in Tel Aviv.

Thanks, Daniel.

You're welcome.

turn 0 : bowing to someones will means to give in to what they want, in this case people are giving into trump

How are Israelis perceiving Netanyahu's actions towards Trump's will?

Answer: bowing


Her fencing tutor, when she is 13, makes her his mistress. Julie says he gave everything I desired and quite a few things I hadn't known existed. Oh, my word.

(Laughter) He was her father's boss. And he was one of the great nobleman of France at the time, a very, very powerful man. And all of a sudden, she was the very young mistress and was moved into Paris so that he could keep her separate from his wife, but she wanted more. And so very quickly she got bored and she ran off with her fencing master.

Yeah. There's a lot of fencing in this book. As soon as I say that, I realize metaphorical but also actual fencing in this book.

Well, I used to fence as a kid. It's one of the reasons I know about her. I fenced all through school and college, but I have to say that I'd - when I'm writing the fencing scenes, I do jump out of my chair and grab a foil - I've still got my old swords - and I act out the scenes for myself just to make sure that they make sense.

turn 1 : (Laughter) He was her father's boss. And he was one of the great noblemen of France at the time, a very, very powerful man. And all of a sudden, she was the very young mistress and was moved into Paris so that he could keep her separate from his wife, but she wanted more. And so very quickly she got bored and she ran off with her fencing master.  The implied meaning here is that the phrase "very young mistress" suggests a romantic and possibly sexual relationship between the man and the young woman. It implies that she became involved with him as a lover or partner, rather than solely as a student of fencing.

Which relationship did the young woman have with the powerful man?

Answer: Mistress


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

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

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

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

Which aspect of life is prioritized over culture during a crisis?

Answer: food


That's even better than the Dwight Clark catch in the - with San Francisco 49ers.

Yeah. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Absolutely. I mean, you know, last year you had, you know, (unintelligible) catching, you had the miracle catch you know by a throw. . .

By David Tyree. But that was kind of a weird that was - the helmet catch, you're talking about.

The helmet catch (laughing). But this was just - I mean, it was perfect, Tony. It was perfect form, the toes and - had it been a millisecond higher, he wouldn't have been able to get anything down. I just think that from Roswell Berger's(ph) throw and hosing the ball, the extra tenth of a second, it - right now that's the most perfect ending play in Super Bowl history.

turn 1 : The ball that was thrown was caught and it could only have been a miracle due to how and when in the game it was thrown.

Which catch is being compared to the Dwight Clark catch?

Answer: Helmet


Do you believe the United States has a moral obligation to accept people who, for whatever reason, find that they can no longer live in their home country?I mean, over the past couple of years in particular, you've heard Republicans say, time and again, America can't be the solution to every person's problems. How do you respond to that?

I think we have a moral obligation to do our part, which isn't to say we should take every persecuted person in the world. We can't do that. But we can do far more than we are doing at the moment.

And our laws - going back to language that was drafted in the days after World War II when, collectively, most of the world felt pretty awful about the way we turned Jewish refugees fleeing the Nazi government away - we adopted laws that said if you reach the United States and you have a well-founded fear of persecution for one of these particular reasons under the law, we won't send you back. And I think we do have a - both a moral and a legal obligation to respect that.

And this country has a history of refugee resettlement that is a beautiful part of our heritage. It's - the Statue of Liberty - that sonnet from Emma Lazarus that says, give me your poor, your teeming masses yearning to breathe free. I'm not saying take the whole of the world's refugees. But last year, when we actually ended up taking fewer than 23,000 refugees, that was less than one-tenth of 1% of the more than 25 million refugees in the world.

turn 2 : to adopt laws means to make new laws

What historical event prompted the drafting of language that was adopted as laws by the United States?

Answer: WorldWarII


It probably depends on what chapter you're reading at the time. It's probably all of those things!I don't know who decides what goes into what box or what bin or what shelf, you know. For me, it's just about finding a character, finding a story, following, I guess, my heart at what I'm working on at the moment. And it just kind of falls, you know, wherever it may out there after that, you know.

There's been a lot of attention to the whole idea of street lit. And Zane, who's an erotica writer, extremely popular, sells a ton of books. A lot of people are like, well, she just can't write, but there's a lot of sex in it. And there's also a question that some people have raised about whether or not it is good for the race to have books that are explicit about black sexuality out there. So. . .

What race?The human race?

The black race. The black race. And so I bring this up because so often when people, you know, just as you mentioned, the distinctions between the way some people will look at female sexuality and male sexuality and what it's like to have a track record and whether that makes you a bad person. You know, people also look at these distinctions by race and say, oh well, black people are oversexed. That's some people stereotyping. Are you ever afraid that by doing work like this that you're, you know, I don't know, playing into a stereotype?

turn 3 : Some people stereotype black people as oversexed, and the speaker is afraid that their work might reinforce this stereotype.

How does the speaker feel about potentially reinforcing a stereotype through their work?

Answer: Stereotype


When we had a transfer of presidencies in this country, when Barack Obama came in four years ago and George W.  Bush got aboard the helicopter and left town, well, George W.  Bush has pretty vanished from the American political leadership. He wrote a book, did pretty well with that. I gather he gives some speeches, but he plays no great part in the American political system. Bill Clinton has been playing a little bit more in this election.

But in the meantime, Mr.  Hu Jintao on his way out - really, on the way out?He will be a member of the Standing Committee. He's not going to be president. He's not going to be chairman of the party anymore, but?

He still may have a pretty strong role in the military. There's also the former president of China, who I covered back in the '90s, named Jiang Zemin who's from Shanghai. He has been front and center at the Party Congress. He's been out and about. He's in his mid-80s. He's playing role in terms of lining up who's going to take over. There's a lot of horse trading, but it's very, very opaque. And the average Chinese person really doesn't have any sense of where it's heading.

So you're getting this new generation of younger leaders, but the gerontocracy, the old leaders, behind the scenes, they're still playing a role.

turn 0 : George W. Bush has disappeared from American politics despite writing a book and giving speeches.

Which former U.S. president is mentioned in the statement?

Answer: George


No, no, I worked with John, he had already come here, and I worked with John, and then I went to Bell and worked with John Moll and then later was in the Army in a group they won't let me talk about too much, it was an intelligence group in Japan.

And then when I got out, I was six years at GE, and that's where this happened. And then I had a fantastic colleague there, Bob Hall. Bob's getting a little bit old, but he was a stalwart figure. He would've been the next Nobel Prize I would've given in the semiconductor field.

But I had access, you're right, to some of the very, very best people that were pioneers.

It must have been very exciting during those times.

turn 1 : Bob Hall was a great colleague and could have won a Nobel prize

Answer: great


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

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

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

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

turn 1 : "Risk-free asset" does not mean that there is no risk involved. Instead, it means that the asset is perceived as having a lower level of risk compared to other assets.

How does Treasury debt differ from other assets in terms of risk perception?

Answer: Perception


There are supporters of President Trump's - not necessarily card-carrying Republicans, but some - who look at Barack Obama and say just the fact that he existed, that he was president of the United States, made America more divided. Do you agree with that?

I actually think it polarized Americans because it allowed people to spread this false notion that, look, you have a black president. This black president is a representation of people of color taking over. And when people of color take over, they're going to ruin white lives. Even though the evidence showed that he and others like him were actually creating equal opportunity, were actually making, in certain ways, the lives of white people better. But it allowed people to manipulate Americans into believing that the problem, that the reason why they were struggling was because of black politicians or Latinx immigrants. And then it said to those very people, I will be your savior.

By your definition, is Donald Trump a racist?

Without question. And in many ways, he embodies nearly every aspect of a racist. He's someone who regularly expresses racist ideas, like Latinx immigrants are invading this country, that Mexicans are animals, that black people live in hell, that their communities are infested. But then he simultaneously is supporting policies that specifically target racial groups. We're seeing what's happening at the southern border. We see the ways in which his policies, he's not seeking to protect black people being killed by police. We can see the Muslim ban.

turn 0 : They don't actually carry a card but they are very committed to the republican party.

How would you describe the supporters of President Trump mentioned by B?

Answer: Committed


Diddley first began performing on street corners, and by 1951, he'd lined up a regular spot at the 708 Club. He also took on the name Bo Diddley, which some say is a play on the Southern slang for the term, nothing at all.

In 1955, Diddley found his way into a recording studio and recorded the song "Bo Diddley. "That song became a number one hit for Chess records. "Hey, Bo Diddley" and "Who Do You Love?"followed.

(Singing) I walked 47 miles of barbed wire. I Used a cobra snake for a neck tie. I got a brand new house on the roadside. Made from rattlesnake hide. I got a brand new chimney made on top. Made out of a human skull. Now come on, take a little walk with me Arlene and tell me, who do you love?

Who do you love?Who do you love?Who do you love?

turn 1 : This implies the days of humble beginning of Bo Diddley in the music industry.

What was Bo Diddley's regular spot in 1951?

Answer: 708Club


So ultimately, it ended up ruining my life in every capacity. It's affected my health, my family, my emotional and mental well-being and, ultimately, even jobs. You know, I've been offered all these amazing jobs of a lifetimes that I fought really hard to get and I beat out other candidates for. And each time the job would be offered to me, it would then be retracted because of my connection to Jeffrey Epstein.

So that's what led me to finally come forward because I had just reached a point where I was like, you know, this man was out buying second islands and second airplanes just to show off while I was struggling to feed myself and couldn't even get myself a good job because of him, you know?

Right. How did you feel when you found out about Epstein's death?

It was definitely not a good moment. And it's still not, you know?Even every single time I hear those words, there's a certain amount of anger that shoots through my blood that I can't explain.

turn 1 : Jeffrey Epstein was wealthy and showing off while I was struggling to feed myself

Which emotion shoots through the PersonA's blood when they hear about Epstein's death?

Answer: Anger


Yes.

What is it like coming and finding a place in New York's theater world?Because it can be very tough to even get a little purchase in it, but it sounds like you have found a place with your off-Broadway version of the play that's very comfortable and fulfilling.

Well, it is definitely - yeah, I have to admit, I wish I could sit here and say I knew it was going to happen this way. I was nervous waiting for that New York Times review to come out. You know what that's like. You know, it was like, OK, you know, am I going to get the theater gods' blessing?Because New York it is what it is; it's the Big Apple. It's the biggest theater market in the world. If you can make it, here you can make it anywhere.

So, this feels really good to have, you know, not just the approval from the critics, but just be able to, you know - I shake everyone's hand who buys the ticket every time I perform my show. I stand at the door as people leave the theater; I shake their hand and look them in the eyes and say thank you. So, I really feel like just because the reviews are great, I still know that it's reaching people, and that's what's important to me.

turn 3 : The approval of the audience is more important than the reviews.

How does the speaker prioritize the audience over the critics?

Answer: important


Well, that's the thing. Three areas we've looked at - covering about 55 square miles of the jungle - target one, target two and target three. And the first one was target one, and we found these all these archeological features. They covered hundreds of acres, maybe even thousands of acres, and this is gigantic. And then they moved on to target two, and they marked that, and then they moved on to target three. And target three showed even more striking features.

And we've - an archaeologist has been looking at them and a guy named Chris Fisher, who is an archaeologist at the Colorado State University, who's an expert on LIDAR, and he tells us that there is a city in T3 that is comparable in area to the city of Copan. It's absolutely enormous. The track is two square - five square kilometers.

And if these valleys are so remote, how did these civilizations develop in this unforgiving area?

Well, that's the thing. We're only now starting to realize that this so-called virgin or impenetrable jungle in prehistoric times was anything but. It was very heavily settled. There were many thousands of people living in these areas, and it wasn't virgin jungle. It was more like a tended garden. They cleared huge areas for farming. They terraced. They built irrigation canals. They built roads. They built enormous pyramids and structures.

turn 0 : The jungle wasn't as untouched as originally believed and was heavily populated in prehistoric times.

How was the jungle in prehistoric times?

Answer: Settled


Is there any such thing as truly pure water from any source, bottled or tap?

Well, it's called distilled water, sure. It ends up actually not tasting very good. It's funny actually - for Aquafina and Dasani and actually the major bottled water brands, that's actually tap water that is passed through very fine filters. It's called reverse osmosis. And then the water actually is too clean to taste good. So, in the industry they call it pixie dust - they put some minerals actually back into the water to improve the taste.

So, clean water tastes bad.

Well, I mean, what's clean water, right?I mean, the water that we have out of our tap is clean. The water that we have out of bottled water is clean, right?The question is do you want water that has no contaminants in it all, which would be distilled, or water that's safe to drink?And the fact is we could certainly treat water if we wanted to, to the point where there's nothing in it, but we wouldn't be willing to pay the cost.

turn 2 : (3) "So, clean water tastes bad." The speaker is not suggesting that clean water always tastes bad, but rather making a statement based on the previous speaker's explanation that excessively purified water (i.e. distilled water) can have a less appealing taste. The implied meaning is that excessively purified water can have a less appealing taste, not that all clean water tastes bad.

Which word describes the quality of water that is excessively purified?

Answer: Positive


Don't mean to put you on the spot, but what's the best ballpark food you've had in the U. S. ?

I am not that adventurous, to be honest, when it comes to ballpark food. I had a mac and cheese hotdog with bacon on last night, which blew my mind. I just couldn't believe that that was something that someone created.

Forgive me. It's going to blow more than your mind (laughter).

Yeah. It was a lot to take on, and it was pretty messy, but I enjoyed it a lot.

turn 2 : what they meant is that it's going to impress their brains later

What did they think the mac and cheese hotdog with bacon was going to do to "A's" mind?

Answer: impress


I loved her tuna fish sandwiches, her spaghetti and meatballs. . .

Yeah, the tuna fish sandwiches, you write, she put pickle juice in them, you know, just gave it something a little bit different.

And to stretch it out as well, and that's the way I make it. My daughter loves it. That was my first experience of food, but I have great memories of the stuff I love that she made.

turn 3 :  B: "The big character though in this book, overarching, I think, everything, at least in the beginning, is a - is South Boston, Southie. It seems to be a fundamental part of who you are. Tell us about Southie."  The literal meaning of B's words is that the setting of the book is South Boston, and that this is an important part of the story. However, the implied meaning is that the setting is more than just a location, but rather a character in its own right, with its own personality and influence on the other characters.

Which setting is portrayed as a character in its own right?

Answer: South-Boston


And finally, I was going to ask you about that - this - are there other steps that Mexico is trying to take or would like to take to stop this flow of migrants through their country?

Well, the actual border between Guatemala and Mexico is an obvious place if they want to stop people coming through that they could block access. And having more agents down here, whether they're national guard or someone else, I mean, would certainly result in more detentions of migrants. Really, the question right now and the thing that I'm seeing is that the local immigration detention center here is at more than double capacity right now.

So there is definitely a question - if Mexico really does step up the number of migrants it stops here, does it have the resources to take care of them?And then, for those who need protection - those fleeing persecution - do they have the ability and the willingness to protect those people?

That is reporter James Frederick on the Mexican side of the Guatemala-Mexico border. He's actually about 30 miles north of the border at the moment.

turn 1 : Blocking access to the border between Guatemala and Mexico would be an effective way to stop migrants from coming through.

How can Mexico effectively prevent migrants from coming through?

Answer: Block


Boy, melodrama going on, on the Washington football club whose team name I refuse to utter. Coach Shanahan benching Robert Griffin III for the rest of the season - good idea or. . .

Well, it's all part of a bigger power play. The big problem is the owner. The problem with the Redskins goes back to Daniel Snyder. He's worse than George Steinbrenner, worse than Marge Schott; worse than all of them. He's one of the worst owners that you could possibly have. When he started, he had past-prime players with Deion Sanders and Bruce Smith trying to make a splash.

We're about to run out of time. Not much time for many more worse, yes?

Awful. He's just bad.

turn 0 : The Washington football team is in chaos due to their controversial name and the coach's decision to bench Robert Griffin III.

What decision did the coach make regarding Robert Griffin III?

Answer: Benching


But Zoe Wesloski(ph) emailed from Pittsburgh to say: I don't get it. I'm 39. This was not an option for my generation. Not only did I enter the job market without a college degree, but I found a way to survive. And when I left home at 22, I never went back. I found a way to make it through nursing school as a single mother in my 30s. She continued: I don't know what's wrong with this generation, but it sure as hell ain't the economy.

We also spoke with New York Times writer Alex Williams about the challenges of making friends after college. Anne Scranton(ph) in Blue Ash, Ohio, wrote: Everyone told me I'd make lots of mom friends when my kids got in school. But as a working mom, I found it tough to connect on weekends when many families are having family time. I decided to enroll in a leadership class held in the city where I work, and through that class, I've met other working families and folks of all ages and stages. Everyone needs to be open-minded in reaching out to people of all ages. We all have experiences to share.

And finally, Greg Alexander in Bloomington, Indiana reminded us that the beginning and end of the story of adult bonding is happy hour. It's good to go to a place where everybody knows your name. Cheers.

(Singing) Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name, and they're always glad you came. You want to be where you can see. Our troubles are all the same. You want to be where everybody knows your name.

turn 1 : People of all ages can make good friends regardless of their stage in life

How did Anne Scranton make new friends as a working mom?

Answer: Leadership


Well, approved solar filters are what you really need. The cheapest and I think probably the best way is to go with these welder's glasses. They're called number 14 welder's glasses. They're a very dark shade. You go into a welding store, and you say you want number 14, they know what you're doing. They always look at me and they say, oh, you're going to look at the sun?I say yeah, that's what I'm going to do.

And so you want to get those glasses. They usually cost about five, six bucks or so. And then you can put those up to your face and look right at the sun all you want. Then you can also get filters for your telescopes, binoculars, that type of thing. But really, we recommend making this into a social situation.

As astronomers, we always like company, and we recommend people to join or find any astronomical groups that are in their area, because there are astronomy clubs all over the country, and they love to share their expertise, and on these days of the eclipse on the 20th and the Transit on the 5th, join up with one of them because it's a lot of fun having a sun party.

Wow, and you can find these - you can find more information on your website, or. . .

turn 1 : The speaker suggests that in addition to getting solar filters, people should make viewing the eclipse or transit into a social event by joining an astronomy group or having a "sun party" with friends.

Which event does the speaker recommend joining an astronomy group for?

Answer: Eclipse


There are some states out there, for example Oregon and Maine, which currently don't have sales taxes throughout the year. Is there anything that you can potentially learn from states that have been doing this for a while?

What we are looking at are states that have had sales - state sales tax holidays. As you may know, there are 17 states plus the District of Columbia that currently have sales tax holidays during the year. And the experience of our retail members with those holidays is that they're very attractive to people. They really do bring people into the stores. It's an exciting time.

You can say, well gee, if the average state sales tax is five, six percent, why would that drive consumers to come into the stores more than a sale advertised at 15 or 20 percent. And it's an interesting psychological phenomenon, but it does seem to drive more traffic. It may be because people just don't like to pay taxes, and they're very excited when there's a period where they won't have to pay taxes to the government.

Rachelle Bernstein is with the National Retail Federation. Thank you, Rachelle.

turn 1 : very attractive to people in this context means that they like a policy a lot

What is the experience of retail members with state sales tax holidays?

Answer: Attractive


What's a fuel hedge?Explain that.

A fuel hedge is basically a financial contract that you buy in the commodity market where you essentially pre-buying fuel. So Southwest CEO, Gary Kelly, back in 2003, as the U. S.  was preparing to go to war in Iraq, just decided that the war in the Middle East wasn't probably good for oil prices, and he went out and bought a lot of oil ahead of time. Pre-bought it, and that has paid off in billions of dollars of profits for the airline.

And this continues from 2003?Do they continue to buy fuel ahead?Because the price of oil over the last year, I mean, it keeps going up and up. At some point you would think they would say we're not going to buy anymore.

You know it's fascinating because a lot of people thought Southwest hedges would fade out. They did make that big bet when prices were in the 30's, but they kept buying and they have continued to buy. They have most of their oil bought for this year at about 57 dollars a barrel. If you don't have hedges, you're right now paying about 120 something dollars a barrel. And they've bought fuel all the way out to 2012 as of today.

turn 3 : Southwest has bought fuel all the way out to 2012 as of today

How far out has Southwest bought fuel as of today?

Answer: 2012


We did. We - what we did with the mice was we gave them antibiotics to deplete their sinus microbiome, and then we had them sniff, basically, the corynebacterium species. And, in that context, we saw all the hallmarks of sinus infection, lots of mucin hypersecretion from the host.

And when we did the same and added the lactobacillus species, we didn't see any hallmarks of pathogenesis or infection. And, in fact, when we did another group of mice where we took out their native microbiome, we instilled the protective species along with this pathogen that we've identified. Again, we saw no signs of infections suggesting that the lactobacillus species protected the surface of the sinus and evaded infection by the corynebacterium species.

Now, you know what all these public radio listeners are going to want to know, now. Right?

We'll have to ask it. Where do you get the stuff to snort up your own lactobacillus sake, you know?I want some of that stuff with my health food store.

turn 0 : The mice were intentionally infected to study the effect of bacteria, rather than catching an actual sinus infection.

Which study was conducted intentionally on mice?

Answer: mice


When we had a transfer of presidencies in this country, when Barack Obama came in four years ago and George W.  Bush got aboard the helicopter and left town, well, George W.  Bush has pretty vanished from the American political leadership. He wrote a book, did pretty well with that. I gather he gives some speeches, but he plays no great part in the American political system. Bill Clinton has been playing a little bit more in this election.

But in the meantime, Mr.  Hu Jintao on his way out - really, on the way out?He will be a member of the Standing Committee. He's not going to be president. He's not going to be chairman of the party anymore, but?

He still may have a pretty strong role in the military. There's also the former president of China, who I covered back in the '90s, named Jiang Zemin who's from Shanghai. He has been front and center at the Party Congress. He's been out and about. He's in his mid-80s. He's playing role in terms of lining up who's going to take over. There's a lot of horse trading, but it's very, very opaque. And the average Chinese person really doesn't have any sense of where it's heading.

So you're getting this new generation of younger leaders, but the gerontocracy, the old leaders, behind the scenes, they're still playing a role.

turn 2 : It implies that there is a lot of political maneuvering happening behind the scenes in China which an average Chinese person have no knowledge about.

How much information do average Chinese people have about the political maneuvering in China?

Answer: limited


Possibly more powerful or an offshoot of these, yes. Yeah, there's no doubt. This has been - Flame has, looks like, created probably around maybe 2007, 2008. So you know, we're talking five years ago, and Stuxnet was created a little bit after that. And then you've got Duqu that came out a year after Stuxnet. So these are just three of them, and yeah, there's no doubt that there are others.

And once again you say that for people who are concerned, if you update your Windows, Microsoft has a patch out now too, doesn't it, it should remove it from your PC?

Well, Microsoft's patch is different. Microsoft patches the vulnerabilities that the Flame used to spread on a machine or to get on a machine. But if you have antivirus updates, that's the thing that will prevent you from getting infected as well.

And is there any possibility that this was done by a bunch of hobbyists or people who wanted, you know, to just show that they wanted to get into systems?

turn 2 :  A's turn has a different actual meaning from its literal meaning. When A says "Microsoft patches the vulnerabilities that the Flame used to spread on a machine or to get on a machine," they mean that Microsoft released a patch to fix the vulnerabilities that the Flame malware exploited to infect computers. The literal meaning might suggest that Microsoft somehow "patches" the Flame malware itself, which is not what is happening.

Which vulnerabilities did Microsoft release a patch for to prevent Flame malware from infecting computers?

Answer: Exploits


And so the children - we have 9,000 children in freedom schools around the country, but many of them are going to go out tomorrow, including Washington, D. C.  and then their state capitals and go see their senators and congressmen and say it is time to cover every child. Not some. God did not make two classes of children.

Tell me about tomorrow's day of social action. What specifically is it going to look like and where is it going to be?

Tomorrow is a civic participation day, they will be going to see their senators and congressmen and others. March into their offices and saying that it is time for every child to have healthcare. All should have the same benefits. All should be able be born with good healthcare.

They are going to tell them how upset they are that children died last year from dental abscesses that just didn't get treatment because children fell through the bureaucratic cracks. And while all of us at the Children's Defense Fund want universal coverage for everybody in America, which is long overdue, children can't wait while we debate for another two, three, four, five, 10 years, for universal coverage for everybody. And so next year they're going to be considering again the funding for the Child Health Insurance Program, but we want to make sure that any consideration of that program will say we're going to cover every child. Right now.

turn 2 : The civic participation day involves marching to senators' offices and demanding that every child should have access to healthcare, regardless of class or social status.

How many children are involved in the civic participation day?

Answer: 9,000


One of the stories in the collection is called "Missed Connection-m4w" - men for women - and it begins sort of like a Craigslist post in missed connections and then evolves from there. And you actually first published this on Craigslist. Is that right?

Yeah. What the story is about is about this guy who can't work up the nerve to talk to this woman sitting on the same train car as him. And in fact, 60 years pass where they. . .

He also can't get up and leave.

He - yeah. Well, 'cause he's paralyzed by this idea of who this woman is even though he never actually talks to her. But - so I had the idea to write this fake missed connection and just post it anonymously on Craigslist.

turn 1 : The man never talks to the woman he likes for 60 years.

What is the reason for the man's paralysis?

Answer: Woman.


Yes, of course. Ja.

Does it work?Have you taken it for a spin?

We intentionally avoided to drive the car. But what is really interesting, after 162 years, we conducted this - we call it octagon engine because of the shape of the exterior of the engine. And we connected it to a battery supply and the engine is still working today.

So you've started it up.

turn 3 : Implies that the speaker wants to know if the engine has been started and is running.

Which action did the speaker inquire about?

Answer: Inquire


Hey, Lulu.

For those of you who love esports, bear with us. But there is a segment, I'm sure, among our listeners who don't know what esports is. So tell us, what is it?

It's basically people that play video games competitively. It's more than just your son or daughter sitting in their basement playing video games. Last year, Madison Square Garden sold out two nights in a row. Tickets cost about $50 in order to watch a video gaming competition.

So let's talk about esports, the business of esports. It's been described as the next big thing. How big is the sport right now?How big do you think it could get?

turn 1 : (2) is different from its literal meaning. While the speaker asks the listeners to bear with them, they are not actually asking for the listeners to tolerate or endure anything difficult or unpleasant. Instead, the speaker is acknowledging that not all listeners may be familiar with esports and is asking for patience as they explain what it is.

How is turn 1 different from its literal meaning?

Answer: Esports


Yeah, I mean, I always have someone in mind. I'm not going to tell you people. But. . .

You know, there's always someone in mind when I'm writing. You know, it's all comes from somewhere inside.

Such a big part of that song is your voice, and I'm wondering if there's anything that you strive for when you sing a song like that.

I used to be really nervous when I sang. Like, when I was a kid starting young, 18 and 19, and my dad really had to sort of pushed me to start singing in front of people. Ever since I got out there and really started doing it, the only thing I've ever tried to do is just sort of is be myself, you know, never put on a voice. Sing naturally. And that always seems to work best for me.

turn 0 : The person is thinking of a particular person but they are not going to say who.

Answer: Naturally


People go armed with treats and halters, and so they're able to catch them. And, you know, mostly, if you're calm, the horses stay calm.

Horses eat a lot, don't they?How do you care for every one?

Sure thing. Well, many of us were able to grab hay and some supplies as we were evacuating our barn. So we came with food and some items in hand. But the local seed stores have been donating all kinds of hay and shavings and pellets. So we have had, again, tremendous support from the local community, making sure that every horse here is fed.

Can you smell the smoke, see the fire?

turn 0 : The horses are usually calm when approached with care and respect.

Which animals are approached with care and respect?

Answer: Horses


Was the jet stream actually screening out the cold air?Do I have that right?

Pretty much. The jet stream is typically the dividing line between the warm tropical air to the south and the cold, Arctic air to the north. And for the most part, it had retreated to close to the Canadian border for large parts of the winter.

Hmm. What about the "Farmers' Almanac"?I have to admit that I like picking it up and looking at it, and I sort of - I'm hesitant to even ask. Is there any science backing it up?

Well, I think the "Farmers' Almanac," they do look at some of the same things that NOAA look at, that AccuWeather looks at, as well as the Capital Weather Gang, when developing their outlooks. At the same time, they're using some more suspect features like sun spots and planetary alignments and things like that, which have never been proven to have any real predictive skill in terms of forecasting the weather in the long range.

turn 1 : The jet stream separates warm and cold air

Answer: Tropical


You are a brave man. You think there's going to be any political spats at your table?

Well, the entire house becomes the table with that many people, so we won't actually have room for argument. Anybody who wants to bicker will have to go outside.

John Dickerson is the chief political correspondent for slate. com. Thanks, John, and happy Thanksgiving.

Thank you. Happy Thanksgiving to you.

turn 1 : The house is too crowded to have political arguments

What do they have to do outside if they want to argue?

Answer: Go


So Beijing has basically made an offer to the people of Hong Kong that if they're willing to give up on dreams of greater democracy, they can be part of China's amazing economic rise, and they have offered them more integration with the kind of boom cities on the other side of the border in the mainland. The problem is that again and again and very dramatically over this extradition bill, the people of Hong Kong have said, no. They do not want that trade off. They actually are willing to protest and fight hard to maintain those freedoms that they still have.

So it's not even as though these protesters in Hong Kong are fighting for additional freedom. They're just saying we want to keep things the way they are. We don't want to see an erosion of the freedoms we do have.

That's right. I think it's important to be realistic. I mean, this has been an absolutely extraordinary - at times, very moving - protest by over a million people - overwhelmingly peaceful, very civic-minded, lots of different generations coming together. That's a fantastic thing and utterly unthinkable where I'm sitting in Beijing on the mainland - could never happen. But they are not about to get more democracy. They're not even about to get more freedoms. This is a defensive set of protests to keep what they have.

Interesting that you point out this would be very, very unlikely to happen in China. It makes me wonder, do the protests in Hong Kong pose any threat to China's leadership, to President Xi Jinping, to the Chinese Communist Party?Are they worried about this?

turn 0 : The people of Hong Kong are not willing to trade their freedom for economic growth offered by China's government.

What are the people of Hong Kong unwilling to trade?

Answer: freedom


Well, first of all, we continue to ask for all options on the table because. . .

So you want it. You want that to be a potential.

We want all options on the table. We haven't asked specifically for military intervention. And the big difference is that you have to be responsible about this. Think of a Rwanda-style scenario. Think about when Maduro continues to murder more and more people. He has asked regime militia armed groups to repress peaceful protesters. So I think we have to be responsible about this approach. And that's precisely - we always ask for a peaceful and constitutional solution. In what other dictatorship do you see a national assembly, an interim president with the people asking for the regime to leave?

You were a political prisoner. What's this moment like for you personally?

turn 2 : A believes that Maduro's actions are similar to those in Rwanda and that a peaceful solution is needed

How does PersonA describe Maduro's actions?

Answer: Rwanda-style


So, we just heard Bill say, essentially, yes, this is a huge incident, but it doesn't compare with some of the other social issues. Do you think that there's two much focus on this?

No, I don't think that at all. I don't think it's an either or type of equation. Because in essence it's not that the outrage against this diminishes the outrage against rape or HIV or AIDS or any of those other things.

In fact, I would say that there, these things you know, rather than those the reaction against, to those things, being disparate, in essence what people are reacting to is a culture and, in essence, a series of events that have at their root a basic disrespect for black life, especially black female life.

So, you can't really separate something like rape, the AIDS crisis which disproportionately affects women, and this type of incident where the targets were, you know, poor black women. At their root is essentially the fact that they are continuing to be so devalued.

turn 3 : It implies that issue of rape and AIDS are interconnected and cannot be viewed in isolation from one another.

What is the root cause of the issues mentioned in turn 3?

Answer: shopping


But some of the people you were just talking about are format breakers, who are a little bit of R&B, some soul. They pull back from influences from the past but they put their own stamp on it. Sonia, what do you like right now coming out of Atlanta?What are some of your favorites?

You know, I liked hearing the bumper music that you guys are playing in between - those are current songs, but when I think about - well, you know, first it was Goodie Mob and the "Cell Therapy. "So, I was thinking about what Cee-Lo is doing now is part of Gnarls Barkley.

As a songwriter, when you think about it, this guy wrote "Don't You" for the Pussycat Dolls, turned around and that is a big commercial. I mean, this guy is an incredible talent. The album that he's put out now with Gnarls Barkley is good. I can't wait to hear what TI's going to say, now that he has been through what he has been through.

I'm a big TI fan. I am still a bit OutKast fan. You look at OutKast, just completed their ballet this past weekend. I mean, these people are looking at the music as just kind of a launching pad into a lot of different mediums and you can't help but be proud to see such talent being recognized and explored in so many different mediums.

turn 2 : TI has faced some challenges but people still look forward to his music

Which Atlanta artist has faced challenges but still has people looking forward to their music?

Answer: TI


Hi, Lulu. Thanks for having me.

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

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

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

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

turn 0 : The person was not had, but was invited for the interview.

How was the person invited for the interview?

Answer: Invited


. . . Transparency. They want to know how we got to this point so that no presidential candidate, Democrat or Republican, ever sees something like this happen to them.

So you would like to see an investigation of the investigation. You do think that's a productive use of time.

What I want to make certain is we know that bad actors are rooted out and that we are going to be well served by individuals who realize we are a nation of laws, that we will abide by the rule of law. And you are going to have law enforcement there that is to uphold the law.

Marsha Blackburn is a Republican senator from Tennessee. She sits on the Judiciary Committee. Thank you very much for joining us.

turn 3 : joining us implies being part of a program or activity and not referring to mixing or attaching people together

Answer: speaking


One of the groups that helped push Trump over the top in Indiana was white evangelicals. The question is now that Kasich and Cruz are out of the race, will Republican evangelical voters coalesce around Trump in the general election?We're joined by Russell Moore. He's the president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention. Thanks so much for joining us.

Good to be with you.

Now, in many ways, Ted Cruz really, I think, bet his campaign on the evangelical vote. He was hoping to capture the vote in many of the early primary states. He certainly was banking on it in Indiana - didn't happen for him. Why wasn't he able to?

Well, I think there are a number of reasons. I think one of the reasons is evangelicals are just as susceptible to trends in the country as the rest of the population. And if you look at the exit polling on evangelicals, you'll find that churchgoing evangelicals, people who actually attend worship services, were much less likely to support Donald Trump than were people who just nominally affiliate themselves with evangelical Christianity.

turn 3 : The literal meaning of turn (4) is that there are several reasons why Ted Cruz wasn't able to capture the evangelical vote, and one of those reasons is that churchgoing evangelicals were less likely to support Donald Trump than those who just nominally affiliate themselves with evangelical Christianity.

Which group was less likely to support Donald Trump according to the exit polling mentioned in turn 3?

Answer: Churchgoing


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

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

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

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

turn 3 : .The situation was potentially dangerous and uncomfortable, with the darkness and cold adding to the tension.

How would you describe the atmosphere during the train situation?

Answer: Tense


You mentioned Slate, which is one of the - it's in the corporate umbrella that you are. And there's also - Henry Louis Gates Jr. , he is obviously an academic superstar and a media superstar. He's played a major role in this organization and in popularizing genealogical research.

But how does the magazine try to bring together the news part with the genealogy part, where you have, actually, links to AfricanDNA. com?

Right. The two parts of the site - the site now has two core missions - the magazine and the tools-based part of the site, which is The Root's part of the site. And where it makes sense, there will be a crossover between those two functions. There's an essay that we've got coming in today from someone who's well known, who's doing an essay on researching her family history.

And it's in written form, so it'll run in the magazine. And so that is a direct connection to The Root's part of the site. But I don't think we'll always force the two things to be connected. What I would hope is that people who come to the site for - maybe if we have political junkies who are coming to the site tomorrow to see what our take is on Super Tuesday, that they would come to the site, read a good article and then maybe jump over and try to start building their family tree by the same token.

turn 2 : The literal meaning of this phrase is that the site has two primary purposes. The actual meaning, however, could be interpreted as suggesting that the magazine and the tools-based part of the site serve as the foundational elements that make up the larger site.

How does the magazine contribute to the larger site?

Answer: Crossover


People are still there, and people are still very defiant. I think that's really the only word you can use for people who've spent the last month fasting during Ramadan in extremes of heat. And they now say that we will not step down; we will not stand back until this military council has been deposed.

Well, now the military is saying we're going to stall these negotiations. Any agreement that we had settled is off, but we're going to hold elections within nine months. Is that good news for the protesters?

It is - they take it as good news, but the reality is it's not because the only infrastructure that remains intact is the infrastructure of the former regime and the former ruling party. It's difficult to see how, in a situation where people are fearing for their lives, you can put together a cohesive electoral campaign. Even though the military council says that they will allow observers in, this is a military council that is blocking journalists - that has suspended Al Jazeera, that has suspended other journalists from doing their work. So there's a lot of disbelief that they will allow observers to carry out their job.

Meanwhile, they will just continue to sit-in, to protest, to demand democratic reforms even if they are unlikely.

turn 0 : People have endured extreme conditions during Ramadan, but they are still protesting and refusing to back down

Which religious observance did the people fast during while protesting?

Answer: Ramadan


The numbers you've tossed around show you how expensive. People have been able to do experiments. They've found all kinds of really interesting possibly valuable properties, but nothing, no industry is really going to start until they can make enough of this stuff cheaply to use it.

Until now, most of the ways of making it started with this first step: Get some really pure, really expensive chemicals that you're going to mix in and do the next stuff. Huge expense. What Jim Tour down in Houston discovered and showed is that anything that's got carbon in it you can turn into graphene.

And to demonstrate that he meant anything, he did it with Girl Scout cookies. He turned those into graphene. He did it with chocolate. He got some chocolate half-dollar coins. He did it with dog feces from a miniature Dachshund, and he did it with a cockroach leg. And essentially he just got a really big oven, heated it up to about 1,000 degrees C and filled that oven with a little bit of this stuff, the cockroach or the dog feces, whatever, and a sheet of pure copper and a little bit of gas, left it for about 20 minutes, and viola, he'd made little bits of really high-quality graphene.

Wow.

turn 0 : The numbers tossed around you indicates that the objects that you used.

How does Jim Tour turn anything with carbon in it into graphene?

Answer: Carbon


Sounds good, right?Sixty years ago this month, Miles Davis finished recording one of the most iconic albums in jazz. "Kind Of Blue" is perhaps Davis's greatest masterpiece. But it wasn't the only milestone recorded that year. John Coltrane, Dave Brubeck, Ornette Coleman and Charles Mingus all cut timeless classics, which is why many fans consider 1959 the best year in jazz ever.

There are all kinds of think pieces about this - a new blog devoted to the subject, even a documentary film titled "1959: The Year That Changed Jazz. "So settle in. And let's listen to what 1959 sounded like. Our guide is Nate Chinen. He is editorial director at our member station WBGO. And he's with Jazz Night In America. Nate, thanks for being here.

Thank you, Rachel.

All right. Make the case. What makes 1959 so great?

turn 1 : Let's explore the music of 1959 and why it was special

Answer: Milestone


Far be it for me to sort of put words in the first lady's mouth, but I think that what that shows to me anyway, as an observer, is that these dress codes are so ingrained that I would imagine for Melania potentially it just would not occur to her in a public appearance to not be wearing heels.

You know, I think certainly we see the same with the royal family in the U. K. , Kate Middleton coming out of the hospital each time after having her babies wearing these enormous heels. And, you know, womankind across the world, I think, was wincing looking at those photos, thinking, oh, God, that's the last thing you want to be wearing when you've just given birth.

And I do think that we tend to associate high heels with making an effort, with being appropriate and no more so than for these figures who are - have the eyes of the world on them.

Before we let you go, you know I'm going to ask you, what are you wearing now?

turn 2 : High heels are associated with making an effort and being appropriate, especially for public figures

How are high heels associated with public figures?

Answer: Hair


I do. And there was a series that was done on PBS. I think it was - I can't remember which report - I think it was Andrea Mitchell, I'm not sure, where she did a lot of interviews with Generation Next. And these are the young people in our society who are just going into high school. And these are the young people in our society who are just going in to high school. And these are young people who have totally different ideas about race than we do and how they can get along with each other. But what was missing was concrete information, science and history and an understanding of social structure, so that they could have these conversations. So part of what I'm excited about is this is a project that gives young people, who are already thinking about bridging gaps and already thinking about bridging divides of culture and race, to have tools to talk about this in ways that our generation did not.

Yolanda, thank you so much.

You are welcome.

Yolanda Moses is on the advisory board of a project called "Race - Are We So Different?"She's also vice-provost for diversity and conflict resolution at the University of California at Riverside.

turn 3 : Yolanda Moses has expertise in diversity and conflict resolution

How would you describe Yolanda Moses' role in the "Race - Are We So Different?" project?

Answer: Advisory


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

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

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

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

turn 0 : The social safety net is inadequate due to strict eligibility requirements and inadequate benefits.

What is the reason behind the protests in France?

Answer: Gas


I have. I was, yes, one of the scholars who figured it out by searching on Google. And it turns out that Jack of jack-o'-lantern fame was not such a terrible guy. In fact, he's quite clever and entrepreneurial. And he almost outwitted the devil, so that's the Irish folktale. Jack tricked the devil into climbing a tree to get him an apple. And then Jack carved a cross on the tree trunks so the devil couldn't get down. So Jack says I'll take away the cross if you promise never to send me to hell. So they made a deal, but, of course, the devil being the devil, he found a loophole. So he didn't send Jack to hell, but Jack was consigned to walk the earth forever, holding a lantern to light his way. And by the way - this is important - the lantern was made of a turnip, not a pumpkin. So somewhere along the line, the turnip industry got really screwed.

Have you ever opened the door and seen a trick of trick-or-treater dressed as B. J. Leiderman, who writes our theme music?

(Laughter) No. But that's a great idea for my kids today.

(Laughter).

turn 0 : Jack's clever and entrepreneurial nature allows him to make a deal with the devil and escape from certain doom.

Which industry got screwed somewhere along the line?

Answer: Tobacco


And there are two things I think that are really important to remember. The first is that those people are still held accountable. They still plead guilty to crimes. And they often do prison sentences that are very long - not as long as people who don't cooperate. But they often really do - they really do get punished for that.

The second thing is when you think about the most serious cases the president talks about all the time, like MS-13, you simply couldn't make those cases without cooperators. You need people on the inside because things like gangs are highly secretive organizations. And so you need to understand where drugs are coming from, where money's coming from, how violence is committed and by whom. And so it really is essential. You know, it's an unsavory part of the criminal justice system. But it's a part that becomes very important to get serious crimes prosecuted.

OK.  Anne Milgram, former federal prosecutor and attorney general of New Jersey, now a professor at New York University Law School, thanks so much.

Thank you.

turn 1 : It is not that is something to be tasted. It is something people don't like to hear about.

How would you describe the part of the criminal justice system that becomes important for getting serious crimes prosecuted?

Answer: cooperators