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Around the Nation
8:00 am
Sat March 24, 2012

New Prosecutor In Fla. Shooting Case; Protests Spread

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Outrage over the shooting death of Trayvon Martin spread across the country this week following the release of the recordings of 911 calls. Trayvon Martin was unarmed. He'd gone out to purchase candy. Thousands of people protested this week, donning hooded sweatshirts in solidarity with Trayvon Martin, who was wearing one when he was shot. Many called for the arrest of George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer who says he shot the 17-year-old in self-defense.

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Presidential Race
8:00 am
Sat March 24, 2012

GOP Primary Season: Helpful Or Harmfully Long?

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Scott Simon.

Be careful what you wish for. After John McCain so quickly clinched the Republican presidential nomination the last time around, the party changed its rules with an eye to extending their primary season, reaping public interest for months like the long Democratic primary season of 2008. You might wonder how they feel about that now. John McCain himself has dubbed this campaign the nastiest he's ever seen - akin to watching a Greek tragedy.

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Around the Nation
8:00 am
Sat March 24, 2012

How Does The Secret Service Create Code Names?

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

This week, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum got their secret service code names. Mr. Romney is Javelin. Mr. Santorum is Petrus. We asked Ian Chillag and Mike Danforth from the NPR podcast How to Do Everything to look into how secret service code names are assigned.

IAN CHILLAG, BYLINE: Presidents have been getting codenames all the way back to Harry Truman. The secret service called him General.

MIKE DANFORTH, BYLINE: Here's historian Michael Beschloss.

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Sports
8:00 am
Sat March 24, 2012

Kentucky's 'Not Allowed To Lose' NCAA Tournament

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Scott Simon. Time for sports.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

SIMON: And coming up, we'll talk about the scandal rocking the NFL. But first, in the NCAA last night: North Carolina needed overtime to put away Ohio. Kansas defeated NC State. Baylor beat Xavier. And Kentucky toppled Indiana 102 to 90. And with that win, the powerhouse Wildcats moved into the elite 8 of the tournament. NPR's Mike Pesca reports.

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The Salt
6:58 am
Sat March 24, 2012

Cooking School Spreads Immigrants' Skills And Ethnic Recipes

If you want to learn how to make Vietnamese egg rolls, you can always check out a cookbook, a food blog, or perhaps a site like Epicurious.

But Linh Nguyen — who is teaching a cooking class here in San Francisco — says that that's not really the way to do it. In fact, her family doesn't even own a cookbook.

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The Two-Way
6:00 am
Sat March 24, 2012

Americans Want The Supreme Court To Open Up; Here's Why It Won't

Credit J. Scott Applewhite / AP
The U.S. Supreme Court.
  • Nina Totenberg on the court's disconnect
  • Nina Totenberg, on the timing of the tapes
  • Nina Totenberg, on the justices' thinking
  • Nina Totenberg, on looking forward to the sessions

Three straight days of oral arguments about the constitutionality of President Obama's health care overhaul law start Monday at the U.S. Supreme Court.

It's a perfect political storm: an issue that affects everyone and has deeply divided the major political parties coming before the nine justices smack in the middle of a presidential campaign.

Much is riding on what the justices decide. Their rulings are expected by the end of June.

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Around the Nation
5:57 am
Sat March 24, 2012

A Lesson In Sprockets Takes Students On A Trip

Credit Kim Green / For NPR
Daniel Furbish works with a student during his class in Nashville, Tenn. Students learn to build bikes from donated parts.

Originally published on Sat March 24, 2012 10:41 am

In a cave-like basement bursting with rickety old bicycles, tires and churning middle-schoolers, Daniel Furbish barks orders.

Close-cropped beard, pen behind his ear, Furbish is an artist-turned-teacher from a military family — creative and disciplined. He started his Nashville, Tenn., bike-building workshop as a summer experiment. He thought, "What if I take donated bike parts and teach kids to put them together?"

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Shots - Health Blog
5:56 am
Sat March 24, 2012

In Conservative California, Confusion And Contempt For Health Law

Originally published on Sun March 25, 2012 5:40 pm

To reach Oakhurst, Calif., drive away from the green fields of the Central Valley, past miles of pistachio trees showing their spring buds and up toward the snow-topped peaks of the Sierra Nevada.

Here, just a few miles from the entrance to Yosemite National Park, is the Sweetwater Steakhouse, a local watering hole where no one is shy about their opinions of President Obama's signature initiative.

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Latin America
5:54 am
Sat March 24, 2012

Pope Encounters A 'Wounded, Depressed' Mexico

Crowds of people dressed in white and waving yellow flags lined the highway outside the Leon airport in the central Mexican state of Guanajuato to welcome Pope Benedict XVI. They cheered wildly when the grinning, 84-year-old pontiff sped past in his glass-sided popemobile.

The pope began his weeklong trip to Latin America on Friday afternoon. He's spending the weekend in Mexico before heading to Cuba.

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Politics
5:53 am
Sat March 24, 2012

Medicare Cuts: 'End As You Know It' Or Future Gift?

Credit Luis Alvarez / AP
Vice President Joe Biden speaks about Republicans' proposed changes to Medicare, at Wynmoor Village retirement community in Coconut Creek, Fla., on Friday.

Democrats lost no time in attacking the budget plan House Republicans introduced Tuesday. The plan saves money by overhauling Medicare, but Democrats argue it will destroy the program.

One of the Democrats leading the charge is Vice President Joe Biden. Taking on the role of candidate, Biden was in Coconut Creek, Fla., giving the second in what he promises will be a series of campaign speeches challenging the Republicans.

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