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The conversation earlier today between Morning Edition co-host Steve Inskeep and NPR's Shankar Vedantam about software that can reportedly detect when a CEO might be trying to hide something during a conference call with investment analysts sent us off on a search for more about the research that Shankar was discussing. Layered Voice Analysis technology, according to researchers from Duke University and the University of Illinois, seems to be able to pick up on the "vocal dissonance markers" in the tone of a CEO's voice that signal he or she might be shading the truth, trying to not say something...

Next Week's Challenge from listener Ed Pegg Jr.: Write the digits from 1 to 9 in a line. If you put a plus sign after the 2, a times sign after the 4, and plus signs after the 6 and 8, the line shows 12 + 34 x 56 + 78 + 9, which equals 2003. That's nine years off from our current year 2012.? This example uses four arithmetic symbols. The object is to use just three of the following arithmetic operations: addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, in a line from 1 to 9 to get 2012 exactly. The...

Following is the full text of Gov. Mitch Daniels' Republican Address to the Nation, as prepared for delivery:"The status of 'loyal opposition' imposes on those out of power some serious responsibilities: to show respect for the Presidency and its occupant, to express agreement where it exists. Republicans tonight salute our President, for instance, for his aggressive pursuit of the murderers of 9/11, and for bravely backing long overdue changes in public education. I personally would add to that list admiration for the strong family commitment that he and the First Lady have displayed to a nation sorely needing such examples."On...

South Carolinians are voting today in the GOP primary, which some pundits see as the candidates' last stand for getting the GOP nomination to run in the general election. On weekends on All Things Considered today, host Guy Raz talked with Danielle Vinson, the chair of the political science department at Furman University in Greenville, S.C., about what is often considered "dirty" South Carolina primary politics. "If you don't come of out here with a first or second place, it's hard to keep going," she says. "So by the time they get here everybody takes off the gloves." One of...

January 8, 2012 When a gunman opened fire on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., and others at a shopping center near Tucson exactly a year ago — killing six people and injuring Giffords and many others — some people were quick to blame the episode on the overheated political climate. At the time of the attack, there was a high tide of political rhetoric across America and a low ebb of social civility. The New York Times reported that the shootings "raised questions about potential political motives" and that the Pima County, Ariz., sheriff was blaming the tragedies on "the toxic...

In "Reconstituting The Constitution: How To Rewrite It," we invited readers to share their own thoughts on how we might change the founding document for 2011. Now the people have spoken. As of Dec. 20, you've chosen to abolish the Electoral College, to limit campaign contributions from corporations, to deny corporations the rights of citizens and to prohibit members of Congress from lobbying once they leave office. In our un-scientific sampling, "ratification" required the support of two-thirds of voters. (You can still add your selections here.)

On Wednesday, NPR's resident ObamaCare booster Jule Rovner spotlighted the left-leaning Kaiser Family Foundation's latest tracking poll on the law. Rovner indicated that 51% unpopularity for the legislation in October was merely a "blip," and played up how "the public is still confused about what the law does and does not do, more than 18 months after its passage." The journalist led her November 30 item for NPR's "Shots" blog, "Health Law's Popularity Rises...Ever So Slightly," with her "blip" label. After briefly noting that "the federal Affordable Care Act still remains slightly more unpopular 44 percent) than popular (37 percent),"...

Where Turkey Is The Guest, Not The Entree (Isabella Colbdorf feeds salad to a turkey at this year's Feeding of the Turkeys ceremony in Watkins Glen, in upstate New York, on Nov. 20, 2011.) Most people think of turkeys as the centerpiece of the Thanksgiving meal. But at one farm, the turkeys are the guests. At the 26th annual Feeding of the Turkeys ceremony in Watkins Glen, in upstate New York, a line of turkeys come walking out the door of the barn. They stroll towards long low tables set up on the lawn, with scarlet tablecloths and seasonal squash...

"Dialing for Radio Dollars" was the headline on a Wall Street Journal column by Ralph Gardner Jr. last month. Mr. Gardner began his column: "I'm not sure what's more remarkable—that there even exists a bobblehead of Alan Chartock, the head of Northeast public radio, the Hudson Valley's NPR affiliate, or that it enjoys pride of place on the ledge overlooking our stove." Mr. Gardner's article goes on to paint a flattering profile of Mr. Chartock, who is president and CEO of WAMC/Northeast Public Radio and professor emeritus at the State University of New York at Albany. "The cult of Alan,...

National Public Radio proved a long time ago it disdains black conservatives. Remember when NPR's Nina Totenberg launched the unproven sexual harassment charges against Clarence Thomas? NPR doesn't even like black liberals who appear on Fox News: They canned Juan Williams. The sexual harassment charges against Herman Cain aren't ruining him as quickly as the media hoped, so on Nov. 11, NPR viciously attacked Cain for being an enemy of blacks and a "minstrel" to white conservatives. Reporter Karen Grigsby Bates began with Harvard Professor Randall Kennedy. "Black people know that if Herman Cain had his way, their lives would...

There was a time before Jersey Shore, before Toddlers & Tiaras, before Dance Moms, when it seemed like unscripted television might be used for good. It goes all the way back to the time when the Louds were profiled on PBS's An American Family, but more recently when Pedro Zamora died of AIDS the day after the airing of his last episode of MTV's The Real World. Television is powerful, and while that's most often said with a shake of the head, now and then, it can be said with some satisfaction, and that's the way it feels to watch...

Black NPR reporter/Obama supporter Karen Grigsby Bates ripped into Herman Cain with a chorus of condemnation from black liberals. Harvard professor Randall Kennedy claimed “Black people know that if Herman Cain had his way, their lives would be diminished.” Former Time reporter Jack E. White added “Herman Cain tells them what they want to hear about blacks, and in turn, they embrace him and say, see, that proves we aren't racist. He's even willing to be a minstrel for them.”

Karen Kraushaar, a 55-year-old federal employee and registered Republican, has been identified as one of the two women who in the late 1990s settled claims of sexual harassment against 2012 GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain, our colleague Liz Halloran reports on the It's All Politics blog and the NPR Newscast. Kraushaar's identity was first revealed by The Daily, an iPad news site produced by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. Until today, her name had not been published. She has not agreed to speak publicly or say more about the incident than her lawyer did last week, but she has confirmed to...

In the Running World, They're Called 'Bandits' and Race Officials Don't Like to Discuss Them; the Cockroach Analogy For anyone without an official slot in Sunday's New York Marathon, here's a thought: Run it anyway. But don't expect the running establishment to cheer you on. Peter Sagal tried that at last month's Chicago Marathon. Without paying the $145 registration fee, he joined the nearly 38,000 official marathoners on Oct. 9, partaking of free Gatorade along the way. "I know it's wrong," Mr. Sagal, host of National Public Radio's "Wait Wait… Don't Tell Me!," wrote afterward in a blog for Runner's...

Report: Cain Campaign May Have Gotten Illegal Boost From Aides' Firm Frank James October 31, 2011 This is shaping up to be a really blue Monday for Herman Cain and a very busy Halloween for political reporters.Not only is there the report of alleged sexual harassment during his time at the National Restaurant Association. Now there's a report that his campaign may have received early help from a company run by his campaign aides which legal experts say could have violated federal election and tax laws.The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports: Herman Cain's two top campaign aides ran a private Wisconsin-based corporation...

National Public Radio’s Michele Norris will step away from her hosting duties as host of All Things Considered after her husband took a job with the Obama campaign.n a note posted on NPR’s web site (h/t PostPolitics producer Matt DeLong), Norris said that her husband, Broderick Johnson, will join the Obama team as a senior adviser. Norris will continue working at NPR “producing signature segments and features and working on new reporting projects.” Johnson was also a senior 2008 adviser to the Obama campaign. Before that, he was a senior advisor for congressional affairs in the Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.)...

National Public Radio’s Michele Norris, who co-hosts All Things Considered, is stepping down “temporarily” from her post as her husband works to re-elect President Barack Obama. Norris’ husband, Broderick Johnson, worked for Massachusetts Democratic Sen. John Kerry’s 2004 presidential campaign, and for Obama’s 2008 White House bid. Norris did not step down in 2008, but did recuse herself from political coverage in 2004. Johnson will be a “senior adviser” for the Obama 2012 campaign, according to an internal message Norris sent her colleagues.

After violating National Public Radio’s ethics code by acting as a spokeswoman for Occupy DC protesters, Lisa Simeone was fired Wednesday evening from one of the two public radio programs she hosts... Simeone was fired from “SoundPrint,” an internationally syndicated program appearing on NPR affiliate WAMU in Washington, D.C. The official who fired Simeone reportedly did so over the phone ... The firing comes after The Daily Caller and others reported that Simeone violated NPR’s ethics policy by acting as a spokeswoman for the Occupy DC group “October 2011,” the organization currently “occupying” Freedom Plaza in Washington, D.C.

Planet Money has obtained a secret government report outlining what once looked like a potential crisis: The possibility that the U.S. government might pay off its entire debt.It sounds ridiculous today. But not so long ago, the prospect of a debt-free U.S. was seen as a real possibility with the potential to upset the global financial system.We recently obtained the report through a Freedom of Information Act Request. You can read the whole thing here. (It's a PDF.)The report is called "Life After Debt". It was written in the year 2000, when the U.S. was running a budget surplus, taking...

Baltimore broadcaster Lisa Simeone fired back Wednesday night after National Public Radio told the Baltimore Sun it was looking into her role as a spokesman for a group involved in the Occupy D.C. movement. The public radio veteran expressed puzzlement as to why NPR "objects" to her exercising her "rights as a citizen," and she questioned why such big-name NPR correspondents and hosts as Mara Liaason, Scott Simon and Cokie Roberts are allowed to operate under what appears to be a different standard than the one being applied to her. At issue is whether NPR feels her activities on behalf...

After violating National Public Radio’s ethics code by acting as a spokeswoman for Occupy DC protesters, Lisa Simeone was fired Wednesday evening from one of the two public radio programs she hosts, the Associated Press reports. Simeone was fired from “SoundPrint,” an internationally syndicated program appearing on NPR affiliate WAMU in Washington, D.C. The official who fired Simeone reportedly did so over the phone and read NPR’s ethics code to her during the call. WAMU describes “SoundPrint” as “the aural equivalent of photojournalism” and says the Simeone-hosted program explores “news, history, and culture.” The firing comes after The Daily Caller...

Should journalists become activists as well as advocates? Paul Krugman drew a line between the two in his explanation for his absence from the Occupy Wall Street protests, which drew some hoots of derision, but which might look a little more reasonable after NPR fired a host for becoming an Occupy DC spokesperson: After violating National Public Radio’s ethics code by acting as a spokeswoman for Occupy DC protesters, Lisa Simeone was fired Wednesday evening from one of the two public radio programs she hosts, the Associated Press reports.Simeone was fired from “SoundPrint,” an internationally syndicated program appearing on NPR...

NPR Host/Occupy Protester Says She's Been Fired By Tim Graham Created 10/20/2011 - 10:56am AP is reporting NPR host/Occupy protest leader Lisa Simeone has been fired: "A freelance broadcaster who works for music and documentary programs has been fired from a job after NPR questioned her involvement in a Washington protest." Lisa Simeone said Thursday that she was fired from "Soundprint," a documentary show that is not produced by NPR, but by Soundprint Media in nearby Laurel, Maryland. "Simeone says she was fired Wednesday in a phone call during which NPR's code of ethics was read to her." Simeone is...

National Public Radio host Lisa Simeone appears to be breaking the taxpayer-subsidized network’s ethics rules by acting as a spokeswoman for Occupy D.C. group “October 2011,” which is currently “occupying” Freedom Plaza in Washington, D.C. Simeone hosts NPR’s nationally syndicated “World of Opera” program and “SoundPrint,” a program that airs on NPR’s WAMU affiliate at American University in Washington, D.C. When Roll Call asked Simeone about the conflict of interest and the apparent ethics violations, she replied, “Well, I work in radio still, but this is totally different” because she says she’s a “freelancer.” (SEE ALSO: NPR executives caught on...

Italian riot police fired tear gas and water cannons Saturday in Rome as violent protesters hijacked a peaceful demonstration against corporate greed, smashing bank windows, torching cars and hurling bottles. A protester hurls a canister during clashes in Rome, Saturday. Protesters smashed the windows of shops in Rome and torched a car as violence broke out during a demonstration in the Italian capital. Elsewhere, hundreds of thousands nicknamed "the indignant" marched without incident in cities across Europe, as the "Occupy Wall Street" protests linked up with long-running demonstrations against European governments' austerity measures. Heavy smoke billowed in downtown Rome as...

Though reporters asked about it during President Obama’s Thursday press conference, media coverage of the gun-running “Fast and Furious” scandal has generally been lacking. On Hugh Hewitt’s syndicated radio program Thursday, columnist Mark Steyn explained why he hasn’t ignored the story, and attacked the Obama administration’s involvement in the program. “In this case the government of the United States is the gunrunner,” Steyn said. “That is basically what is happening here. There would be no guns running to these Mexican cartels if the United States government hadn’t instituted a program to facilitate it.” Steyn noted the lack of media outrage...

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie never threw his hat in the ring for president, but liberal talk radio hosts are already regretting they don't have Christie to kick around any more with fat jokes. Brian Maloney at the Radio Equalizer reported several liberal talkers thought Christie's fat made it too dangerous for him to run. On Monday, Stephanie Miller cracked that Christie would get killed by a rock if he stood next to those other Republican meanies. But that came after she worried about "how many people" Christie would "immediately crush to death with his giant fat ass." This is...

Progressive activists played a big role in helping President Obama get elected. But in the years since, the big story of political activism has been the conservative Tea Party movement.<snip>"It has been a tough couple of years," says activist Van Jones, who served briefly in the Obama administration. "We can't get up here and lie like everything's cool. We went from hope to heartbreak in about a minute."Jones was forced to resign from the administration in its first year amid criticism from conservatives over controversial statements he'd made in the past.While calling the Tea Party's ideas wrong for America, Jones...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain said Sunday that he should not have stayed silent after the audience at a GOP debate booed a gay soldier serving in Iraq. The Georgia businessman told ABC's "This Week" that it would have been "appropriate" for him to have defended the soldier. None of the candidates on stage at the Sept. 22 forum responded to the boos. "In retrospect, because of the controversy it has created and because of the different interpretations that it could have had, yes, that probably — that would have been appropriate," Cain said, when asked if...

Unbelievable. Republicans just released their draft budget. What’s their solution to the economic crisis? Cut NPR, defund Planned Parenthood, and bust unions. That’s not a jobs plan, that’s a radical agenda. The Democratic Senate will stand strong against these cuts. But if the Tea Party gains only four seats, we lose the majority – and our ability to defend women’s rights, protect workers, and even listen to Morning Edition. With only a few hours until the deadline, we still have $18,000 left to raise. That’s only 301 more people from Florida. If we miss this goal, our budget can’t be...

"In Blog del Narco [they] are amplifying the public relations efforts the cartels had already started," says Rosental Alves, a journalism professor at the University of Texas, Austin, who follows new media in Latin America.

VANITY NPR has remained silent on the blog from Frank James comparing 0bama to Jesus. Not a word from NPR. Silence. However most reader comments at the link are scathing.

The realities of governing as opposed to the unrealities of presidential campaigns may have made President Obama a much more human figure compared with the almost messiah-like status he had in the eyes of many supporters in 2008.But that doesn't mean there still isn't the occasional moment reminiscent of a Bible story.At a rally on the campus of North Carolina State in Raleigh, N.C. Wednesday where President Obama went to drum up support for his jobs bill, this happened. AUDIENCE MEMBER: I love you, Barack!THE PRESIDENT: I love you back. (Applause.) But first — but if you love me —...

"a new Ben & Jerry's ice cream flavor based on a Saturday Night Live skit that pokes fun at NPR....in case you don't get the reference, the skit is a hilarious commentary on NPR's, um, uniquely soothing sound. [Alec] Baldwin plays Pete Schweddy, a guest on a fake NPR show called Delicious Dish. Pete makes holiday treats like cheese balls, popcorn balls, rum balls and his famous Schweddy balls. The skit is an exercise in double entendres."~snip (More at the link)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Dean C. Haskins 202.241.3648This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it   Posted: September 5, 2011© 2011 The Birther Summit See original press release: http://www.birthersummit.org/news/47-colin-powell-continues-crooked-cover-up-for-barack-obama.html COLIN POWELL CONTINUES CROOKED COVER-UP FOR BARACK OBAMA UPDATE: NPR SCRUBS POWELL'S STATEMENT ABOUT THE BIRTHER SUMMIT CHALLENGE UPDATE: BirtherReport.com provides before and after audio and screenshots In a recent NPR interview, Gen. Colin Powell stated, "The president had to produce his birth certificate because there was still this coterie of people in the country who won't believe. And even after he produced his...

September 2, 2011 There's a lot of good sense behind closing two famous and nearby military hospitals and merging them into the new Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. But just looking at the name reveals both what's good about this merger and what makes it so tricky. Walter Reed was a famous Army doctor, and for more than a century his name was on the Army's iconic hospital in Washington, D.C. Now that hospital is shutting its doors, and Reed's name will go onto the new hospital built on the Navy's flagship medical campus in Bethesda, Md., 6 miles...

One of the greatest perversions of statism is the use of taxpayer money to push for ever more government spending and intervention. A casual listener to the far-left end of the FM dial, National Public Radio, will quickly conclude that NPR is one of America's leading offenders in this perversion. Let's just take one show, the Aug. 22 evening newscast "All Things Considered," perhaps one of the most ill named programs in the history of radio. Conservatism is never considered. It is only besmirched, assaulted and rhetorically dismembered. NPR anchor Robert Siegel was covering the new Martin Luther King memorial...

On April 8, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi headlined a Boston conference on ''media reform.'' She was joined by four other congressmen, a senator, two FCC commissioners, a Nobel laureate and numerous liberal journalists. The 2,500-person event was sponsored by a group called Free Press, one of more than 180 different media-related organizations that receives money from liberal billionaire George Soros. Soros, who first made a name for himself in investing and currency trading, now makes his name in politics and policy. Since the 2004 election, the controversial financier has used his influence and billions to push a laundry list...

More than 5,000 of you nominated. More than 60,000 of you voted. And now the results are in. The winners of NPR's Top 100 Science-Fiction and Fantasy survey are an intriguing mix of classic and contemporary titles. A quick word about what's here, and what's not: Our panel of experts reviewed hundreds of the most popular nominations and tossed out those that didn't fit the survey's criteria (after — we assure you — much passionate, thoughtful, gleefully nerdy discussion). You'll notice there are no young adult or horror books on this list, but sit tight, dear reader, we're saving those...

Barring the sudden ability to fold the country in half, the famed Newport Jazz Festival in Connecticut has always been out of reach for most West Coast jazz fans. Now, in a move that cries out for a return of a "Carmageddon"-like case of cabin fever, NPR Music will offer free streaming audio of all the happenings through its website or smart phone app beginning at 11 a.m. PST Saturday. (To whet your appetite, the station has already uploaded audio from last year's festival, including Ken Vandermark, Gretchen Parlato and Julian Lage.)

The pair of attacks that a 32-year-old Norwegian man claims responsibility for focus attention on the rise of right-wing extremism in Europe.

Juan Williams on NPR: Elitist and white By: Keach Hagey July 21, 2011 07:39 AM EDT No single person has had a greater impact on National Public Radio in the past year than Juan Williams. The political wildfire started by his firing took down the media organization’s CEO, top news executive and top fundraiser, and sparked multiple votes on the floor of Congress to strip the public broadcaster of federal funding. As if this were not vindication enough, in “Muzzled: The Assault on Honest Debate,” a new book out next week, Williams details a decade of what he said was...

This from Nina Totenberg, the one who works for the somewhat government-subsidized Public Broadcasting Corporation. (via Daily Caller) "....But, it does show you when politicians and the news media are completely intertwined, not just get in bed together because they’ve always been in bed together a little bit, but their ownership is intertwined with the power of the press, it can get to be a very dangerous proposition, reading how frightened the leaders were to even challenge Murdoch."

'That's Racist' The accusation becomes a punch line. ‘That’s racist.� It’s a comedic catchphrase these days, popularized by an online clip from a 2005 TV show Wonder Showzen on MTV2. It’s not as iconic as Gary Coleman’s “What ’chu talkin’ ’bout, Willis?� or Fonzie’s “Ayyyyyy� or even Bart Simpson’s “Don’t have a cow, man.� But what it lacks in pedigree, it makes up for in ubiquity and social relevance. Across the country, it’s a staple of schoolyards, Internet discussion groups, Twitter, and sitcoms. For instance, when a character on NBC’s Parks and Recreation explains to a co-worker how to do...

I found this of interest, about half way down: "Governments and big nongovernmental organizations — which are keenly aware of the big picture — are often blind to neighborhood dynamics. In Southeast Asia, Aldrich found that well-intentioned NGOs actually hurt the fishing communities they were trying to help. They saw the damage caused by the tsunami in fishing villages and started giving new boats to all the fishermen. Really, at the end of the day, the people who will save you, and the people who will help you, they're usually neighbors. - Daniel Aldrich "Fishing is a very social activity....

The Obama administration today said a proposal from House Natural Resources Chairman Doc Hastings (R-Wash.) to expedite oil and gas leasing and energy infrastructure permitting in an Alaska reserve could force federal regulators to flout environmental laws and includes a costly, redundant resource assessment. Mike Pool, deputy director of the Bureau of Land Management, also announced the agency will hold lease sales in the National Petroleum Reserve, known as NPR-A, in December 2011 and each year after, making good on the administration's mid-May promise to expedite development in the 23-million-acre reserve.

The errors in National Public Radio's coverage of the U.S. Supreme Court's 5-3 decision to (uphold Arizona's E-Verify law) were so blatant and verifiable that the segment would have made a good candidate for one of NPR's famous April Fools Day reports. But the falsehoods that listeners heard in the (Top Court Upholds Arizona Employer Sanctions Law) are no joke. There has been no correction in the story online, which would indicate no one within the organization caught the errors. I don't believe that "All Things Considered" intentionally lied to listeners. Supporters of unchecked illegal immigration spend millions of dollars...

BLOCK: So you think basically, on the whole, Sarah Palin got her history right. Prof. ALLISON: Well, yeah, she did. And remember, she is a politician. She's not an historian. And God help us when historians start acting like politicians, and I suppose when politicians start writing history.

Vivian Schiller, the former National Public Radio president and CEO who resigned in February in the wake of a hidden-camera scandal at the organization, has joined NBC News in the newly created position of Chief Digital Officer. She will be tasked with leading the digital strategy (Web and mobile) at NBC News and MSNBC to "ensure future growth and innovation" and will report to NBC News president Steve Capus. She begins in July.

Former National Public Radio CEO Vivian Schiller is expected to land a job at NBC News, sources close to the negotiations told The Hollywood Reporter Wednesday. Schiller would be in charge of digital projects for the Peacock Network but will not be attached to a particular program, sources added. Schiller, 49, resigned from her post at NPR in March, following the release of a secretly recorded video that showed another NPR executive discussing government funding and harshly criticizing Republicans and the Tea Party.