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Sean Bueter
Sean Bueter
News Director, WBOI; Host, Morning Edition & Midday Matters
Doug Gruber
Doug Gruber
Host, All That Jazz
Julia Meek
Julia Meek
Host, Folktales, Meet the Music & Midday Matters
Stan Whippo
Stan Whippo
Host, Matinee and Con Brio
Sports
5:43 am
Mon August 6, 2012

Bolt Defends, U.S. Men's Basketball Team In Action

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Originally published on Mon August 6, 2012 1:02 pm

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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Jamaica's Usain Bolt ran the 100 meters in 9.63 seconds last night. That is an Olympic record. It will take just a bit more than 9.63 seconds to talk about what it means. And NPR's Mike Pesca, the Usain Bolt of sports reporters is on the line.

Mike, good morning.

MIKE PESCA, BYLINE: Yes. If you saw me in person you'd know how untrue that was.

(LAUGHTER)

INSKEEP: Well, Usain Bolt said he was only 95 percent healthy when he ran this race. What does it mean to be 95 percent healthy?

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Julie Bierach is the morning newscaster/news producer at St. Louis Public Radio. She was born and raised in St. Louis and graduated from Southeast Missouri State University. She started her career in Cape Girardeau, Mo. as a student announcer.

Bierach returned to St. Louis Public Radio in November 2010 after working in public relations at the Missouri Botanical Garden. She was previously the station’s science and technology reporter.

Bierach worked in Tucson, Arizona at Arizona Public Media where she was the host of the station’s weekly news magazine, Arizona Spotlight. While in Tucson, she reported on a variety of topics facing the desert southwest, including illegal immigration. Her reports have been featured on NPR’s All Things Considered and Day to Day.

Politics
5:16 am
Mon August 6, 2012

Missourians To Vote On Prayer Amendment

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Originally published on Mon August 6, 2012 1:02 pm

When Missourians go to the polls Tuesday to vote on a number of candidates to compete in the November general election, they'll also be asked to decide on an amendment to the state's constitution. Amendment 2 is better known as the "right to pray" ballot measure.

NPR Story
4:39 am
Mon August 6, 2012

Myanmar's Workers Exercise Rights To Organize

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Originally published on Mon August 6, 2012 1:50 pm

Political and economic changes in Myanmar have fueled a wave of labor unrest in the country also known as Burma. Myanmar is in the very early stages of industrial development and has some of the lowest wages in the world. Wages are unlikely to reach levels seen elsewhere in the region anytime soon.

NPR Story
4:37 am
Mon August 6, 2012

Business News

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Originally published on Mon August 6, 2012 1:02 pm

Transcript

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

NPR's business news starts with an airline refund.

Refunds are starting to arrive in the bank accounts of Southwest Airlines' customers who were billed multiple times for promotional fares booked on Friday. Some customers paid for their discounted air travel as many as 20 times, according to the Associated Press. The company blamed the problem on a computer glitch.

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NPR Story
4:37 am
Mon August 6, 2012

Jamaica's Bolt Retains Title As 'World's Fastest Man'

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Originally published on Mon August 6, 2012 1:02 pm

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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Usain Bolt remains the world's fastest man. Last night at the London Summer Games, the Jamaican superstar successfully defended his Olympic 100-meter title. Bolt ran his second-fastest time ever, an Olympic record: 9.63 seconds. He joins American Carl Lewis as the only other man to win consecutive Olympic 100s.

NPR's Tom Goldman is in London.

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First And Main
4:06 am
Mon August 6, 2012

Even In Florida Swing County, Minds Seem Made Up

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Credit Becky Lettenberger / NPR
Michael Bailey, 2, was the last baby baptized in St. Paul's AME church in downtown Tampa. Rev. Jesse Jackson preached here and Rosa Parks, Thurgood Marshall and President Clinton all spoke here, but the dwindling congregation forced the church to close.
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Credit Becky Lettenberger / NPR
Faces of Florida's First and Main: Susan MacManus lives in her family's home on a secluded plot of land near Lutz, Fla. MacManus, shown at the old train depot across from the public library, is a political scientist and local historian. Her family was among the first to develop land around here a century ago.
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Credit Becky Lettenberger / NPR
Jayla Mills, 18, lives in the Metro 510 apartment complex that was funded with stimulus money in downtown Tampa. She entered the foster care system at 15 and recently aged out but is fighting for custody of her special needs daughter, Promise. "Do I need the president in this courtroom? Who do I need next to me? Because right now, I have nobody." Mills is undecided about who to vote for this fall.
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Credit Becky Lettenberger / NPR
Gregory Brown, 52, used to be a glazier installing plate-glass windows. He now lives off of unemployment checks, plus the disability checks of a woman who lives with him in Lutz, Fla. Brown is selling his motorcycle to help pay the bills. He is eager to vote President Obama out this fall, and says he plans to register to vote before the election.
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Credit Becky Lettenberger / NPR
My Bui just had a model home built in Brandon, Fla., which he and his wife moved into in June. Brandon is a Tampa suburb that has been hit hard by foreclosures, but Bui says the plots in their development are selling, and houses are going up fast.
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Credit Becky Lettenberger / NPR
Robert "Pete" Edwards is a registered Republican who argues that Obama has not done enough for the black community. Edwards' grandson, Michael Bailey, 2, was the last baby baptized in the historic St. Paul's church, before the building was sold and turned into a community center.
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Credit Becky Lettenberger / NPR
Claude Walker has been a pastor for 40 years and started working at the First Baptist Church in Plant City, Fla., three years ago. He supports Mitt Romney because of his family values.
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Credit Becky Lettenberger / NPR
Sofia Martinez, 40, is the daughter of migrant farm workers. She jokes that she was made in Mexico but born in the USA. She is a registered nurse who passionately supports the Dream Act and plans to vote for Mitt Romney in the fall.
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Credit Becky Lettenberger / NPR
Roland Lamb and his wife live behind an automated gate across the street from a trailer park. The Lambs are malpractice lawyers. "The truth is," says Lamb, "I'm not much of a good neighbor. You can tell by my gargoyles, I'm not welcoming." He voted for President Obama in 2008 and, despite some frustrations, will vote for him again this year.
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Credit Becky Lettenberger / NPR
Parkesdale Farm Market is run by Jim Meeks, 70, and his extended family, including his daughter-in-law Xiomara Meeks, 36. Business is booming and the stand has been a mainstay on presidential campaign stops since the days of George H.W. Bush. The key to winning, says Meeks, is drinking a strawberry milkshake. He is voting for Romney and his daughter-in-law is voting for Obama.
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Credit Becky Lettenberger / NPR
New Tampa is a suburb that suffered from multiple foreclosures several years ago, but is now on the rebound. Wanda Kos has lived in the community for eight years. Kos is undecided, but voted for Obama in 2008 and feels positively about his presidency. She is concerned for the future of her daughter Sofia, 6, and her two older children.
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Credit Becky Lettenberger / NPR
Hot Rods BBQ is a family owned restaurant in Lutz, Fla. "Hot Rod" Gaudin, his wife, Helen, and their extended family all pitch in telling jokes, sharing food and manning the wood-burning grill. Rod Gaudin supports Mitt Romney but his wife is undecided.
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Credit Becky Lettenberger / NPR
Katrina Bordwell's home was flooded recently after nearby development stopped up a drainage pipe. Bordwell, 24, lives in the community with her children, from left, Leo, 3, her boyfriend's son Kyle Cose, 3, and Zoey, 5.
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Credit Becky Lettenberger / NPR
The intersection of First and Main in Lutz, Fla., is located on a privately owned road in a trailer park community.
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Credit Becky Lettenberger / NPR
The home of Ed Faucher on the corner of First and Main in Lutz, Fla.
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Credit Becky Lettenberger / NPR
Roland Lamb and his wife live behind an automated gate across the street from the trailer park. The Lambs are malpractice lawyers. He voted for President Obama in 2008 and despite some frustrations will vote for him again.
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Originally published on Mon August 6, 2012 10:04 pm

Let's take a picture of America in the latter months of an election year. We want to sense what's on this country's mind. So Morning Edition begins a series of reports from First and Main. Several times in the next few months, we'll travel to a battleground state, then to a vital county in each state. In that county we find a starting point for our visit — an iconic American corner — First and Main streets.

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Shots - Health Blog
3:29 am
Mon August 6, 2012

An Anthropologist Walks Into A Bar And Asks, 'Why Is This Joke Funny?'

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Credit Melanie Burford for NPR
Amateur comedian Robert Lynch takes the mic at the Metropolitan Room in New York City on July 21. Lynch is also an evolutionary anthropologist who is studying what laughter reveals about us.
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Credit Melanie Burford / NPR
Megan Lutz, left, and Justin Chun react to Lynch's standup routine. When we laugh at a joke, Lynch hypothesizes, we are often revealing our unconscious attitudes.
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Credit Melanie Burford / NPR
Lynch performs to a full house at the Metropolitan Room in Manhattan, N.Y. He says people all over the world want their friends and romantic partners to share their sense of humor.
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Credit Melanie Burford / NPR
Bruno Fava laughs at a joke at the Metropolitan Room. Lynch finds there's a connection between self-deception and laughter.
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Credit Melanie Burford / NPR
Lynch has found people with higher levels of self-deception are less likely to laugh at jokes.
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Credit Melanie Burford / NPR
Lynch, far right, sits with fellow comedians waiting to go on stage at the Metropolitan Room. He says his research helps him to be a better comic.
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Credit Melanie Burford / NPR
Lynch, center, talks with friends after performing his stand-up routine. He plans to continue trying his hand at amateur comedy, while pursuing a career in anthropology.
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Credit Melanie Burford for NPR
Megan Lutz, left, and Justin Chun react to amateur comedian Robert Lynch at the Metropolitan Room in Manhattan, N.Y. Lynch is an anthropologist researching what laughing reveals about us.
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Originally published on Thu August 9, 2012 4:26 pm

It's Saturday night at the Metropolitan Room, a comedy club in New York City. Host Jimmy Failla is warming up the crowd.

"Where you guys from?" he asks one group in the audience. "Boston? Home of the Red Sox. Personally, we'd prefer you rooted for the Taliban!"

There are 50 or 60 people in the audience, sipping cocktails. Failla has a system. He asks people where they're from. Most are locals. He then hits them with something they can relate to.

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Author Interviews
3:01 am
Mon August 6, 2012

'American Dream,' Betrayed By Bad Economic Policy

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Credit Nick Kelsh / PublicAffairs
Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele are the authors of America: What Went Wrong?
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Originally published on Tue October 9, 2012 7:33 am

A lot is at stake in the current election, but no matter who wins, the victor will stay committed to policies that cripple the middle class. That's according to Pulitzer Prize-winning reporters Donald Barlett and James Steele, who've been covering the middle class for decades.

In their new book, The Betrayal of the American Dream, Barlett and Steele criticize a government obsessed with free trade and indifferent toward companies that outsource jobs.

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Crime In The City
3:00 am
Mon August 6, 2012

Author Peter James And Sidekick Track Seaside Crime

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Credit Gareth Ransome
After turning over a book to his publisher, Peter James wakes up the next day and starts on the next one.
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Originally published on Wed August 8, 2012 10:39 am

Any tour of Brighton, England, has to begin at the Royal Pavilion, according to crime writer Peter James. Built by a king for his mistress 200 years ago, its Taj Mahal-like spires are the city's best-known landmark.

James' latest novel, Not Dead Yet, features — spoiler alert! — a pivotal scene in the pavilion's dining room, with its one-and-a-half ton crystal chandelier. Without giving too much away — the book won't be released in the U.S. until November – let's just say it might have something to do with the aforementioned chandelier.

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