Morning Edition

Weekdays from 5:00 - 9:00am

Every weekday for over three decades, NPR's Morning Edition has taken listeners around the country and the world with two hours of multi-faceted stories and commentaries that inform challenge and occasionally amuse Morning Edition is the most listened-to news radio program in the country.

Genre: 
Composer ID: 
5187f4cde1c8a450fdefbbfc|5187f4c7e1c8a450fdefbbd8

Pages

Middle East
4:31 am
Fri April 5, 2013

Talks Over Iran's Nuclear Program Resume In Kazakhstan

Originally published on Fri April 5, 2013 7:30 am

Transcript

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

We have been hearing a lot about North Korea and nuclear weapons lately. Well, nuclear negotiators have just wrapped up a first day of talks on Iran's nuclear program. Tehran does not have nuclear weapons and insists it doesn't want them, but six world powers say the country must do more to assure the world that its program is entirely peaceful. We spoke earlier with NPR's Peter Kenyon, who is in Almaty, Kazakhstan for the talks. Peter, good morning.

PETER KENYON, BYLINE: Good morning, David.

Read more
Law
4:09 am
Fri April 5, 2013

Without Reviews, Inmates Can Get Lost In U.S. Prison System

Originally published on Fri April 5, 2013 9:16 pm

Every year 10 million people funnel in and out of America's jails and prisons. And every year some of them get lost. Recently there have been two high-profile cases of such inmates — one who got out years too early, and one who stayed years too long. Both had disastrous consequences.

In January, Evan Ebel walked out of a Colorado prison four years too early. Two months later, he allegedly rang the doorbell of Tom Clements, the head of the Colorado Department of Corrections, shot him in the chest and killed him. Ebel was shot and killed by police two days later.

Read more
Arts & Life
3:19 am
Fri April 5, 2013

Jewishness On Display: 'Truth' By Way Of Discomfort

Originally published on Fri April 5, 2013 9:16 pm

In Berlin's Jewish Museum, a new exhibit called "The Whole Truth" asks visitors uncomfortable and even absurd questions about Jews. One of the curators, Michal Friedlander, says it is intentionally provocative.

"The point is to get people talking about how they perceive Jews, particularly in Germany today," she says.

But some German Jews accuse the museum of going too far.

Read more
Television
3:18 am
Fri April 5, 2013

As Audiences Shift To Cable, TV Programming Changes, Too

Originally published on Tue April 9, 2013 1:20 pm

Mad Men comes back for its sixth season Sunday at an opportune moment for basic cable. Last weekend, 25 million viewers combined watched The Bible and The Walking Dead on basic cable channels. That's more than triple the audience for The Good Wife on CBS that same night.

Read more
Media
3:17 am
Fri April 5, 2013

Pushing Traditional Limits, Vice Smacks Of Contradictions

Originally published on Fri April 5, 2013 3:17 pm

How did Dennis Rodman end up having dinner with Kim Jong Un in North Korea? It was the idea of Vice Media, which has grown from a counterculture magazine into a full-fledged youth media conglomerate.

Friday night, it premieres a documentary series on HBO, a kind of coming-out moment into the mainstream.

'I Wish We Were Weirder'

Read more
StoryCorps
12:32 am
Fri April 5, 2013

Drafted To Fight For The Country That Hurt Him

Credit StoryCorps
Ruben Aguilar (right), 85, spoke with his friend Bill Luna, 77, about being deported to Mexico at age 6: "I grew up when that happened. From 6 years old, all of a sudden I felt like I was 15."

Originally published on Fri April 5, 2013 10:49 am

Ruben Aguilar, 85, was forcibly deported from the U.S. 80 years ago as part of a largely forgotten Mexican repatriation program run by the American government.

During the Great Depression, hundreds of thousands of people of Mexican descent were forcibly deported to Mexico without due process, including many American citizens. Aguilar, an American citizen, was born in Chicago but was deported with his parents, who were undocumented. At the time, he was 6 years old.

Read more
History
7:17 am
Thu April 4, 2013

Cat From Middle Ages Leaves Mark On History

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Good morning. I'm Steve Inskeep. Here's an old saying: Feed and love a dog, and the dog thinks you must be God. Feed and love a cat, and the cat thinks, hey, I must be God. A cat from the Middle Ages apparently demanded attention. A researcher was recently studying a manuscript from 1445 in Croatia, and that researcher discovered paw prints. Apparently, a scribe was working in 1445 when the cat stepped in ink, and then stood with all four paws on the work in progress. It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

World
7:10 am
Thu April 4, 2013

New Zealand Movie Goer Notices Lack Of Explosions

Originally published on Thu April 4, 2013 10:30 am

Transcript

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Good morning, I'm David Greene.

The action film "Jack Reacher" hit theaters in December, and it got some favorable reviews. But one New Zealand moviegoer didn't think it was action-packed enough. That's because the trailer featured an explosion that wasn't in the movie. Disappointed, the man complained to the Advertising Standards Authority. He said the explosion was one of the main reasons he went to see the flick in the first place. Paramount Pictures has now offered to refund the money for his ticket.

Read more
Middle East
5:19 am
Thu April 4, 2013

Egypt Negotiates Necessary IMF Loan

Originally published on Thu April 4, 2013 2:30 pm

Two years after the revolution, Egypt is in a deep economic crisis. It's running out of money to purchase crucial imports like wheat and fuel, both of which are subsidized by the government, and an infusion of cash is desperately needed.

While a delegation from the International Monetary Fund is in Cairo continuing negotiations on a $4.8 billion loan, Egyptians are strained by the rising costs of food — and the gas needed to cook it.

For Mosaad el Dabe, it's a disaster.

Read more
Middle East
5:18 am
Thu April 4, 2013

Risks Increase For Humanitarian Aid Workers In Syria

Originally published on Thu April 4, 2013 6:29 am

David Greene talks to Muhannad Hadi, the World Food Program's regional emergency coordinator for Syria, about the growing humanitarian crisis in Syria. The civil war there has entered its third year, and last month was its deadliest.

Business
5:11 am
Thu April 4, 2013

The Last Word In Business

Originally published on Thu April 4, 2013 7:00 am

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

And today's last word in business is space memorabilia.

Heritage Auction house is selling items that have gone to the moon. Astronaut Buzz Aldrin's toothbrush could be yours with the right offer.

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

OK. The bidding for this toothbrush - I hope they disinfect it - it's a light blue, Lactona tooth tip brush. The bidding starting at $9,000. The auction house is actually hoping that buyers will offer more than that.

Read more
Around the Nation
3:23 am
Thu April 4, 2013

A Letter On Finding A Husband Before Graduation Spurs Debate

Credit Daniel Hulshizer / AP
A couple walks past Nassau Hall on the Princeton Unversity campus in Princeton, N.J. A letter to the editor in The Daily Princetonian urging female students to find a husband before they graduate has drawn criticism.

Originally published on Thu April 4, 2013 10:12 am

More than a week after Susan Patton's letter to the editor of The Daily Princetonian prompted heated criticism, the 1977 Princeton alumna says she still stands by her words.

"I have never had a problem voicing an unpopular opinion if it's heartfelt," Patton tells NPR.

In her letter, Patton wrote to young women attending her alma mater, "Find a husband on campus before you graduate."

Read more
Environment
3:21 am
Thu April 4, 2013

Arkansas Oil Spill Sheds Light On Aging Pipeline System

Originally published on Thu April 4, 2013 10:45 am

Amber Bartlett was waiting last Friday for her kids to come home from school. One of them called from the entrance to the upscale subdivision near Little Rock, Ark., to tell her the community was being evacuated because of an oil spill. Bartlett was amazed by what she saw out her front door.

"I mean, just rolling oil. I mean, it was like a river," she says. "It had little waves in it."

Read more
It's All Politics
3:20 am
Thu April 4, 2013

The Hunt Is On For A New FBI Director

Originally published on Thu April 4, 2013 5:11 am

Robert Mueller became FBI director just days before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Since then, he's been the U.S. government's indispensable man when it comes to national security.

But Mueller's term has expired, and the clock is ticking on an unprecedented extension that Congress gave him two years ago.

The first time the Obama White House thought about a replacement for Mueller, back in 2011, officials threw up their hands and wound up begging him to stay. Congress passed a special law to allow it. Then Republican Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa put his foot down.

Read more
Health Care
8:19 am
Wed April 3, 2013

White House Delays Part Of Health Care Law

Transcript

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

The Obama administration is delaying the start of a key piece of the Affordable Care Act - the national healthcare law. Workers in small businesses will have to wait an additional year to be able to choose from more than one plan in the new online marketplace that start next January. NPR's Julie Rovner reports that the change might dampen enthusiasm, at least at the start. But not everyone thinks that's a bad thing.

Read more
Around the Nation
8:03 am
Wed April 3, 2013

Cold Snap Delays Maryland Crabbing Season

Originally published on Wed April 3, 2013 8:19 am

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Good morning. I'm Steve Inskeep. Punxsutawney Phil has his counterpart in the average Maryland crab - except while Phil supposedly predicts the weather and this year missed a cold snap, Maryland crabs react in real time. This week was supposed to be the start of crabbing season but the chill in the Chesapeake has left the water too cold for the crabs to come out of the mud. It turns out this is extending their life spans - since it means watermen can't catch them. It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

Around the Nation
7:23 am
Wed April 3, 2013

911 Dispatcher Asks Her Mom To Rescue Kayaker

Originally published on Wed April 3, 2013 8:19 am

Transcript

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Good morning, I'm David Greene.

Raedyn Grasseth might get the award for most creative 911 operator. The Washington state woman dispatched an officer to rescue a stranded kayaker on the Colombia River. The boater was in powerful currents, hanging onto a pile of logs. Grasseth had a feeling she might not be reached in time. And so, she called an experienced kayaker who happened to live nearby, her mother. The dispatcher's mom paddled out and within minutes brought the woman to safety.

Read more
Around the Nation
6:26 am
Wed April 3, 2013

Restaurants Take Risks For Big Rewards At Phoenix Airport

Originally published on Wed April 3, 2013 8:19 am

Transcript

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

If you travel a lot you're probably doing a lot of meals in airports, maybe fast-food by Gate C31 or the chain coffee place nearby. Well, one of the busiest airports in the country is now bringing in local restaurants.

As Peter O'Dowd reports from member station KJZZ in Phoenix, these small businesses are taking a risk for a shot at a big reward.

(SOUNDBITE OF MACHINERY)

Read more
Remembrances
6:26 am
Wed April 3, 2013

Remembering Robert Remini

Originally published on Wed April 3, 2013 9:20 am

A former House historian, prolific biographer and professor emeritus at the University of Illinois, Chicago, Robert Remini spent a lifetime exploring handwritten letters and other documents that illuminate the 19th century. He won a National Book Award for the three-volume The Life of Andrew Jackson.

Politics
4:34 am
Wed April 3, 2013

Outrage Alone Won't Advance Gun Control Measures

Credit Susan Walsh / AP
President Obama urged Congress to take action on measures to protect children from gun violence while speaking in the East Room of the White House last week. Standing with Obama are Vice President Joe Biden and, according to the White House, law enforcement officials, victims of gun violence and others, whom the White House did not want to name.

Originally published on Wed April 3, 2013 8:42 am

President Obama is trying to regain some traction for federal gun control measures by visiting states that are moving forward on their own.

On Wednesday, the president speaks in Colorado, where lawmakers recently passed a series of bills requiring background checks for all gun purchases and limiting the size of ammunition magazines.

Obama would like to see similar measures adopted nationwide. But if Colorado serves as an inspiration for the president, it also provides a cautionary tale.

Read more
Tina Brown's Must-Reads
3:06 am
Wed April 3, 2013

Tina Brown's Must Reads: Women Vs. The World

Originally published on Wed April 3, 2013 9:39 am

Tina Brown, editor of the Daily Beast and Newsweek, joins NPR's Steve Inskeep again for an occasional feature Morning Edition likes to call Word of Mouth. She talks about what she's been reading and offers recommendations.

This month, as Brown prepares for her annual Women in the World Summit in New York City, her reading suggestions address just that: the role of women in the developing world.

Malala And The Media

Read more
Shots - Health News
3:04 am
Wed April 3, 2013

In South Jersey, New Options For Primary Care Are Slow To Take Hold

Credit Emma Lee
Dr. Madhumathi Gunasekaran examines John Pike at the Northgate II clinic in Camden, N.J.

Originally published on Wed April 3, 2013 8:19 am

Camden, N.J., has serious health problems, with too many people going to local emergency rooms unnecessarily. But progress is being made, albeit slowly.

John Pike, 53, is a Camden resident who used to be a frequent flier at the ER.

Pike has a smoker's cough, and when that cough or pain in his bad hip flared up, he'd go to the ER — maybe eight or nine times a year. But when he did, ER staffers didn't really remember him or his medical history.

Read more
Planet Money
12:53 am
Wed April 3, 2013

H1-B Visas Applications As An Economic Indicator

Originally published on Wed April 3, 2013 8:19 am

The demand from American companies for high-skilled immigrants seems to be up this year. And that could mean something is about to change for the overall economy.

There is a cap on the number of visas the government gives out for these kind of workers every year. Lately, that cap has been 85,000. Demand always outstrips supply, but for the past couple of years, it has taken at least a few months to hit the quota. But this year, the H-1B visas might be gone by the end of the week.

Read more
Sports
10:03 pm
Tue April 2, 2013

Baseball Isn't Dead; It Just Takes More Work To Appreciate

Credit Rodolfo Arguedas / iStockphoto.com
Some say baseball is too slow and doesn't appeal to young people. Not Frank Deford.

Originally published on Wed April 3, 2013 8:19 am

It being the start of baseball season, that means we've been inundated by predictions — who'll win the divisions and the pennants and the World Series? We know two things on this subject. In every sport, at the start of the season, the experts are bound and determined to make these long-range predictions. And second, they are invariably wrong.

Read more
Around the Nation
7:05 am
Tue April 2, 2013

Surprise Party Kidnapping Lands Friends In Hot Water

Friends of a New York man planned a surprise party, but he found out. To surprise him, they threw a pillowcase over his head, threw him in a van and drove him to the party in Pennsylvania. Witnesses to the fake abduction called police, who mounted a massive search.

Around the Nation
6:58 am
Tue April 2, 2013

Mets Opening Day Special For Fan, Usher

In 1964, Robert Ostertag attended his first of 50 straight New York Mets home openers. That same day, Luke Gasparre began his job as an usher. The New York Times captured quite a moment Monday: Gasparre showed Ostertag to his seat in section 310.

Sports
5:18 am
Tue April 2, 2013

Baseball Begins In The Shadow Of March Madness

Originally published on Tue April 2, 2013 6:28 am

Fans are returning to Major League Baseball parks for a new season. Let's take a break from the intensity of college basketball's March Madness, and talk about the beginning of the long and winding Major League Baseball season.

Around the Nation
5:18 am
Tue April 2, 2013

Budgets Cuts Force Some Air Traffic Control Towers To Close

Originally published on Tue April 2, 2013 5:31 am

David Greene talks to Yvette Aehle, director of the Southwest Georgia Regional Airport, about her plans to shut down the airport's air traffic control tower. Because of sequestration, the FAA will no longer pay for air traffic controllers at 144 smaller airports.

Around the Nation
5:18 am
Tue April 2, 2013

April Fools' Day Pranks Revealed

Originally published on Tue April 2, 2013 6:33 am

If it was a sleepy Monday for you, you may have fallen victim to some April Fools' Day pranks. David Greene and Steve Inskeep have a roundup of some of the all-in-fun pranks.

Afghanistan
3:27 am
Tue April 2, 2013

Afghanistan, Pakistan Struggle To Find Common Ground

Credit Ahmad Nazar / AP
Afghanistan presidential spokesman Aimal Faizi speaks during a news conference in Kabul, Afghanistan, earlier this year.

Originally published on Tue April 2, 2013 8:05 am

Much has changed since last November, when Afghans were praising Pakistan for saying it would no longer support the Taliban and would instead work for peace.

"We believe that relations between the two countries are deteriorating," says Aimal Faizi, spokesman for President Hamid Karzai.

Faizi says the downward slide started last month. The two countries had agreed to convene a conference of religious scholars, or ulema, to denounce suicide bombing. But the conference fell apart at the last minute, with each country blaming the other for undermining the effort.

Read more

Pages