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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.

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Author Interviews
2:56 am
Wed June 12, 2013

With Space-Bound Hubbies, 'Astrowives' Became 'First Reality Stars'

Originally published on Thu June 13, 2013 5:53 am

In the late 1950s, after the Soviet Union successfully put their satellite, Sputnik 1, into orbit, American fears over the Communist threat reached a new height. The U.S. was trailing badly in a competition that would come to define the next decade – the race to space.

So on April 9, 1959, the U.S. kicked off its own space age by introducing the country to its first astronauts, known as the Mercury Seven. Their story is well known, but the story of their wives is often overlooked.

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U.S.
2:55 am
Wed June 12, 2013

Immigration Bill May Keep Wage Exemption For Foreign Herders

Credit Sara Hossaini for NPR
Antonio Basualdo Solorzano has worked at the Ladder Ranch in south-central Wyoming for eight years. On his wages as a guest worker, he's supported seven children back home in Peru.

Originally published on Thu June 13, 2013 5:53 am

When Patrick and Sharon O'Toole began their ranching business on the Wyoming-Colorado border, they tended the sheep themselves. But eventually, the O'Tooles wanted to settle down and have kids, so they hired foreign ranch hands with H-2A, or guest worker, visas to work on the ranch for $750 a month.

Peruvian shepherds on guest worker visas tend thousands of sheep in Wyoming, but they only make about half of what agricultural workers elsewhere are paid.

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The Record
12:38 am
Wed June 12, 2013

Boards Of Canada Tap A Devout Following To Push New Album

Credit Courtesy of the artist
Boards of Canada's new album is titled Tomorrow's Harvest.

Originally published on Thu June 13, 2013 5:53 am

Sweetness And Light
10:03 pm
Tue June 11, 2013

Basketball: The 'Ultimate Contradiction'

Credit iStockphoto.com
In basketball, as in life, we may dutifully celebrate the aggregate, but we'™re always spellbound by the exceptional.

Originally published on Thu June 13, 2013 5:53 am

Basketball offers its fans the ultimate contradiction. On the one hand, it's the sport that most depends on its stars. On the other, it's the most intimate — even organic — of all the team games, with its players more fundamentally involved with one another. Both of these opposing realities are rooted in the same base.

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Americas
2:24 pm
Tue June 11, 2013

Family Blames Venezuelan Police For Men's Murders

Originally published on Mon June 10, 2013 9:49 am

The story of Venezuela's Eloisa Barrios is especially revealing because so many of her relatives have been killed. Revealing because of who she believes pulled the trigger.

Some weeks ago, Barrios climbed into our van for a drive to a cemetery. The burial ground is outside a village in the Venezuelan countryside. We went there to visit the Barrios family dead.

She told us nine relatives had been killed in shootings over the past 15 years. All nine were young men.

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Around the Nation
7:35 am
Tue June 11, 2013

Hillary Clinton Sends Her First Tweet

Hillary's first two followers were Bill and Chelsea. She hasn't posted much yet but her Twitter bio is getting lots of attention. Clinton describes herself as wife, mom, hair icon, glass ceiling cracker and pantsuit aficionado.

Europe
7:32 am
Tue June 11, 2013

Holiday Inn In North London Hopes To Horrify Guests

To promote the horror film Mama, the hotel has received a gory makeover. Rooms have blood soaked sheets and scary graffitti.

National Security
5:23 am
Tue June 11, 2013

Will Surveillance Disclosure Lead To More Oversight Of NSA?

When surveillance laws were revised in 2012, Congress expressed great concerns that without proper oversight intelligence agencies would engage in the sort of monitoring that has been uncovered in recent days. Congress put a number of safeguards in place, but rejected others that would have guarantee more public discussion about what the NSA does.

National Security
5:23 am
Tue June 11, 2013

As Government Surveillance Powers Grow, Privacy Is Redefined

Originally published on Tue June 11, 2013 5:33 am

Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the public has had several glimpses of the government's growing surveillance powers. The Bush administration had a program so secret, it dispensed with judicial warrants altogether. The resulting scandals and lawsuits appear to have done little to roll back the spying.

Theater
5:23 am
Tue June 11, 2013

Disruptive Broadway Audiences Master Stage Whisper

Originally published on Tue June 11, 2013 5:36 am

Cell phone rings. Loud talking. Candy wrappers crinkling. Even fights in the aisles. Have Broadway audiences gotten ruder?

Business
5:23 am
Tue June 11, 2013

National Envelop Hopes To Lick Bankruptcy Filing

Originally published on Tue June 11, 2013 5:38 am

National Envelope, the largest privately-held manufacturer of envelopes in the U.S., has filed for bankruptcy protection. It's a sign of the paperless, digital times. It previously filed for Chapter 11 protection in 2010.

Religion
5:23 am
Tue June 11, 2013

Churches Reconsider Sponsoring Boy Scout Troops

Some churches have said they will end their affiliation with the Boy Scouts after its decision to allow openly gay members to join. Others, including Southern Baptists, are considering their next move. Another group plans to hold a meeting in Louisville later this month with parents who say they want a more Christian organization for their children.

Business
5:23 am
Tue June 11, 2013

NSA Leak Could Undermine Trust Of Government Contractor

Credit Michael Reynolds / EPA/Landov
Federal contractor Booz Allen Hamilton, headquartered in McLean, Va., employed Edward Snowden, the computer technician at the center of the controversy over leaks involving the National Security Agency.

Originally published on Tue June 11, 2013 11:56 am

In recent decades, a quiet revolution has been transforming the way Washington works.

Because the U.S. government does not have the workforce to complete all of its tasks, it employs private companies like Booz Allen Hamilton to do the work for it. Booz Allen is the company where Edward Snowden, who said he leaked secrets about the National Security Agency, most recently worked.

Over the past 25 years, this contract workforce has grown and plays a major role in the U.S. government, says Paul Light, a professor of public service at New York University.

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Law
5:23 am
Tue June 11, 2013

Feds Buckle On Emergency Contraception Age Restrictions

The administration had been trying to appeal a judge's ruling to make the morning-after birth control pill available over the counter with no age restrictions. The Justice Department said it would obey the order — sort of. The FDA may soon approve the over-the-counter sale of Plan B One Step without a prescription.

Politics
3:18 am
Tue June 11, 2013

How The Senate Farm Bill Would Change Subsidies

Originally published on Tue June 11, 2013 3:40 pm

The Senate voted Monday to approve its version of the farm bill, a massive spending measure that covers everything from food stamps to crop insurance and sets the nation's farm policy for the next five years.

The centerpiece of that policy is an expanded crop insurance program, designed to protect farmers from losses, that some say amounts to a highly subsidized gift to agribusiness. That debate is set to continue as the House plans to take up its version of the bill this month.

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The Race Card Project: Six-Word Essays
3:02 am
Tue June 11, 2013

A Daughter's Struggle To Overcome A Legacy Of Segregation

Originally published on Tue June 11, 2013 9:13 am

As we head into the summer months, NPR is looking back to the summer of 1963, a momentous year in civil rights history. As part of NPR's partnership with The Race Card Project, which asks people to distill their thoughts on race to six words, Host/Special Correspondent Michele Norris is asking people who were on the front lines of history to share their memories and their thoughts on race in America today.

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Music News
3:02 am
Tue June 11, 2013

Background Singers Hit Center Stage In 'Twenty Feet From Stardom'

Originally published on Tue June 11, 2013 10:22 am

Twenty Feet from Stardom, filmmaker Morgan Neville's new documentary, is a reminder that most of pop music's catchiest hooks, riffs and refrains were sung by voices harmonizing in the background. Neville says he wanted to put backup singers — black, female and honed in church — front and center.

"I was really more interested in people who were voices for hire," he says, "who were able to walk into sessions never knowing what they had to do and could bring it."

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Europe
7:34 am
Mon June 10, 2013

Swedish Commuter Rail Engineers Get Around Dress Code

Transcript

LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:

Good morning. I'm Linda Wertheimer. In Stockholm, engineers on the Swedish commuter rail line have found a new way to skirt a dress code. The drivers were told no more shorts, even though the heat in the cab can top 95 degrees - just long pants or skirts. So many of the male engineers are now wearing skirts. Women are allowed to, so the company says it will not discriminate. Something tasteful in an A-line, or pleats, perhaps? It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

Around the Nation
7:29 am
Mon June 10, 2013

Deputies Help Deer With Doritos Bag Stuck On Its Head

Sheriff's deputies on patrol in the Florida Keys spotted a deer on the side of a road with an empty bag of Doritos stuck on its head. "It must have wanted the last chip in the bottom," a deputy told the South Florida Sun Sentinel.

Deceptive Cadence
5:20 am
Mon June 10, 2013

Ukrainian Wins Top Prize At Van Cliburn Piano Competition

Credit Rodger Mallison / MCT/Landov
Cliburn medalists Beatrice Rana, second place winner; Vadym Kholodenko, first place winner; and Sean Chen, third place winner, receive applause from the audience at the final awards ceremony at the 14th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition on Sunday.

Originally published on Mon June 10, 2013 11:39 am

Winners of 14th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition were announced Sunday night in Fort Worth, Texas. The competition was held over 17 days.

Vadym Kholodenko, 26, of Ukraine, won the top prize of $50,000, but he said the rankings don't mean that much.

"It's kind of fun for audience, for press. It's interesting to put first, second, 10th and so on. But in life, not so important," Kholodenko says.

And, he says, so much of life involves competing no matter what you're doing.

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Animals
4:30 am
Mon June 10, 2013

City Life Disrupts Daily Rhythm Of Birds

Originally published on Mon June 10, 2013 7:08 am

City life can be harsh on people. For example, it pushes people to work longer and sleep less. A new study suggests that city life can have a somewhat similar effect on birds too. It shows urban blackbirds wake up earlier and go to bed later than their forest dwelling cousins.

Law
4:30 am
Mon June 10, 2013

Jury Selection To Begin In Trayvon Martin Case

Originally published on Mon June 10, 2013 7:08 am

In Sanford, Fla., Monday, jury selection begins in the murder trial of George Zimmerman, the Neighborhood Watch volunteer charged with shooting 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in 2012. Police at first declined to charge Zimmerman after the shooting because of Florida's Stand Your Ground law, which gives immunity to people who, fearing for their lives, use deadly force in self-defense.

National Security
4:30 am
Mon June 10, 2013

Confessed NSA Leaker Hole Up In Hong Kong Hotel

Originally published on Mon June 10, 2013 7:08 am

The Guardian has identified its source for a series of reports it published in recent days on secret U.S. surveillance activity. The paper says the source is Edward Snowden, a former technical assistant for the CIA who now works for a private-sector defense and technology consulting firm.

National Security
2:58 am
Mon June 10, 2013

Amid Data Controversy, NSA Builds Its Biggest Data Farm

Credit George Frey / EPA/LANDOV
A National Security Agency data center is under construction in Bluffdale, Utah. When this data center opens in the fall, it will be the largest spy data center for the NSA.

Originally published on Mon June 10, 2013 10:01 am

As privacy advocates and security experts debate the validity of the National Security Agency's massive data gathering operations, the agency is putting the finishing touches on its biggest data farm yet.

The gargantuan $1.2 billion complex at a National Guard base 26 miles south of Salt Lake City features 1.5 million square feet of top secret space. High-performance NSA computers alone will fill up 100,000 square feet.

The Utah Data Center is a data farm that will begin harvesting emails, phone records, text messages and other electronic data in September.

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Around the Nation
2:57 am
Mon June 10, 2013

Rail Project At L.A. Port Draws Environmental Group Ire

Credit Nick Ut / AP
Shipping containers stack up at the Port of Los Angeles.

Originally published on Mon June 10, 2013 12:21 pm

In California, a high-profile lawsuit is seeking to halt construction of a new $500 million rail yard next to the Port of Los Angeles. Activists, including a national environmental group that's spearheading the opposition, say the massive project would mean even more pollution for nearby neighborhoods that already have some of the worst air in the country.

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Shots - Health News
2:56 am
Mon June 10, 2013

African Americans Remain Hardest Hit By Medical Bills

Originally published on Tue June 11, 2013 8:37 am

For many years, high medical bills have been a leading cause of financial distress and bankruptcy in America. That pressure may be easing ever so slightly, according to a survey released earlier this week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

But 1 in 5 Americans still face hardships due to medical costs — and African-Americans continue to be the hardest hit.

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Around the Nation
7:31 am
Fri June 7, 2013

City Workers Help Ducks Walk To Water

Syracuse city worker Gary Clifford saw a mother duck leading a dozen little ones down a busy street. He followed in his truck, stopping traffic along the way. Until they walked across a storm drain and four ducklings fell in. Syracuse.com reports a city crew was called in and took the feathered family to a creek.

Space
7:22 am
Fri June 7, 2013

Justin Bieber Aims For Outer Space

Transcript

LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:

Good morning, I'm Linda Wertheimer.

He has performed around the world for millions of screaming fans. Now, Justin Bieber is taking his talents off the planet. Bieber put a quarter-million dollar deposit on a seat on Virgin Galactic's spaceship. The singer wants to shoot a music video in space.

Astronaut Chris Hadfield already did that last month, singing David Bowie's "Space Oddity" on board the International Space Station.

It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

Economy
6:06 am
Fri June 7, 2013

May's Unemployment Rate Expected To Hold Steady

Originally published on Fri June 7, 2013 9:37 am

The Labor Department on Friday reported a jobless rate of 7.6 percent as employers added 175,000 jobs and more people began to look for work last month. That's up from April's rate of 7.5 percent.

National Security
6:01 am
Fri June 7, 2013

Reports: NSA Mines Servers Of U.S. Internet Companies

Transcript

LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:

This is MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm Linda Wertheimer.

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

And I'm Renee Montagne.

Since 2007, America's National Security Agency has been mining data from the servers of major American Internet companies, including Microsoft, Apple, Facebook, Google. That's according to new reports from the Guardian and the Washington Post. This comes hard on the heels of another Guardian report revealing the intelligence agency is collecting Verizon phone records of millions of Americans

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