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Sports
4:51 am
Mon July 2, 2012

100 Meters Runoff To Decide 3rd Place Finisher

Originally published on Mon July 2, 2012 7:23 am

Transcript

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

The 100 meters is the fastest running event in Olympic track and field. But for the last nine days, the women's 100 at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field trials in Eugene, Oregon has been stalled by a much talked about tie. Today, finally, a resolution. Sprinters Alyson Felix and Jeneba Tarmoh will race in a run-off to break their tie for third place in the 100 they first ran two Saturday's ago. First one to cross the finish line today makes the U.S. women's 100 team. NPR sports correspondent Tom Goldman joins us to talk about this.

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Business
4:51 am
Mon July 2, 2012

Sales Tax In Health Law Targets Medical Devices

Originally published on Mon July 2, 2012 7:23 am

Some industries stand to benefit now that the health care law has been upheld by the Supreme Court. For makers of medical devices, the ruling means frustration because a sales tax on their equipment stays in place.

Business
4:51 am
Mon July 2, 2012

The Last Word In Business

Originally published on Mon July 2, 2012 7:07 am

More than 70 years ago, Samsung started as a company which sold dried fish and fruit. Now Samsung sells everything from life insurance, to hotels and chemicals. It's one of South Korea's biggest companies. And, it's still run by the same family: the Lees.

Science
3:35 am
Mon July 2, 2012

Is The Hunt For The 'God Particle' Finally Over?

Credit CERN
This image, from a sensor at the particle accelerator at CERN, is an example of the data signature a Higgs particle might generate.

Originally published on Mon July 2, 2012 9:17 am

Before we get to the fireworks on the Fourth of July, we might see some pyrotechnics from a giant physics experiment near Geneva, Switzerland.

Scientists there are planning to gather that morning to hear the latest about the decades-long search for a subatomic particle that could help explain why objects in our universe actually weigh anything.

The buzz is that they're closing in on the elusive Higgs particle. That would be a major milestone in the quest to understand the most basic nature of the universe.

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Crime In The City
3:33 am
Mon July 2, 2012

Philly Author's 'Confession': I Lived These Stories

Originally published on Thu July 5, 2012 4:49 pm

Philadelphia may be called the City of Brotherly Love, but author Solomon Jones sees the sadder, more complex side of the city.

Jones' books feature Philly police detective Mike Coletti. When we meet him in The Last Confession, he's on the verge of retirement, but before he can head off into the sunset, he's got to confront some demons from his past and catch a serial killer calling himself the Angel of Death.

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Shots - Health Blog
3:31 am
Mon July 2, 2012

Organ Donation Has Consequences Some Donors Aren't Prepared For

Originally published on Mon July 2, 2012 11:44 am

Nearly a year and a half ago, Jeff Moyer donated a kidney. It's something he says changed his life forever. "Transplant surgery is a miracle," marvels Moyer. "I mean, to think that my kidney saved someone else's life — that's staggeringly wonderful."

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The Salt
3:29 am
Mon July 2, 2012

Pie-Making 101: How I Overcame My Fear Of Crumbling Crust

Originally published on Mon July 2, 2012 11:27 am

If you listen to my story on Morning Edition, you'll understand the generational divide that has led to my fear of making a pie crust.

So when I decided to overcome my fear, I did it the right way. I hopped on a train to the Culinary Institute of America, the nation's premier cooking school, in Hyde Park, N.Y. There I learned the foolproof pie crust formula that chef George Higgins teaches his students. "It starts with 3, 2, 1," he explains.

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Business
5:05 pm
Sun July 1, 2012

Funeral Industry Laws Face A Changing Marketplace

Originally published on Sun July 1, 2012 5:53 pm

Monks set up St. Joseph Abbey in Louisiana more than 100 years ago. They've been there so long, they have 1,100 acres and their own town, St. Benedict.

For all those years, when one of the brothers died, the monks would painstakingly craft a flawless pine casket in their woodwork shop.

Over the years, many clergy members and high-ranking church officials would request the the beautiful caskets. Soon, members of the public wanted see if they might be able to buy one.

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Around the Nation
5:05 pm
Sun July 1, 2012

A New Reality For Rural Post Offices

Residents of Sugar Hill, N.H., are adjusting to a big change in postal services. Their local post office is now open only half an hour a day, and it only sells stamps. It's one of thousands of rural post offices reducing its hours because of the U.S. Postal Service's financial struggles.

Why Music Matters
5:05 pm
Sun July 1, 2012

Breaking Records To A Velvet Underground Beat

Weekends on All Things Considered continues its "Why Music Matters" series with Olympic luger Christian Niccum. Niccum says music was the key to one of his first accomplishments in the sport.

"I was 15 years old, in Berchtesgaden in Germany," he says. "It's the oldest artificial luge track in the world, and it's also the most difficult."

Daunted by the course's many sharp turns, Niccum turned to something borrowed for inspiration.

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NPR Story
5:00 pm
Sun July 1, 2012

Mexico Votes On Presidential Election

Originally published on Sun July 1, 2012 5:05 pm

Transcript

LAURA SULLIVAN, HOST:

It's WEEKENDS on ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Laura Sullivan.

Voters in Mexico are headed to the polls today to elect a new president. If public opinion polls are correct, the candidate of the PRI party is poised to win. This is the party that ruled the country with a strong arm for most of the 20th century before being ousted from power 12 years ago.

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Music Interviews
4:30 pm
Sun July 1, 2012

Bobby Womack: 'God Must Still Have A Purpose For Me'

Credit Jamie-James Medina / Courtesy of the artist
Bobby Womack's latest album, The Bravest Man in the Universe, came out June 12.

Originally published on Sun July 1, 2012 5:05 pm

"We had two shows that night," says Bobby Womack, recounting a recent concert in Houston. "It was a small theater, about 5- or 6,000 people. The second show, I was just out of it; they had to take me to the hospital."

It was a serious scare for the 68-year-old singer-songwriter — who has also lived through drug addiction and the deaths of two sons — and it didn't end that night.

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Author Interviews
4:03 pm
Sun July 1, 2012

The Complex 'Tapestry' of Michelle Obama's Ancestry

Originally published on Mon July 2, 2012 10:17 am

When Michelle Obama's great-great-great grandmother was 8 years old, her life underwent a dramatic change.

Melvinia Shields was a slave who grew up at a South Carolina estate with a relatively large community of slaves she knew well. But then she was moved to a small farm in northern Georgia where she was one of only three slaves; most white people in the area didn't own any.

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All Tech Considered
4:02 pm
Sun July 1, 2012

Too Hot? No Cooler Time To Honor The Steve Jobs of A.C.

Credit Baltimore & Ohio Railroad ad
A series of 1931 newspaper ads touted the latest comfort for rail passengers on the B&O's Columbian line.

Originally published on Mon July 2, 2012 1:11 pm

With triple-digit heat across the country and places from Denver (105 degrees) to Farmville, Va. (106), setting or tying all-time record highs, let's set down our lemonades and iced teas long enough to show our appreciation for Willis H. Carrier.

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The Two-Way
3:23 pm
Sun July 1, 2012

From Our Readers: Alien Vs. Internet Memes

On a week monopolized by important political news, many of you still took time out to comment on our National Geographic inspired poll, which asked "Which president, would-be president or movie president would do the best job if extraterrestrials come to visit?"

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