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4:19 pm
Mon November 26, 2012

A Jolly Christmas? Retailers Count The Extra Days

Originally published on Tue November 27, 2012 8:49 am

For merchants, the stars are lining up — at least so far.

Online shopping jumped more than 28 percent on Cyber Monday compared with a year ago, according to IBM Benchmark. And the National Retail Federation says Thanksgiving weekend spending shot up to $59.1 billion, nearly 13 percent more than last year's $52 billion.

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The Two-Way
3:43 pm
Mon November 26, 2012

State Department: Andrew W.K. Won't Party In Bahrain On Government Dime

Originally published on Mon November 26, 2012 5:29 pm

Andrew W.K., whom NPR Music described as the "long-haired, wild-eyed, keyboard-pounding, sublimely over-the-top party-rocker," won't be taking his party to Bahrain.

At least not on the government's dime.The State Department has rescinded its invitation, stopped the music if you will, just as word started to spread that the U.S. Embassy in Manama had invited W.K. to perform.

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Author Interviews
3:35 pm
Mon November 26, 2012

Mantel Takes Up Betrayal, Beheadings In 'Bodies'

Credit Francesco Guidicini /
Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall won both the Man Booker Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award. The sequel, Bring Up the Bodies, won this year's Man Booker Prize.

This year, Hilary Mantel made history when she won a Man Booker Prize for her novel Bring Up the Bodies. She had previously been awarded the prize — England's highest literary honor — for her 2009 novel, Wolf Hall, and is now the first woman to receive the award twice.

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The Two-Way
2:50 pm
Mon November 26, 2012

News Outlets Punk'd, Somebody Profits: Google Wi-Fi Buy Is A Hoax

Credit Google.com

Originally published on Mon November 26, 2012 2:56 pm

This Associated Press report today wasn't true:

"Google has bought an operator of Wi-Fi hotspots in high-traffic locations such as airports, hotels and fast-food restaurants. Google Inc. is paying $400 million for ICOA Inc., a Warwick, R.I., company, as part of the search company's efforts to diversify its portfolio."

It was so wrong, in fact, that the AP later moved a "KILL BULLETIN" saying it was:

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The Two-Way
2:44 pm
Mon November 26, 2012

Supreme Court Refuses To Hear Case On Taping Police Officers

Credit AFP/Getty Images
Chicago police move in during protests against the NATO summit in May.

The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear a case on the constitutionality of recording police officers while they do their job.

This means the court leaves in place a lower-court ruling, which found placing limits on taping police in public spaces unconstitutional.

The ACLU of Illinois brought the a suit against Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez in 2010, after her office wanted to bring charges against ACLU staff recording audio of "police officers performing their public duties in a public place and speaking loudly enough to be heard by a passerby."

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All Songs Considered
2:19 pm
Mon November 26, 2012

Question Of The Week: When Should You Start Playing Holiday Music?

Credit Courtesy of the artist

Originally published on Tue November 27, 2012 4:39 pm

Tiny Desk Concerts
2:03 pm
Mon November 26, 2012

Martha Wainwright: Tiny Desk Concert

Credit Ryan Smith / Ryan Smith/NPR
Martha Wainwright performs a Tiny Desk Concert on Oct. 15, 2012.

Originally published on Tue November 27, 2012 4:37 pm

Martha Wainwright's songs examine uncomfortable moments and life experiences gone wrong, but as she acknowledges in between songs at this Tiny Desk Concert, she often has to fudge her own life story to make the details more unsettling. ("Take everything with a grain of salt," she says, "except the good stuff.") What she does is the opposite of sugarcoating: She roughs up life's smooth spots, then digs her fingertips into the cracks that form.

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The Two-Way
1:53 pm
Mon November 26, 2012

In Nigeria, Church Bombing Death Toll Now 30; Gunmen Attack Police Station

It has been a bloody last couple of days in Nigeria: First on Sunday, two car bombs exploded near a church inside a military base. According to the AP, hospital officials said the death toll in that incident has grown to 30.

And today, the AP reports, there is news that gunmen rushed a police station in the nation's capital of Abuja.

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The Two-Way
1:43 pm
Mon November 26, 2012

Paying For Success: River Otters Are Being Trapped Again In Illinois

Credit Illinois Dept. of Natural Resources
Once almost gone from Illinois, river otters are now back in big numbers.

Originally published on Mon November 26, 2012 5:30 pm

  • On 'Morning Edition': Steve Inskeep speaks Illinois biologist Bob Bluett

"They're wonderful, they're great. But sometimes too much is too much."

That's the basic problem confronting Illinois and its wild river otters, state Department of Natural Resources biologist Bob Bluett said earlier today on Morning Edition.

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The Salt
1:34 pm
Mon November 26, 2012

Sandwich Monday: The Butter & Sugar Burger

This is something that exists in Asia:

NPR still stubbornly refuses to pay for our travel — something about "sullying NPR's image abroad" and "Ian, how many times do we have to tell you, you don't really work here" — so we had to make our own version.

A disclaimer: We tried putting one together according to the specs of the image above, but no one could get down even a single bite. We lowered the butter content slightly.

Peter: I like the crunch of the sugar. It's like your teeth start decaying immediately.

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