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The Two-Way
6:34 pm
Tue October 23, 2012

59.2 Million Tuned Into Monday's Debate, Smallest Of The Audiences

Credit Timothy A. Clary / AFP/Getty Images
Watch the wash or watch the debate? This woman was at a laundromat in Manhattan during Monday's debate.
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Originally published on Wed October 24, 2012 1:52 pm

An estimated 59.2 million people tuned in Monday night to watch President Obama and Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney in their third and final debate before the Nov. 6 election, The Nielsen Company reports.

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Middle East
6:19 pm
Tue October 23, 2012

Qatari Emir First World Leader To Visit Gaza In Years

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Originally published on Sun October 28, 2012 9:48 am

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AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Audie Cornish.

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

And I'm Melissa Block.

The Emir of Qatar visited the Gaza Strip today. He's the first world leader to do so since 2007, when the Islamist movement Hamas seized control of the Palestinian territory and Israel responded with a blockade. The emir called on Hamas to reconcile with the rival Fatah movement. He also promised some $400 million in reconstruction projects, as NPR's Peter Kenyon reports from Gaza.

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Politics
5:46 pm
Tue October 23, 2012

Charming, Cold: Does Presidential Personality Matter?

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With the advent of radio and television, presidential charisma became a more important personality characteristic. Above, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who is rated one of the most charismatic presidents; John F. Kennedy; Bill Clinton.
Credit Getty Images
Charisma wasn't an early requirement for presidents, since many decisions were made behind closed doors, says psychology professor Dean Simonton. His analysis of the charisma of these three commanders in chief: John Adams: "Average." Thomas Jefferson: "Average." Andrew Jackson: "Well above average."
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Originally published on Thu October 25, 2012 9:59 am

As part of NPR's coverage of this year's presidential election, All Things Considered asked three science reporters to weigh in on the race. The result is a three-part series on the science of leadership. In Part 2, Jon Hamilton examined leadership in the animal kingdom.

Charming or cold. Flexible or rigid. Paranoid or impulsive or calculating.

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Presidential Race
5:44 pm
Tue October 23, 2012

Radio Ads Still Relevant In Presidential Campaigns

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Originally published on Wed October 24, 2012 4:18 am

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MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

You are listening to ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News.

This campaign season most of us have been bombarded by political ads on TV. Those ads get the most attention from fact-checkers and opposing campaigns, but the presidential candidates are also running lots of spots on commercial radio stations. It gives them a chance to target particular kinds of people, as NPR's Brian Naylor reports.

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Presidential Race
5:31 pm
Tue October 23, 2012

Romney Hits Ground Running After Final Debate

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Originally published on Wed October 24, 2012 4:18 am

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AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

Governor Romney went straight to Nevada this morning and is now in Henderson for a campaign event. NPR's Ari Shapiro is there and joins us now. Hi there, Ari.

ARI SHAPIRO, BYLINE: Hi, Audie.

CORNISH: So, what does Mitt Romney have to say out there on the campaign today?

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NPR Story
5:21 pm
Tue October 23, 2012

Obama Hits Battleground States In Final Blitz

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Originally published on Wed October 24, 2012 4:18 am

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MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Melissa Block.

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

I'm Audie Cornish, and we begin this hour with a sprint. The 2012 presidential debates are now history and today, President Obama and his Republican challenger Mitt Romney begin the two-week race to Election Day. Mr. Obama is widely considered the winner of last night's foreign policy debate, but he didn't spend much time crowing today.

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NPR Story
5:21 pm
Tue October 23, 2012

Former CIA Agent Pleads Guilty To Leaking Info

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Originally published on Wed October 24, 2012 4:18 am

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MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

This is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Melissa Block.

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

And I'm Audie Cornish.

A big development today in the Justice Department's crackdown on national security leaks. A former CIA agent pleaded guilty to revealing the name of a covert operative to a reporter. John Kiriakou agreed to spend two and a half years in prison.

NPR's Carrie Johnson was in the courtroom in Virginia for the plea hearing and joins us now to talk about the case. Welcome, Carrie.

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NPR Story
5:21 pm
Tue October 23, 2012

Dow Falls 243 Points On Worst Day In Months

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Originally published on Wed October 24, 2012 4:18 am

The stock market fell sharply Tuesday morning. Disappointing earnings from DuPont and 3M led the rest of the Dow lower.

The Impact of War
4:58 pm
Tue October 23, 2012

Iraq Vet Seeks Atonement For Early War Tragedy

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Credit Laurent Rebours / AP
A scene from the early days of the fighting in Iraq in the spring of 2003. In one incident, three members of an Iraqi family were killed. A U.S. Marine involved in the shooting recently tracked down the family to ask for forgiveness.
Credit James Hill / Courtesy of The New Yorker
Dexter Filkins earned a George Polk award in 2004 for his coverage of Fallujah. His book, The Forever War, is about his experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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Originally published on Tue October 23, 2012 5:09 pm

On April 8, 2003, in the early days of the Iraq War, the Kachadoorian family found themselves in the middle of a firefight at a major intersection in Baghdad.

They had approached the intersection in three cars and didn't respond to Marines' warnings to stop and turn around; so the Marines opened fire, killing three men and shooting a young woman in the shoulder, not realizing that the people in the car were civilians.

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Middle East
4:55 pm
Tue October 23, 2012

Life And Death And Puppets In Syria

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Credit YouTube
This episode of Top Goon featured the Syrian president on the left, a member of the security forces on the right, and a photo of the former president, Hafez Assad, who is the father of the current leader.
Credit YouTube
Syrians opposed to President Bashar Assad have been posting YouTube videos mocking him. The episodes are called Top Goon, and the Syrian president goes by the name Beeshu. The work is done anonymously because those behind it fear they could face retribution from the Syrian government.
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Originally published on Wed October 24, 2012 10:07 am

"I'm not crazy," the figure says, standing alone in a dark room, as if trying to convince himself.

"I'm not crazy?" almost a question this time.

"I'm not crazy. I'm not crazy. I'm not crazy!" he yells, finally making up his mind.

And, of course, he sounds crazy.

Meet Beeshu, an avatar of the embattled president of Syria, Bashar Assad, rendered in papier-mache and mounted on someone's finger. He's the star of the show Top Goon and the inspiration for its title.

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