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The Salt
9:50 am
Thu September 6, 2012

Extreme Weather Means Extreme Food Prices Worldwide, Aid Agency Warns

Credit Roberto Schmmidt / AFP/Getty Images
Somali girls line up to receive a hot meal in Mogadishu last year after the worst drought in the Horn of Africa in decades, compounded by war, put millions in danger of starvation.

Originally published on Wed September 19, 2012 4:11 pm

Reducing greenhouse gases and saving the polar bears tend to dominate discussions on climate change. But to the booming world population, one climate change issue may be even more pressing – hunger.

A new report by a leading international relief agency warns that climate change will increase the risk of large spikes in global food prices in the future, and lead to more hungry people in the world. That's because extreme weather like droughts, floods and heat waves are predicted to become much more frequent as the planet heats up.

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Deceptive Cadence
9:23 am
Thu September 6, 2012

Why The Atlanta Symphony Matters: Five Recordings For The Lockout

Originally published on Tue September 18, 2012 3:50 pm

With just a month to go before opening its 68th season, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra has gone silent. A bitter labor dispute between the ASO musicians and orchestra management has resulted in a lockout — meaning the players have literally been prevented from entering the Woodruff Arts Center and stripped of their salaries and health benefits.

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Around the Nation
8:53 am
Thu September 6, 2012

L.A.'s Ban On Marijuana Dispensaries Halted For Now

Credit Nick Ut / AP
Medical cannabis patient Michael Oliveri smokes marijuana during a news conference in Universal City, Calif., last week. Medical marijuana advocates say they have enough signatures to place a referendum before voters that would overturn a ban on pot clinics in Los Angeles.

Originally published on Thu September 6, 2012 5:01 pm

Thursday was supposed to mark the end of medical marijuana dispensaries in Los Angeles, after the city council approved a ban on them this summer. But patients and advocates have managed to halt the ban, and some dispensary operators are suing the city.

For years, Los Angeles has been a mecca for medical marijuana dispensaries. Anyone with a doctor's recommendation could stop in at chic storefronts offering cannabis-laced desserts or at the more underground clinics, labeled only with a green cross. Hundreds, maybe 1,000 of these pot shops popped up around L.A.

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The Two-Way
8:34 am
Thu September 6, 2012

Employers Added 201,000 Jobs Last Month, Report Signals

Credit Andrew Burton / Getty Images
The scene at a job fair in Harlem earlier this summer.

Three bits of good news about jobs were just released.

"Private-sector employment increased by 201,000 from July to August on a seasonally adjusted basis," according to the latest ADP National Employment Report.

And ADP revised up its estimate of the job growth in July — to 173,000 from the 163,000 it previously reported.

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Music
8:19 am
Thu September 6, 2012

Guest DJ: Pulitzer Prize-Winning Author Junot Diaz

Credit Courtesy of the artist
Junot Diaz's new book is titled This Is How You Lose Her.

Originally published on Sat September 8, 2012 11:43 am

  • Hear This Week's Show
The Two-Way
8:05 am
Thu September 6, 2012

European Central Bank Leaves Interest Rates Unchanged

Originally published on Thu September 6, 2012 9:20 am

"The European Central Bank refrained from cutting interest rates today as President Mario Draghi prepares to unveil a bond-purchase plan to save the euro," Bloomberg News writes. It adds that:

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All Songs Considered Blog
8:03 am
Thu September 6, 2012

Song Premiere: Touché Amoré, 'Whale Belly'

Credit Courtesy of the artist
Touché Amoré.

Originally published on Tue September 18, 2012 8:20 pm

An endless churn of new music constantly buries the past, so it's the mark of a great record when you still want to spin it long after a given year's best-of lists are published. Touché Amoré's exuberant road-worn confessional, Parting the Sea Between Brightness and Me, hasn't left my iPod or my psyche since last summer. And, while fans have already begun inquiring about a new full-length, the post-hardcore band's never-ending tour schedule doesn't stop until late December — for now.

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The Two-Way
7:47 am
Thu September 6, 2012

NFL Owner Art Modell Dies; He Was 'Vilified' In Cleveland, A Hero In Baltimore

Credit Jeff Haynes / AFP/Getty Images
Art Modell, then the owner of the Baltimore Ravens, with the Vince Lombardi Trophy after his team beat the New York Giants in the January 2001 Super Bowl.

The news that Art Modell died earlier today in Baltimore at the age of 87 has produced very different ledes from newspapers in the two cities where the former NFL owner was a major presence.

The Baltimore Sun writes that:

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Around the Nation
7:44 am
Thu September 6, 2012

Alaska Zoo Holds Election For Honorary President

Originally published on Thu September 6, 2012 10:17 am

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

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Animals
7:37 am
Thu September 6, 2012

Vladimir Putin Tries To Help Birds Take Flight

Originally published on Thu September 6, 2012 10:17 am

Transcript

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

Good morning. I'm Renee Montagne. President Vladimir Putin even wants Russia's birds to get behind him. Yesterday, he flew a motorized glider aimed at leading a flock of Siberian cranes raised in captivity to their winter nesting grounds. To appear to be one of them, Putin donned a white jumpsuit and helmet, though he drew the line at a beak. A Russians news agency reported only one bird followed Putin on his first flight, but he picked up a few more supporters later on. It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

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