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8:02 am
Sat August 11, 2012

Mitt Romney To Announce Running Mate

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By editor

Originally published on Sat August 11, 2012 2:38 pm

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LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:

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

Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan is Mitt Romney's choice to be the next vice president. Mitt Romney's campaign made the announcement earlier this morning, calling the ticket America's Comeback Team. Romney and Ryan are expected to appear together, for the first time as a ticket, at an event in Virginia later this morning. And we will be broadcasting that event when it happens.

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NPR Story
8:02 am
Sat August 11, 2012

A Look At Romney's VP Pick

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By editor

Originally published on Sat August 11, 2012 2:38 pm

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LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:

Now, we also have with us, for more on this announcement, NPR's Washington editor, Ron Elving. Hi, Ron.

RON ELVING, BYLINE: Good to be with you, Linda.

WERTHEIMER: Now, we - also here, NPR political correspondent Don Gonyea. Don.

DON GONYEA, BYLINE: Good morning.

WERTHEIMER: Now, Ron, let me begin with you. Who is Paul Ryan?

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It's All Politics
7:33 am
Sat August 11, 2012

Romney Picks Wisconsin's Ryan To Be His Running Mate On GOP Ticket

Credit Win McNamee / Getty Images
The Republican ticket at this morning's announcement in Norfolk, Va.: Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, left, and Republican Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin.
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Originally published on Sat August 11, 2012 3:11 pm

  • Listen to NPR's Live Coverage

Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan is Mitt Romney's choice for running mate on the 2012 Republican presidential ticket.

The official word, which began leaking overnight, came early this morning from the Romney campaign via a smartphone app and a news release.

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Afghanistan
6:25 am
Sat August 11, 2012

Three NATO Soldiers Killed By Afghans

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An Afghan working on an installation shared by Afghan and foreign forces shot and killed three NATO soldiers on Friday — raising to six the number of international troops killed by their Afghan partners in 24 hours, officials said.

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Around the Nation
4:44 am
Sat August 11, 2012

Some Idaho Farmers Pray, Others Turn On The Water

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Credit Molly Messick for NPR
Farmer Hans Hayden walks through his drought-stricken wheat field in Idaho. He says the wheat should be 3 feet tall by now.
Credit Molly Messick for NPR
Jim Tiede uses a pivot irrigation system to water his potatoes, so his crops have been growing despite the drought.
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Originally published on Sat August 11, 2012 2:38 pm

In the West, in Idaho's arid, high desert, the drought has a mixed effect. There's a big divide between farmers with deep wells and irrigation and those without.

Hans Hayden is a rare find: a talkative farmer. He likes to explain things. But when it comes to the wheat he planted this spring, there's not much to say. This field needed rain. It didn't get it.

"At this point in time, it kind of looks like a desert," he says.

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Around the Nation
4:44 am
Sat August 11, 2012

Joplin's New Trees Struggle To Survive Amid Drought

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Credit Michele Skalicky / KSMU
Volunteers water saplings planted in Cunningham Park in Joplin, Mo. The trees were planted to help reforest Joplin after a deadly tornado last year destroyed many of the city's trees.
Credit Charlie Riedel / AP
The path of a powerful tornado is seen in an aerial photo over Joplin on May 24, 2011.
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Originally published on Sat August 11, 2012 2:38 pm

Saplings — no more than 6 feet tall — dot the landscape in Joplin, Mo. They replace the large shade trees that were ripped out of the ground by a massive tornado that swept through town in May of 2011.

Nearly 7,000 new trees, donated by various organizations, have been planted. They include sturdy, mostly native, varieties, such as oak, sycamore and redbud — trees that can withstand strong winds when they're taller.

With temperatures above normal for the past few months and precipitation below normal, those trees have had a hard time taking root.

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Author Interviews
2:03 am
Sat August 11, 2012

'This Will End In Tears': Soundtracks For Down Days

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Credit / HarperCollins
Credit William Hereford /
As a teenager, Adam Brent Houghtaling edited Chinchilla Smile, a fanzine about his favorite indie-pop bands.
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Originally published on Sat September 1, 2012 3:31 pm

Even the strongest among us get the blues: You can't get out of bed, you don't want to talk to a single other humanoid, and you just want to close the curtains and turn on the music. The songs you choose for those miseries have to be just right.

Adam Brent Houghtaling is something of a connoisseur of the melancholy moment. Perhaps to cheer himself up, he's put that expertise to use by producing a kind of encyclopedia of the best soundtracks for lonely days and nights. It's called This Will End in Tears: The Miserablist Guide to Music.

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Music Interviews
2:03 am
Sat August 11, 2012

Marian McPartland's Storied Life, Told 'In Good Time'

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Marian McPartland hosted NPR's Piano Jazz for 33 years.
Credit Films By Huey
Marian McPartland and filmmaker Huey after a cast and crew screening of In Good Time in Port Washington, N.Y., in 2001.
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By NPR Staff

Originally published on Sun August 19, 2012 12:32 pm

More than half a century ago this week, on Aug. 12, 1958, some of the greatest jazz musicians of the day assembled in Harlem at what was, for them, the ungodly hour of 10 a.m. Fifty-seven players came to East 126th Street to have their picture taken for Esquire magazine.

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Music Interviews
2:03 am
Sat August 11, 2012

Busking In Lansing, To Rave Reviews

Credit Scott Pohl / WKAR
Alexis Dawdy plays her violin on the streets of Lansing, Mich.
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Originally published on Mon August 27, 2012 1:02 pm

All summer long, Weekend Edition has been sampling the sounds of America's street musicians. The latest to catch our ear is Alexis Dawdy, a young violinist who returned to her hometown of Lansing, Mich., to study at Michigan State University — and do a little busking on the side.

"I'm actually not a music major. This is really a hobby that accidentally became a profession," Dawdy says. "I'm studying linguistics, and I'm 17 credits out from graduation. My goal is to do it debt-free, and this helps a lot. This pays for books and this pays for food."

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Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!
7:00 pm
Fri August 10, 2012

Not My Job: We Quiz NASA Engineers On Mars Candy

Credit Left: Brian van der Brug-Pool/Getty Images / Right: Bill Ingalls/NASA via Getty Images
Missions engineers Bobak Ferdowsi (left) and Adam Steltzner — also known as "Mokawk guy" and "Elvis guy," respectively — helped land the Mars Curiosity rover on Sunday night.
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Originally published on Sat August 11, 2012 11:07 am

On Sunday night, while the rest of us were ooohing and aaahing over gymnastics, a bunch of propeller heads at NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory were flawlessly steering a billion-dollar robotic space laboratory the size of a minivan to a landing on Mars.

Missions engineers Bobak Ferdowsi and Adam Steltzner — whose hairstyles have led them to be nicknamed "Mokawk guy" and "Elvis guy," respectively — are two of the guys behind the landing of the Mars rover Curiosity, and very well might be the Sexiest Nerds Ever.

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