Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!
4:00 pm
Fri August 10, 2012

Limericks

Originally published on Sat August 11, 2012 8:07 am

Transcript

PETER SAGAL, HOST:

Coming up, it's Lightning Fill in the Blank. But first it's the game where you have to listen for the rhyme. If you'd like to play on air, call or leave a message at 1-888-Wait-Wait. That translates to 1-888-924-8924.

You can always click the contact us link on our website wait wait.npr.org. You can find out there about attending our weekly live shows back at the Chase Bank Auditorium in Chicago. We'd love to see you. Or come visit us in Atlanta, George, when we do our show at the Fox Theater in Atlanta on September 20th.

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Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!
4:00 pm
Fri August 10, 2012

Panel Round Two

Originally published on Sat August 11, 2012 8:07 am

Transcript

CARL KASELL: From NPR and WBEZ-Chicago, this is WAIT WAIT...DON'T TELL ME!, the NPR News quiz. I'm Carl Kasell. We're playing this week with Roy Blount Jr., Amy Dickinson, and Tom Bodett. And, here again is your host, at the Merrill Auditorium in Portland, Maine, Peter Sagal.

PETER SAGAL, HOST:

Thank you, Carl.

(APPLAUSE)

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The Torch
3:39 pm
Fri August 10, 2012

In World Record Time, Americans Take Gold In Women's 4X100 Relay

Credit Clive Brunskill / Getty Images
Carmelita Jeter of the United States receives the relay baton fom Bianca Knight of the United States on their way to winning gold in the Women's 4 x 100m Relay Final Friday.

Originally published on Fri August 10, 2012 3:51 pm

Carmelita Jeter made sure everyone understood what Team USA had just accomplished. She pointed toward the digital clock with the baton as it flashed a time of 40.82 seconds.

Jeter, Tianna Madison, Allyson Felix and Bianca Knight had just gotten a gold medal in the 4 X 100m relay and they did so while shattering the world record by a little more than half a second.

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The Torch
2:57 pm
Fri August 10, 2012

Seeing The World Through The Olympic Rings [Infographic]

One of the most thought-provoking infographics of the Olympics has nothing to with sports at all.

Artist Gustavo Sousa of the group Mother London uses only the five rings of the Olympic logo to strip down global statistics and expose disparities across th world's continents.

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The Torch
2:47 pm
Fri August 10, 2012

Gaming The Games: The Rules That Got Bent In London

Credit Adam Pretty / Getty Images
Cameron van der Burgh of South Africa celebrates his gold medal in the men's 100m breaststroke. He later admitted that he took extra dolphin kicks during his swim, a violation of the rules.

Originally published on Fri August 10, 2012 5:06 pm

The London Summer Olympics are winding down, and by most accounts, the games have been a success. There were plenty of "thrill of victory, agony of defeat" moments; big, enthusiastic crowds — although there were too many blocks of empty seats; and for those who like a helping of scandal served up at their Olympics, there was that, too.

It wasn't the usual scourge of doping. Instead, the London Olympics had incidents of bending the rules and ethics of sport.

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It's All Politics
2:30 pm
Fri August 10, 2012

The Next Act For Newt Gingrich? It Could Be A TV Talk Show

Credit David Bundy / AP
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, accompanied by his wife Callista, speaks at a rally in Montgomery, Ala., on March 7.

Originally published on Fri August 10, 2012 2:55 pm

After serving as speaker of the House, publishing several historical novels and running for president, what's next for Newt Gingrich?

One possible third act, Gingrich told NPR staffers on Friday, could be sharing a television studio with his wife, Callista.

"We're kind of intrigued with the idea of doing a daily show, which would change our lives pretty dramatically," Gingrich said. "But if we do it, we want it to be closer to Regis and Kathie Lee than to Bill O'Reilly or Hardball."

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It's All Politics
2:10 pm
Fri August 10, 2012

In New Ads Focused On Character, Obama And Romney Get Personal

Credit Romney campaign ad

Originally published on Fri August 10, 2012 3:24 pm

The Two-Way
2:01 pm
Fri August 10, 2012

Time Magazine Suspends Fareed Zakaria's Column, After Plagiarism Claim

Credit Emmanuel Dunande / AFP/Getty Images
Fareed Zakaria.

Originally published on Mon August 13, 2012 3:58 am

A little more than a week after a major plagiarism scandal brought down science wunderkind Jonah Lehrer, Time magazine said it was suspending Fareed Zakaria's column for a month.

Zakaria is an influential and respected commentator on foreign policy and also hosts a show on CNN called Fareed Zakaria GPS.

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Remembrances
2:00 pm
Fri August 10, 2012

David Rakoff Saw The World In All Its Dark Beauty

Credit Larry Busacca / Getty Images
David Rakoff, the author of Half Empty, Don't Get Too Comfortable and Fraud, was a frequent contributor to This American Life. He died Thursday at the age of 47.

Originally published on Fri August 10, 2012 4:04 pm

When writer David Rakoff died Thursday at the age 47, he was barely the age he said he was always "meant" to be. In his 2010 memoir, Half Empty, he wrote, "Everyone has an internal age, a time in life when one is, if not one's best, then at very least one's most authentic self. I always felt that my internal clock was calibrated somewhere between 47 and 53 years old."

Rakoff died in New York City after a long struggle with cancer — an ordeal that he wrote about with sobering honesty and biting wit.

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The Torch
1:46 pm
Fri August 10, 2012

U.S. Men's 400m Relay Team Claims Silver, As Bahamas Win Gold

Credit Alexander Hassenstein / Getty Images
Ramon Miller (left) of the Bahamas crosses the finish line ahead of Team USA's Angelo Taylor to win the 4x400m relay gold medal at the London 2012 Olympics.

Originally published on Fri August 10, 2012 2:18 pm

The Bahamas men's team has won the 4x400m relay, edging past a surprisingly quick U.S. team to take the gold medal. It was the first gold medal for any male athlete from the Bahamas. The quartet ran a time of 2:56.72, setting a national record. The U.S. set a season best of 2:57.05 to take silver.

Trinidad and Tobago took the bronze medal, just ahead of Great Britain.

The Bahamas led the race after the first lap, with the U.S. running in second. And the two teams' runners stayed ahead of the pack, extending their lead to make it a two-team race.

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