Music Interviews
3:33 am
Sun May 27, 2012

Deep In The Desert, Monks Make Transcendent Music

Originally published on Sun May 27, 2012 5:55 am

If you drive about an hour and a half north of Santa Fe, N.M., into a place called the Chama Canyon, you might hear the clanging of church bells in the distance. The Monastery of Christ in the Desert was founded there in 1964 and is home to a community of Benedictine monks. They spend their days in prayer, work, meditation — and music.

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Music Interviews
3:33 am
Sun May 27, 2012

Canadian Brass: Spiking The Recital With Humor

Credit Bo Huang / Courtesy of the artist
"Given that we were brass players when we started out, we had a very tall hill to climb just to get people interested in our music," says Canadian Brass founding member Chuck Daellenbach (center).

Originally published on Sun May 27, 2012 5:55 am

When the Canadian Brass came to NPR for a Tiny Desk Concert, the group kicked off the show with a piece its members say has been central to its repertoire for more than 40 years. It's a transcription of an organ work, Johann Sebastian Bach's "Little" Fugue in G Minor.

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Economy
3:32 am
Sun May 27, 2012

Help Wanted. But Not For Mid-Level Jobs

Credit Spencer Platt / Getty Images
Job seekers fill out applications at a job fair in the Queens borough of New York City earlier this month. Economists say jobs in the middle — in sales, administration and assembly, for example — are being squeezed.

Originally published on Sun May 27, 2012 4:49 pm

Unemployment figures for May come out Friday. While the numbers will show how many jobs have been added or lost, they won't tell us much about the quality of positions filled or illustrate what economists already know: that the middle of the job market is hollowing out.

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Religion
3:32 am
Sun May 27, 2012

Philadelphia Priest Abuse Trial Takes Combative Turn

Credit Matt Rourke / AP
Monsignor William Lynn leaves the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia in March. When he finally took to the stand after two months of testimony, the prosecutor called him a liar over and over.

Originally published on Tue June 5, 2012 4:25 pm

A clergy sex-abuse trial is intensifying in a Philadelphia courtroom. One defendant is James Brennan, a priest accused of trying to rape a minor.

What's drawing attention is the second defendant, Monsignor William Lynn. Lynn is the first high-level Catholic official to be criminally prosecuted — not for abusing minors himself, but for failing to protect children from predator priests.

Failure To Protect?

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History
3:31 am
Sun May 27, 2012

75 Years Later: Building The Golden Gate Bridge

Credit George Rose / Getty Images
San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge opened in 1937, connecting San Francisco to Marin County in the north.

Originally published on Sun May 27, 2012 8:29 am

Seventy-five years ago today, San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge opened to the public. People walked across the bridge for the first time, marveling at what was then the largest suspension bridge in the world.

Before the project began, many people thought building the bridge was impossible. And when the construction started, most thought that dozens would die in the process. The rule of thumb at the time was that for every million dollars spent on a project, one person would die — and the Golden Gate Bridge was going to cost $37 million.

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Sunday Puzzle
7:03 pm
Sat May 26, 2012

Just Give It A Shot In The Dark

Credit NPR Graphic

Originally published on Tue May 29, 2012 4:16 pm

On-Air Challenge: Every answer is a phrase in the form "___ in the ___." You'll be given rhymes for the first and last words, and you give the phrases.

Last Week's Challenge From Listener Peter Persoff of Piedmont, Calif.: Think of a common three-letter word and five-letter word that together consist of eight different letters of the alphabet. Put the same pair of letters in front of each of these words, and you will have the present and past-tense forms of the same verb. What words are these?

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Election 2012
2:56 pm
Sat May 26, 2012

Outside Money Making The Race A Rich Man's Game

Originally published on Thu May 31, 2012 6:59 am

Hotshot political consultant Matt Mackowiak is a rising star in the very lucrative world of political consulting. His firm, the Potomac Strategy Group, helps Republicans win elections, but he's not working with Gov. Mitt Romney's campaign this election year.

People who are part of Mackowiak's tribe — the strategists, the opposition researchers, the pollsters — are discovering that they can have a much bigger impact working for outside groups that can raise unlimited amounts of money, unencumbered by the rules that restrict what a presidential campaign can do.

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NPR Story
2:02 pm
Sat May 26, 2012

D.C. Mayor's Administration Mired In Cloud Of Scandal

Originally published on Sat May 26, 2012 3:44 pm

Washington, D.C., Mayor Vincent Gray was elected to office on a platform of anti-corruption. But just two years into his term, a federal investigation has left two former aides pleading guilty to misdeeds during the 2010 election. Gray has denied any wrongdoing. Host Guy Raz talks about D.C. politics with Washington Post reporter Nikita Stewart.

Digital Life
1:44 pm
Sat May 26, 2012

In A World Where One Teen's Voice Is An Internet Hit

Credit YouTube
Jake Foushee's "movie trailer" voice went viral when he was 14. Now he may be headed for the big screen.

Originally published on Sat May 26, 2012 6:17 pm

Music Interviews
12:28 pm
Sat May 26, 2012

The Lumineers: Chasing Big Dreams Out West

Credit Hayley Young / Courtesy of the artist
The Denver folk ensemble The Lumineers has released its self-titled debut album. From left: Wes Schultz, Neyla Pekarek and Jeremiah Fraites.

Originally published on Sat May 26, 2012 3:44 pm

The Denver folk group The Lumineers was founded in 2002 by Wesley Schultz and Jeremiah Fraites, who grew up together in the New Jersey suburb of Ramsey. In its early days, the band had its sights on nearby New York as the gateway to success.

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