All Things Considered on NPR & Classical Music

Weekday afternoons 4-7 PM
Hosts: Melissa Block, Michele Norris, Robert Siegel &
Thom Kokenge

NPR's afternoon radio newsmagazine brings you breaking news and compelling analysis, insightful commentaries, interviews, and special - sometimes quirky - features. Thom Kokenge also updates you on regional news, and weather forecasts on your drive home.

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Business
2:37 pm
Thu November 29, 2012

A Bet Or A Prediction? Intrade's Purpose Is Debated

Credit NPR/Intrade screen grab
Ireland-based Intrade lets users bet money on all manner of predictions — like if a particular film will win an Oscar. The site is ceasing operations in the U.S.

Originally published on Thu November 29, 2012 3:02 pm

The popular website Intrade allows its users to bet on the odds of almost anything — like whether Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will get ousted by a certain date, or whether the movie Argo will win best picture at the Oscars.

This week, Ireland-based Intrade announced that U.S. users will have to unwind their bets and shut down their accounts by the end of the year. That's after the Commodity Futures Trading Commission sued Intrade for operating an unregistered exchange.

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All Tech Considered
2:37 pm
Thu November 29, 2012

Yet Another Shift In Facebook Policies Raises Privacy Concerns

Credit Joerg Koch / AP

Facebook has a long history of upsetting its users by suddenly announcing a change to its privacy settings. In 2009, as a way to quiet the critics, Facebook set up a system for its customers to vote on changes. If enough of them were unhappy, the company would back down. Now, Facebook wants to get rid of the voting.

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Science
2:03 pm
Thu November 29, 2012

Greenland, Antarctic Ice Is Melting Faster

Originally published on Thu November 29, 2012 2:44 pm

Superstorm Sandy sparked a lot of interest in rising sea levels when it swept across the Northeast last month and flooded parts of the coast. Over the next century, more water — and higher sea levels — could come from melting ice in Greenland and Antarctica. How much has been unclear.

But now scientists have developed a much clearer view of how quickly that ice has been melting over the past two decades. And that will help researchers forecast the rate of sea-level rise in the years to come.

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It's All Politics
2:02 pm
Thu November 29, 2012

Would Raising Taxes On Investment Income Hurt The Economy?

Credit YouTube
A screen grab from an ad by the Defend My Dividend campaign, which is funded by utilities and other companies. They don't support a proposed increase in taxes from investment income.

Originally published on Thu November 29, 2012 6:53 pm

The Salt
1:06 pm
Thu November 29, 2012

Tastier Winter Tomatoes, Thanks To A Boom In Greenhouse Growing

Originally published on Wed December 5, 2012 5:36 am

It may sound like an oxymoron: a delicious local, winter tomato — especially if you happen to live in a cold climate.

But increasingly, farmers from West Virginia to Maine and through the Midwest are going indoors to produce tomatoes and other veggies in demand during the winter months. "There's a huge increase in greenhouse operations," Harry Klee of the University of Florida tells us.

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Shots - Health News
12:54 pm
Thu November 29, 2012

Clinton Reveals Blueprint For An 'AIDS-Free Generation'

Originally published on Fri November 30, 2012 5:52 am

Before Secretary of State Hilary Rodham Clinton passes the reins to her successor, she's got a few loose ends to tie up. One of them is mapping out the U.S.'s continuing efforts to combat AIDS around the world.

So today she unveiled a "blueprint" for what she called an "AIDS-free generation."

Now Clinton isn't talking about ending the HIV pandemic altogether. Rather, she hopes to prevent most new infections from occurring in the first place and to stop HIV-positive people from developing AIDS.

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Space
11:05 am
Thu November 29, 2012

Space Probe Finds Ice In Mercury's Craters

Credit NASA
Researchers say they have identified traces of ice in craters on Mercury, seen here in this Oct. 8, 2008, image from the Messenger spacecraft.

Originally published on Thu November 29, 2012 2:37 pm

Mercury is not the first planet to come to mind if you were searching for ice in the solar system. After all, the surface temperature across most of the planet is hot enough to melt lead.

But at the poles on Mercury it's a different story. Almost no sun reaches the poles, and as a result, temperatures can drop to less than -100 degrees Fahrenheit. Now, three papers in the journal Science suggest there really is ice at the bottom of craters near the poles on Mercury.

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Research News
2:47 pm
Wed November 28, 2012

A Short Fuse For Fusion As Ignition Misses Deadline

Originally published on Thu November 29, 2012 12:07 am

Religion
1:53 pm
Wed November 28, 2012

Mormonism: A Scrutinized, Yet Evolving Faith

Originally published on Wed November 28, 2012 2:58 pm

Mitt Romney refused to mix religion with politics in this year's presidential campaign, but that didn't repress people's curiosity about Mormonism. His candidacy brought the homegrown faith into the spotlight.

Patrick Mason, a professor and chairman of the Mormon Studies program at Claremont Graduate University, says attention paid to his faith has been twofold. On one hand, it's been good for attracting new converts. On the other hand, it's turned Mormonism into something of a cultural punch line.

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The Two-Way
1:33 pm
Wed November 28, 2012

Syrian Rebels Claim They Shot Down Fighter Jet With A Missile

Originally published on Wed November 28, 2012 2:47 pm

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