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All Things Considered (News)

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  • Now playing on WGLT 89.1
  • 37 minutes left
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  • Host: Robert Siegel, Michele Norris, Melissa Block
  • For two hours every weekday, hosts Robert Siegel, Michele Norris and Melissa Block present the program's trademark mix of news, interviews, commentaries, reviews, and offbeat features.
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  • Genres: News
  • Location: Washington, DC
  • Language: English
  • Networks: NPR
Last updated 61 days ago Update show info

Director Jim Sheridan On 'Brothers'

Sun, Nov 29 Listen
Writer/director Jim Sheridan has been nominated for six Oscars but has never won. His next big chance: the drama Brothers, which opens Friday. It's a chilling war movie that's centered on the home front, featuring three of the biggest under-35 stars in movies today Tobey Maguire, Jake Gyllenhaal and Natalie Portman. Host Robert Smith talks to Sheridan about his reputation as an actor's director, and about how he hopes to make this movie stand out from the war-movie pack.

Big-Screen Memories Of A New York Adventure

Sun, Nov 29 Listen
It was 1939, the year of the New York World's Fair, Germany's invasion of Poland, and the publication of Steinbeck's classic The Grapes of Wrath. It's also the year two 18-year-old girls from Denver took a train to the East Coast for an adventure that inspired a Hollywood musical.

Transsexual 'L.A. Times' Sportswriter Dead

Sun, Nov 29 Listen
Los Angeles Times reporter Mike Penner, who publicly chronicled his gender transition and returned to the paper under the name Christine Daniels, died Friday evening at age 52.

DJ Spooky: An Antarctic Expedition In Sound

Sun, Nov 29 Listen
DJ culture has always been fascinated with the concept of cool. But musician and artist Paul Miller aka DJ Spooky decided to get to the core of the phenomenon. His new multimedia project is structured around his sound recordings from the icy continent.

Contemplating America's Love Affair With The Car

Sun, Nov 29 Listen
Millions of Americans are on the road today, driving home from Thanksgiving festivities. And guest host Robert Smith talks to a few of them at a welcome center off I-95 in Maryland. The topic? America's love affair with the car despite the danger it provides. He also consults Catherine Lutz, an anthropologist and author of the new book Carjacked.

Wash. Officials Search For Suspect In Police Shootings

Sun, Nov 29 Listen
Authorities in Washington are searching for the man who shot and killed four police officers in an early morning ambush at a coffee shop near McChord Air Force Base, in Tacoma. NPR's Martin Kaste updates guest host Robert Smith on the investigation.

Swiss Voters Approve Ban On Minarets

Sun, Nov 29 Listen
In Switzerland on Sunday, voters approved a ban on the construction of minarets, the towers attached to mosques that broadcast the call to prayer.

Challenges Remain In Bringing 9/11 Suspects To N.Y.

Sun, Nov 29 Listen
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four others are set to stand trial in New York City for the Sept. 11 attacks. They will be moved from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan. NPR's counterterrorism correspondent Dina Temple-Raston tells guest host Robert Smith about the challenges in getting the prisoner to the New York courtroom.

As Obama Mulls Afghan Decision, A Look Ahead

Sun, Nov 29 Listen
President Obama is expected to announce his decision on troop levels in Afghanistan this week. When the president takes the podium at West Point on Tuesday, he'll draw not only from America's experience at war in Afghanistan, but from the Soviet Union's as well. Bruce Riedel of the Brookings Institution talks to guest host Robert Smith about the president's deliberations. Riedel served as a CIA agent in the region under now-Defense Secretary Robert Gates; he also chaired the first Afghan...

A Texan Twist To Visions Of The Holiday Season

Sat, Nov 28 Listen
For the last three years, journalist Hank Steuver spent the holiday seasons embedded in the Dallas suburb of Frisco. The result is his new book, Tinsel: A Search for America's Christmas Present. Steuver, a writer with the Style section of The Washington Post, goes to the mall and talks about how his Texas adventures gave him a different picture of the holiday season.

Want To Break Up? Tis The Season, So Better Hurry

Sat, Nov 28 Listen
It's not just turkeys that get nervous this time of year. Chances are high that a failing relationship will also meet its end during the holidays. That's because it's not just turkey season it's turkey drop season.

Rectangles Vs. Triangles: The Great Sandwich Debate

Sat, Nov 28 Listen
You've got a lot of decisions to make as you build that leftover turkey sandwich. One decision you'll probably make with ease is whether to cut the sandwich into triangles or rectangles. If you go for the diagonal slice, you're in good company. Chefs, foodies, an architect and even a mathematician all told us: Diagonal rules. But why?

Beatles, Ukulele-Style

Sat, Nov 28 Listen
What could be better than 12 hours of nonstop Beatles music? How about 12 hours of nonstop Beatles music played on the ukulele? Roger Greenawalt, the man who plays the Beatles' works the way he claims they were meant to be played, ukulele-style, shows off the tunes.

In Movie, A New Look At Orson Welles

Sat, Nov 28 Listen
Filmmaker Richard Linklater is taking on another auteur for his latest picture, Me and Orson Welles. The movie targets Welles' early years with the Mercury Theatre. Linklater discusses that phase of Welles' career and the unknown actor chosen to play him, Christian McKay.

In 'The Road,' World Ends With Whimper

Sat, Nov 28 Listen
The Road's grim vision sold a lot of books, but was regarded as so unlikely to attract a movie audience that it sat on Hollywood's shelf for more than a year. Talk circulated about attempts to sweeten it. But it seems unlikely that many viewers will complain that the movie is insufficiently bleak. There may be other complaints.

In New Ad, Chair Floats To Space

Sat, Nov 28 Listen
A new TV ad features an unassuming orange armchair making a trip to the edge of space. The video of the chair's ascent while tethered to a balloon has gone viral, popping up in e-mail inboxes around the world. Andy Amadeo, the director of the spot, discusses the ad.

Yemen Tries To Break Addiction To Popular Leaf

Sat, Nov 28 Listen
The Gulf state of Yemen faces a raft of political and security troubles not to mention a looming water crisis that experts say is exacerbated by the country’s devotion to qat, a mildly narcotic leaf Yemenis love to chew. Growing qat is draining Yemen's scarce water supply. Recently, however, new anti-qat campaigns have begun to spring up around the country.

Dubai Economic Crisis Hits The World

Sat, Nov 28 Listen
Is Dubai too big too fail? Earlier this week, officials in the Gulf state announced they needed more time to repay $60 billion in money borrowed to build lavish hotels, manmade islands and the world's tallest skyscraper. World markets slumped because of the news. Economist Simon Johnson, former chief economist for the International Monetary Fund, and Christopher Davidson, author of Dubai: The Vulnerability of Success, discuss the big impact made by the tiny emirate.

Nontraditional Thanksgiving Traditions: Leftovers

Fri, Nov 27 Listen
For the past couple of days, we've been sharing nontraditional Thanksgiving Day traditions sent in by our listeners. Today, we have two more post-Thanksgiving ones. Melissa Block talks with Linda Shirley Reed of Columbia, S.C., about how she gets rid of leftovers. She also talks with Brian Merrell of Lee's Summit, Mo., about his family's yearly tradition of baking thousands of leibkuchen cookies.

Raymond Carver's 'Writer's Life' Poignantly Exposed

Fri, Nov 27 Listen
When writer Raymond Carver died in 1988, the Times of London christened him “The American Chekov.” The epitaph has stuck. Author Susan Jane Gilman has the review of a new, 578-page biography entitled “Raymond Carver: A Writer’s Life.”

Friends, Family Mourn Iraqi Refugee

Fri, Nov 27 Listen
The Iraqis who fall victim to their country's ongoing violence often register as little more than a number in a newscast for most Americans. But one of those recent statistics represented a real loss for many people in Denver. Haiffa Ali arrived there as a refugee in 2007, nervous and hostile to a country that was occupying her own. In less than two years, she was settled in helping with a craft organization for refugee women and finding her own place in the local arts scene. But Ali went...

Activists, Union Fight For Cleaner Trucks In Newark

Fri, Nov 27 Listen
Environmentalists and the Teamsters Union are fighting for newer, cleaner trucks at the Port of Newark, but most of the trucks are owned by independent drivers who can't afford to buy new ones.

Hawaii Opting Out Of Health Care Overhaul

Fri, Nov 27 Listen
Hawaii wants out of the national health care overhaul because it already has one of the lowest uninsured rates in the country, thanks to its 35-year-old employer mandate system. Hawaii's congressional delegation inserted language into both House and Senate health care bills that provides explicit protection for the landmark Hawaii Prepaid Health Care Act of 1974. It's apparently the only state looking for such an exemption from major health care overhaul.

'Weird Al' Yankovic's Ode To The Trashmen

Fri, Nov 27 Listen
According to Yankovic, The Trashmen's legacy extends well beyond its status as the best surf band ever to come out of Minneapolis. With its 1964 hit Surfin' Bird, the group distilled rock music to its essence.

Waging War On Distracted Driving

Fri, Nov 27 Listen
Nineteen states have banned texting while driving. It's part of a growing movement to crack down on mobile phone usage behind the wheel that is reminiscent of earlier campaigns against drunk driving.

'L.A. Times' Travel Editor Snared By Wedding Scam

Fri, Nov 27 Listen
In May 2008, a bride and groom were scammed out of thousands of dollars paid toward a fake wedding venue. The bride happened to be the travel editor for the Los Angeles Times who'd advised her readers on how not to get hoodwinked on the Internet. The editor, Catharine Hamm tells the story to NPR's Melissa Block.

S.C. Lures Gun Buyers With Tax-Free Holiday

Fri, Nov 27 Listen
South Carolina is luring more people into stores this holiday weekend by offering a tax-free promotion. But the write-off only applies to guns. Gun stores are extending their hours, and one is even preparing free barbecue for people in line. Nov. 27-28 are being dubbed the Second Amendment Weekend. It's the brainchild of State Rep. Mike Pitts, who says he doesn't see the weekend so much as a stimulus, but as a political statement. Buyers will not pay state or local sales taxes on handguns,...

'Black Friday' Shoppers Buy But Spend Less Green

Fri, Nov 27 Listen
This year retailers did their best to lure consumers to open their wallets with lots of early-morning specials. But while the economy has shown some signs of an improvement, analysts say the high rate of unemployment is weighing on people's willingness to spend.

Carey Mulligan: The 'Education' Of An Overnight Star

Fri, Nov 27 Listen
British actress Carey Mulligan has charmed film critics and audiences with her role this fall in An Education. It's won the 24-year-old comparisons to legendary actress Audrey Hepburn. But Mulligan says she has yet to find total comfort in front of the camera.

A Look Back At Career Of Yankees Icon Sheppard

Fri, Nov 27 Listen
For more than 50 years, announcer Bob Sheppard has been the iconic voice of Yankee Stadium. Sheppard has missed the last two Yankee seasons because of illness. And yesterday, the Web site for Major League Baseball ran a story saying that Sheppard has decided it is time to retire. Melissa Block looks back at his career.

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