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8:00am

Sat February 4, 2012
Strange News

China's New Pick-Up Truck Suspiciously Ford Tough

The Chinese automaker JAC unveiled their latest design this week, and it bears a rather notable resemblance to the Ford F-150. Though the engine is much smaller, the JAC 4R3 will go on sale across China and in Africa and Latin America, after its debut at the Beijing motor show in April.

8:00am

Sat February 4, 2012
Business

Houseboat Business Floats Back To Business

One employer just starting to come back from the brink is Majestic Yachts Incorporated, a houseboat manufacturer in Kentucky. Guest host David Greene checks back in with the CEO, Jim Hadley. He last spoke to Hadley in February 2009 as part of NPR's First 100 Days Project about the impact of the recession.

8:00am

Sat February 4, 2012
Sports

The Top College Ball Team You've Never Heard Of

The top 10 teams in men's college basketball are mostly the usual suspects, Kentucky, North Carolina and the like. One team no one expected has snuck into the polls this week: the Murray State Racers. Guest host David Greene is joined by Ricky Martin, the sports editor of the Murray Ledger-Times.

8:00am

Sat February 4, 2012
Europe

Protesters Flood The Streets In Moscow

Opponents of Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin marched through the streets of Moscow Saturday in another large demonstration against alleged voting fraud. The protest is seen as a test both for the opposition and Putin, ahead of March's presidential election. Guest host David Greene gets the latest from NPR's Corey Flintoff in Moscow.

8:00am

Sat February 4, 2012
Sports

Does Eli Manning Belong Among The Elite?

Tom Brady will lead the New England Patriots into Super Bowl 46 in Indianapolis on Sunday. He´s already won the Super Bowl three times before. Standing in the way of yet another Patriot victory are Eli Manning and the New York Giants. Manning has been superb this season, but is he elite?

8:00am

Sat February 4, 2012
Animals

Sturgeon Scarcity Affects More Than Caviar

Sturgeon have been swimming around for more than 200 million years, but their eggs are sought after for caviar. This week, the National Marine Fisheries Service placed the Atlantic sturgeon on its endangered species list. Guest host David Greene speaks with Dr. Ellen Pikitch, executive director of the Institute for Ocean Conservation Science at Stony Brook University.

8:00am

Sat February 4, 2012
Sports

Dedicated Fans Have Never Missed A Super Bowl

Though most people will never attend a single Super Bowl, there are three men who have seen them all. Don Crisman and Larry Jacobson are part of a group that calls itself the "Never Missed a Super Bowl Club," and they have no plans to end the streak any time soon. Guest host David Greene catches up with them as they prepare for Sunday's game in Indianapolis.

8:00am

Sat February 4, 2012
Election 2012

What The People Want Out West

As the primary season pushes westward, voters in big Western states share what they like and want, plus why they feel they're a different kind of electorate.

8:00am

Sat February 4, 2012
Business

Komen Races To Restore Planned Parenthood Funds

In an about-face, the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation announced Friday that it is not cutting off funding for Planned Parenthood. Komen is one of the nation's most prominent breast cancer groups. They came under intense criticism for their initial decision to cut off some funding for Planned Parenthood. Guest host David Greene talks with NPR's Julie Rovner and Rob Stein, who have been covering the story.

8:00am

Sat February 4, 2012
Asia

Protesting Chinese Village Elects A New Path

Originally published on Sat February 4, 2012 1:05 pm

Transcript

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

This week, a small fishing village in China held an election. By normal standards it wasn't a very big deal. Residents in the village of Wukan were simply voting for members of a new election commission. But consider this: the election was organized because it was demanded by residents who took to the streets in a mass protest last year.

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8:00am

Sat February 4, 2012
Election 2012

As Population Shifts, So Do Political Tactics

In the last decade, population growth in Western swing states outpaced the national average, according to David Damore, a professor of political science at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. With the Nevada Republican caucus underway, guest host David Greene talks with Damore about the electoral shift and the issues potential voters in the region view as priorities.

6:49am

Sat February 4, 2012
The Salt

This One's For The Chicken: A Super Bowl Party With A Purpose

This Sunday will mark the 16th annual installment of "Chicken Bowl," my Super Bowl party, which doubles as a grand fried-chicken-eating contest. As many as 80 friends, coworkers, enablers and hangers-on will cram into my long-suffering house for this noble occasion.

But even with all the extravagances I've cobbled together to keep them happy — large TVs, vintage arcade machines, working toilets — there has never been a shred of doubt that chicken is king.

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6:14am

Sat February 4, 2012
Europe

In Ukraine, A Daughter Takes Up Her Mother's Cause

Evgeniya Tymoshenko has her mother's looks — minus the trademark blond braid that makes her mother, former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, quickly recognizable.

But the younger Tymoshenko says she's not a politician. She never imagined herself testifying on Capitol Hill, getting face time with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at a prayer breakfast, or speaking to reporters at a K Street lobbying firm.

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6:13am

Sat February 4, 2012
Economy

Job Market Could Help Obama's Election Stock

Credit Ron Sachs-Pool / Getty Images
President Obama speaks about the economy Friday in Arlington, Va. Obama says he wants to "send a clear message to Congress: Do not slow down the recovery that we're on."

It turns out January was a surprisingly good month in the job market. U.S. employers added 243,000 jobs in January, and the unemployment rate fell to 8.3 percent.

That better-than-expected news from the Labor Department triggered a rally in the stock market Friday, with the Dow climbing more than 150 points. The news could also help the stock of President Obama.

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6:10am

Sat February 4, 2012
Presidential Race

Out West, GOP Candidates Mine For Caucus Votes

Credit Justin Sullivan / Getty Images
Supporters look on during a campaign rally for Mitt Romney at the Elko Regional Airport Friday in Elko, Nev. The state holds its caucus Saturday.

Saturday is caucus day in Nevada, the first state in the West to vote as Republicans go about choosing their presidential candidate.

Mitt Romney is counting on another win here to keep him on the path to the nomination. Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul have also been campaigning across the state, while Rick Santorum is in the Midwest looking ahead to later contests next week.

Believe it or not, Nevada leads the country in: unemployment, home foreclosures and bankruptcy.

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6:08am

Sat February 4, 2012
Politics

'Buffett Rule' Becomes A Bill, And Congress Bickers

Credit Pete Marovich / Getty Images
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Rhode Island Democrat, introduced legislation this week that would effectively raise taxes for most who earn more than $1 million annually.

At last week's State of the Union address, the secretary of billionaire investor Warren Buffett was seated prominently with first lady Michelle Obama.

President Obama invited Debbie Bosanek to a seat in the spotlight to underscore a complaint her boss has widely made: that she pays a much higher tax rate than the 17 percent Buffett himself pays.

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6:07am

Sat February 4, 2012
Around the Nation

While Graceland Booms, Other Historic Homes Rot

Originally published on Wed May 23, 2012 11:03 am

Americans have always sought architectural brushes with greatness.

The nation's first president spent the night at so many inns and private houses that signs advertising "George Washington slept here" were regular roadside attractions even during his lifetime.

But only a few homes of celebrated figures, such as Thomas Jefferson's Monticello and Elvis Presley's Graceland, have become sites that people go out of their way to visit. Most such places have been torn down, or fall into neglect and disrepair.

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7:48pm

Fri February 3, 2012
Shots - Health Blog

Komen's Race To Reverse Course: Questions And A PR Challenge

Just three days after announcing it would no longer fund cancer screenings at Planned Parenthood, the pink-ribboned breast cancer charity Susan G. Komen for the Cure abruptly reversed course today. But the Komen foundation's actions still leave many questions unanswered — not to mention a public relations challenge.

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5:33pm

Fri February 3, 2012
Planet Money

Who Killed Lard?

Credit Steve Snodgrass / Flickr
Old school.

Ron Silver, the owner of Bubby's restaurant in Brooklyn, recently put a word on his menu you don't often see anymore: lard. The white, creamy, processed fat from a pig. And he didn't use the word just once.

For a one-night-only "Lard Exoneration Dinner", Silver served up lard fried potatoes. And root vegetables, baked in lard. Fried chicken, fried in lard. Roasted fennel glazed with lard sugar and sea salt. Pies, with lard inside and out. All from lard he made himself in the kitchen.

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5:25pm

Fri February 3, 2012
The Two-Way

Federal Prosecutors Drop Doping Case Against Cyclist Lance Armstrong

Credit Nathalie Magniez / AFP/Getty Images
Lance Armstrong arrives at a training session during a rest day of the 2010 Tour de France.

Federal prosecutors say they have dropped its doping case against seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong. For two years, prosecutors looked into allegations that Armstrong and his United States Postal squad used performance-enhancing drugs.

The AP reports:

"In a press release, United States Attorney Andre Birotte Jr. says the case has been closed but didn't disclose the reason for the decision.

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