Mark Memmott

Credit Doby Photography / NPR

Mark Memmott is one of the hosts of NPR's "The Two-Way" news blog.

"The Two-Way," which Memmott helped to launched when he came to NPR in 2009, focuses on breaking news, analysis, and the most compelling stories being reported by NPR News and other news media.

Before joining NPR, Memmott worked for nearly 25 years as a reporter and editor at USA Today. He focused on a range of coverage from politics, foreign affairs, economics, and the media. He's reported from places across the Unites States and the world, including half a dozen trips to Afghanistan in 2002-2003.

During his time at USA Today, Memmott, helped launch and lead three USAToday.com news blogs: "On Deadline;" "The Oval;" and "On Politics," the site's 2008 presidential campaign blog.

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8:27am

Tue May 22, 2012
The Two-Way

Let's Catch Two: Same Fan Grabs Back-To-Back Home Run Balls

Originally published on Tue May 22, 2012 6:02 pm

Credit MLB.com
  • Caleb Lloyd speaking to NPR

"That's just crazy," Cincinnati Reds fan Caleb Lloyd said Monday night after he ended up snagging two home runs balls — from consecutive batters — during the Reds' 4-1 win over the visiting Atlanta Braves.

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7:48am

Tue May 22, 2012
The Two-Way

Deal Reached On Probe Of Iran's Nuclear Program, IAEA Chief Says

Originally published on Tue May 22, 2012 5:50 pm

Credit Dieter Nagl / AFP/Getty Images

A deal has been agreed to that will facilitate international monitors' effort to investigate whether Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency told reporters in Vienna earlier today.

The Financial Times puts the news this way:

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3:54pm

Mon May 21, 2012
It's All Politics

Booker, Bain, Romney & Obama: Ad Wars Go Full Circle And Then Some

Credit Bennett Raglin / Getty Images for Macy's

This is a classic chain of events that never seems to go out of style in an election year.

First one of the presidential campaigns put out videos that it says are informational but critics say are attack ads. This time, it's President Obama's team and the target is Republican rival Mitt Romney. The point of the spots, such as this one, is to make the case that when Romney ran Bain Capital, some of the companies the investment firm took over ended up shedding jobs rather than creating them.

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2:25pm

Mon May 21, 2012
The Two-Way

Someone Couldn't Count To 10, So British Olympian Can't Claim Personal Best

When she hit the tape Sunday at the Powerade Great City Games in Manchester, England, Britain's Jessica Ennis hadn't only beaten Olympic heptathlon champion Dawn Harper.

Ennis had also run a personal best 12.75 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles — 0.04 of a second faster than she'd ever run that race.

It was her personal best, that is, until 2004 Olympic heptathlon bronze medalist Kelly Sotherton, also of the U.K., tweeted this question:

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12:49pm

Mon May 21, 2012
The Two-Way

30 Days In Jail, Three Years Probation For Rutgers Student In Webcam Case

Originally published on Mon May 21, 2012 2:36 pm

After emotional appeals from parents on both sides of the case, Dharun Ravi was this afternoon sentenced to 30 days in jail and three years of probation for bias intimidation and invasion of privacy when he used a webcam to spy on his gay roommate at Rutgers University in September 2010.

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11:37am

Mon May 21, 2012
The Two-Way

Supreme Court Lets Stand Student's $675,000 Penalty For Downloading

Originally published on Mon May 21, 2012 12:16 pm

Without commenting on the merits of the case, the Supreme Court this morning let stand a $675,000 jury verdict against a 25-year-old Boston University student who downloaded 30 songs nearly a decade ago and then shared them with others on a peer-to-peer network.

The court denied Joel Tenenbaum's "write of certiorari," which means his appeal of a lower court's ruling and the judgment were turned down.

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10:25am

Mon May 21, 2012
The Two-Way

Four Tons Of Marijuana Found Floating Off California Coast

Originally published on Mon May 21, 2012 1:33 pm

Credit Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

Who dumped the dope?

That's the question of the day along the coast of Southern California as authorities try to figure out how four tons of marijuana — more than 150 bales — got into the Pacific Ocean near Orange County's Dana Point Harbor. They were found this weekend about 15 miles out to sea.

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10:01am

Mon May 21, 2012
The Two-Way

On Its Second Day, Facebook Stock Drops

Originally published on Tue May 22, 2012 9:54 am

After its much-ballyhooed initial public offering on Friday ended with the stock's price just about where it started, Facebook ended sharply lower today.

Just after the start of trading, the social media giant's shares were trading around $33, down 13 percent about $5 from Friday's close. At close, it ended 11 percent lower at $34.03.

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9:10am

Mon May 21, 2012

8:54am

Mon May 21, 2012
The Two-Way

Pakistan Threatens To Overshadow NATO Summit

Originally published on Mon May 21, 2012 1:23 pm

  • Scott Horsley reporting for 'Morning Edition'

As President Obama and other NATO leaders wrap up a two-day summit today in Chicago, the ongoing dispute with Pakistan over reopening supply routes from that country into Afghanistan threatens to "put a crimp in the Obama administration's efforts to lay out a clear strategy for winding down the war in Afghanistan," NPR's Jackie Northam tells our Newscast desk.

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7:45am

Mon May 21, 2012
The Two-Way

Dozens Killed By Suicide Bomber In Yemen

It's been another deadly day in Yemen:

According to the BBC: "At least 63 people have been killed in a suicide bomb attack during a rehearsal for a military parade in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, officials say. The assailant, who was reportedly wearing an army uniform, blew himself up among a group of soldiers at al-Sabin Square, near the presidential palace."

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7:31am

Mon May 21, 2012
The Two-Way

Eclipse Of The Sun: Did You Fall Into The Ring Of Fire's Path?

Credit Kazuhiro Nogi / AFP/Getty Images

"That's got to be the prettiest thing I've ever seen," Brent Veltri of Salida, Colo., told The Associated Press, when asked about the eclipse of the sun that was visible across the western U.S. on Sunday afternoon and in much of Asia earlier today.

The celestial show attracted quite a crowd. According to the AP:

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2:31pm

Fri May 18, 2012
The Two-Way

Insurers Paid $479 Million In Claims For Dog Bites Last Year

Credit Damian Dovarganes / AP

With National Dog Bite Prevention Week set to start Saturday, the Insurance Information Institute wants Americans to know that:

-- Insurers paid $479 million in home owner insurance claims involving dog bites last year, up 16.1 percent from the year before.

-- The number of such claims rose 3.3 percent, to 16,292.

-- The average cost per claim grew by 12.3 percent from the year before, to $29,296.

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10:35am

Fri May 18, 2012

9:39am

Fri May 18, 2012
The Two-Way

French Plan To Pull Troops From Afghanistan Starts Busy Diplomatic Days

Originally published on Fri May 18, 2012 1:36 pm

Credit Pablo Martinez Monsivais / AP

Update at 1:17 p.m. ET. Support Afghanistan In 'Different Way':

During their meeting in the White House, President Francois Hollande, the new socialist leader of France, said he told President Obama that he was committed to withdrawing French troops from Afghanistan by the end of the year.

But, the AP reports, Hollande said he was committed to supporting Afghanistan in a "different way."

This was Obama's first meeting with Hollande.

The two leaders also said they wanted Greece to remain a part the European monetary union.

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9:33am

Fri May 18, 2012
The Two-Way

French Plan To Pull Troops From Afghanistan Starts Busy Diplomatic Days

Before President Obama welcomes world leaders to Camp David and Chicago, new French President Francoise Hollande is expected to say he wants his nation's 3,300 troops home from Afghanistan by year's end. That could upset other NATO nations.

8:34am

Fri May 18, 2012
The Two-Way

5 Takeaways From Trove Of Evidence Related To Trayvon Martin's Death

Credit Florida State Attorney's Office / AFP/Getty Images
  • NPR's Greg Allen reporting on 'Morning Edition'

Among the key things to know about what's in the hundreds of pages of evidence and other materials related to the Feb. 26 shooting death of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin, which were released Thursday:

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7:30am

Fri May 18, 2012
The Two-Way

Like It Or Not, It's Facebook's Day On Wall Street

Originally published on Fri May 18, 2012 4:03 pm

Credit Emmanuel Dunand / AFP/Getty Images
  • Steve Henn talks with Steve Inskeep on 'Morning Edition'

Facebook's much-publicized first sale of stock to the public started with a bang late this morning as the price per share jumped. But though the volume of shares sold was a record for an initial public offering, the stock's price gave up its gains as the day continued.

By the end of trading in the U.S., Facebook had settled right at the $38 initial offering price that had been set before shares went on sale.

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3:09pm

Thu May 17, 2012
The Two-Way

Diplomat: U.S. Has Military Option Ready, If Needed, To Deal With Iran

Originally published on Sun May 20, 2012 8:43 am

President Obama has said "I don't bluff," when it comes to opposing any effort by Iran to develop nuclear weapons (which that nation says it is not trying to do). And, he told The Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg in March, "all options are on the table."

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12:16pm

Thu May 17, 2012
The Two-Way

Hot Pants Indeed: Rocks In Pocket Set Woman's Shorts On Fire

Credit Win McNamee / Getty Images

A 43-year-old woman in San Clemente, Calif., suffered second- and third-degree burns on her right leg and right arm Saturday after rocks in a pocket set her shorts on fire, The Orange County Register says.

Orange County Fire Authority officials tell the newspaper that the woman collected the rocks on a nearby beach, returned home and "was standing in her kitchen ... when the pocket of her cargo shorts caught fire."

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