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People of Northwest Public Radio

Sueann Ramella

Morning Edition Host & Producer

Thom Kokenge

All Things Considered Host & Producer

Robin Rilette

Music Director & Classical Music Host

Kerry Swanson

Station Manager

Gillian Coldsnow

Gillian Coldsnow

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Steve Reeder

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All Things Considered Weekend on NPR & Classical Music

Weekends at 4 PM

Hosted by: Guy Raz

Since its debut in 1971, this afternoon radio newsmagazine has delivered in-depth reporting and transformed the way listeners understand current events and view the world. Heard by almost 13 million people on nearly 700 radio stations each week, All Things Considered is one of the most popular programs in America. Guy Raz hosts a one-hour edition of the program on Saturday and Sunday.

Visit All Things Considered at NPR.org

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The Two-Way

9:22 am

Fri August 24, 2012

At Penn State, New Students Weigh Stigma Of Scandal

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Credit Jeff Brady / NPR

Signs on display around town are designed to show support for Penn State's football team as a new season begins.

Credit Jeff Brady / NPR

Penn State freshman Samuel Russ, of Germantown, Md., and his mother, Rina Russ, moving his things into the dorm.

By Jeff Brady

Originally published on Fri August 24, 2012 4:47 pm

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A freshman class is arriving at Penn State this week. But a child sexual abuse scandal that rocked the school last fall is casting a shadow over the school's "Welcome Week."

NPR News Investigations

7:03 am

Fri August 24, 2012

Before Reaching War Zones, Troops Risk Concussions

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Credit Pouya Dinat / for NPR

Combative instructor training at the Fort Benning military base in Macon, Ga.

Credit Pouya Dinat / for NPR

Combative instructor training at the Fort Benning military base in Macon, Ga.

Credit Pouya Dinat / for NPR

Combative instructor training at the Fort Benning military base in Macon, Ga.

Credit Pouya Dinat / for NPR

Combative instructor training at the Fort Benning military base in Macon, Ga.

Credit Pouya Dinat / for NPR

Combative instructor training at the Fort Benning military base in Macon, Ga.

Credit Pouya Dinat / for NPR

Combative instructor training at the Fort Benning military base in Macon, Ga.

Credit Pouya Dinat / for NPR

Combative instructor training at the Fort Benning military base in Macon, Ga.

Credit Pouya Dinat / for NPR

Combative instructor training at the Fort Benning military base in Macon, Ga.

Credit Pouya Dinat / for NPR

Combative instructor training at the Fort Benning military base in Macon, Ga.

Credit Pouya Dinat / for NPR

Combative instructor training at the Fort Benning military base in Macon, Ga.

Credit Pouya Dianat for NPR

Staff Sgt. Ronald Sherwood practices a maneuver on Sgt. 1st Class Darwin Scriber at the U.S. Army Combatives School at Fort Benning, Ga. The school trains instructors who will teach recruits hand-to-hand combat. Most of the student instructors have fought in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Credit Pouya Dinat for NPR

Student instructors watch combat movements before a sparring exercise at the U.S. Army Combatives school. The Army has been conducting a study to see how many soldiers sustain concussions during the training.

Credit Pouya Dinat for NPR

Sgt. 1st Class Isaac Cunningham (left) and Staff Sgt. Robert Terry practice maneuvers.

Credit Pouya Dinat for NPR

U.S. Army combatives instructor Sgt. Teddra Rodriguez (center) demonstrates a move to two students.

Credit Pouya Dinat for NPR

Students practice moves during a sparring session. Early findings in a research study suggest that, on average, one soldier is suffering a concussion every other day in combat classes.

Credit Pouya Dinat for NPR

Maj. Christopher Carpenter takes a series of kicks and punches from a sparring partner. The soldiers take turns holding pads and practicing kicking and punching combos that will help them in close combat situations.

Credit Pouya Dinat for NPR

Sgt. 1st Class Kevin Rice, a master trainer at the U.S. Army Combatives School, drives back his partner with a high kick during a sparring session.

Credit Pouya Dinat for NPR

Cunningham demonstrates a defensive technique.

Credit Pouya Dinat for NPR

Instructors go through the gym watching the exercises.

Credit Pouya Dianat for NPR

A training session for instructors who teach hand-to-hand combat, or combatives, at the Fort Benning military base in Georgia.

Credit Pouya Dianat for NPR

Student instructors take turns practicing maneuvers during a sparring session at the U.S. Army Combatives school at Fort Benning.

By Daniel Zwerdling

Originally published on Fri August 24, 2012 4:47 pm

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Middle East

12:46 am

Fri August 24, 2012

Massive Cyberattack: Act 1 Of Israeli Strike On Iran?

Credit AP

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (center) visits the Natanz Uranium Enrichment Facility in April 2008. Israel and the U.S. targeted the facility in 2009 with the Stuxnet cyberattack.

By Tom Gjelten

Originally published on Sun August 26, 2012 5:42 am

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Talk in Israel of a military strike on Iranian nuclear facilities has reached a fever pitch. Last week brought the news of an alleged "war plan" leaked to a blogger. This week, a well-informed military correspondent in Jerusalem reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is "determined" to attack Iran before the U.S. election.

Election 2012

2:47 pm

Thu August 23, 2012

Michelle Obama Focuses On Work Still To Be Done

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Credit Saul Loeb / AFP/Getty Images

First lady Michelle Obama sits with guests as they eat lunch during a kids' state dinner at the White House on Monday.

Credit Stephan Savoia / AP

The Obamas on Jan. 8, 2008, at then-Sen. Barack Obama's primary night rally in Nashua, N.H.

By Cheryl Corley

Originally published on Thu August 23, 2012 4:35 pm

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This week, first lady Michelle Obama was doing something she loves to do, talking about nutrition with kids. She hosted the first state dinner for children, welcoming 54 of them and their parents to the White House.

"This is the hottest ticket at the White House, right here, because of all of you," Obama said to the children, who ranged in age from 8 to 12.

Afghanistan

2:31 pm

Thu August 23, 2012

U.S. Confronts Growing 'Insider Attacks' In Afghanistan

Credit Lucas Jackson / Reuters/Landov

Spc. Ben Purvis (center) helps train Afghan troops on how to use mortars in the eastern province of Kunar in June. The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. John Allen, points to several factors in the rise of "insider attacks" on American forces. He says relations between U.S. and Afghan troops are good overall.

By Tom Bowman

Originally published on Thu August 23, 2012 2:55 pm

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Gunmen wearing Afghan police and army uniforms have killed 40 U.S. and NATO troops so far this year, and the top American commander in Afghanistan says there is no single reason — and no simple solution.

Taliban infiltrators, disputes between NATO and Afghan security forces, and even the timing of Ramadan, the Muslim holy month, are all factors, according to Gen. John Allen.

"We think the reasons for these attacks are complex," says Allen, who spoke by video link from Kabul on Thursday. Ten of the American deaths have come in just the past two weeks.

Mom And Dad's Record Collection

1:41 pm

Thu August 23, 2012

How Rashida Jones Found Her Inner Music Nerd

Credit Vera Anderson / WireImage

Actress Rashida Jones says Steely Dan opened her young mind to "the mathematics of music."

By editor

Originally published on Fri August 24, 2012 5:06 am

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This summer, All Things Considered has asked listeners and guests to share a personal memory: the memory of one song discovered through their parents' record collection.

Election 2012

1:11 pm

Thu August 23, 2012

Tampa Home To The RNC And The Most Political Ads

By editor

Originally published on Thu August 23, 2012 2:47 pm

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When the Republican convention in begins in Tampa next week, it will do so in the number one most advertised TV market this election cycle.

The Salt

1:10 pm

Thu August 23, 2012

Willing To Play The Dating Game With Your Food? Try A Grocery Auction

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Credit Matt Sindelar for NPR

Grocery auctions have been growing in popularity as a way to get a lot of food for not a lot of money.

Credit Matt Sindelar for NPR

Workers hold up five pound bags of frozen chicken nuggets before bidding opens. Grocery auctions have been growing in popularity since the recession as an outlet for food that's past its prime. Around 80 people attended this one at the Chesapeake Auction House in St. Leonard, Md.

Credit Matt Sindelar for NPR

The auctions usually last four hours, and many bidders stay the entire time. The food they bid on won't be sold in stores because it may be expired or have damaged packaging.

Credit Matt Sindelar for NPR

Betty Thomas types bids into the auction house's computer. Most of their grocery auctions bring in $10,000-15,000.

Credit Matt Sindelar for NPR

Many of the bidders bring large coolers to carry home their haul, which often includes frozen meat.

Credit Matt Sindelar for NPR

Kathy Cartwright of Accokeek, Md., is a regular at the grocery auctions. She says her family has stopped buying meat at the store, and relies on what they can get at the auction. Most of the meat is sold frozen.

Credit Matt Sindelar for NPR

The type of food at the grocery auction varies, but this one included frozen meat, chips, juice, laundry detergent and more. Auctioneer Larry Forman and his wife Kay (not pictured) have hosted the grocery auctions for 10 years.

Credit Matt Rourke / AP

Runner Tom Howard holds up the merchandise at a grocery auction in Dallas, Pa., in 2009. These auctions are becoming more popular as people look for deals on food that's past its prime.

By editor

Originally published on Mon October 15, 2012 7:56 am

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Theater

1:07 pm

Thu August 23, 2012

In The Theater Of Politics, Staging Is Everything

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Credit Saul Loeb / AFP/Getty Images

Mitt Romney, the presumptive Republican presidential candidate, arrives to announce his choice of running mate aboard the U.S.S. Wisconsin in Norfolk, Va., on Aug. 11.

Credit Max Whittaker / Getty Images

Then-nominee Barack Obama's speech at the 2008 Democratic National Convention, at Invesco Field at Mile High in Denver, Colo., was carefully staged against a backdrop of classical pillars.

By Bob Mondello

Originally published on Thu August 23, 2012 3:16 pm

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During the next two weeks, the major political parties will assemble their faithful in Tampa, Fla., and Charlotte, N.C., to officially nominate their presidential tickets. These conventions were once places of high political drama. But over the decades, as the primary system has determined the candidates well in advance, conventions have become political theater. With that in mind, there's much to be said on staging in politics — not substance, but style.

Megafires: The New Normal In The Southwest

11:51 am

Thu August 23, 2012

Why Forest-Killing Megafires Are The New Normal

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Credit David Gilkey / NPR

Jorge Castro, a visiting professor of ecology from Spain, sips water in the shade of a burnt tree in New Mexico's Bandelier Wilderness area, adjacent to the Bandelier National Monument. This site was devastated by last year's Las Conchas fire.

Credit David Gilkey / NPR

Driving along the Forest Service roads on the edge of the Bandelier National Monument, you can see the destruction wrought by the Las Conchas fire. The megafire burned more than 150,000 acres of forest — about twice the area of Manhattan.

Credit David Gilkey / NPR

Craig Allen, a research ecologist with the United States Geological Survey, points to the devastation in Bandelier's Cochiti Canyon, which was burned by the Las Conchas fire. According to Allen, these megafires are "the new normal."

Credit David Gilkey / NPR

Wildflowers and weeds dot a once-forested landscape. The suppression of natural forest fires during the past century has set the stage for devastating megafires, setting new records in size and intensity.

Credit David Gilkey / NPR

Castro sits in a field that used to be forested by Ponderosa pine trees in the Dome Wilderness, an area adjacent to Bandelier.

Credit David Gilkey / NPR

The skeleton of a lone tree torched in the Las Conchas fire

Credit David Gilkey / NPR

Cochiti Canyon lies south of the Santa Fe National Forest, located near the Bandelier National Monument. The canyon was ravaged by a firestorm that spread out of the Las Conchas fire.

Credit David Gilkey / NPR

Allen (left) and Castro look across the wasteland of a plateau reduced to ashes during the Las Conchas fire. Because the fires stripped vegetation from hillsides, these areas are now vulnerable to flash floods during the summer rains.

Credit David Gilkey / NPR

The skeletal remains of a tree are seen in front of a boulder in the Dome Wilderness area.

Credit David Gilkey / NPR

Allen surveys the moonscape of a plateau devastated by the Las Conchas fire.

Credit David Gilkey / NPR

Collin Haffey, a biotechnician with Bandelier National Monument (left), and Allen examine a tiny Ponderosa pine tree sprouting up in the burn zone in the Dome Wilderness. Indigenous species of trees have failed to return to the area since the Las Conchas fire.

Credit David Gilkey / NPR

A budding Ponderosa pine tree sprouts up in the burn zone, a sliver of hope for potential forest regrowth.

Credit David Gilkey / NPR

Jorge Castro, a visiting professor of Ecology from Spain, sips water in the shade of a burnt tree in New Mexico's Bandelier Wilderness area. Last year's Las Conchas fire devastated the area burning over 150,000 acres of forest.

Credit David Gilkey / NPR

Craig Allen, a research ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, walks up a bluff overlooking Cochiti Canyon, which was destroyed by last year's Las Conchas megafire.

By Christopher Joyce

Originally published on Sun August 26, 2012 6:46 am

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Second of a five-part series

Fire scientists are calling it "the new normal": a time of fires so big and hot that no one can remember anything like it.

One of the scientists who coined that term is Craig Allen. I drive with him to New Mexico's Bandelier National Monument, where he works for the U.S. Geological Survey. We take a dirt road up into the Jemez Mountains, into a landscape of black poles as far as you can see.

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