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Shootings In Newtown, Conn.
5:08 am
Sun December 23, 2012

Tragedy Spotlights Connecticut's Previous Efforts At Gun Control

Credit Spencer Platt / Getty Images
Police Lt. Ray Mesek registers a rifle at a gun buyback event on Saturday in Bridgeport, Conn.

Originally published on Mon December 24, 2012 1:46 pm

At about 8 a.m. on March 6, 1998, Matthew Beck arrived to work at the headquarters of the Connecticut State Lottery. He hung up his coat, walked into an office and shot the first of four victims.

Beck ended up killing a number of his co-workers and then took his own life in the parking lot when the police arrived.

Mike Lawlor, the Connecticut governor's criminal justice adviser, was a state representative at the time, and wanted to understand what led to the rampage. He learned that Beck had previously attempted suicide and owned a number of guns.

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Around the Nation
5:07 am
Sun December 23, 2012

With Growth Of 'Hacker Scouting,' More Kids Learn To Tinker

Originally published on Sun December 23, 2012 12:41 pm

Countless kids have grown up with the Girl Scouts, the Boy Scouts or Campfire Girls, but for some families, the uniforms and outdoor focus of traditional Scouting groups don't appeal.

In recent months, Scoutlike groups that concentrate on technology and do-it-yourself projects have been sprouting up around the country. They're coed and, like traditional Scouting organizations, award patches to kids who master skills.

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Music Interviews
6:43 pm
Sat December 22, 2012

This Is What It Sounds Like When Two Women Cover Prince

Originally published on Fri December 28, 2012 4:51 pm

In the 1980s, few musicians matched the consistent brilliance and staggering fame of Prince. The Purple One earned legions of young fans back then, including one doting girl in California named Maya Rudolph — the same Maya Rudolph who would find fame herself as a cast member on Saturday Night Live and co-star of the film Bridesmaids.

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Shootings In Newtown, Conn.
6:38 pm
Sat December 22, 2012

Near-Replica Of Sandy Hook Made Nearby For Students

Originally published on Sat December 22, 2012 7:54 pm

The surviving students of Sandy Hook Elementary will not be returning to their school in Newtown, Conn., where 20 first-graders and six educators were shot to death on Dec. 14.

Instead, when classes resume after the holidays, they'll attend a school in the neighboring town of Monroe. Parents, teachers and administrators in both towns are working to make the new school as similar as possible to the one Sandy Hook students left behind.

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The Salt
6:37 pm
Sat December 22, 2012

The 'Bitter' Tale Of The Budweiser Family

Originally published on Mon December 24, 2012 9:05 am

For nearly 150 years the world-renowned beer manufacturer Anheuser-Busch was a family company. It was passed from father to son for five generations. A couple drops of Budweiser were put onto the tongue of each first-born son before he even tasted his mother's milk. That trademark brew, Budweiser, is known to the world as the "King of Beers," and the Busch family wasn't too far from American royalty.

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NPR Story
12:28 pm
Sat December 22, 2012

Fresh Air Weekend: Barbra Streisand, Pizzarelli

Credit Sam Emerson / Paramount Pictures
Barbra Streisand is Joyce Brewster in The Guilt Trip. The multitalented performer has won an Oscar, an Emmy, a Grammy and a Tony — a feat achieved by fewer than a dozen artists.

Fresh Air Weekend highlights some of the best interviews and reviews from past weeks, and new program elements specially paced for weekends. Our weekend show emphasizes interviews with writers, filmmakers, actors and musicians, and often includes excerpts from live in-studio concerts. This week:

'Guilt Trip': Streisand On Songs, Films And Family: In her new movie, singer, actor, writer, director and producer Barbra Streisand plays a well-meaning if overbearing Jewish mom. The star says her own mother both encouraged her talents and was jealous of them.

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Commentary
10:16 am
Sat December 22, 2012

The Mayan Apocalypse: Worthwhile, In Hindsight

Credit Pedro Pardo / AFP/Getty Images
Visitors at the Chichen Itza archaeological park in Yucatan state, Mexico, celebrate the end of the Mayan calendar cycle. Even a failed apocalypse has value, in reminding us that life is fragile and unpredictable.

Originally published on Wed December 26, 2012 11:40 am

Yesterday came and went, but I never finished Ulysses. I never took up skydiving. Come to think of it, I didn't even really finish cleaning up my closet before the "Mayan Apocalypse," which did not occur yesterday, Dec. 21.

I remember thinking,"Finally, I get a Friday off — but there's an apocalypse."

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Best Music Of 2012
7:03 am
Sat December 22, 2012

Top 10 World Music Albums Of 2012

Credit Courtesy of the artist
Mokoomba, a rising young band of Tonga musicians from Zimbabwe

Originally published on Wed January 23, 2013 4:07 pm

Asia
6:44 am
Sat December 22, 2012

Rape In India Triggers Widespread Public Anger

Originally published on Wed December 26, 2012 11:40 am

An update on last weekend's rape of a student in New Delhi, an incident which provoked widespread outrage, and calls for a crackdown on sexual violence in India. Weekend Edition Saturday host Scott Simon talks with NPR's Julie McCarthy in India.

Politics
6:44 am
Sat December 22, 2012

After 'Plan B' Fizzles, What's Boehner's Next Move?

Originally published on Wed December 26, 2012 11:40 am

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

As we've just heard, this breakdown in negotiations within the Republican Party is troubling for Speaker Boehner. It also stifles negotiations to avert the combination of deep spending cuts and tax increases. That will come without a bipartisan agreement.

We're joined by Norm Ornstein, an experienced observer of Congress and politics. He's resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. Thanks for being with us.

NORM ORNSTEIN: Oh, it's always a pleasure, Scott.

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