Weekend Edition Saturday on WUTC

After Health Issues, Influential Conductor Back At Met Opera

editor — Sat, 18 May 2013 11:23:00 +0000

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

This weekend at Carnegie Hall, a giant returns to the podium. James Levine will lead the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra for the first time in two years after a string of health challenges from shoulder injuries to spinal problems. He's considered by at least one critic to be the most influential American conductor since Leonard Bernstein.

Prime Challenge Sends Mathematicians On Infinite Search

editor — Sat, 18 May 2013 11:23:00 +0000

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

The University of New Hampshire professor announced this week he's come close to solving a centuries-old problem proving something called the twin prime conjecture. We asked our math guy, Keith Devlin, of Stanford University, to join us as he does now from their studios. Keith, thanks very much for being with us.

KEITH DEVLIN: Thank, Scott. Nice to be with you again.

SIMON: Nice to be with you. And first, I didn't know there was such a thing as close in math.

Media Covers Itself In Privacy Debacles

David Folkenflik — Sat, 18 May 2013 09:13:00 +0000

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Scott Simon. Pair of unrelated stories this week, both involving the news media, served to remind a lot of Americans of how little information that we may assume to be private, really is private. One story involves the U.S. Justice Department's efforts to find out who reporters are talking to; the other, reporters secretly monitoring their sources' activities.

We're joined now by NPR media correspondent David Folkenflik, from New York.

When Alcohol Takes The Wheel: What's Your Limit?

editor — Sat, 18 May 2013 09:13:00 +0000

This week, the National Transportation Safety Board recommended lowering the legal limit of blood alcohol content for drivers to .05 or even lower. Currently, it's illegal to drive in all states with a BAC of .08 or higher. Host Scott Simon speaks with Dr. Anthony Liguori of Wake Forest School of Medicine about alcohol's impact on driving ability.

Sports: Playoffs, Hard Hits, Soccer Kicks

editor — Sat, 18 May 2013 09:13:00 +0000

Host Scott Simon talks to ESPN's Howard Bryant about the NBA playoffs, Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper's collision with a wall, and David Beckham's retirement from soccer.

What A Week: White House Rattled By Controversy

Ari Shapiro — Sat, 18 May 2013 09:13:00 +0000

NPR's Ari Shapiro joins host Scott Simon to talk about the Obama administration's week. The president was buffeted by revelations that the IRS had targeted Tea Party groups seeking tax-exempt status and that the Justice Department had subpoenaed reporter phone records. On top of that, Republicans continue to allege that the White House engaged in a cover-up of talking points about the attack in Benghazi, Libya.

Audra McDonald, A Broadway Star Gone Roaming, Comes Home

Jeff Lunden — Sat, 18 May 2013 06:03:00 +0000

In the seven years since her last album, Audra McDonald has kept busy. She spent several years in Hollywood, filming the television series Private Practice. She's gotten divorced and remarried, absorbed the shock of losing her father in a plane crash and watched her daughter, Zoe, grow up from a kindergartener to a middle-schooler.

Last year, McDonald returned to New York, starred in Porgy and Bess and won a fifth Tony Award.

Pakistanis 'Defy Violence' To Vote In Landmark Election

Mark Memmott — Sat, 11 May 2013 13:47:00 +0000

Despite attacks in the days and weeks leading up to Saturday's voting — and deadly bombings and other attacks on the very day they're going to the polls — Pakistanis are showing they're willing to "defy the violence," NPR's Julie McCarthy reports from Lahore.

There's "a determination to see it through," she tells Weekend Edition Saturday host Scott Simon, and to be part of the "lan

Schools? How About A Science Laureate At The Super Bowl?

Mark Memmott — Sat, 11 May 2013 13:22:00 +0000

The same scientist who famously "killed Pluto" (as a planet, that is) says it's "brilliant" that there's an effort underway in Congress to name a science laureate.

But Cal Tech's Mike Brown tells Weekend Edition Saturday host Scott Simon that he doesn't think a laureate's main responsibility should be to visit sch

The X-ray Vision Of Mothers

Scott Simon — Sat, 11 May 2013 12:54:00 +0000

Mothers have eyes in the back of their heads. They may not show up on X-rays, but they're there.

Like a lot of youngsters, I used to get my mother to turn her head so I could search through her hair for the eyeballs she claimed to have back there, telling her, "No you don't! No you don't!" But when I'd scamper off to another part of the apartment and pick up an ashtray or fiddle with the window blinds, I'd hear my mother's voice ring out, "I can see you!

Ala. Juke Joint Shuttered After More Than 50 Years

editor — Sat, 11 May 2013 09:21:00 +0000

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

And this final note on the blues. Two years ago on this show, we profiled Gip's Place, a real juke joint nestled in a residential neighborhood in Bessemer, Alabama.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: It's not like going to a bar. It's not like going to a club. It's like going to your best friend's house and putting on just the newest record and sitting there and enjoying it together. Literally, there is truly a mix between the musicians and the audience.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #2: Welcome again. Y'all ready to get started?

CROWD: Yeah!

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #2: Guess what?

Kerry's Agenda: Priorities Emerge With Travel

editor — Sat, 11 May 2013 09:21:00 +0000

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

The U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, has been in the Middle East, Rome and Russia this week trying to find some kind of diplomatic end to Syria's civil war. He's also been trying to revive Israeli/Palestinian peace talks. Mr. Kerry has been the U.S.

The Philosophy, Economics Behind Sourcing Retail

editor — Sat, 11 May 2013 09:21:00 +0000

Host Scott Simon talks to Michael Preysman, founder and CEO of Everlane, an online clothing retailer based in San Francisco that provides information to consumers about where its products are made.

Yngwie Malmsteen: 'I've Always Been A Little Bit Of An Extremist'

editor — Sat, 11 May 2013 06:03:00 +0000

Yngwie Malmsteen is the king of the neoclassical shred guitar. Since 1984's Rising Force, the Swedish musician and composer has somehow bridged centuries, from Paganini to his own arpeggiated acrobatics.

His new memoir, Relentless, begins with a quote from David St.

World War II Code Is Broken, Decades After POW Used It

Bill Chappell — Sat, 04 May 2013 15:53:00 +0000

It's been 70 years since the letters of John Pryor were understood in their full meaning.