All Things Considered

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NPR's afternoon news program offers the latest news and headlines as well as in-depth features about everyday issues.

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Remembrances
5:34 pm
Fri May 18, 2012

Baritone Fischer-Diskau Was One Of Opera's Greatest

German Baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau has died — he was 86. Fischer-Dieskau began performing in the 1940s and had a career spanning five decades. He was perhaps best known for his interpretation of Franz Schubert's "Winterreise."

13.7: Cosmos And Culture
4:59 pm
Fri May 18, 2012

Let The Real Space Age Begin

The Falcon 9 SpaceX rocket stands ready for launch at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
John Raoux / AP

Originally published on Fri May 18, 2012 6:14 pm

It was almost one year ago that the space shuttle Atlantis rose into the sky on a pillar of flame for the last time. The shuttle program ended forever with that mission. American astronauts were left to hitch rides on Russian space capsules, and American kids were left with no tangible direction forward for their dreams of a high-tech, space-happy future.

Tomorrow morning, the unmanned Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to lift off from Cape Canaveral so that supplies can reach the space station.

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Movie Reviews
2:23 pm
Fri May 18, 2012

Coming Soon — To A Theater Nowhere Near You

Originally published on Fri May 18, 2012 5:34 pm

The movie Battleship, based on the popular board game, opens today in the U.S. In most respects, it's a typical popcorn picture — the kind of effects-laden action movie that audiences often turn into a summer blockbuster.

And while it may not be any good, it is undeniably ours — American from the water up: a Universal Studios picture about an alien invasion, crammed with special effects from Industrial Light and Magic and set largely on American warships.

But there is one respect in which this homegrown sci-fi epic is something of an outlier: American audiences are among the last to see it.

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Planet Money
12:25 pm
Fri May 18, 2012

California's Facebook Windfall

Originally published on Fri May 18, 2012 5:15 pm

Mark Zuckerberg is, among many other things, the highest-profile taxpayer on the planet today.

After today's Facebook IPO, Zuckerberg will owe nearly $200 million in California state taxes alone. That's "among the largest tax liabilities that a single individual has ever paid at a given point in time," says Jason Sisney of the California State Budget Legislative Analyst's Office.

Zuckerberg's profits will be taxed at a 10% rate in California. That's a much higher rate than in many other states.

In all, Facebook's employees and early investors are expected to pay about $2 billion in California state taxes over the next 13 months. But California is almost 16 billion dollars in the hole. Facebook won't solve that problem.

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Law
6:16 pm
Thu May 17, 2012

New Documents Released In Trayvon Martin Case

Documents have been released in the investigation of George Zimmerman's shooting of Trayvon Martin. Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch captain, shot Martin, an unarmed teen. He's claiming self-defense. Robert Siegel talks to Greg Allen.

The Record
4:29 pm
Thu May 17, 2012

The Many Voices Of Donna Summer

"Queen of Disco" Donna Summer performs in 1979. (Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Images

Originally published on Thu May 17, 2012 6:16 pm

Pop singer Donna Summer, whose long career began in the 1960s and reached its apex in the disco era of the '70s, died of cancer on Thursday at her home in Naples, Florida. Summer was 63 years old. According to Billboard magazine, the singer born LaDonna Gaines had 32 singles that charted in the Hot 100. Fourteen of them made it into the top 10. To hear Sami Yenigun's appreciation of Donna Summer's life and career, as heard on All Things Considered, click the audio link.

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Music News
3:45 pm
Thu May 17, 2012

Cecil Taylor: The Pianist Who's Also An Orchestra

Cecil Taylor, 83, is being feted in a two-week celebration of his music in New York City.
Peter Gannushkin / downtownmusic.net

Originally published on Thu May 17, 2012 6:16 pm

When you hear Cecil Taylor perform, you never forget it. He's a force of nature at the piano, with a furious attack and a sound all his own.

"His piano is an orchestra," says Ben Ratliff, music critic for The New York Times. "Cecil has been with us for so long. And every once in a while he does these amazing, galvanizing solo piano performances. And you go see them, and you think, like, 'Wow. What was that? That was amazing.' And I can't get that anywhere else in the world. And that's unique."

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Opinion
3:05 pm
Thu May 17, 2012

Two Gray Titles, One Sexy Mix Up

Originally published on Fri May 18, 2012 3:46 pm

Ruta Sepetys is the author of Between Shades of Gray.

"You are an erotic phenomenon."

That's what the stranger seated next to me on the plane whispered. We had exchanged the basic bios of airline chitchat, and he had inquired about the title of my recent book.

"Erotic phenomenon, oh no, that's not me," I quickly tried to explain.

"Well, OK, it's not really you. It's your character. That's what you tell people," grinned the stranger.

That's not what I tell people.

I tell people that they're confusing Between Shades of Gray, my novel about a Lithuanian girl exiled to Siberia, with the saucy S&M blockbuster, Fifty Shades of Grey.

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The Salt
2:21 pm
Thu May 17, 2012

The Secret Life Of California's World-Class Strawberries

Originally published on Thu May 17, 2012 6:16 pm

May is the month we see strawberries explode in the market. There are strawberry festivals in every corner of the nation celebrating the juicy ruby beauties, and Strawberry Queens crowned galore. Those traditional harvest time festivals make us think our strawberries are mostly grown on the farm just down the road.

But in fact, one state — California — supplies 80 percent of America's strawberries, and the percentage is growing.

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Remembrances
5:30 pm
Wed May 16, 2012

Chuck Brown, 'Go-Go' Funk Pioneer, Dies

Originally published on Wed May 16, 2012 6:34 pm

The man known as the Godfather of Go-Go has died. Chuck Brown pioneered a musical style of percussion-heavy funk that was born in Washington, D.C. Brown died at age 75 after suffering from pneumonia. Robert Siegel has this remembrance.

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