Weekend Edition Sunday

Detective On Closing Case After Committing Decades To It

editor — Sun, 19 May 2013 09:41:00 +0000

In this week's Sunday Conversation, host Rachel Martin speaks with Detective Sgt. Joe Matthews, who worked for decades on the Adam Welsh murder investigation in Florida. She will speak to him about how the case changed overtime, how it affected him personally and professionally, and how it feels to close a case that he worked on for so long.

How The Syria Debate Is Playing Out In The Middle East

editor — Sun, 19 May 2013 09:37:00 +0000

Host Rachel Martin talks with Ramez Maluf, professor of journalism at Lebanese American University in Beirut, about different views in Arab media on the Syrian conflict.

How Possessive: The Apostrophe's Place In Space

editor — Sun, 19 May 2013 09:37:00 +0000

Martha Brockenbrough, the founder of National Grammar Day and the Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar, tells host Rachel Martin about what she has referred to as an "apostrophe catastrophe." The U.S. Board on Geographic Names has a policy against possessive apostrophes in the names of places. The reason, The Wall Street Journal reports, is that the apostrophe quote implies private ownership of a public space.

Political Takeaways: Headaches For The White House

editor — Sun, 19 May 2013 09:37:00 +0000

Controversies dominated this past week's political headlines, leaving the Obama White House on the defensive, trying to contain any lasting damage. Host Rachel Martin talks with NPR's Mara Liasson.

Put On Your Thinking Hat

Will Shortz — Sun, 19 May 2013 08:28:00 +0000

On-air challenge: Every answer is a familiar two-word phrase or name in which the first word starts with H-A and the second word starts with T.

Last week's challenge: From listener Al Gori of Cozy Lake, N.J. Name a famous American man — first and last names. Change the first letter of his first name from T to H. The result will sound like a term for an attractive person.

First Female Fighter Pilot: 'Attention Wasn't What I Wanted'

editor — Sun, 12 May 2013 09:34:00 +0000

Transcript

COLONEL JEANNIE LEAVITT: I was fascinated with flying. I loved everything about flying from the time I was a child. The more I learned about the more I just loved aviation and flying, and that's what made me want to be a pilot.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

But not just any pilot. This is Colonel Jeannie Leavitt, and pretty much from the time she learned how to fly, she wanted to be a combat fighter pilot in the U.S. Air Force. Problem was women couldn't do that until the early 1990s. That's when the Pentagon changed its policy.

Rhino Horns Fuel Deadly, Intercontinental Trade

Gregory Warner — Sun, 12 May 2013 09:34:00 +0000

NPR's Frank Langfitt and Gregory Warner have teamed up for a series about how myth and money are driving extraordinary slaughter of rhinos. They talk with host Rachel Martin about the issue, which has repercussions from the African continent all the way to Asia.

Back From Brink Of Death, Corpsman Tackles 'Warrior Games'

editor — Sun, 12 May 2013 09:34:00 +0000

Three years ago, Navy corpsman Angelo Anderson was shot in his arm and leg in Afghanistan and he thought he was going to die. Sunday, he's competing at the fourth-annual Warrior Games in Colorado, along with more than 200 wounded service members. Eric Whitney of Colorado Public radio has this profile of Anderson, who credits the paralympic-style competition with restoring him physically and mentally.

How Different Cultures Handle Personal Space

Leila Fadel and NPR Staff — Sun, 05 May 2013 09:24:00 +0000

Our perspectives on personal space — the distance we keep between the person in front of us at an ATM, the way we subdivide the area of an elevator — are often heavily influenced by the norms of the places we inhabit.

Jerry Seinfeld once focused an episode of his sitcom on the concept of personal space, giving us a new term: the "close talker."

Of course, invasions of personal space aren't always merely awkward.

Jumping Hurdles, Making The Grade For A Foreign Worker Visa

editor — Sun, 05 May 2013 09:16:00 +0000

Planet Money's Zoe Chace reports that the immigration overhaul bill proposes doubling the number of skilled-worker visas available to companies that want to hire foreign workers. But the application process is a challenge in itself. (This piece initially aired May 2, 2013, on Morning Edition.)