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Election 2012
3:03 am
Fri October 19, 2012

Maryland Democrats Are Hopeful After 6th District Is Redrawn

Originally published on Tue October 23, 2012 10:03 am

Transcript

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

In November, Democrats have an uphill battle if they want to try and take control of the U.S. House of Representatives. But one bright spot for the party is the Sixth Congressional District in Maryland. State Democrats redrew the district's boundaries and now it favors their party. And that leaves 10-term Republican Congressman Roscoe Bartlett in trouble. NPR's Jeff Brady has our story from Hagerstown, Maryland.

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Music
3:03 am
Fri October 19, 2012

Recordings Reissued On Solti's 100th Birthday

Originally published on Tue October 23, 2012 10:03 am

Transcript

(SOUNDBITE OF OPERA, "THE FLYING DUTCHMAN")

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

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Shots - Health News
2:00 am
Fri October 19, 2012

Freezing Eggs To Make Babies Later Moves Toward Mainstream

Credit Sandy Huffaker / Getty Images
Human embryos under a microscope at an IVF clinic in La Jolla, Calif.

Originally published on Tue October 23, 2012 10:03 am

Doctors who specialize in treating infertility are making a big change in their position on a controversial practice. The American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) has concluded that freezing women's eggs to treat infertility should no longer be considered "experimental."

The group plans to officially announce the change on Monday.

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Business
1:59 am
Fri October 19, 2012

Investors' Funds Are Recovering, But Not Their Nerves

Originally published on Fri October 19, 2012 7:14 am

Chicken Little was running wild 25 years ago today. But one could hardly blame the poultry for panicking.

On Oct. 19, 1987, the stock market plunged a record-setting 23 percent. The next day, the New York Daily News' front page screamed "Panic!" and a New York Times headline asked: "Does 1987 equal 1929?"

Turns out, the 1987 plunge was a mere stutter step. The Dow Jones industrial average, which closed at 1,739 that day, quickly bounced back. Within a decade, the stock-price average had nearly quintupled.

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StoryCorps
11:55 pm
Thu October 18, 2012

'Black Monday' Plunge: From 'High Life' To Street Life

Credit StoryCorps
Robert Griffo, 57, was working on Wall Street when the market crashed on Black Monday.

Originally published on Tue October 23, 2012 10:03 am

Robert Griffo was living the high life at an investment firm on Wall Street when the stock market crashed 25 years ago on Black Monday. Along with the Dow Jones industrial average, Griffo's life tumbled.

Griffo tells StoryCorps he worked with the investment company for 11 years.

"I was making a lot of money," he says. "I used to walk over homeless people at Grand Central Station when they were begging for money, and I'd say, 'You need to get a job.' But I lost myself on Wall Street."

When the market crashed on Oct. 19, 1987, Griffo thought he would be let go.

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It's All Politics
11:54 pm
Thu October 18, 2012

The Third-Party Factor: Will 2012 Look Like 2000?

Originally published on Tue October 23, 2012 10:03 am

As the presidential race enters its final weeks, there are many factors that could affect the outcome: a great — or terrible — debate performance by one of the candidates on Monday in Florida; the next jobs report; or the presence of third-party candidates who are on the ballot in almost every state.

Gary Johnson, the former two-term governor of New Mexico who's running on the Libertarian ticket, is on the ballot in 48 states.

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Planet Money
11:53 pm
Thu October 18, 2012

The Candidate Is Fake; The Consultants Are Real

Credit iStockphoto.com
One consultant's vision for our political ad: "I see a horse."

Originally published on Wed October 24, 2012 9:31 am

When our series began yesterday, we brought together five economists from across the political spectrum and had them create a platform for their dream presidential candidate. It's a platform — Get rid of a tax deduction for homeowners!

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Middle East
11:53 pm
Thu October 18, 2012

In Syrian Conflict, Hezbollah Rears Its Head

Credit Bilal Hussein / AP
Syrian children flash victory signs Oct. 2 as they stand in front of their tents at a refugee camp in Arsal, a Sunni Muslim town in eastern Lebanon near the Syrian border. The town has become a safe haven for war-weary Syrian rebels.

Originally published on Tue October 23, 2012 10:03 am

We are standing on a roof, leaning back against the wall because of the snipers. We're right at the Syrian-Lebanese border, looking into the Syrian town of Jusiyah, standing with a rebel fighter who has his walkie-talkie going.

The rebel is part of a group fighting against the Syrian regime's army. The rebels have controlled a route into and out of Jusiyah for nearly a year.

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U.S.
11:51 pm
Thu October 18, 2012

With A Phone Call, Truckers Can Fight Sex Trafficking

Originally published on Tue October 23, 2012 10:03 am

Eight years ago, a truck driver parked at a travel center near Detroit made a phone call that changed a life.

"I pulled into a truck stop about midnight," Willis Wolfswinkel remembered. "Getting my log book done. Had two girls knock on my door. And I waved them on 'cause I knew what they were looking for."

Something about those girls bothered Wolfswinkel. They looked young, so he called 911.

When the girls went inside another truck in the same lot, he called again. Wolfswinkel kept watching as the police arrived.

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Shots - Health News
3:07 pm
Thu October 18, 2012

More Clues About Hazards From Laundry Detergent Pods

Credit Pat Sullivan / AP
A label warns parents to keep Tide laundry detergent packets away from small children.

There's now a deeper look at young kids who got sick after eating or otherwise messing around with those laundry detergent pods that look a lot like candy.

Doctors from two poison control centers and the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention have analyzed more than a thousand incidents involving people exposed to the pods and other kinds of laundry detergent.

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