Commentary

Athlete Brings New Meaning To 'Taking One For The Team'

3:57pm April 27, 2013

Weekend Edition Saturday host Scott Simon considers the story of Cameron Lyle, a varsity athlete at the University of New Hampshire. Mr. Lyle forfeited his final season on the track team in order to donate his bone marrow to a 28-year-old cancer victim he's never even met.

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Week In Politics: Syria, Immigration Reform

4:47pm April 26, 2013

Audie Cornish talks to regular political commentators E.J. Dionne of The Washington Post and Brookings Institution, and David Brooks of The New York Times. They discuss Syria, the immigration reform bill and the opening of George W. Bush's Presidential Center.

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Visitors paid their respects at a makeshift memorial on Boylston Street on April 20, near the scene of the Boston Marathon bombings.

Arts

'Horrific' And 'Surreal': The Words We Use To Bear Witness

3:33pm April 26, 2013

by Geoff Nunberg

After more than a week of gruesome media coverage, linguist Geoff Nunberg takes a close look at the words we use to describe events that mesmerize and horrify, that sensitize and desensitize, that transfix and repel us at the same time.

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NPR is heading to its fourth home, at 1111 North Capitol St. in Washington, D.C.

In NPR's New Building, Everything Will Be Better ... Again

10:11am April 13, 2013

by Susan Stamberg

NPR special correspondent Susan Stamberg has worked in all four of NPR's locations since it went on the air in 1971. As the company moves into its bigger space, Stamberg once again shepherds us to our new home.

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Week In Politics: Gun Control, Immigration, Obama Budget

5:20pm April 12, 2013

Melissa Block talks to regular political commentators E.J. Dionne of The Washington Post and Brookings Institution, and David Brooks of The New York Times. They discuss gun control legislation, immigration and President Obama's budget.

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Venezuelan author Romulo Gallegos (1884-1969), circa 1950.

Oil, Chavez And Telenovelas: The Rise Of The Venezuelan Novel

10:55am April 12, 2013

by Marcela Valdes

Although Venezuela has a rich literary culture, its writers remain largely unknown outside of the country. Marcela Valdes traces the intersection of literature and politics in the large Caribbean nation, showing the forces that have kept Venezuelan writers from getting the praise they deserve.

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The iconic Chicago photographer Art Shay took portraits of presidents, prizefighters, prose poets — and in the person of Roger Ebert, at least one Pulitzer-winning critic.

Roger Ebert: Elegance And Empathy

11:08am April 07, 2013

by Scott Simon

Roger Ebert wrote simply, abundantly, gorgeously — and on deadline for 46 years at the Chicago Sun-Times. Over the years, his work reminded us that empathy is the grace note of a good life, not just great art.

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Geoff Nunberg says a good definition extends to the past as well as the present: It's not just about what "marriage" has come to mean; it's all the word has ever meant.

National

Even Dictionaries Grapple With Getting 'Marriage' Right

2:12pm April 04, 2013

by Geoff Nunberg

Lexicographers know they're in the hot seat as they confront the changing use of the word "marriage." Linguist Geoff Nunberg says the key to getting the new definition right is to crisply describe everything that's in the category and nothing that isn't.

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A couple watch the sunrise at Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Februrary 26, 2013.

How To See The World In A Grain Of Sand

9:55pm March 27, 2013

by Adam Frank

Can we really see the Universe in a grain of sand, even as we slog through traffic? Can we really hold infinity in our hands, even as we drop off the kids to Violin practice? Commentator Adam Frank says we can if we take the time to notice the beauty of the natural world surrounding us.

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A marching band performs at halftime on the field during a high school football game.

Sports

School Bands Should Not Be Entertainment Adjunct For Sports

5:36pm March 13, 2013

by Frank Deford

For commentator Frank Deford, it seems unfair that students who pursue other extracurricular talents — like music — should be placed in a subsidiary position to their classmates who happen to play sports.

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