The Two-Way
1:47 pm
Tue January 24, 2012

Massive Solar Storm Causes Planes To Be Rerouted

Credit AFP/Getty Images
This January 23, 2012 image provided by NASA, captured by the Solar Dynamics Observatory, shows an M9-class solar flare erupting on the Sun's northeastern hemisphere.

You might have heard about a major solar storm that is hitting Earth right now. It's the biggest to hit us since 2005. You've also probably heard a few pople say, "I didn't feel anything."

As our friends at 13.7 explained earlier today, the storms have the ability to disrupt sensitive electronics and even the power grid. Usually none of those things happen. But, today's solar storm did cause a bit of disruption.

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Around the Nation
1:44 pm
Tue January 24, 2012

Down And Out Escape To 'Slab' In California Desert

Originally published on Tue January 24, 2012 6:30 pm

There are no signs leading to Slab City. From Los Angeles you head east deep into the desert, and then south, past the Salton Sea. For years, a diverse group of people has been drawn to the abandoned Marine base, but the troubled economy has driven even more travelers to the place dubbed "The Last Free Place in America."

Following the tire tracks of countless RVs, trailers, vans and campers, you pass a landscape of the vehicles that have taken root here, their tires now soft on the desert floor.

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NPR Story
1:00 pm
Tue January 24, 2012

Fox Plans Spanish-Language Network

Originally published on Tue January 24, 2012 4:07 pm

Transcript

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

Fox is getting into the lucrative Spanish language TV market here in the U.S. They're putting together a broadcast network that will begin airing this fall.

As NPR's Elizabeth Blair reports, it's a partnership with RCN, a Colombian television company.

ELIZABETH BLAIR, BYLINE: RCN is a major producer and exporter of Spanish-language programming. They're the ones who created the original "Ugly Betty."

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SERIES "YO SOY BETTY")

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: (Foreign language spoken)

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NPR Story
1:00 pm
Tue January 24, 2012

As Speaker, Gingrich Brought Change, Controversy

Robert Siegel speaks to Janet Hook of the Wall Street Journal about Newt Gingrich's time as speaker of the House. Hook covered those years as a reporter for the Los Angeles Times. When Gingrich became speaker, he brought a tremendous change to the House and the Republican Party. But he caused a lot of trouble for his rank and file. In 1997, there was a secret attempt to overthrow him as speaker by a group of "back benchers," who thought he was flying off the handle. They wanted a conventional leader, and he kept doing things on his own, without telling people.

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NPR Story
12:43 pm
Tue January 24, 2012

Letters: Love And Autism, Second Medical Opinions

Transcript

NEAL CONAN, HOST:

It's Tuesday, and time to read from your comments. During last week's show on love and autism, many listeners called and emailed, including Eric from Red Bluff, California. We read his email on the air. I will be a 40-year-old virgin in September. I dated once, when I was 32. Other than that, I've had no love interest where the love was reciprocated. I did not expect to ever find love. I do not believe I could be loved. That is all.

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Asia
12:43 pm
Tue January 24, 2012

For China's 'Left-Behind Kids,' A Free Lunch

Originally published on Wed May 23, 2012 8:06 am

For 10-year-old student Xie Xiaoyuan, just getting to school is an ordeal. On a recent day, her frostbitten ears are testament to just how difficult the trip is.

"I get up at five o'clock," she says, "then I comb my hair and start walking."

Xie navigates a mountain path in China's remote Shaanxi province in the dark, trudging through snowstorms and mudslides. Then she has to get a bus for about 10 miles. She hasn't time to eat breakfast.

"For lunch, I spend 15 cents on two pieces of bread and a drink," she says.

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Shots - Health Blog
12:37 pm
Tue January 24, 2012

Your Brain On Psilocybin Might Be Less Depressed

Credit Baxterclaus / Flickr
This could be your forest on psilocybin.

Magic mushrooms are said to blow your mind, but the hallucinogenic chemical psilocybin, the active ingredient, actually reins in key parts of the brain, according to two new studies.

The memorably vivid emotional experiences reported by mushroom users may flourish because the parts of the brain suppressed by psilocybin usually keep our world view tidy and rational.

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World Cafe
12:21 pm
Tue January 24, 2012

Markéta Irglová On World Cafe

Credit Courtesy of the artist
Marketa Irglova.

Czech musician Markéta Irglová has spent much of her life becoming a darling of the folk and indie-rock scenes. At 13, she began collaborating with Glen Hansard and his band The Frames.

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Religion
12:07 pm
Tue January 24, 2012

10 Years On, Clergy Abuse Scandal Still Reverberates

Originally published on Tue January 24, 2012 12:07 pm

Transcript

NEAL CONAN, HOST:

This is TALK OF THE NATION. I'm Neal Conan in Washington. Ten years ago this month, The Boston Globe published the first in a series of stories about the sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests and systematic cover-up by the archdiocese of Boston.

The scandal shocked millions and proved to be just the beginning. It wasn't just Boston, and it wasn't just the U.S. Hundreds have now spoken out around the world. Their stories and their lawsuits forced the church to deal with an issue it kept under the rug for decades.

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The Salt
11:51 am
Tue January 24, 2012

Why McDonald's In France Doesn't Feel Like Fast Food

Credit Juste Philippe / Maxppp /Landov
A McDonald's breakfast meal in Villeurbanne, France includes fresh baguettes and jam spreads with coffee for $4.55.

Greetings from McDonald's, or "MacDo," as they call it here in Paris, where I am comfortably ensconced in a McCafé enjoying a croissant and a grand crème coffee. I'm surrounded by people of all ages who are talking with friends, reading, or typing away on their laptops like me.

The beauty of McDonald's in France is that it doesn't feel like a fast food joint, where hordes of people shuffle in and out and tables turn at a fast clip.

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