Business
4:09 am
Sun November 20, 2011

Border-Town Factories Give Manufacturers An Edge

Credit AFP / AFP/Getty Images
Employees of TECMA, a cross-border plant or maquiladora, work in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Business leaders say the quick delivery time of goods from Mexico to the U.S. can help revive manufacturing in North America.

Officials in the United States have been wringing their hands lately over how to revitalize domestic manufacturing and keep factories from moving overseas.

But not all of those plants are going across the ocean to China or India or some other low-cost production hub in Asia. Many are relocating just south of the border to Mexico, prompting business leaders to argue that the U.S.-Mexico border region may be the key to rejuvenating manufacturing in North America.

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Music Interviews
11:58 pm
Sat November 19, 2011

The Man Behind The Music Of 'Entourage' Sets The Tone

Credit Jeff Forney / HBO
Scott Vener is the music supervisor for How to Make It in America. The finale of the second season airs Sunday night on HBO.
Science
3:15 pm
Sat November 19, 2011

Arson Forensics Sets Old Fire Myths Ablaze

In 1990, a fire broke out in a house in Jacksonville, Fla., killing two women and four children. The husband of one of the women became the prime suspect, and that's when a fire investigator named John Lentini was called in.

At the time, Lentini says, the initial evidence pointed to a fire that was deliberately set. He calculated that it would have taken about 20 minutes for the house to become engulfed in flames — what's called a flashover — leaving plenty of time for someone to set the fire and get out.

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Analysis
1:00 pm
Sat November 19, 2011

Week In News: Obama Wraps Up Asia Tour

President Obama wrapped up a nine-day trip to Asia today, during which he announced a troop build up in Australia and a rare State Department visit to the isolationist country of Myanmar formerly known as Burma. Weekends on All Things Considered guest host host Laura Sullivan speaks with James Fallows, national correspondent for The Atlantic, about the trip — as well as other stories from the past week.

Sports
1:00 pm
Sat November 19, 2011

Saving Lives, One Sports Injury At A Time

The number of student athlete injuries has decreased greatly since the early 1970s thanks to the work and recommendations of Fred Mueller, longtime director of the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research. Mueller's ground breaking changes in high school pole vaulting and swim competitions have saved lives. Weekends on All Things Considered guest host host Laura Sullivan speaks with Fred Mueller about his latest area of concern: Cheerleading.

Law
1:00 pm
Sat November 19, 2011

Fighting The Pseudonym Cyberwar

The Department of Justice plans to tighten current laws regarding websites' terms of service conditions. That means if you press that "Agree" button on websites, you better mean it. Some say broadening the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act could even make using a pseudonym on social media outlets a felony. Weekends on All Things Considered guest host host Laura Sullivan talks with Orin Kerr, a professor at George Washington University Law School, about how the government can strengthen the Internet's defenses against cyber warfare while keeping the law reasonable.

Science
11:57 am
Sat November 19, 2011

Perhaps Scientists Like Lab Mice TOO Much

The lab mouse is the most ubiquitous animal in biomedical research, but that doesn't mean it's always the best subject for researching disease.

In a series of articles for Slate magazine, Daniel Engber looked into why the mouse is such a mainstay of science — and whether that's a good thing.

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The Salt
11:24 am
Sat November 19, 2011

Dirty Ovens: Built-In Seasoning Or Grimy Mess?

Credit iStockphoto.com
That puddle of grease is unlikely to be a source of tasty flavors for your next meal, experts say.

With some types of cookware, the more you use it, the better flavor it lends to food.

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Music Interviews
11:19 am
Sat November 19, 2011

We Are Augustines: Old Wounds Inspire Recovery Songs

Credit Arwen Hunt / Courtesy of the artist
We Are Augustines' debut album is Rise Ye Sunken Ships. Left to right: Eric Sanderson, Rob Allen, Billy McCarthy.

Originally published on Tue September 4, 2012 1:32 pm

Billy McCarthy lost his mother to suicide when he was a teenager. He cared for his schizophrenic brother as best he could after that, but his brother landed in solitary confinement in prison, where he eventually took his own life, too. Somehow, McCarthy found a way to rise above his anguish — as a songwriter. He began playing music while living in foster care in California.

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Author Interviews
11:01 am
Sat November 19, 2011

Kurt Vonnegut Was Not A Happy Man. 'So It Goes.'

Credit Marty Reichenthal / AP
Author Kurt Vonnegut, shown in 1979 in New York City, died in 2007 at age 84.

Kurt Vonnegut was a counterculture hero, an American Mark Twain, an avuncular, jocular friend to the youth — until you got to know him.

"Kurt was actually rather flinty, rather irascible. He had something of a temper," author Charles Shields tells weekends on All Things Considered host Laura Sullivan. Shields is the author of a new biography of Vonnegut, called And So It Goes: Kurt Vonnegut: A Life.

"But as I also point out in the book," Shields adds, "he was a damaged person."

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