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Movie Reviews
5:55 pm
Thu September 13, 2012

'Liberal Arts': A Lesson In Arrested Development

Credit IFC Films
Emotionally stunted Jesse (Josh Radnor) forms a relationship with Zibby (Elizabeth Olsen), a much younger woman, in Liberal Arts.

Originally published on Fri September 14, 2012 8:08 am

In his first big-screen sitcom, HappyThankYouMorePlease, writer-director-star Josh Radnor emulated Woody Allen. Radnor's second feature, Liberal Arts, is less Allenesque, except for one crucial, and vexing, aspect: It's about an older man's infatuation with a younger woman.

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Movie Reviews
5:44 pm
Thu September 13, 2012

'Master' Actors Deliver Glimpse Into Cult Life

Originally published on Fri September 14, 2012 1:12 pm

Overheard after a screening of The Master:

"So I guess this is an unfinished print?"

"Nope. This is the one they're rolling out."

And it's true that there are moments, especially toward the end of its meandering 137 minutes, when The Master feels like a series of brainy but disconnected thoughts about 20th-century America. That's how writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson works, and for those who don't insist on coherence or closure in narrative any more than they do in life, it's part of the thrilling madness of his method.

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Movie Reviews
5:30 pm
Thu September 13, 2012

Gere Humanizes A Steely One-Percenter In 'Arbitrage'

Originally published on Fri September 14, 2012 12:55 pm

Anyone looking for a moral high ground — or any high ground at all — in Arbitrage will be sorely disappointed. And that's only one of the reasons that Nicholas Jarecki's family-and-finances drama, handsomely photographed by Yorick Le Saux, is so appealingly adult.

At a time when filmmakers might be under some pressure to punish the 1 Percent, Jarecki (who also wrote the script) chooses instead to remind us that making and keeping scads of cash is rarely accomplished by the fainthearted or the foolish.

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Monkey See
5:22 pm
Thu September 13, 2012

When TV Shows Go To College, They Fail To Make The Grade

Credit Fox
Many lead characters in Fox's Glee will head to college this season. But will higher education lead to lower ratings?

Originally published on Fri September 14, 2012 12:57 pm

I was packing up my recording equipment after interviewing TV executive Susanne Daniels — for a different story — when she said, casually, "Have you ever noticed how there's never been a really great TV show about college?"

I looked at her. Then I started unpacking my equipment again. She had just offered me a story.

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The Salt
5:20 pm
Thu September 13, 2012

A Little Patience, A Lot Of Salt Are Keys To A Lost Pickle Recipe

Credit iStockphoto.com
There's more than one way to make a pickle.

Originally published on Tue September 18, 2012 2:45 pm

Here's a new mantra you might consider adding to your list of daily kitchen chants: "It takes patience to perpetuate pickles."

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Law
5:20 pm
Thu September 13, 2012

Stand Your Ground Law Likely To Remain

Credit J Pat Carter / AP
Sandra Boden holds a photo of her son, Jason, during a Task Force on Citizen Safety and Protection hearing. Prosecutors told Boden that Florida's Stand Your Ground law prevented them from filing charges against the person who shot and killed Jason.

Originally published on Thu September 13, 2012 11:19 pm

A panel in Florida tasked with examining the state's "Stand Your Ground" law is unlikely to suggest that any major changes are needed.

Since it was convened in May, members of the task force have held meetings at locations around the state. At almost every meeting, they've heard impassioned testimony from people like David Boden, whose son, Jason, was killed in a shooting. Prosecutors in West Palm Beach told Boden that Florida's Stand Your Ground law prevented them from filing charges against the shooter.

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It's All Politics
4:54 pm
Thu September 13, 2012

Romney Tempers Foreign Policy Criticism After Flap Over Libya Remarks

Credit Molly Riley / UPI /Landov
Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney speaks Thursday in Fairfax, Va.

Originally published on Thu September 13, 2012 5:41 pm

Appearing in Virginia on Thursday, Republican Mitt Romney tried to bring his campaign back to the issues he has focused on before in the swing state: the nation's economy and strengthening the military.

A day after Romney ignited a debate over his criticism of President Obama's handling of events in Libya and Egypt, the Republican presidential nominee largely steered clear of discussing unrest in Egypt and the attack on an American consulate in Benghazi, Libya, that left four Americans dead.

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Shots - Health Blog
4:54 pm
Thu September 13, 2012

Death Toll Climbs In Congo Ebola Outbreak

Credit Stephen Wandera / Associated Press
A medical worker from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention works at the laboratory in Uganda where Ebola specimens were tested at the start of the latest outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

As health workers try to contain an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the death toll has increased to 31.

The deaths from the hemorrhagic fever outbreak doubled in the past week. World Health Organization spokesman Tarik Jasarevic tells Shots that's because they have discovered more people who were originally infected.

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Education
4:37 pm
Thu September 13, 2012

Teacher Evaluation Dispute Echoes Beyond Chicago

Credit Robert Ray / AP
One of the primary disputes in the Chicago Public Schools teachers' strike is over Mayor Rahm Emanuel's proposal to link teacher pay to student performance.

Originally published on Thu September 13, 2012 11:19 pm

One of the primary issues at the heart of the the Chicago teachers' strike is whether student test scores should be used to evaluate teachers and determine their pay. Mayor Rahm Emanuel is pushing that approach, as are other officials around the nation.

But many teachers insist that it's inherently unfair to grade their teaching based on their students' learning.

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Presidential Race
4:32 pm
Thu September 13, 2012

Obama Uses Colorado Stop To Address Foreign Policy

Originally published on Thu September 13, 2012 11:19 pm

Transcript

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

President Obama and his Republican challenger, Mitt Romney, are both campaigning today in pivotal battleground states. Mr. Obama is in Colorado. Romney's in Virginia. The economy remains a central focus for the two men, but that's been overshadowed in the last 48 hours by events in the Middle East.

We'll hear from the Romney campaign in a moment. First, NPR's White House correspondent Scott Horsley joins us from Golden, Colorado. Hi there, Scott.

SCOTT HORSLEY, BYLINE: Good to be with you, Audie.

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