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5:12 am
Sun December 30, 2012

On Your Plate In 2013, Expect Kimchi And Good-For-You Greens

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Commentator Bonny Wolf expects Asian cuisine such as kimchi fried rice to become even more popular in 2013.

Originally published on Sun December 30, 2012 5:14 pm

Weekend Edition food commentator Bonny Wolf offers her predictions of what we'll eat in the new year.

Asia is the new Europe. It's been gradual: from pan-Asian, Asian fusion and Asian-inspired to just deciding among Vietnamese, Korean, Tibetan and Burmese for dinner.

Should we have the simple food of the Thai plateau or the hot, salty, sour foods of southern Thailand?

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Sunday Puzzle
5:04 am
Sun December 30, 2012

If You Didn't Know, Now You Know

Credit NPR Graphic

Originally published on Sun December 30, 2012 1:32 pm

On-air challenge: This week is the annual "new names in the news" quiz. You're given some names that you probably never heard of before 2012, but who made news during the past 12 months. You say who they are. These names were compiled with the help of Kathie Baker and Tim Goodman, who were players on previous year-end quizzes.

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Arts & Life
6:13 am
Sat December 29, 2012

Graphic Novels That Flew Under The Radar In 2012

Originally published on Sat December 29, 2012 5:38 pm

Transcript

LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:

This last weekend of the year, we're looking back on some of the best books of 2012. In this encore broadcast, Glenn Weldon highlights two graphic novels from the past year, starting with one called "Drama" by Raina Telgemeier.

GLENN WELDON: "Drama" is a young adult graphic novel about a middle-school girl named Callie...

UNIDENTIFIED GIRL #1: (as Callie) What's up?

WELDON: ...who is a complete theater nerd.

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Movie Interviews
6:13 am
Sat December 29, 2012

Matt Damon On His Promising New Film

Originally published on Sat December 29, 2012 5:38 pm

Matt Damon has played Jason Bourne, the brainwashed assassin. He won an Oscar for co-writing the screenplay for Good Will Hunting with Ben Affleck. And now he's returned to the writer's chair for his latest film — Promised Land.

Damon plays Steve Butler, a salesman who comes to a small Pennsylvania town to sell the local farmers on allowing his company to drill on their land for natural gas using a controversial process known as fracking.

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The Two-Way
5:19 am
Sat December 29, 2012

Marvel Kills Peter Parker, But Spider-Man Will Live On (Sort Of)

Credit AP/Marvel Comics
The Amazing Spider-Man #700 is the final issue of the series.

Originally published on Sun December 30, 2012 8:47 pm

All good things must come to an end, and so it is with Marvel Comics' web-slinging, wise-cracking superhero. Spider-Man is no more. Well, to be more precise, Peter Parker is no more.

In the 700th and final issue of The Amazing Spider-Man, writer Dan Slott's controversial story saw Spider-Man's mind switched with that of his dying arch-foe Dr. Otto Octavius, aka Doctor Octopus. The twist is that with his final effort, Spidey was able to give all of his memories and morals to his body-stealing enemy.

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Movie Interviews
2:49 pm
Fri December 28, 2012

Tarantino On 'Django,' Violence And Catharsis

Originally published on Fri December 28, 2012 5:06 pm

In Quentin Tarantino's new film, Django Unchained, Jamie Foxx plays the title character, a freed slave turned bounty hunter searching for his wife and their plantation tormentors.

As is the case with all of Tarantino's films, Django Unchained is incredibly violent. We spoke to the director before the school shootings in Newtown, Conn., and before critics had taken him to task for the film's brutality. The film also is being debated for the way it brings humor to the story of slavery.

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Monkey See
12:58 pm
Fri December 28, 2012

Pop Culture Happy Hour: Our Very First Live Show

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  • Listen to Pop Culture Happy Hour

It's been a holiday week here at the old PCHH studios (I'm just kidding, that's completely not a thing), but we've got good news: we're offering the audio of our live show, which we recorded on December 15, in front of an incredibly patient and kind crowd.

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Around the Nation
12:08 pm
Fri December 28, 2012

Is Kwanzaa Still A Thing?

Originally published on Fri December 28, 2012 1:02 pm

Transcript

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

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Hardcover Nonfiction Bestsellers
12:03 pm
Fri December 28, 2012

NPR Bestsellers: Hardcover Nonfiction, Week Of December 27, 2012

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At No. 6, Wild traces author Cheryl Strayed's crisis after her mother's death and a bitter divorce.

Pop Culture
11:48 am
Fri December 28, 2012

Colbert On Musical Moments And 'America Again'

Originally published on Fri December 28, 2012 4:23 pm

Transcript

DAVID BIANCULLI, HOST:

This is FRESH AIR. I'm David Bianculli of the website TV Worth Watching, sitting in for Terry Gross. This week we've been revisiting some of our favorite interviews of 2012, and we conclude the week by presenting two more: Terry's visits with Stephen Colbert and Doris Day.

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