Sunday Puzzle
2:02 am
Sun June 16, 2013

You'd Better Sit Tight For This One

Credit NPR Graphic

Originally published on Sun June 16, 2013 6:38 am

On-air challenge: Every answer is a familiar two-word phrase or name in which the first word starts SI and the second word starts with T. For example, given "unadorned set of facts," you would say, "simple truth."

Last week's challenge: Name a movie in two words — five letters in each word. Both words start with vowels. Take one letter in the first word, move it two spaces later in the alphabet, and rearrange the result. You'll get the second word in the movie's title. What movie is it?

Answer: After Earth

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Around the Nation
5:25 pm
Sat June 15, 2013

Water Wars: Who Controls The Flow?

Originally published on Sat June 15, 2013 6:39 pm

So often, we take water for granted. We turn on the faucet and there it is. We assume it's our right in America to have water. And yet, water is a resource. It's not always where we need it, or there when we need it.

Rivers don't follow political boundaries — they flow through states and over international borders. And there are endless demands for water: for agriculture, drinking, plumbing, manufacturing, to name just a few. And then there's the ecosystem that depends on water getting downstream.

So what are our legal rights when it comes to water? And who decides?

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Author Interviews
4:00 pm
Sat June 15, 2013

Telling Stories About Ourselves In 'The Faraway Nearby'

Originally published on Sat June 15, 2013 5:19 pm

Rebecca Solnit begins her new memoir, The Faraway Nearby, with a question: "What's your story?"

"It's all in the telling," she says. "Stories are compasses and architecture; we navigate by them, we build our sanctuaries and prisons out of them, and to be without a story is to be lost in the vastness of the world that spreads in all directions like arctic tundra or sea ice."

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Movies I've Seen A Million Times
4:00 pm
Sat June 15, 2013

The Movie Jesse Eisenberg Has 'Seen A Million Times'

Originally published on Sat June 15, 2013 6:15 pm

The weekends on All Things Considered series Movies I've Seen A Million Times features filmmakers, actors, writers and directors talking about the movies that they never get tired of watching.

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World
4:00 pm
Sat June 15, 2013

In Istanbul's Taksim Square, Cue The Piano Man

Originally published on Sat June 15, 2013 4:14 pm

Amid the protests and clashes in Istanbul's Taksim Square, a pianist has been hauling in his instrument at night to entertain the crowds. Each time he does, the raucous crowd stills itself while he plays. In between tunes, chants rise up and he stands on his piano bench to conduct the crowd.

Middle East
4:00 pm
Sat June 15, 2013

Obama's Dilemma: Arming The Syrian Rebels

Originally published on Sat June 15, 2013 5:19 pm

The White House is taking its first tentative steps toward arming Syrian rebels. Host Jacki Lyden speaks with James Fallows, national correspondent with The Atlantic, about the U.S.' ongoing struggle to determine when is the right time to intercede. They also discuss moderate candidate Hasan Rowhani's victory in the Iranian presidential election.

Around the Nation
4:00 pm
Sat June 15, 2013

Fighting Unwanted Cat Calls, One Poster At A Time

Originally published on Sat June 15, 2013 5:19 pm

It's hard to go unnoticed in New York City, with everyone checking out the latest fashions and hairstyles. As the weather warms, some women who are shedding those winter layers are finding themselves the object of more cat calls, whistles and roving eyes than they'd like.

Artist Tatayana Fazlalizadeh is not going to take it anymore.

Under the cover of darkness, wearing a black knit hit, black leather jacket and black Chuck Taylors, Fazlalizadeh is nearly invisible. She's scouring Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, for a blank canvas.

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The Two-Way
2:51 pm
Sat June 15, 2013

Google's 'Looney' Internet Balloons Invade New Zealand

Credit Jon Shenk / AP
A Google balloon sails through the air with the Southern Alps in the background, in Tekapo, New Zealand, on Monday.

Google has launched — quite literally — a new idea to bring the Internet to some of the world's remotest places.

The tech giant's engineering hothouse, Google X, is testing the use of 12-mile-high helium balloons to get coverage in areas where it's impractical to put in conventional infrastructure.

Google said Saturday that it has 30 of the balloons, or "high-altitude platforms" (HAPS), flying over New Zealand as part of something called Project Loon. They will hover at about twice the altitude of a passenger jet.

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Parallels
1:33 pm
Sat June 15, 2013

5 Things To Know About Syria's Rebels

Now that President Obama's administration says it's prepared to arm Syria's rebels, this raises a question relatively few people can answer: Who exactly are these guys?

The rebels have been fighting President Bashar Assad's regime for about two years, and more than 90,000 people have died in Syria's civil war. But in the U.S. and elsewhere, the rebels have not established a clear identity.

Here are five things worth knowing about the rebels:

1. How Are The Rebels Doing On The Battlefield?

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NPR Story
12:49 pm
Sat June 15, 2013

Moderate Wins Iran's Presidential Election

Originally published on Sat June 15, 2013 3:40 pm

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Scott Simon. The Iranian interior minister has announced on state TV that Hasan Rowhani has won that country's presidential election. Mr. Rowhani reportedly won 53 percent of the vote. He's considered a moderate on Iran's political spectrum. Karim Sadjadpour is a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and joins us. Thanks very much for being with us.

KARIM SADJADPOUR: Thank you.

SIMON: How do you read this election result?

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