Tiny Desk Concerts
9:40 am
Mon August 20, 2012

Rufus Wainwright: Tiny Desk Concert

Credit Claire O'Neill / NPR
Rufus Wainwright performs a Tiny Desk Concert, at the NPR Music offices on July 24, 2012.

Originally published on Mon April 15, 2013 4:21 pm

We'd never tried to squeeze a piano behind the Tiny Desk, but when I saw a chance to have Rufus Wainwright play here, I wouldn't — and he probably wouldn't — have had it any other way. Somehow, we managed to fit a glossy black Yamaha upright against my full bookshelves. Then we tuned it and waited for some glorious moments.

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All Songs Considered Blog
9:27 am
Mon August 20, 2012

Song Premiere: Freelance Whales' 'Spitting Image'

Originally published on Mon August 20, 2012 11:17 am

It's been a couple of years since we first discovered and fell in love with the music of Freelance Whales. That was back in 2010, shortly after the group of multi-instrumentalists from Queens, N.Y. released its breathtakingly beautiful debut Weathervanes.

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The Two-Way
9:24 am
Mon August 20, 2012

Hundreds Of Christians Hiding In Pakistan After Girl's Arrest

Credit Aamir Qureshi / AFP/Getty Images
In the Islamabad slum where a Christian girl is accused of burning some Muslim verses, the gate to her family's home is locked and the people who live there have fled.
  • Lauren Frayer, on the NPR Newscast

"Hundreds of Pakistani Christians are hiding out at a priest's compound, praying for the safety of an 11-year-old member of their community" who is in police custody, NPR's Lauren Freyer reports from Islamabad. The Christians also fear their own safety.

The cause of anger directed toward them by some in the Muslim nation: The girl may have burned some Islamic religious materials. According to The Associated Press:

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Participation Nation
9:10 am
Mon August 20, 2012

Dames Gone Wild In Burlington, Vt.

Credit Courtesy of DGW
The women of Dames Gone Wild: Carol Hasbrouck, Sharon Saraga and Joyce Claflin.

As Dames Gone Wild, we are traveling the U.S. doing volunteer work after leaving jobs that no longer fulfilled us. In our 50s and 60s, we had the courage to leave our home, St. Petersburg, Fla., in June and we are on our fifteenth stop — Burlington, Vt. — of 33 cities during our Summer Service Adventure.

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Europe
8:52 am
Mon August 20, 2012

Raising Romania's Orphans, Several Boys At A Time

Second of two stories

Spray-painted graffiti covers the gray, communist-era concrete building housing a cramped two-bedroom apartment that's home to seven boys and their "dad."

They are among more than 60 boys who have grown up here, in the Berceni section of Bucharest, Romania, under the tutelage of 45-year-old Florin Grosuleac. Known as Good Shepherd, the single-apartment home was founded by Grosuleac 13 years ago and is one of a handful of private houses for abandoned boys across the city.

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The Two-Way
8:07 am
Mon August 20, 2012

'I Function Off Fear,' Said Director Tony Scott, Who Died Sunday

Credit Robyn Beck / AFP/Getty Images
Tony Scott in a 2009 file photo.
  • Neda Ulaby on 'Morning Edition'

The death Sunday of director Tony Scott, who appears to have jumped from a Los Angeles County bridge in what's being investigated as a suicide, has "shocked Hollywood and the fans of his memorable movies," as NPR's Neda Ulaby said earlier on Morning Edition.

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The Salt
7:48 am
Mon August 20, 2012

How Much Does A Hamburger Cost? That Depends

Credit iStockphoto.com
Crunching the numbers to show the environmental cost of a hamburger isn't easy, and we should know.

Originally published on Mon October 22, 2012 9:38 am

A few decades ago, a hamburger was just a yummy sandwich.

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The Two-Way
7:35 am
Mon August 20, 2012

Congressman Who Took Nude Dip In Sea Of Galilee Apologizes

Credit Yoder.House.gov
Rep. Kevin Yoder.

Originally published on Sun August 26, 2012 7:40 am

Saying he apologizes for "any embarrassment I have caused for my colleagues and constituents," Kansas Republican Rep.

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The Two-Way
6:57 am
Mon August 20, 2012

In Afghanistan, A Struggle To Stem Deaths From 'Insider Attacks'

Credit Mark Wilson / Getty Images
Aug. 13: At Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, the remains of Marine Lance Cpl. Gregory T. Buckley are carried during a dignified transfer. He was killed in a "green on blue" attack.

The killing Sunday in Afghanistan of an American soldier in what officials say was the latest in a series of "green on blue" attacks by Afghans in uniform against coalition personnel was the 10th in just the past two weeks.

There have been "30 such attacks so far this year, up from 11 in 2011," The Associated Press writes.

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