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Latin America
3:51 pm
Sun October 7, 2012

Venezuela Election Critical Test For Divided Nation And President Chavez

Originally published on Sun October 7, 2012 6:43 pm

Transcript

GUY RAZ, HOST:

It's WEEKENDS on ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Guy Raz.

Thousands of Venezuelans turned out to vote today in a presidential election that pits longtime leader Hugo Chavez against a younger, more moderate rival in Enrique Capriles. Chavez, the fiery left-wing leader, has irritated Washington with his anti-American rhetoric, but he's also won support among many poor Venezuelans for his social programs.

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Science
3:14 pm
Sun October 7, 2012

New Dinosaur Was A Small, Fanged Vegetarian

Credit Todd Marshall
Pegomastax africanus stood less than two feet tall and sported sharp fangs and a beak.

Originally published on Sun October 7, 2012 10:10 pm

A small, fanged dinosaur called Pegomastax africanus was identified this week, more than half a century after its skeleton was dug up in South Africa. The dinosaur looked like a fierce cross between a chicken and a porcupine, and had long fangs which it used to eat plants and compete for mates. Pegomastax was a diminutive beast, standing less than two feet tall and weighing no more than a small house cat.

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Movies I've Seen A Million Times
1:52 pm
Sun October 7, 2012

The Movie Queen Latifah Has 'Seen A Million Times'

Originally published on Sun October 7, 2012 9:21 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.

For actress Queen Latifah, whose credits include Living Out Loud, Chicago, Beauty Shop and the new Lifetime TV remake of Steel Magnolias, the movie she could watch a million times is 1989's Steel Magnolias.

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Author Interviews
1:38 pm
Sun October 7, 2012

The Wild Adventure Continues in 'Under Wildwood'

Originally published on Tue October 9, 2012 1:04 pm

Colin Meloy is best known as the front man for the band the Decemberists. His music is praised for its lyrical quality and the stories the songs tell, so it may not be a surprise to learn Meloy is also a writer.

His newest book is a collaboration with his wife, illustrator Carson Ellis. The book is intended for young readers, the second in a series called Wildwood Chronicles.

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Music Interviews
1:36 pm
Sun October 7, 2012

Anat Cohen Bends The Spectrum On 'Claroscuro'

Credit Courtesy of the artist
Anat Cohen's new album, her sixth as a bandleader, is called Claroscuro.

Originally published on Sun October 7, 2012 3:58 pm

Born in Tel Aviv, Anat Cohen came to New York two decades ago to study the masters of jazz. In so doing, the clarinetist and saxophonist started a bit of a stampede: Today, Israel is exporting some of the most vital jazz out there.

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World
1:22 pm
Sun October 7, 2012

Stateless And Stranded On American Samoa

Credit Courtesy Mikhail Sebastian
Mikhail Sebastian lived in Los Angeles before his fateful trip to American Samoa.

Originally published on Sun October 14, 2012 9:14 am

For many of us, no matter where we go, we'll always have a home. We'll always be from somewhere. But what if that somewhere no longer existed?

That is the strange position in which Mikhail Sebastian finds himself. Officially, he is from nowhere and has nowhere to go. The 39-year-old is stateless and stranded on American Samoa, a U.S. territory in the South Pacific.

Sebastian is an ethnic Armenian born in what is now Azerbaijan, but back then was part of the Soviet Union. When war broke out in the late 1980s, Sebastian says his aunt was stoned to death and he fled.

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It's All Politics
11:35 am
Sun October 7, 2012

What If They Held A Debate And Nobody Won?

Credit Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images
President Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney greet one another before Wednesday's debate in Denver.

Originally published on Sun October 7, 2012 1:06 pm

For most people reacting to last week's presidential debate, their first thought was probably not about who made the best arguments or told the most truths. Rather it was likely deciding who won.

The answer this time around was unusually definitive: Mitt Romney, by virtually every account and measure.

But in presidential debates — and the vice presidential version, which takes place on Thursday — does there need to be a winner?

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Shots - Health Blog
10:22 am
Sun October 7, 2012

Spinal Surgery Company To Give Tissue Proceeds To Charity

Credit Spinal Elements
The maker of a new product for spine surgeons wants to make a splash by donating proceeds to two charities.

When a California company developed a product to be used in spinal fusion surgeries, the firm's president said he knew it faced a new "ethical dilemma," even noting a recent NPR news investigation questioning the high profits some firms were making from donated human tissue.

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The Two-Way
5:50 am
Sun October 7, 2012

The U.N.'s 'Superhero Man': A Rocking Tribute To A Humanitarian

Credit YouTube.com
A Norwegian comedy duo managed something rare: to get concert goers cheering for a U.N. official.
Environment
5:10 am
Sun October 7, 2012

Restore California Delta! To What, Exactly?

Originally published on Tue October 9, 2012 12:24 pm

In California, state officials are planning a multibillion-dollar environmental restoration of the inland delta near San Francisco Bay. There's only one problem: No one knows what the landscape used to look like. Ninety-seven percent of the original wetlands are gone, so the state is turning to historians for help.

This detective story begins on a sunny day in a dry field of corn, about an hour east of San Francisco.

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