Now Playing

Loading streams...

Podcasts & RSS Feeds

All ContentRSS
View all podcasts & RSS feeds

NPR News

Pages

The Two-Way
10:15 am
Sun January 20, 2013

Death Toll May Rise After More Bodies Found At Algerian Plant

Share
E-mail
By Dana Farrington

More bodies have been reported found at the gas plant in Algeria where a four-day standoff with Islamist militants came to a bloody end on Saturday. An Algerian security official tells the AP that the state of the bodies makes it difficult to tell whether the dead are hostages or attackers.

Read more
The Two-Way
9:52 am
Sun January 20, 2013

Obama Takes Oath Of Office In White House Ceremony

Next imagePrevious image
Credit Larry Downing / AP
President Obama is officially sworn in Sunday by Chief Justice John Roberts in the Blue Room of the White House. Next to Obama are first lady Michelle Obama, holding the Robinson Family Bible, and their daughters, Malia and Sasha.
Credit Larry Downing / AP
President Obama is officially sworn-in Sunday by Chief Justice John Roberts, as first lady Michelle Obama holds the Robinson family Bible.
Share
E-mail
By Krishnadev Calamur

Originally published on Sun January 20, 2013 10:04 am

President Obama's second term officially begins Sunday: He took the oath of office in an intimate ceremony at the White House, fulfilling the constitutional requirement to take the oath before noon on Jan. 20.

NPR's Ari Shaprio reported on the swearing-in for our Newscast unit. Here's what he said:

"Family and a few close friends gathered in the Blue Room of the White House. The president placed his hand on a family Bible and recited the oath with Chief Justice John Roberts.

Read more
It's All Politics
3:03 am
Sun January 20, 2013

Obama So Far: Making History, Inspiring An Opposition

Credit Carolyn Kaster / AP
President Obama walks outside the Oval Office on May 3.
Share
E-mail
By

Originally published on Sun January 20, 2013 6:17 am

Any American president hoping to stake a claim to being viewed by future generations as great and transformative — or at least very good and effective — would be wise to choose his predecessor well.

To that end, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan probably couldn't have done better than to follow, respectively, James Buchanan, Herbert Hoover and Jimmy Carter.

Similarly, President Obama no doubt benefited from comparisons to George W. Bush, who's unlikely to make many historians' lists of the presidential greats.

Read more
It's All Politics
3:03 am
Sun January 20, 2013

Presidential Double Take: The Difference Four Years Makes

Next imagePrevious image
Credit Getty Images/AFP / NPR
President Obama seems to have picked up a few gray hairs in the four years since he was sworn in on Jan. 20, 2009 (left). On the right, he's shown in December 2012.
Credit AP / NPR
Here's President Dwight Eisenhower and first lady Mamie on Inauguration Day in 1953 (left) and 1957 (right).
Credit Getty Images/AFP / NPR
President Obama seems to have picked up a few gray hairs in the four years since he was sworn in on Jan. 20, 2009 (left). On the right, he's shown in December 2012.
Credit AP / NPR

President Ronald Reagan posed for an official White House photo during his first year in office (1981, left). On right, he spoke to the nation early in his second term, in February 1986.

Credit AP / NPR

President Bill Clinton's January 1993 official White House photo (left) is stacked up against an image of him being sworn in for a second time on Jan. 20, 1997.

Credit AFP/Getty Images / NPR
President George W. Bush greeted supporters at an inaugural ball in 2001 (left). Four years later, he was sworn in again on Jan. 20, 2005.
Share
E-mail
By NPR Staff

Every president gets sworn in once, but it's a smaller club of presidents who manage to get there twice. Here's a look at some recent presidents who served two terms. See who changed the most (or the least) in four years.

Copyright 2013 National Public Radio. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

It's All Politics
3:03 am
Sun January 20, 2013

5 Questions About The Inauguration

Next imagePrevious image
Credit Jewel Samad / AFP/Getty Images
Workers seen through a fence adjust American flags on the Capitol during preparations Thursday for the inauguration.
Credit Jewel Samad / AFP/Getty Images
Portable toilets are installed around the U.S. Capitol in preparation for Monday's inauguration. A new app this year will help the crowd follow the event — and even find the closest port-a-potty.
Share
E-mail
By Greg Henderson

1) Why Monday?

Inaugural events are sprinkled over three days, with the most important one actually taking place out of the public eye on Sunday. That's when the official oath of office will be administered at the White House, on the date and time (noon on Jan. 20) specified by the Constitution. But because the 20th falls on a Sunday this year, the public festivities, including another oath taking, all happen Monday.

Read more
Around the Nation
3:02 am
Sun January 20, 2013

From Chicago to D.C., Hometown Supporters Welcome Obama Back

Credit Sam Sanders / NPR
Chicagoan Janice Trice was an Obama volunteer in 2008 and 2012. Her husband died on Election Day in 2008, before he could celebrate Barack Obama's victory, or even find out that he won. She says this pilgrimage is a way for her to honor his memory.
Share
E-mail
By

Originally published on Sun January 20, 2013 6:23 am

For President Obama's first inauguration, Rep. Danny Davis of Illinois organized a group of more than 700 people — on 10 buses — to make the journey from Chicago to Washington, D.C.

Last time, one of those buses broke down. This time, however, the group decided to take an 18-hour Amtrak ride to see the second presidential inauguration of their hometown hero.

Davis staffer Tumia Romero, who organized the trip, says she did not want to deal with the nightmare of a bus having issues again.

Read more
Around the Nation
3:02 am
Sun January 20, 2013

Welcome To Alaska, Where Winter Is Cold And Bikes Are Fat

Next imagePrevious image
Credit Josh Spice
Bike shop owner Kevin Breitenbach rides a fat bike in the White Mountains National Recreation Area in Alaska in March.
Credit Josh Spice
The wider tires on fat bikes roll over the snow better than regular mountain bikes. The first fat bikes were made by welding the rims of three mountain bike wheels together.
Share
E-mail
By

Originally published on Sun January 20, 2013 6:44 am

The plummeting mercury in Alaska this time of year doesn't keep bikers inside. More and more of them are heading to recreational trails and to the office on "fat bikes." They look like mountain bikes on steroids, with tires wider than most people's arms.

Kevin Breitenbach runs the bike shop at Beaver Sports in Alaska's second-largest city. Aboard a fat bike, he makes his way down a trail that winds through a forest as wet, quarter-sized snowflakes drop from the sky. Visibility is low, and the snow hides the roughest spots on the trail.

Read more
Around the Nation
3:02 am
Sun January 20, 2013

Dependent On Arms Plant, N.Y. Town Braces For Gun Laws' Impact

Next imagePrevious image
Credit Marie Cusick for NPR
Standing near the Remington Arms factory, Beth Neale, deputy mayor of Ilion, N.Y., says she's watched a lot of large manufacturers leave the region. She's not sure Ilion would easily recover from losing Remington.
Credit Mike Groll / AP
Workers from Remington Arms Company in Ilion, N.Y., talk with Assemblyman Marc Butler and Assemblywoman Claudia Tenney about gun legislation at the Capitol on Jan. 14 in Albany, N.Y.
Share
E-mail
By

Originally published on Sun January 20, 2013 10:30 am

Read more
Inauguration 2013
9:27 pm
Sat January 19, 2013

The Presidential Oath: Not Always Perfect, But It Gets The Job Done

Credit Chuck Kennedy / AP
Barack Obama takes the oath of office beside his wife Michelle and daughters Sasha, right, and Malia, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 20, 2009.
Share
E-mail
By

Originally published on Sun January 20, 2013 3:20 pm

President Obama takes the oath of office for a second term on Sunday and Monday. By the time he is through Monday, he and President Franklin D. Roosevelt will be the only two presidents to have taken the presidential oath four times — Roosevelt because he was elected four times, and Obama because he will have taken the oath twice the first time and twice the second.

Obama took the oath twice in 2009 because he and Chief Justice John Roberts messed it up a bit the first time and redid it a second time in private to quell any questions about Obama being president.

Read more
Monkey See
9:13 pm
Sat January 19, 2013

Our Royalty: Bangs Aren't All Michelle Obama And Kate Middleton Have In Common

Next imagePrevious image
Credit Jae C. Hong / AP
First lady Michelle Obama waves after addressing the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., on Sept. 4.
Credit Chris Jackson / AFP/Getty Images
Diplomacy with style: The Obamas pose with Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip at Buckingham Palace ahead of a state banquet on May 24, 2011. Michelle's gown was designed by American fashion designer Tom Ford.
Credit Charles Dharapak / AP
In the garden: Michelle holds up broccoli as she participates in the White House Kitchen Garden Fall Harvest with students on the South Lawn of the White House on Oct. 20, 2010.
Credit Charles Dharapak / AP
Typical American: Michelle leaves a Target department store in Alexandria, Va., after doing some shopping on Sept. 29, 2011. Her style choices range from expensive, high-end designers to discount stores like Target.
Credit Pablo Martinez Monsivais / AP
Let's move: Michelle and a group of children try to break the Guinness World Record for the most people doing jumping jacks in a 24-hour period, at the White House on Oct. 11, 2011. Michelle's anti-obesity campaign, Let's Move, focuses on teaching children good nutrition and regular exercise.
Credit Alex Brandon / AP
Aww: Obama sneaks an extra smooch after kissing Michelle for the "Kiss Cam" at the basketball game between U.S. and Brazil, on July 16, 2012, in Washington, D.C.
Credit Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images
First family: Obama walks on stage with his family to deliver his victory speech on election night on Nov. 6, 2012, in Chicago.
Credit Jae C. Hong / AP
First lady: Michelle Obama waves after addressing the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., on Sept. 4, 2012.
Credit Alan diaz / AP
On the campaign trail: Michelle greets supporters at Broward College in Davie, Fla., on Oct. 22, 2012, where she rallied grass-root supporters and spoke of what's at stake in the election for Floridians. Michelle was seen as an asset on the campaign trail, where she often drew large crowds.
Credit Mark Wilson / Getty Images
First dance: Newly sworn in President Obama and the first lady dance during the inaugural ball on Jan. 20, 2009, in Washington, D.C.
Credit Jewel Samad / AFP/Getty Images
First lady Michelle Obama paints a bookshelf at Burrville Elementary School in Washington, D.C., as part of the National Day of Service on Saturday.
Share
E-mail
By

Ask yourself this question: How weird would it be if you changed your hair and it was on the news?

No, seriously. Pull back from everything you know about celebrity and pretend it's about you. You change your hair. You decide, "Hey, you know what? It's been long for a while; what if I went a little shorter?" And so you go a little shorter. And then it is on the news.

Read more

Pages