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NPR Story
10:00 am
Thu January 19, 2012

'Justified' Producer Shares Crime Writing Secrets

Credit Courtesy of FX
Crime novelist Elmore Leonard with Justified star Timothy Olyphant.

Elmore Leonard has had the kind of writing career many aspiring writers dream of. Over six decades, he's written scores of successful crime novels, short stories and scripts for the big and small screens.

The acclaimed TV series on FX, Justified, is based on one of Leonard's short stories, "Fire in the Hole." The show has garnered awards for its gritty yet likeable characters.

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Business
10:00 am
Thu January 19, 2012

'Vulture Capitalism'? How Private Equity Firms Work

GOP candidates have attacked Mitt Romney as a "vulture capitalist" who destroyed jobs. The charges center on his 15 years at the private equity firm Bain Capital. But what are private equity firms, and what do they do?

Election 2012
10:00 am
Thu January 19, 2012

Perry Leaves Race, Iowa GOP Puts Santorum In Lead

Texas Gov. Rick Perry dropped out of the Republican presidential race Thursday, saying he saw no way forward. The same day, the Iowa Republican party announced that Mitt Romney is no longer the winner of the caucuses there.

NPR Story
10:00 am
Thu January 19, 2012

Quizmaster Reflects On 50 Years Of 'It's Academic'

Credit Courtesy of 'It's Academic'
Host Mac McGarry (top left) poses with student contestants on the set of It's Academic in 1988.

For 51 seasons, the Washington, D.C.-based TV quiz show It's Academic has pitted three teams of high school students against each other in a sports game atmosphere — complete with chants and cheerleaders.

The show first aired in the Washington area in 1961 and spurred similar programs in several other cities. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, New York Senator Charles Schumer and political commentator George Stephanopoulos have all appeared on versions of the show.

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The Two-Way
9:46 am
Thu January 19, 2012

Endoscope Captures First Glimpse Inside Crippled Japanese Reactor

The images are blurred by steam and obscured by radiation. But they are the first look we've gotten inside Japan's Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear reactor that was crippled by a tsunami last year.

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