All Things Considered

Weekdays at 3:00pm

Robert Siegel, Michele Norris and Melissa Block

All Things Considered is the most listened-to, afternoon drive-time, news radio program in the country. Every weekday the two-hour show is hosted by Robert Siegel, Michele Norris and Melissa Block.

During each broadcast, stories and reports come to listeners from NPR reporters and correspondents based throughout the United States and the world. The hosts interview newsmakers and contribute their own reporting.

All Things Considered has earned many of journalism's highest honors, including the George Foster Peabody Award, the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award and the Overseas Press Club Award.

Genre:

News/Talk

Composer ID:

51828d7ae1c88a0f33240209|51828d11e1c88a0f332401f6

Charming, Cold: Does Presidential Personality Matter?

Next image Previous image

Credit Getty Images

With the advent of radio and television, presidential charisma became a more important personality characteristic. Above, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who is rated one of the most charismatic presidents; John F. Kennedy; Bill Clinton.

Credit Getty Images

Charisma wasn't an early requirement for presidents, since many decisions were made behind closed doors, says psychology professor Dean Simonton. His analysis of the charisma of these three commanders in chief: John Adams: "Average." Thomas Jefferson: "Average." Andrew Jackson: "Well above average."

By Alix Spiegel

Originally published on Thu October 25, 2012 8:59 am

Listen

As part of NPR's coverage of this year's presidential election, All Things Considered asked three science reporters to weigh in on the race. The result is a three-part series on the science of leadership. In Part 2, Jon Hamilton examined leadership in the animal kingdom.

Charming or cold. Flexible or rigid. Paranoid or impulsive or calculating.

4:43 pm

Tue October 23, 2012

Qatari Emir First World Leader To Visit Gaza In Years

By Peter Kenyon

Originally published on Sun October 28, 2012 8:48 am

Listen

Transcript

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Audie Cornish.

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

And I'm Melissa Block.

The Emir of Qatar visited the Gaza Strip today. He's the first world leader to do so since 2007, when the Islamist movement Hamas seized control of the Palestinian territory and Israel responded with a blockade. The emir called on Hamas to reconcile with the rival Fatah movement. He also promised some $400 million in reconstruction projects, as NPR's Peter Kenyon reports from Gaza.

4:32 pm

Tue October 23, 2012

Former CIA Agent Pleads Guilty To Leaking Info

By Carrie Johnson

Originally published on Wed October 24, 2012 3:18 am

Listen

Transcript

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

This is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Melissa Block.

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

And I'm Audie Cornish.

A big development today in the Justice Department's crackdown on national security leaks. A former CIA agent pleaded guilty to revealing the name of a covert operative to a reporter. John Kiriakou agreed to spend two and a half years in prison.

NPR's Carrie Johnson was in the courtroom in Virginia for the plea hearing and joins us now to talk about the case. Welcome, Carrie.

4:30 pm

Tue October 23, 2012

Obama Hits Battleground States In Final Blitz

By Scott Horsley

Originally published on Wed October 24, 2012 3:18 am

Listen

Transcript

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Melissa Block.

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

I'm Audie Cornish, and we begin this hour with a sprint. The 2012 presidential debates are now history and today, President Obama and his Republican challenger Mitt Romney begin the two-week race to Election Day. Mr. Obama is widely considered the winner of last night's foreign policy debate, but he didn't spend much time crowing today.

4:02 pm

Tue October 23, 2012

Life And Death And Puppets In Syria

Next image Previous image

Credit YouTube

This episode of Top Goon featured the Syrian president on the left, a member of the security forces on the right, and a photo of the former president, Hafez Assad, who is the father of the current leader.

Credit YouTube

Syrians opposed to President Bashar Assad have been posting YouTube videos mocking him. The episodes are called Top Goon, and the Syrian president goes by the name Beeshu. The work is done anonymously because those behind it fear they could face retribution from the Syrian government.

By Kelly McEvers

Originally published on Wed October 24, 2012 9:07 am

"I'm not crazy," the figure says, standing alone in a dark room, as if trying to convince himself.

"I'm not crazy?" almost a question this time.

"I'm not crazy. I'm not crazy. I'm not crazy!" he yells, finally making up his mind.

And, of course, he sounds crazy.

Meet Beeshu, an avatar of the embattled president of Syria, Bashar Assad, rendered in papier-mache and mounted on someone's finger. He's the star of the show Top Goon and the inspiration for its title.

1:24 pm

Tue October 23, 2012

Cambodia Vs. Sotheby's In A Battle Over Antiquities

Next image Previous image

Credit Courtesy of the U.S. Attorney's Office

The United States and Cambodia are locked in a legal battle with the auction house Sotheby's over this 1,000-year-old statue of the Hindu warrior Duryodhana that may have been looted from the Cambodian temple complex at Koh Ker.

Credit Anthony Kuhn / NPR

King Jayavarman IV built this pyramid-shaped monument at the center of his capital at Koh Ker in northern Cambodia in the 10th century. The ruler of the Khmer empire died two decades later, and the capital was abandoned and swallowed by the jungle.

Credit Anthony Kuhn / NPR

Archaeologist Phin Samnang, 29, surveys the ruins of Prasat Chen temple at Koh Ker. He says that unlike in earlier periods, Cambodia now has the means and duty to reclaim its priceless lost antiquities.

Credit Anthony Kuhn / NPR

Cambodian officials say a kneeling figure now in New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art once sat on this pedestal. The statue was one of a group of nine depicting a scene from the Hindu epic the Mahabarata.

By Anthony Kuhn

Originally published on Wed October 24, 2012 3:18 am

Listen

The governments of Cambodia and the United States are locked in a legal battle with the auction house Sotheby's over a thousand-year-old statue. The two governments say the statue was looted from a temple of the ancient Khmer empire. Sotheby's says this can't be proved, and a court in New York will decide on the matter soon.

The case could affect how collectors and museums acquire artifacts, and how governments recover lost national treasures.

12:44 pm

Tue October 23, 2012

Baby Beluga, Swim So Wild And Sing For Me

Next image Previous image

Credit Current Biology

This image, from an archival video, shows the white whale NOC swimming around and under researchers' boats.

Credit Current Biology

NOC, seen here in an image from an archival video, was recorded in the 1980s making vocalizations that imitated human speech. The findings weren't published until this week.

By Christopher Joyce

Originally published on Wed October 24, 2012 3:18 am

Listen

Whales are among the great communicators of the animal world. They produce all sorts of sounds: squeaks, whistles and even epic arias worthy of an opera house.

And one whale in particular has apparently done something that's never been documented before: He imitated human speech.

The beluga, or white whale, is smallish as whales go and very cute, if you're into marine mammals. Belugas are called the "canaries of the sea" because they're very vocal.

5:12 pm

Mon October 22, 2012

Teen Debaters Parse Candidates' Style And Substance

Credit Jenny Bolario/YouthRadio for NPR

Young debaters at the Bay Area Urban Debate League in Oakland, Calif., say that there are a lot of differences between the way that they debate the issues and what they see the presidential candidates doing on debate nights.

By Ashley Williams

Originally published on Mon October 22, 2012 5:25 pm

Listen

The high school debaters at the Bay Area Urban Debate League get together every week in downtown Oakland, Calif., to hone their arguments and debating styles. But the young debaters have had a chance during the recent presidential debates to see how it's done on the national stage.

They watch with pen and worksheet, taking notes and analyzing the candidates' debating styles, hoping to glean some lessons from the pros.

There is a lot for these young debaters to observe and compare, but they have also noticed some key differences.

4:34 pm

Mon October 22, 2012

European Union Protests Google's New Privacy Policy

Credit Jeff J. Mitchell / Getty Images

In this photo illustration, the Google logo is seen through a pair of glasses in Glasgow, Scotland. The European Union says a change in Google's privacy policy is a breach of European privacy law.

By Eleanor Beardsley

Originally published on Tue October 23, 2012 5:53 pm

Listen

Parisian dance professor Charlotte King says she needs Google for her job and life, but she doesn't trust the world's top Web search engine.

"When I'm doing some research, the day after I have some proposition of products, of stores, of places, and it's really espionage. I was spied on. I don't want that. It's unacceptable," King says.

That viewpoint resonates in Europe. The European Union says a recent change in Google's privacy policy that allows it to combine and share data collected from all of its different services is a breach of European privacy law.