1:03pm

Sun October 23, 2011
Music Interviews

Jane's Addiction: Breaking With A Turbulent Past

Credit Kyle Dean Reinford / Courtesy of the artist

Jane's Addiction defined the Los Angeles rock scene of the late 1980s, and by the beginning of the next decade, the band had become famous worldwide. But almost as soon as they'd gained the world's attention, Jane's Addiction split up.

Modest reunions have taken place since then. This month, three of the four original members are back with a new album, The Great Escape Artist. Weekends on All Things Considered host Guy Raz, who grew up listening to Jane's Addiction, spoke to the group's leader, Perry Farrell.

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12:46pm

Sun October 23, 2011
World

Powerful Earthquake Strikes Eastern Turkey

A 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck eastern Turkey on Sunday, collapsing dozens of buildings into piles of twisted steel and chunks of concrete. NPR's Peter Kenyon reports.

Credit David Banks

Mike Pesca first reached the airwaves as a 10-year-old caller to a New York Jets-themed radio show and has since been able to parlay his interests in sports coverage as a National Desk correspondent  for NPR based in New York City.

Pesca enjoys training his microphone on anything that occurs at a track, arena, stadium, park, fronton, velodrome or air strip (i.e. the plane drag during the World's Strongest Man competition). He has reported from Los Angeles, Cleveland and Gary. He has also interviewed former Los Angeles Ram Cleveland Gary. Pesca is a panelist on the weekly Slate podcast “Hang up and Listen”.

In 1997, Pesca began his work in radio as a producer at WNYC. He worked on the NPR and WNYC program On The Media. Later he became the New York correspondent for NPR's midday newsmagazine Day to Day, a job that has brought him to the campaign trail, political conventions, hurricane zones and the Manolo Blahnik shoe sale. Pesca was the first NPR reporter to have his own podcast, a weekly look at gambling cleverly titled “On Gambling with Mike Pesca.”

Pesca, whose writing has appeared in Slate and The Washington Post, is the winner of two Edward R. Murrow awards for radio reporting and, in1993, was named Emory University Softball Official of the Year.

He lives in Manhattan with his wife Robin, sons Milo and Emmett and their dog Rumsfeld. A believer in full disclosure, Pesca rates his favorite teams as the Jets, Mets, St. Johns Red Storm and Knicks, teams he has covered fairly and without favor despite the fact that they have given him a combined one championship during his lifetime as a fully cognizant human.

7:14am

Sun October 23, 2011
Africa

Tunisians Wake To Their Very First Election Day

Tunisians are voting Sunday in the country's first free and democratic election. The small North African nation was the first to overthrow its dictator last January in a popular movement that soon spread to other authoritarian Arab nations.

Now, analysts say what happens in Tunisia will be key to whether democracy is to take root across the rest of the Arab world.

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7:00am

Sun October 23, 2011
Around the Nation

142 Square Miles Swept For Every Living Thing

In a single 24-hour period, the National Park Service and National Geographic led a "treasure hunt" to catalog all the species in Arizona's Saguaro National Park. NPR's Ted Robbins takes us to the "BioBlitz."

7:00am

Sun October 23, 2011
Sports

Cardinals Take Game 3 With A Bang

Albert Pujols and the St. Louis Cardinals gave a performance for the record books Saturday night in Game 3 of the World Series. They beat the Texas Rangers 16 to 7. NPR's Mike Pesca reports.

7:00am

Sun October 23, 2011
Politics

Candidates, States Race For Primary Primacy

Iowa voters were getting an earful Saturday at the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition forum. Meanwhile, Nevada decided to move back its caucus to Feb. 4. NPR National Political Correspondent Mara Liasson joins host Audie Cornish to look at the week's political news and preview what's ahead for the presidential race.

7:00am

Sun October 23, 2011
Economy

What's The Supercommittee Up To?

Democratic Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland is a member of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, otherwise known as the supercommittee. The group is working on a plan to reduce the deficit by $1.2 trillion over the next 10 years. Host Audie Cornish gets an update from Van Hollen, who played a major role in Vice President Joe Biden's debt talks earlier this year.

7:00am

Sun October 23, 2011
Africa

Gadhafi's Death Gets Mixed Reactions In Africa

Moammar Gadhafi styled himself as Africa's king of kings and long pursued his grand plan to unite the continent under his rule. NPR's Ofeibea Quist-Arcton reports on how his brutal end is resonating in Sub-Saharan Africa.

7:00am

Sun October 23, 2011
Middle East

Future Uncertain On Libya's Day Of 'Liberation'

Transcript

AUDIE CORNISH, host: This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Audie Cornish.

It's an historic day in Libya. The country's new leaders are set to declare their country liberated. An interim government will soon be sworn in and Libyans are hoping to have elections in eight months. But the road ahead won't be easy. In Misrata, Moammar Gadhafi's body has been left on display. Libyans who went to see his corpse yesterday had their own thoughts on what lies ahead and what the former dictator's death means to them.

NPR's Lourdes Garcia-Navarro is in Misrata.

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