It's WEEKENDS on ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Guy Raz.
Jerry Sandusky will likely spend the rest of his life in prison. After just two days of deliberations, a jury found the former Penn State assistant coach guilty of sexually abusing 10 boys. He'll be sentenced in 90 days. But right now, the community where he lived and worked is trying to recover from the damage he caused.
NPR's Jeff Brady joins us from State College, Pennsylvania. And, Jeff, what are people saying about that verdict there today?
Sen. John Kerry will play the role of Mitt Romney as President Obama prepares for the upcoming debates. Weekends on All Things Considered host Guy Raz speaks with a few recent stand-ins: Sen. Fred Thompson, who played Bill Clinton in 1996, and Gov. Jennifer Granholm, who played Sarah Palin in 2008.
When legendary TV producer Norman Lear was young, his father gave him a do-it-yourself radio kit. Lear built it, turned it on and remembers one day hearing a fiery broadcast that spoke kindly of the Nazi movement and ranted against Jews.
"It scared the hell out of me," Lear, who is Jewish, tells weekends on All Things Considered host Guy Raz. "It was the first time that I learned that I was, quote, 'different.' I started to pay a lot more attention to people who were even more different."
Title IX, which turns 40 on Saturday, has helped reverse years of bias, banning sex discrimination in federally funded schools and colleges.
Its guarantee of equal access to sports was a small part of the original legislation. But it's become the most recognizable part of Title IX. That guarantee has not always played out, and the law has its critics. For four decades, however, it's played a huge part in shaping lives.
The Midwest is known for its roadside attractions — world's largest ear of corn, heaviest ball of twine, biggest truck stop.
But it's also home to one of the largest collections of grottoes in the world. Most of these man-made caves were created by immigrant priests at the beginning of the 20th century. And the mother of them all — encrusted in $6 million worth of semiprecious stones — is in West Bend, Iowa.
This weekend, the Grotto of the Redemption turns 100.
You may not have heard of the special-effects studio Digital Domain, but you've probably seen their work. They sank the Titanic for James Cameron; they aged Brad Pitt backward in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Most recently, their virtual likeness of the late Tupac Shakur performed in concert.
Having worked those wonders, they're tackling thornier challenges: fur and feathers.
Indiana Treasurer and Republican Senate candidate Richard Mourdock accidentally released video responses to the Supreme Court's decision on the Affordable Health Care Act. The court has yet to announcing their ruling. Muourdock prepared four responses for if the court upholds the law, overturns it, if it splits and if it doesn't provide an answer. Melissa Block and Robert Siegel have more.
Superstar LeBron James finally has his NBA championship. The Miami Heat wrapped up the title Thursday night with a series clinching rout over the Oklahoma City Thunder. It was the one of the highest rated finals in years. Robert Siegel talks to sportswriter Stefan Fatsis about the NBA's new glory era and why this year's Olympic Dream Team may be the last one you'll ever see.
Paul Revere Williams began designing homes and commercial buildings in the early 1920s. By the time he died in 1980, he had created some 2,500 buildings, most of them in and around Los Angeles, but also around the globe. And he did it as a pioneer: Paul Williams was African-American. He was the first black architect to become a member of the American Institute of Architects in 1923, and in 1957 he was inducted as the AIA's first black fellow.
