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NPR Story
5:00 pm
Sun June 3, 2012

In Calif. Election, A Fight For Second Place

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By Sasha Khokha

Originally published on Sun June 3, 2012 6:25 pm

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GUY RAZ, HOST:

This Tuesday, a congressional race in California's rural Central Valley will come down to a fight for second place. As Sasha Khokha of member station KQED reports now, the race pits a farm worker-turned-astronaut against the son of a disgraced congressman.

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The Two-Way
1:04 pm
Sun June 3, 2012

Queen's Diamond Jubilee A Celebration For All

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Credit AFP / Getty Images
A royal-themed cake which will be served during a street party in south London on Saturday.
Credit Carl Court / AFP/Getty Images
Britain's Queen Elizabeth II arrives on Derby Day in Surrey on Saturday, the first official day of her Diamond Jubilee celebrations.
Credit Oli Scarff / Getty Images
Members of the public walk along The Mall, which is closed to traffic for the Diamond Jubilee weekend in London.
Credit Adrian Dennis / AFP/Getty Images
Racegoers attend Derby Day, the second day of the Epsom Derby horse racing festival, on Saturday.
Credit John MacDougall / AFP/Getty Images
A London pub features a likeness of Queen Elizabeth II in honour of her Diamond Jubilee.
Credit AFP / Getty Images
Residents of Battersea in south London organized a street party on Saturday.
Credit Bethany Clarke / Getty Images
Princess Anne, the queen's daughter, joined the cruise. British monarchs used the Thames as their main highway for centuries, and naval power built the island nation's once-great empire.
Credit Chris Jackson / Getty Images
The queen wore a silver and white dress and matching coat — embroidered with gold, silver and ivory spots and embellished with Swarovski crystals to evoke the river — for her trip.
Credit Chris Jackson / Getty Images
Catherine's siblings, Pippa and James Middleton, also rode with the Spirit of Chartwell during the pageant.
Credit Andrew Yates / AFP/Getty Images
Crowds swelled into the thousands, with revelers in hats, flags, leggings and rain ponchos adorned with the Union flag mixing with burger and cotton-candy vendors along the 7-mile route along the Thames.
Credit Stefan Rousseau / AFP/Getty Images
The queen's grandson Prince William and his wife, the Duchess of Cambridge — he in his Royal Air Force uniform, she in a red Alexander McQueen dress — and William's brother, Prince Harry, were among senior royals who joined the queen and her husband, Prince Philip.
Credit Paul Hackett / AFP/Getty Images
Large crowds turned out despite cold, drizzly weather to fete a queen who has assumed the status of nation's grandmother.
Credit Paul Ellis / AFP/Getty Images
The queen traveled aboard the royal barge Spirit of Chartwell, decorated for the occasion in rich red, gold and purple velvet.
Credit Paul Ellis / AFP/Getty Images
The pageant was a nod to Britain's maritime heritage and was one of the biggest events on the river for centuries.
Credit Eddie Mulholland / AFP/Getty Images
River processions were once common in London. The last comparable royal pageant was held for King Charles II in 1662, when diarist Samuel Pepys recorded boats so numerous he could "see no water."
Credit Eddie Mulholland / AFP/Getty Images
Hundreds of thousands of Union Jack-waving spectators formed a red, white and blue wave along London's riverbanks and bridges, cheering the 86-year-old monarch and her armada of motorboats, rowboats and sailboats of all shapes and sizes.
Credit Bethany Clarke / AP
Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, also joined the queen for the diamond Jubilee pageant.
Credit Eddie Mulholland / AFP/Getty Images
The queen took the throne in 1952 on the death of her father, King George VI, and most Britons have known no other monarch.
Credit Sang Tan / AP
The festivities mark only the second time in its history the U.K. has celebrated the Diamond Jubilee of a monarch.
Credit Andrew Yates / AFP/Getty Images
The four-day Diamond Jubilee celebrations also include thousands of street parties across the country.
Credit Matt Cardy / Getty Images
Queen Elizabeth II sailed down the River Thames on Sunday amid a motley but majestic flotilla of 1,000 vessels, mustered to mark her 60 years on the British throne.
Credit Matt Cardy / Getty Images
Queen Elizabeth II sailed down the River Thames on Sunday amid a motley but majestic flotilla of 1,000 vessels, mustered to mark her 60 years on the British throne.
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By editor

Originally published on Sun June 3, 2012 4:56 pm

Thousands are crowding the banks of the Thames today to catch a glimpse of Queen Elizabeth leading a flotilla of a thousand boats to mark her 60-year reign.

Her gilded barge is the centerpiece of what organizers are calling the biggest pageant on the river in 350 years. As NPR's Philip Reeves reports from London, a 41-gun salute echoed over the city this morning, launching what will be several days of festivities.

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Asia
9:53 am
Sun June 3, 2012

'Like Our Own Mother': Aung San Suu Kyi In Thailand

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Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi waves to Myanmar refugees during her visit to the Mae La refugee camp near the Thai-Myanmar border on Saturday.
Credit Paula Bronstein / Getty Images
Ethnic Karen refugees waited hours for Suu Kyi to arrive at the Mae La refugee camp.
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Originally published on Sun June 3, 2012 7:36 pm

On her first journey abroad in 24 years, Myanmar's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi upstaged and dazzled world leaders with her statesmanship and charisma.

Suu Kyi attended an international economic forum in Thailand last week, but Saturday was very different. She visited a camp on the Thai-Myanmar border, where refugees have fled to escape oppression and civil war in her homeland. The visit showed that despite becoming one of the most prominent politicians in Asia, her political situation at home remains a bit precarious.

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13.7: Cosmos And Culture
9:28 am
Sun June 3, 2012

New Wireless Technology Hacked! (June 4, 1903)

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By editor

Originally published on Mon June 4, 2012 10:19 am

One hundred and nine years ago — June 4, 1903 — the famous Italian communications pioneer Marconi waited on a cliff in Cornwall, England, ready to send a Morse code message to a colleague named Fleming in London. Fleming wasn't waiting alone for the historic transmission: he had set up a new wireless communicator in front of an eager audience at London's Royal Institution.

Marconi had boasted that with this new wireless technology, Morse code could be sent privately over long distances.

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Monkey See
8:54 am
Sun June 3, 2012

What The MTV Movie Awards Get Right That The Oscars Don't

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Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart accept the MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss (really!) at the 2010 ceremony.
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I admit it's a bold statement, suggesting that the most glamorous and prestigious awards ceremony Americans watch all year could learn something from an event that once had a category called "Biggest Badass Star." Certainly, I wouldn't want to see the Oscars replaced with the MTV Movie Awards, given that the first Twilight movie won five of them.

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The Mix
8:29 am
Sun June 3, 2012

Revolutionary Road: From Carthage To Cairo

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Arabian Knightz, a hip-hop group from Cairo, Egypt.
Credit John W. Poole / NPR
A woman walks the narrow streets of the old city in Kairouan.
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By editor

Originally published on Wed November 28, 2012 5:17 pm

The audio for this feature is no longer available.

Join NPR's Morning Edition host Steve Inskeep as he travels this month to Tunisia, Libya and Egypt to tell the stories of North Africans one year after the Arab Spring. As Steve makes this journey, NPR Music will feature some of the music he is hearing along his travels — in cafes, clubs and on local radio stations.

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NPR Story
7:38 am
Sun June 3, 2012

Defense Secretary Panetta Visits Vietnam

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By editor

Originally published on Sun June 3, 2012 10:37 am

Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta is on a week-long trip to Asia, with stops in Singapore, Vietnam and India. As NPR's Larry Abramson tells host Rachel Martin, Panetta's trip highlights the Pentagon's new strategic focus on China and the Pacific.

NPR Story
7:38 am
Sun June 3, 2012

'Theater' On The Thames Marks Queen's 60 Years

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By editor

Originally published on Sun June 3, 2012 10:37 am

The queen of England this year marks 60 years on the throne, and Buckingham Palace is coordinating a week of events, including a concert at the palace and a 1,000-boat flotilla along the River Thames. NPR's Philip Reeves reports.

NPR Story
7:38 am
Sun June 3, 2012

'Dinner': A Ritual Of Love

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By editor

Originally published on Tue May 14, 2013 12:05 pm

Transcript

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Even if you're just finishing your morning cup of coffee, there's a question that you're likely to be asked by your wife or your kids or whoever turns up around 6:00 in the evening. It's harder to answer for some than others. What's for dinner? Jenny Rosenstrach says getting dinner on the table has become a source of major stress.

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Wait Wait ... Don't Tell Me!
6:40 am
Sun June 3, 2012

A Parasite Fit For A Queen

Credit Louisa Chu / Flickr/Creative Commons
A Lamprey Pie from Pleasant House Bakery in Chicago.
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By editor

Originally published on Sun June 3, 2012 12:02 pm

From our "How To Do Everything" podcast:

Among the many gifts Queen Elizabeth II will receive for her Diamond Jubilee is a special lamprey pie from the town of Gloucester. It's a tradition dating back centuries. Lampreys may seem like an odd gift for a monarch, but one person's eel-like parasite which sucks the blood of fish is another person's delicacy.

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