NPR News

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NEAL CONAN, HOST:

This is TALK OF THE NATION. I'm Neal Conan in Washington. The president speaks, Marco Rubio gulps, and Lindsey Graham slaps a hold on Hagel. It's Wednesday and time for a...

SENATOR LINDSEY GRAHAM: No confirmation without information...

CONAN: Edition of the political junkie.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDINGS)

PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN: There you go again.

VICE PRESIDENT WALTER MONDALE: When I hear your new ideas, I'm reminded of that ad: Where's the beef?

Transcript

NEAL CONAN, HOST:

Today is World Radio Day, so designated by UNESCO to celebrate the key role this medium plays in organizing and informing communities. For much of their lives, your parents or maybe your grandparents looked at the world through the radio.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDINGS)

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NEAL CONAN, HOST:

Last week, archeologists positively identified the remains of a skeleton found under a parking lot in Leicester as the earthly remains of Richard III, the last of the Plantagenet kings. Richard is best remembered as the hunchback, Shakespearean villain whose two-year reign ends when he's left stranded to face the enemy at the battle of Bosworth Field.

(SOUNDBITE OF MOVIE, "RICHARD III")

LAWRENCE OLIVIER: (as King Richard III) A horse. A horse. My kingdom for a horse.

Hidden in the "letters to the editor" section of The New York Times, this morning is a scathing rebuke of the United States' targeted killing program.

We don't usually write about what happens in the NPR newsroom. That old line about not wanting to know how the sausage is made certainly applies in most cases.

But if you were tuned in at 11 a.m. ET and the newscast sounded a little different, it's because some technical gremlins got hold of the pre-recorded reports from NPR's correspondents and wouldn't let go. So, it was "live radio" time.

When President Obama used his State of the Union address to affirm "we have kept Congress fully informed of our efforts" to target terrorism suspects overseas, national security experts wondered exactly who on Capitol Hill got the scoop about secretive U.S. drone strikes.

Earlier this week, NPR aired a three-part investigation of the Marine Stewardship Council on Morning Edition and All Things Considered.

As Daniel Zwerdling and Margot Williams reported, the MSC certifies seafood that is supposed to be good for the environment. But some environmental groups argue that the label is misleading, and that as more retailers promise to sell only sustainable-labeled seafood, the program is certifying fisheries that don't deserve it.

Comcast, the Philadelphia based cable giant, announced a major deal late Tuesday afternoon. It's buying the 49 percent stake of NBC Universal that it did not already own for 16.7 billion dollars. General Electric is the seller and will also be selling some prized real estate as part of the deal.