People & Life
People & Life on Weekend America
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Making Tough Calls with Beached Mammals
When a marine mammal gets stranded on a beach, the first reaction by most people is to do all they can to save it. But that money and effort might best be reserved for endangered species. Marine biologist Bill McLellan talks about the delicate task of explaining to beach bystanders that it's sometimes best to let the animal die.
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Santa Anita's Record Race Caller
Joe Hernandez holds a record that may never be broken -- 15,587 consecutive races called over 38 years at the famed Santa Anita Racetrack, a singular achievement by one of the few Mexican-Americans in a predominantly Anglo profession. A new book examines Hernandez' complex life, his success and the legacy he leaves behind.
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Before GTA, There Was Death Race
Grand Theft Auto IV is expected to sell five million copies in the first two weeks of sale -- that makes it the biggest news in the entertainment business this weekend. But it's not the first video game to spark controversy for its violent content. We look back at one of the first video games, Death Race.
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Goodbye Y Chromosome, Hello Jimi Sex Tape
Our panel of non-experts reviews the week's news -- author and former Saturday Night Live writer Patricia Marx; journalist and author Dudley Clendinen; and John Ridley, whose latest book is "The American Way," a graphic novel about a government-created team of superheroes. He also writes an NPR blog called "Visible Man."
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Celebrate World Naked Gardening Day
Today is "World Naked Gardening Day." Gardeners around the world are marking the day with... well, nothing. Jay North, an organic gardener and "naturalist" in Ojai, Calif., talks with Bill Radke about the joys of gardening in the buff. Just be careful with the garden shears, and keep and eye out for bees...
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A Man Among Bears
Ben Kilham has spent years studying black bears in the forests of New Hampshire. His unorthodox approach to learning how bears live and interact may not earn him respect in the scientific community, but Kilham seems to have a deep personal connection with his bears. Reporter Sean Hurley recently spent some time with Kilham, and among the bears.
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My Easy-Going Myth
According to a parenting expert, I am helping my 15-month-old daughter accept herself as she is. But maybe I'm not taking my own advice, and maybe I'm not as easy-going a parent as I think I am. I'm enlightened -- but I'm not really sounding that way, am I?
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Liberty Ashore in Dubai
Thousands of U.S. military personnel take a break from duty in the Middle East in the clubs and shopping malls of Dubai. It's a port-of-call with some of the comforts of home -- including alcohol -- but soldiers, sailors and Marines are encouraged to enjoy "liberty with a purpose."
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Dinner, and a Side of Poetry
In celebration of National Poetry Month this April, the folks at Alimentum, a literary magazine about food, published its second-annual menupoems broadside for some favorite restaurants in New York City -- care for a side of verse with dessert? How about a couplet as an appetizer?
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America's Weekend on Flickr.com
Our fun "America's Weekend" tool grabs the latest 98 pictures posted on Flickr.com by Weekend America fans all over the world. Many of those photos are the starting point for some pretty great stories -- we talked to the people who shot some of our favorites, and asked them to share.
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Hitching a Ride to Spring Break
Mary Anne Wise remembers her 1972 odyssey from Minnesota to Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., thumbing her way across the country with her two roommates. She hopes that if her own 17-year-old daughter does something equally foolish, she meets up with the kind of folks who looked out for her so many years ago.
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The Tiny Green Shoots of Welcome
Weekend America listener Corrie Befort Patnaude was 9 when her family moved to Minnesota, in the middle of a cold winter. She wasn't used to the cold and couldn't wait for spring to arrive. Befort shares memories of her yard leaping to life as the winter chill dies away.
