Today, the Senate approved a $1 trillion bill to fund the government and a two-month payroll tax cut extension. Weekends on All Things Considered host Guy Raz speaks with James Fallows of The Atlantic about the last minute deal and other top stories from the past week.
William Frank Buckley, Jr. was an American conservative author and commentator who founded the political magazine National Review in 1955. He died in 2008.
Credit Courtesy Bloomsbury Press
Carl T. Bogus is a law professor at Roger Williams University and wrote Why Lawsuits Are Good for America: Disciplined Democracy, Big Business and the Common Law.
When William F. Buckley burst onto the national scene in 1955, conservatism was a dead letter in American politics.
"Lots of people thought that it was outdated, anachronistic, prehistoric, foolish, not very intelligent," Carl Bogus tells weekends on All Things Considered host Guy Raz.
Bogus is the author of a new biography, called Buckley: William F. Buckley and the Rise of American Conservatism. He says that back in the 1950s and 1960s, there really was an established liberal elite in America, which controlled both political parties.
The Republican presidential contest remains fluid less than three weeks before the caucuses and primaries begin. Nationwide, nearly one in five GOP voters is still undecided. And in Iowa, candidates are making their final push before the Jan. 3 caucuses.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney on Friday told workers at a metal fabricating plant in Sioux City, Iowa: "I am running in this race because I understand how to get middle-class Americans prosperous again, working again, buying things, and putting more Americans back to work."
The day after the final debate before the primaries, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney campaigned in Iowa. He also picked up the endorsement of South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.
Reese says that you won't save money by making your marshmallows from scratch, but the results will be worth it. Above, a young taste-tester holds a homemade marshmallow.
Credit Justine Reese / Free Press
Jennifer Reese is a former book critic for Entertainment Weekly and has also written cooking articles for Slate. She writes about her adventures as a home cook on her blog, the Tipsy Baker.
Credit Jacob Margolis / NPR
All Things Considered co-host Melissa Block shows off marshmallows she made from scratch using a recipe from Jennifer Reese's book, Make the Bread, Buy the Butter.
A few years ago, Jennifer Reese lost her job, so she decided it was the perfect time to save money by undertaking "all those exciting Little House on the Prairie cooking jobs" she'd been curious to try. Reese was an ambitious cook, and her enthusiasm knew no bounds: She wasn't just baking bread or grinding peanut butter. She fried potato chips, made Pop-Tarts, stretched curds into mozzarella, infused vermouth, fermented kimchee — and, while she was at it, raised her own chickens, turkeys and goats at her home in the San Francisco Bay area.
Penn State assistant football coach Mike McQueary testified in the Jerry Sandusky child abuse case Friday. McQueary has said he witnessed Sandusky sexually molesting a boy in a Penn State shower. For more, Melissa Block talks to NPR's Jeff Brady.
Every so often, an NFL player transcends the game. Think William "Refrigerator" Perry or Bo Jackson.
Tim Tebow, the quarterback who'll lead the Denver Broncos against the powerful New England Patriots on Sunday, has become a household name, thanks to his improbable come-from-behind victories combined with his prominent expressions of faith.
How does he do it? The Bears, Chargers, Chiefs, Dolphins, Jets, Raiders and Vikings would like to know.
Time For A Comeback
Tebow is a proper noun. Tebow is a verb meaning to genuflect.
And now we're joined by our regular Friday commentators, E.J. Dionne of the Washington Post and David Brooks of the New York Times. Welcome to both of you.
The Securities and Exchange Commission is going after former top executives at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for allegedly committing securities fraud.
The mortgage giants had to be taken over by the government in 2008 and then propped up by taxpayers. The SEC says the officials misled investors about the firm's exposure to subprime mortgages
