All Things Considered

Transcript

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

With more on this story and the rest of the week's news, we're joined now by Doyle McManus. He's the Washington columnist for the Los Angeles Times, and he has graciously agreed to stand in for our regular news analyst, James Fallows. Doyle, thanks so much for being with us.

DOYLE MCMANUS: Thank you for having me.

NASA launched the Mars Science Laboratory from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Saturday. The MSL is five times heavier than the rovers currently on Mars and has twice as many scientific instruments. It will take nine months for the spacecraft to reach the Red Planet, and there's plenty of things for it to do before then.

Andrew Robinson was injured by a roadside bomb during his second deployment to Iraq. Now a quadriplegic, he says he is learning how to use his limited mobility and is proud of having protected his fellow soldiers. He is especially motivated because his wife is expecting twins next month.

When Rachel Martin was given a slot guest-hosting weekends at All Things Considered, she took the opportunity to get a little holiday shopping out of the way. Needing musical stocking-stuffers for a few pesky relatives — her fiance's mom, for example, or her dad, who likes "Tchaikovsky and Johnny Cash" — she consulted NPR Music's Stephen Thompson, and asked him for some tips.

Guy Raz reads listener reaction to yesterday's Thanksgiving Day story by writer Bailey White.

Guy Raz talks with our weekly commentators, E.J. Dionne of The Washington Post and the Brookings Institution and David Brooks of The New York Times, about Congress' tough spot, observations on the political divide, economic mobility and disagreement over core values.

Rival Palestinian leaders met in Cairo this week to discuss prospects for a reconciled government. For more than four years, the Palestinian Authority has governed the West Bank, while the militant Islamist group, Hamas, has ruled the Gaza Strip. But any government that included Hamas would face serious obstacles.

It's been an All Things Considered Thanksgiving tradition since 1991— a Bailey White original short story. Over the years, White's stories have included tales about a rose queen, a telephone man, an ostrich farmer and a wife exacting revenge. This year, White presents "Call It Even." It's about a shy painter who moves from Florida to Vermont and wants to feel like he fits in — so he raises a dozen turkeys.

Originally from Springfield, Mo., "the Ozarks area of Missouri," Ingrid Gerdes is a neo-soul performer out of Boston, but she considers herself a Southern singer. Her latest album is titled Shed.