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Planet Money
11:01 pm
Wed January 11, 2012

The History Of Factory Jobs In America, In One Town

Credit scmikeburton / Flickr
A shuttered cotton mill in Greenville County, South Carolina

For more, see Adam Davidson's cover story in this month's issue of The Atlantic.

Greenville County, South Carolina is where manufacturing's past and future live side by side. This is not a metaphor; it's a visible fact. In South Carolina, and throughout America, factories produce more than ever. Yet in Greenville, there are abandoned textile mills everywhere you look.

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Business
11:01 pm
Wed January 11, 2012

Luxury Tractor Makes Debut At Detroit Auto Show

Credit Mercedes Mejia
Craftsman's CTX tractor series is the first to be featured at the Detroit Auto Show. The newly unveiled line is equipped with many automobile-inspired features, including cup holders.

At the 2012 North American International Auto Show, it's clear that the industry's love affair with alpha-numeric designations hasn't waned. There's the ATS, the 700C, the MKZ. Now comes the CTX, a new line of Craftsman riding lawn mowers. They are fast, powerful and loaded with amenities.

"Everybody knows that Detroit's the national stage for cars — Motor City is where autos come from. So this show made perfect sense to come here and launch the tractor," says Onney Crawley, Craftsman's director of brand management for lawn and garden.

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The Two-Way
5:55 pm
Wed January 11, 2012

All Deck Chairs Are Filled: Titanic 100th Anniversary Cruise Is Fully Booked

Credit Central Press / Getty Images
The Titanic, which sank 100 years ago in April.

Originally published on Wed January 11, 2012 5:58 pm

In case you were hoping to get a spot on the MS Balmoral when it sails from Southampton, England, on April 8 for its "Titanic Memorial Cruise" on the 100th anniversary of that earlier ship's fateful voyage, you're too late.

It's fully booked.

But, if you're interested in sailing from New York on April 10 aboard the Amazara Journey and meeting up with the Balmoral on April 15 at 41°43'57"N, 49°56'49"W in the Atlantic Ocean — where the Titanic sank on April 15, 1912 — there are still some spots.

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The Salt
5:09 pm
Wed January 11, 2012

Did Food Safety Auditors Cause The Fatal Outbreak From Tainted Cantaloupe?

Credit Ed Andrieski / ASSOCIATED PRESS
Melons were left to rot in the field at Jensen Farms after it was identified as the source of a fatal listeria outbreak.

Private auditors paid to review food safety at the Colorado cantaloupe packer responsible for last summer's massive outbreak gave the facility rave reviews just before contaminated melons were shipped, which killed 30 people.

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NPR Story
4:49 pm
Wed January 11, 2012

Science Desk Experiments With Twinkies

Originally published on Wed January 11, 2012 4:49 pm

Transcript

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

You can buy Twinkies on the cheap right now. Safeway, just around the corner from our office here in Washington, has them on sale - two boxes for five bucks. So the NPR Science Desk was inspired to take part in the fine, long-standing tradition of experimenting with Twinkies.

NPR's Allison Aubrey reports on their findings.

ALLISON AUBREY, BYLINE: My colleagues, Julie Rovner, our health policy correspondent, and Adam Cole, a new addition to our team, had one idea.

So, what is your experiment, guys?

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The Two-Way
4:45 pm
Wed January 11, 2012

Justice Department's No. 3 Stepping Down

Credit Alex Wong / Getty Images
Outgoing Associate Attorney General Tom Perrelli.

Associate Attorney General Tom Perrelli will leave the third highest-ranking post at the Justice Department in March after nearly three years managing a bustling portfolio that has run the gamut from mortgage abuses and the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico to stamping out domestic violence in Indian country.

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National Security
4:44 pm
Wed January 11, 2012

Can Iran Close The World's Most Important Oil Route?

Credit Ali Mohammadi / AP
A member of Iran's navy participates in a drill on Dec. 28, 2011, in the Sea of Oman. Tehran is threatening to close the strategic Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, in retaliation for new sanctions by the West.

Originally published on Wed January 11, 2012 9:24 pm

As tensions rise between Iran and the West, Tehran has threatened to block the Strait of Hormuz, a transit route for one-fifth of the world's oil. Is it more than an empty threat?

"The simple answer is: Yes, they can block it," Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on CBS's Face the Nation on Jan. 8.

"They've invested in capabilities that for a short period of time block the Strait of Hormuz," he said.

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The Two-Way
4:30 pm
Wed January 11, 2012

Pentagon Disgusted, Marines Investigating Disturbing Video

Originally published on Wed January 11, 2012 4:31 pm

"The Marine Corps is promising to investigate a disturbing web video that appears to show [four] Marines in Afghanistan urinating on the bloody corpses of [three] alleged Taliban fighters," Gannett Co.'s Marine Corps Times reports.

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Shots - Health Blog
4:07 pm
Wed January 11, 2012

Marathon Runners Face Low Risk Of Cardiac Arrest

Running long-distance races isn't going to hurt your heart any more than other vigorous sports, researchers say. Just make sure you're fit enough to attempt the feat in the first place.

In the past decade, nearly 11 million runners participated in long-distance races, but only 59 suffered cardiac arrests, according to findings just published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Most of the cases happened to be in runners with undiagnosed, pre-existing heart problems.

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Africa
4:05 pm
Wed January 11, 2012

Nigeria Rattled By Strikes, Sectarian Violence

Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan is facing the most sustained challenge to his presidency as he confronts crises on two fronts.

His government recently removed fuel subsidies, which has sent transportation costs soaring and prompted nationwide strikes that were in their third day Wednesday.

And a radical Muslim group is warning of renewed sectarian violence in a country that has a roughly equal split between Muslims and Christians.

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