Reverbiage: Stories from NPR tagged '1997'

Obama To Pick Intelligence Novice To Head CIA

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 06:00:00 EST

President-elect Barack Obama is expected to choose former congressman Leon Panetta to head the CIA. Panetta has relatively little experience in national security matters, although he did participate in daily intelligence briefings with President Bill Clinton when he served as Clinton's chief of staff between 1994 and 1997.

Obama To Name Scientist To Head Energy Dept.

Thu, 11 Dec 2008 06:00:00 EST

President-elect Barack Obama is said to have chosen Nobel Prize-winning physicist Steven Chu to be Energy secretary. Chu was one of three scientists who shared the Nobel Prize for physics in 1997 for work in cooling and trapping atoms with laser light.

U.K. Unveils Stimulus Plan

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 16:28:00 EST

British Finance Minister Alistair Darling has unveiled a $430 billion package of measures intended to stimulate the flagging U.K. economy, suspending rules that have kept government borrowing in check since the ruling Labour Party came to power in 1997.

Professor Wants Pairs' 1997 Nobel Revoked

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 06:00:00 EDT

Economists Robert Merton and Myron Scholes won the 1997 Nobel Prize in economics. Their formula for evaluating stock options laid the ground work for risk-management in modern financial markets. Naseem Taleb, a professor at New York University and hedge fund owner, wants their prize revoked. Taleb talks with Renee Montage about why.

Alums Clown Around At Ringling Bros. Reunion

Sat, 20 Sep 2008 11:04:00 EDT

Graduates of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Clown College are gathering for a reunion at the Circus World Museum in Baraboo, Wisc. Murray Horwitz, a graduate of the Clown College, which operated from 1968 to 1997, talks with Scott Simon about what clowns do for fun.

'Infinite Jest' Author David Foster Wallace

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 10:51:00 EDT

The novelist and essayist was found dead in his home Sept. 12, reportedly a suicide. Fresh Air remembers him with an interview first aired in 1997, the year he won the MacArthur Foundation's "genius" grant.

OBAMA GOES SOUTH

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 08:00:00 EDT

In 1997, Obama told top adviser Dan Shomon that he had never been south of the Mason-Dixon Line. Shomon told Obama that they should take a road trip to southern Illinois — which they did. They then went to the rural southern reaches of the state, and by both accounts, the trip changed how Obama saw himself in relation to rural whites. This informed his 2004 race, and has clear implications for how he has constructed his presidential campaign. Ben Calhoun reports from Chicago Public Radio.

Kenyan Boy Tries to Live Up to a Presidential Name

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 16:01:00 EDT

Bill Clinton Okumu, an 11-year-old living in a Nairobi slum, wants to lead Kenya when he grows up. His mother, who picked out the name for her third child in 1997, just wanted to associate herself with the American president, her husband says.

Jury Blames Photographers, Driver in Diana's Death

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 08:11:00 EDT

A British jury reached a decision in the 1997 death of Princess Diana and her boyfriend, Dodi al-Fayed. The coroners jury spent six months hearing evidence from more than 250 witnesses and finally decided whom to blame for the deaths: the chauffeur and the paparazzi.

Review: 'Diving Bell' Surprisingly Funny

Fri, 30 Nov 2007 06:00:00 EST

Based on Jean-Dominique Bauby's 1997 memoir, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is an unexpectedly funny film. It was written after a stroke left Bauby almost completely paralyzed.

Revisiting a Moment with Steve Fossett

Wed, 05 Sep 2007 13:03:00 EDT

Search and rescue teams are still searching the Nevada desert for adventurer Steve Fossett, who was reported missing late Monday after he took a small plane on a scouting mission. A 1997 interview with Fossett illustrates his personality and achievements.

'Sluggy Freelance' Celebrates 10 Years on the Web

Sun, 26 Aug 2007 16:09:00 EDT

When the world was first introduced to the Web comic Sluggy Freelance in 1997, a character named Riff had summoned the devil online. Since then, Sluggy and his peculiar friends have had many adventures. Creator and illustrator Pete Abrams celebrates a decade of his Internet comic this weekend.

Contador Wins Scandalous Tour De France

Sun, 29 Jul 2007 12:34:00 EDT

Alberto Contador of Spain won the doping-scarred Tour de France on Sunday, a new, young and unlikely winner for the three-week race shaken to its core by scandals. The 24-year-old rider for the Discovery Channel team was the youngest champion since Jan Ullrich of Germany in 1997.

U.S. Torn Over How to Handle Anti-Castro Crusader

Fri, 04 May 2007 14:41:00 EDT

Luis Posada Carriles -- a Cuban exile and a former CIA informant -- is suspected of being involved in a 1997 hotel bombing in Havana. Critics said the U.S. is setting a terrorism double standard by harboring Posada, who is known as the Osama bin Laden of the Americas.

Ruthie Foster Aims for 'Phenomenal'-ness

Wed, 25 Apr 2007 12:29:00 EDT

Ruthie Foster's new album, The Phenomenal Ruthie Foster, is the fifth since her 1997 debut, Full Circle.

The Great Flood: Grand Forks 10 Years On

Sun, 15 Apr 2007 05:23:00 EDT

In the spring of 1997, floodwaters rose out of the Red River, forcing what was then the largest evacuation of an American city. Ten years later, the community of Grand Forks has rebuilt and looks back to consider the effects of the flood.

Democrats Move to Raise Minimum Wage

Wed, 10 Jan 2007 16:39:00 EST

The House will soon vote on a proposal to raise the federal minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 an hour. The last federal minimum-wage increase was in 1997. The measure is a key to the Democrats' agenda for the first 100 legislative hours of the 110th Congress.

Compromise Required to Reach Iraq Study Group Conclusions

Thu, 07 Dec 2006 06:00:00 EST

Alan Simpson and William Perry were members of the Iraq Study Group and helped write the panel's report. Perry served as Bill Clinton's secretary of defense and Republican Simpson served in the Senate from 1979 to 1997. The two tell Deborah Amos about the compromises reached to write the report.

Rep. Studds, a Congressional Pioneer, Dead at 69

Sat, 14 Oct 2006 17:21:00 EDT

Former Rep. Gerry Studds, the first openly gay man elected to Congress, dies at 69. He retired in 1997. Studds was censured by the House in 1983 after admitting an affair with a 17-year-old former page, but won re-election.

Congressional Pioneer Studds Dead at 69

Sat, 14 Oct 2006 10:44:00 EDT

Former U.S. Rep. Gerry Studds, the first openly gay person elected to Congress, died early Saturday at Boston Medical Center. He was 69. Elected in 1972 from Massachusetts, he served 12 congressional terms and survived a censure over his relationship with a 17-year-old page before retiring from Congress in 1997.

Helen Mirren Offers Intimate Portrait of 'The Queen'

Fri, 06 Oct 2006 13:43:00 EDT

In her new film, The Queen, Helen Mirren portrays Queen Elizabeth II in the days after Princess Diana's death in 1997. The 61-year-old actress discusses the challenges of portraying a reigning monarch -- and how she prepared for the role.

Leadbelly's 'Old Man' and the Work Song Tradition

Wed, 23 Aug 2006 18:39:00 EDT

In early 1997, two old friends with an interest in music and a propensity for research began corresponding about a song that hadn't been much studied: "Old Man," a song recorded in 1941 by the singer Leadbelly. The song represents a tradition of music sung by American workers.

Music's Renegade Historian in Rural America

Wed, 16 Aug 2006 17:17:00 EDT

Many contemporary listeners know Ry Cooder as the producer and guitarist behind Buena Vista Social Club, the 1997 project that revived the careers of long-forgotten Cuban ballad singers. Lost among his early works is an eclectic little under-loved gem: Boomer's Story.

Doping Bans Set Tour de France Off Kilter

Fri, 30 Jun 2006 16:16:00 EDT

A doping scandal has rocked the Tour de France before the cyclists have begun peddling. Favorites Jan Ullrich and Ivan Basso are among a list of cyclists who have been banned from the competition, which starts Saturday. Ullrich won the race in 1997.

Democrats, Republicans Fight Over Minimum Wage

Wed, 21 Jun 2006 16:00:00 EDT

Democratic efforts to raise the minimum wage have been thwarted in the Republican-controlled Senate. While a measure to increase the wage, which has been fixed at $5.15 an hour since 1997, received a majority vote, it didn't reach the 60 votes needed for it to be considered. Democrats, led by Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy, called the rejection an "outrage." But Republicans, who mostly opposed the bill, said raising the minimum wage would kill jobs.