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Planet Money
1:24 pm
Wed May 23, 2012

Where Dollars Are Born

Originally published on Fri May 25, 2012 8:05 am

DALTON, Mass. – If you were driving through this small town along the Housatonic River in the Berkshires, here's something you might not think about: All the bills in your wallet are visiting their birthplace.

The paper for U.S. currency, the substrate of everyday commerce, has been made here since 1879 by the Crane family.

Crane & Co. vice president Doug Crane represents the eighth generation descended from Stephen Crane, who was making paper before the American Revolution.

He gave NPR reporters a behind-the-scenes tour and talked about his company.

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The Two-Way
1:11 pm
Wed May 23, 2012

Arizona's Top Elections Official Considers 'Birther' Issue Closed

In all likelihood it won't change the minds of those who believe President Obama is ineligible to be president, but today Arizona's top elections official said he had put the "birther" issue to rest, when Hawaii sent him confirmation that Obama's birth certificate is legitimate.

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Strange News
1:08 pm
Wed May 23, 2012

Couch-Surfing: Global Travel On The Cheap

Credit studio tdes / Flickr
Couch-surfers pay for their lodgings with social interaction, not cash.

Originally published on Thu May 24, 2012 9:14 am

Nearly 4 million people are members of CouchSurfing.org and can find a host in every country — including North Korea — free of charge.

New Yorker staff writer Patricia Marx became a member recently and stayed with seven friendly strangers, from a graduate student in Iowa City to a couple in Bermuda in their 60s. She wrote about her experience for the magazine.

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Strange News
1:08 pm
Wed May 23, 2012

Son Discovers Father's Secret Past On A Surfboard

Originally published on Thu May 24, 2012 10:11 am

Don Waters was 3 when his father, Robert Stanley Waters, abandoned the boy and his mother. But before Robert Waters died, he sent Don a short autobiography, hoping it would help him understand his father.

It took years before Don could bring himself to read it. When he did, he discovered an unsuspected past — and a shared passion for surfing. What he read prompted him to take a trip along the California coast, where his father played a part in establishing the surfer culture's first beachhead on the American mainland.

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It's All Politics
12:33 pm
Wed May 23, 2012

At Auction, Reagan's Blood Is Pricey But A Bargain Versus Fidel-Signed Flag

Originally published on Wed May 23, 2012 2:30 pm

It's safe to say that when it comes to recent presidents, Ronald Reagan is the most venerated, especially among Republicans but not exclusively so. Some even accuse conservatives of beatifying the 40th president as though he were on the road to sainthood.

So it's not surprising there would be a Reagan relic out there, specifically a medical-lab vial purportedly containing the dried remains of a blood sample taken from the president on the day he was nearly assassinated in March 1981.

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Shots - Health Blog
12:21 pm
Wed May 23, 2012

Compensating Organ Donors Becomes 'Talk Of The Nation'

Credit iStockphoto.com

When we first kicked around the idea of asking people to share their opinions about compensating organ donors, it was pretty clear that we were on to something. Everybody in the newsroom seemed to have a strong feeling about it.

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The Two-Way
12:04 pm
Wed May 23, 2012

Mayor Bloomberg: Immigration May Be Only Solution For Crumbling Cities

Credit Lucas Jackson / AP
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Originally published on Wed May 23, 2012 12:07 pm

For the most part, we don't hear novel arguments in favor or against the controversial issue of immigration. Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been one of the few to take a different view. Last year, he advocated opening the door to new immigrants if they all moved to Detroit.

At the time, it was derided as weird.

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The Two-Way
12:00 pm
Wed May 23, 2012

Patrick Fitzgerald, High-Profile Prosecutor, Stepping Down

Credit John Gress / Getty Images
United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois Patrick Fitzgerald.

Patrick Fitzgerald, the federal prosecutor who obtained the conviction of Vice President Cheney's chief of staff for lying to authorities about the leaking of a CIA officer's name and who sent former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) to jail on corruption charges, is stepping down from his post.

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Commentary
11:36 am
Wed May 23, 2012

Does Power Really Lie With Bystanders?

Credit Fabian Bimmer / AP
Just as bystanders have the power to keep motorists and pedestrians in check, Tell Me More host Michel Martin suggests they also have sway over contentious social issues like same-sex marriage and immigration.

Originally published on Wed May 23, 2012 12:49 pm

On my route home, there are a couple of stretches I tend to hit where, more often than not, there are a lot of people trying to cross the street at points where there are crosswalks but no stoplights.

And kids being kids, sometimes there's no crosswalk, but they're trying to cross anyway. Increasingly now, because there are new apartments going up, I also see more young working people marching across the street, carrying their take-out dinners, ear buds in place.

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Election 2012
11:31 am
Wed May 23, 2012

Get Ready For The First Robot President

Originally published on Wed May 23, 2012 1:48 pm

As many folks know, Bill Clinton was called the First Black President by Toni Morrison in The New Yorker.

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