All Things Considered on KTXI

Melissa Block and Robert Siegel

In-depth reporting and transformed the way listeners understand current events and view the world. Every weekday, hear two hours of breaking news mixed with compelling analysis, insightful commentaries, interviews, and special - sometimes quirky - features.

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The Two-Way

5:05 pm

Thu May 23, 2013

After The Storm: Students Gather For One More School Day

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Credit Katie Hayes Luke for NPR

Students and teachers from Eastlake Elementary and Plaza Towers Elementary schools gathered Thursday to say goodbye for the summer. This was a chance to reconnect after the devastating tornado brought an abrupt end to the school year at Plaza Towers in Moore, Okla.

Credit Katie Hayes Luke for NPR

David Huffman leaves Eastlake Elementary with his children Moira, 8, and Wendy, 5. Moira attends Eastlake, and Wendy will start kindergarten there next year.

Credit Katie Hayes Luke for NPR

Sixth-grader Mckayla Franks leaves Eastlake Elementary with her mother, Summer Franks.

Credit Katie Hayes Luke for NPR

Students and teachers from the Eastlake and Plaza Towers Elementary schools gathered at Eastlake on Thursday to say goodbye for the summer. It was a chance to reconnect after a devastating tornado brought an abrupt end to the school year at Plaza Towers, in Moore, Okla.

Credit Katie Hayes Luke for NPR

Amber Hill leaves Eastlake with her son Jaren May. Jaren was in the autism program at Plaza Towers and went through the tornado with his teacher and fellow students. Jaren came out Thursday carrying a balloon, a goody bag and a brand-new backpack to replace the one he lost in Monday's tornado.

Credit Katie Hayes Luke for NPR

Cary Smith had picked up his son Jordan, 13, and daughter Tia, 5, from school on Monday, right before the tornado came through Moore. He and the family live close to Plaza Elementary, and he ran to the school to help pull a teacher and three kids from the rubble in the aftermath of the tornado.

By David Schaper

Originally published on Fri May 24, 2013 5:08 am

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Under cloudy skies and through intermittent showers, 4-year-old Kamrin Ramirez holds in her little hands two cards, one addressed to Ms. Patterson, the other for Ms. Johnson, her two preschool teachers at Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore, Okla.

"I write thank you so much," she says.

Politics

4:30 pm

Thu May 23, 2013

Health Officials Decry Texas' Snubbing Of Medicaid Billions

Credit Eric Gay / AP

Texas Gov. Rick Perry addresses the opening session of the Texas Legislature in Austin earlier this year.

By Wade Goodwyn

Originally published on Thu May 23, 2013 7:23 pm

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The state of Texas is turning down billions of federal dollars that would have paid for health care coverage for 1.5 million poor Texans.

By refusing to participate in Medicaid expansion, which is part of the Affordable Care Act, the state will leave on the table an estimated $100 billion over the next decade.

Texas' share of the cost would have been just 7 percent of the total, but for Gov. Rick Perry and the state's Republican-dominated Legislature, even $1 in the name of "Obamacare" was a dollar too much.

The Record

4:15 pm

Thu May 23, 2013

Georges Moustaki, Who Wrote Songs For Edith Piaf, Dies

Credit Keystone-France / Getty Images

Georges Moustaki with Edith Piaf in New York in 1958. Moustaki wrote the lyrics to "Milord," one of Piaf's biggest hits.

By Elizabeth Blair

Originally published on Thu May 23, 2013 7:23 pm

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Around the Nation

3:44 pm

Thu May 23, 2013

In La., Families Still Searching For Storm-Scattered Remains

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Credit Keith O'Brien for NPR

Lionel Alverez stands at a family tomb in Plaquemines Parish, La. Hurricane Isaac's storm surge split the double-decker tomb in half, leaving his aunt's and sister's caskets on the bottom but washing away his mother's, which was on top.

Credit Keith O'Brien for NPR

Since Hurricane Isaac, some people have gone to great lengths to ensure their loved ones' tombs are never lost.

By editor

Originally published on Thu May 23, 2013 7:23 pm

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Lionel Alverez is in the Promised Land Cemetery again, taking inventory. He has been coming to this cemetery in Plaquemines Parish, La., all his life. The graveyard is hemmed in between the Mississippi River and the marsh on a lonely stretch of highway.

Promised Land has been the final resting place for the Alverezes for generations. Alverez, 61, points out several graves, one by one. "Albert Alverez. Huey Alverez and Harold Alverez. My brother Allen is near the rear, back there."

Parallels

4:53 pm

Wed May 22, 2013

A Decade In The Making, West Bank Barrier Is Nearly Complete

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Credit Emily Harris / NPR

Ibrahim Shomali, a Palestinian priest, offers Communion under the olive trees of the Cremisan Valley in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. This is part of a regular protest against Israeli plans to build a section of its West Bank barrier here, which would separate Palestinians from their agricultural lands.

Credit Emily Harris / NPR

Israeli army Capt. Barak Raz stands on a concrete wall that is part of the barrier separating Israelis and Palestinians in the West Bank. Soldiers climb to this spot during Palestinian protests to disperse crowds with tear gas or a foul-smelling liquid nicknamed "skunk."

By editor

Originally published on Thu May 23, 2013 11:16 am

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Israeli army Capt. Barak Raz climbs a metal staircase to the top of a high concrete wall that is part of Israel's West Bank barrier. From his perch, he overlooks both the Palestinian village of Bil'in and Modin Illit, the largest Jewish settlement in the West Bank, with some 50,000 residents.

The barrier here used to be a fence. After many confrontations with Israeli soldiers, Palestinian villagers won a court case, and the fence was moved off some of their land. But since the barrier was moved closer to an Israeli settlement, it was rebuilt as a wall.

It's All Politics

4:44 pm

Wed May 22, 2013

Fears Of Killing Immigration Bill Doomed Same-Sex Amendment

Credit Andrew Harnik / The Washington Times/Landov

Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. (center), listens to testimony during a hearing on the immigration bill on April 22.

By David Welna

Originally published on Wed May 22, 2013 5:40 pm

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After five marathon sessions debating 150 proposed amendments, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved a landmark rewriting of the nation's immigration laws this week — and the bill emerged largely intact.

Three Republicans voted with the panel's 10 Democrats on Tuesday night to forward the bill to the full Senate. That strong showing followed a wrenching choice for Democrats on the committee: whether to risk shattering support for the bill by amending it to recognize equal rights for same-sex couples.

How It Played Out

Movie Interviews

4:20 pm

Wed May 22, 2013

Documentary Shows George Plimpton's Best Story Was His Own

By Joel Rose

Originally published on Wed May 22, 2013 5:40 pm

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Transcript

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

George Plimpton boxed with Archie Moore, played quarterback for the Detroit Lions, and played percussion for the New York Philharmonic. He did these jobs, and many others, as an amateur. Plimpton was a professional writer. A new documentary about his life makes the case that Plimpton's best story was his own story, as NPR's Joel Rose reports.

JOEL ROSE, BYLINE: When you listen to George Plimpton's voice, it's like hearing echoes of a New York that no longer exists.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

The Two-Way

5:33 pm

Tue May 21, 2013

Storm Chasers Seek Thrills, But Also Chance To Warn Others

Credit Alonzo Adams / AP

A tornado moves past homes in Moore, Okla. on Monday.

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Around the Nation

4:43 pm

Tue May 21, 2013

Tornado Leaves Moore, Okla., Neighborhoods Unrecognizable

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Transcript

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

It's ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Robert Siegel.

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

And I'm Melissa Block.

It has been an emotional 24 hours for the people of Moore, Oklahoma. Their city is now a federal disaster area, shattered by yesterday's deadly tornado. Meteorologists have confirmed that the tornado was a rare EF5, with winds in excess of 200 miles per hour. Entire neighborhoods are unrecognizable, trees splintered, houses gone.

Music Reviews

3:55 pm

Tue May 21, 2013

Pat Metheny And John Zorn: A Vivid Sound World

Credit Jimmy Katz / Courtesy of the artist

Best known for bright, accessible modern jazz, Pat Metheny takes on an experimental composer's work with the new Tap: John Zorn's Book of Angels, Vol. 20.

By Tom Moon

Originally published on Tue May 21, 2013 4:43 pm

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Guitarist Pat Metheny is revered for his bright, accessible modern jazz. Saxophonist and composer John Zorn is associated with much knottier, often dissonant experiments.

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