WAMU 88.5
: The Diane Rehm Show 
To win the White House, a presidential candidate must attain 270 Electoral College votes. Political strategists on both sides agree that President Barack Obama and presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney already have 80 percent of the American electorate locked up. The battle for the remaining 20 percent will come down to a handful of states across the nation: Voters in Virginia, Ohio, Iowa and North Carolina will likely determine America’s next president. New data show unemployment falling in several crucial swing states, while home values are rising in Nevada and Florida. And in Arizona, opposition to a new immigration law has galvanized Latino voters. Diane and guests discuss the role of the battleground states in the 2012 presidential election.
Book News: J.K. Rowling Tells 'Harry Potter' Backstories
Quidditch was invented "in a small hotel in Manchester after a row with my then boyfriend," writes the Harry Potter creator. Other book news: Ireland puts an entire short story on a postage stamp; Daniel Handler on Midwestern literature; and the best books coming out this week.Giant Renaissance Food People Descend Upon New York
Giuseppe Arcimboldo was a 16th-century artist who liked to play with his food, transforming it into the building blocks of many of his fantastical portraits. Artist Philip Haas has taken those portraits out of museums, reinterpreting them as colossal statues that interact with the natural environment.Is There Really A Second-Term Curse?
Whether it's President Richard Nixon's resignation or President Bill Clinton's impeachment, presidents tend to have a tough time during the back half of an eight-year presidency.Young Kenyans Build Mobile Apps For Local Use
College students and recent graduates crammed the top floor of a tech hub in Nairobi for a competition built around the theme "Solutions for the Next Billion Mobile Users." Africa has more than 600 million mobile phone users (approximately 11 percent of the global total) – and the number is growing.Leave a Comment
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