Mark Memmott

Credit Doby Photography / NPR

Mark Memmott is one of the hosts of NPR's "The Two-Way" news blog.

"The Two-Way," which Memmott helped to launched when he came to NPR in 2009, focuses on breaking news, analysis, and the most compelling stories being reported by NPR News and other news media.

Before joining NPR, Memmott worked for nearly 25 years as a reporter and editor at USA Today. He focused on a range of coverage from politics, foreign affairs, economics, and the media. He's reported from places across the Unites States and the world, including half a dozen trips to Afghanistan in 2002-2003.

During his time at USA Today, Memmott, helped launch and lead three USAToday.com news blogs: "On Deadline;" "The Oval;" and "On Politics," the site's 2008 presidential campaign blog.

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The Two-Way
8:26 am
Wed June 5, 2013

Job Growth Stayed Slow In May, Report Signals

Credit Matt Stamey / Gainesville Sun /Landov
The scene at a jobs fair in Gainesville, Fla., on April 27.

Originally published on Wed June 5, 2013 9:04 am

There were 135,000 jobs added to private employers' payrolls in May, according to the latest ADP National Employment Report, which was released Wednesday morning.

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The Two-Way
7:50 am
Wed June 5, 2013

First Lady Gets Face-To-Face With Heckler

Credit John Stillwell / pool / Getty Images
First Lady Michelle Obama at the White House on May 9.

Originally published on Thu June 6, 2013 8:27 am

Update at 9:15 a.m. ET, May 6. Video:

CNN has posted clips from a video taken by GetEQUAL in which you can see and hear some of what happened when one of its activists heckled First Lady Michelle Obama at a private fundraiser this week.

Our original post and an earlier update:

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The Two-Way
7:04 am
Wed June 5, 2013

Shakeup: Susan Rice To Be Obama's National Security Adviser

Credit Mark Garten / U.N. / UPI /Landov
Susan Rice, U.S. ambassador to the U.N.

Originally published on Wed June 5, 2013 7:42 am

United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice, a lightning rod for Republican critics of the Obama administration's handling of the September 2012 attack on a U.S. outpost in Benghazi, Libya, is moving into the post of national security adviser at the White House.

That's what a White House official tells NPR's Ari Shapiro — echoing reports earlier Wednesday morning from The Associated Press and other news outlets.

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The Two-Way
6:30 am
Wed June 5, 2013

Reports: 20 Major League Baseball Players May Be Suspended

Credit Jason Szenes / EPA /LANDOV
Dark clouds hang over Major League Baseball. There are reports that about 20 players may be suspended because of their connections to a Miami clinic that dispensed performance-enhancing drugs. (Photo taken Sunday at Yankee Stadium.)

Originally published on Wed June 5, 2013 10:27 am

"Major League Baseball will seek to suspend about 20 players connected to the Miami-area clinic at the heart of an ongoing performance-enhancing drug scandal, including Alex Rodriguez and Ryan Braun, possibly within the next few weeks," ESPN's Outside the Lines reports.

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The Two-Way
5:57 am
Wed June 5, 2013

Witnesses At Whitey Bulger's Trial Won't Be Choirboys

Credit EPA /Landov
James "Whitey" Bulger, in an image released by the U.S. Marshal's Service in August 2011.

Originally published on Wed June 5, 2013 7:32 am

There's an old expression, Boston College Law School professor Michael Cassidy said Wednesday on Morning Edition:

"When you want to get the devil, you have to go to hell to get your witnesses."

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The Two-Way
1:09 pm
Tue June 4, 2013

Special Election To Replace Sen. Lautenberg Set For Oct. 16

Credit Spencer Platt / Getty Images
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R).

Saying that "insiders and a few party elites" should not choose the person who permanently replaces Sen. Frank Lautenberg, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie announced Tuesday afternoon that there will be primaries on Aug. 13 and a special election on Oct. 16.

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The Two-Way
12:50 pm
Tue June 4, 2013

Room Upgrades, Videos & A 'Star Trek' Parody: Read IRS Audit

Already under fire for how some personnel gave extra scrutiny to conservative groups' applications for tax-exempt status, the Internal Revenue Service is also dealing with an inspector general's criticism of the $4.1 million spent on a conference in 2010.

Posted here, the Treasury Department audit concludes that:

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The Two-Way
9:34 am
Tue June 4, 2013

16 Americans Among Nonprofit Workers Convicted In Egypt

Originally published on Wed June 5, 2013 1:42 am

Sixteen Americans were among 43 people convicted in Egypt on Tuesday for what the transitional government at the time had said was illegal interference in the nation's affairs. The investigation began in 2011 under military rule.

Those judged guilty all worked for foreign non-governmental organizations, including two U.S. groups that have tried to promote democracy in Egypt.

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The Two-Way
9:19 am
Tue June 4, 2013

Lululemon's Pants Return With 'More Fabric Across The Bum'

Credit Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images
Some of the clothes at a Lululemon store in Pasadena, Calif., earlier this year.

See-through pants brought Lululemon (and some of its customers) unwanted attention back in March, as we reported at the time. They were pulled from shelves.

Now the yoga and running clothier says that thanks to "more fabric across the bum" and other design changes, the black pants are coming back to stores this month.

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The Two-Way
8:21 am
Tue June 4, 2013

Another Report Shows Home Prices Taking A Big Jump

Credit Justin Sullivan / Getty Images
A sale pending sign in front of a home in San Francisco on May 28.

Originally published on Tue June 4, 2013 9:18 am

One week after the S&P/Case-Shiller indices showed a 10.9 percent jump in U.S. home prices from March 2012 to March 2013 — the biggest year-over-year gain in that data since April 2006 — there's another report showing a similar jump in April.

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The Two-Way
7:35 am
Tue June 4, 2013

Top Stories: 'Deacon' Jones Dies; IRS Hearings Resume

Credit Dennis Brack / Landov

Originally published on Tue June 4, 2013 9:10 am

The Two-Way
6:57 am
Tue June 4, 2013

Reports: American Woman Gang-Raped In India

Originally published on Tue June 4, 2013 9:09 am

"Indian police say that a 30-year-old American woman has been gang-raped in the northern state of Himachal Pradesh," the BBC writes. "Police said that the woman had been attacked after she accepted a lift by a group of men in a truck in Manali, a resort town in the state."

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The Two-Way
6:28 am
Tue June 4, 2013

VIDEO: Kid's Salute Turns Cymbal Crash Into Symbolic Victory

Credit sarona2617
Andrew Pawelczyk, far left, saluting the flag after his cymbal crashed to the floor.

Originally published on Tue June 4, 2013 9:35 am

The Two-Way
5:45 am
Tue June 4, 2013

'Deacon' Jones, The NFL's Original Sackmaster, Dies

Credit David Livingston / Getty Images
Football great David "Deacon" Jones in 2010.

Originally published on Tue June 4, 2013 9:05 am

David "Deacon" Jones, a hall of fame defensive lineman credited with coining the term "sack" for how he would tackle opposing teams' quarterbacks, has died.

He was 74.

According to the NFL's Washington Redskins, the last team Jones played for, he "passed away [Monday] from natural causes at his home in Southern California."

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The Two-Way
1:41 pm
Mon June 3, 2013

Why Chase Tornadoes? To Save Lives, Not To 'Die Ourselves'

Originally published on Tue June 4, 2013 7:10 am

  • Josh Wurman on why scientists get close to tornadoes
  • Josh Wurman on how the community is reacting to three storm chasers' deaths

The deaths Friday of veteran storm chaser Tim Samaras, his son Paul and their friend Carl Young when a tornado near El Reno, Okla., pummeled their vehicle has raised some questions:

-- Why do storm chasers do what they do?

-- Do the benefits outweigh the dangers?

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