Joel Rose

Documentary Shows George Plimpton's Best Story Was His Own

Joel Rose — Wed, 22 May 2013 22:40:00 +0000

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.

GEORGE PLIMPTON: I decided finally to pack the football.

Boston Bombings Prompt Fresh Look At Unsolved Murders

Joel Rose — Fri, 17 May 2013 21:29:00 +0000

An unsolved triple murder in the Boston suburbs is getting a closer look in the wake of the marathon bombings. One of the victims may have been a friend of bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev. That's prompting authorities to revisit the 2011 case.

The murders took place in Waltham, Mass. On Sept. 12, 2011, police responded to a house in the leafy suburb a few miles west of Boston.

"They went to the second floor and saw a very graphic crime scene — three dead bodies in the apartment," said Gerry Leone, who was then district attorney for Middlesex County.

Cyber Criminals Drain $45 Million From ATMs Around The World

Joel Rose — Fri, 10 May 2013 09:45:00 +0000

Transcript

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

All right, prosecutors are calling it the biggest bank heist in New York City since the 1970s. They say a gang of cybercriminals drained $45 million from ATMs around the world.

Here's NPR's Joel Rose.

JOEL ROSE, BYLINE: United States Attorney Loretta Lynch says the eight men charged in New York were able to withdraw $2.8 million in cash in just one day, in February.

LORETTA LYNCH: This was a 21st century bank heist.

Family Fights Sale Of Iconic Thomas Cole Painting

Joel Rose — Mon, 06 May 2013 21:43:00 +0000

A celebrated 19th century landscape painting by Thomas Cole is at the center of a 21st century fight: The Seward House Historic Museum in upstate New York wants to sell a painting that belonged to former Secretary of State William Seward, but on Tuesday Seward's great-great-grandson will be in court to try to block the sale.

If you saw the movie Lincoln then you saw Seward — played by David Strathairn, who bears a striking resemblance to his real-life character — doing Abraham Lincoln's dirty work.

New York Tobacco Regulations Light Up Public Health Debate

Joel Rose — Thu, 02 May 2013 07:02:00 +0000

If you're under 21, you may soon have a hard time lighting up in New York City.

FEMA-Subsidized Housing To End For Some Sandy Victims

Joel Rose — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 08:56:00 +0000

Six months after Hurricane Sandy, hundreds of low-income New Yorkers are facing homelessness. They've been living in subsidized hotel rooms since the storm, but that funding is about to run out. Advocates say there isn't enough public and low-income housing to accommodate them all.

Rutgers Athletic Director Resigns After Coach Is Fired

Joel Rose — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 20:38:00 +0000

Rutgers University's athletic director has resigned in the wake of a player abuse scandal that led to the firing of the school's men's basketball coach. Audie Cornish talks to Joel Rose.

NYC's Fast Food Workers Strike, Demand 'Living Wages'

Joel Rose — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 22:26:00 +0000

Fast-food restaurants were a little bit slower Thursday in New York City. Hundreds of workers staged a one-day strike in what organizers are calling the biggest job action ever in that industry. It's a growing segment of the economy, but workers complain that fast-food jobs don't pay enough to survive in New York City.

The current minimum wage in New York is $7.25. That's what many fast-food workers in the city earn, including Joseph Barrera, who works at a KFC restaurant in Brooklyn.

Self-Taught Architect Behind Brooklyn's 'Broken Angel' Faces Eviction

Joel Rose — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 20:36:00 +0000

A New York landmark of sorts is in danger of being wiped off the map. The building now known as Broken Angel was an ordinary 19th-century brick structure until self-taught artist and sculptor Arthur Wood started building on top of it in the late 1970s.

The 'Ancient Vibration' Of Parlor Music, Revived By Two Generations

Joel Rose — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 21:39:00 +0000

Sometime in the mid-1960s — no one's really sure when — Lena Hughes walked into a recording studio, probably in Arkansas. What we do know is that she recorded 11 tunes on the guitar.

"It's kind of like listening to 1880," folklorist Howard Marshall says. "You kind of get a wonderful, ancient vibration."

Marshall wrote a book about traditional music in Missouri, called Play Me Something Quick and Devilish.

"It's quite simple, which always mystifies people," Marshall says. "How can it be so simple and sound so good? Well, I think there's a message in that.