Tonight in Austin, Livestrong, the cancer organization founded by Lance Armstrong, is holding its 15th anniversary gala and Armstrong is scheduled to speak at the event. But it's been a bad stretch for the champion cyclist. In the face of a scathing report linking him to doping, he stepped down as chairman of Livestrong and he lost major sponsors, including Nike.
From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Melissa Block.
ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:
And I'm Robert Siegel.
The Detroit Tigers are in the World Series. The St. Louis Cardinals are close. And sportswriter Stefan Fatsis is with us to discuss baseball's playoff season. Hiya, Stefan.
We'd like to take a moment now to recognize greatness. Earlier this month in a grocery store parking lot in Prescott, Wisconsin, the world's largest bratwurst was cooked.
PATRICK PTACEK: Fifty-two feet and two inches.
(APPLAUSE)
MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:
The brat was grilled in honor of the 100th anniversary of Ptacek's IGA. Patrick Ptacek co-owns the store. He and his family paid for the massive brat and made it in the store.
SIEGEL: Actually, we should say brats. They made two.
A federal appeals court ruling on Thursday has catapulted a New York case to the head of the line, as the Supreme Court considers which of many cases it should use to decide whether the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is constitutional.
The spread of formal jazz education has created a new breed of global musician: one who uses improvisation, and other devices associated with jazz, to transform folk and traditional music. The Albanian singer Elina Duni is part of this rising class. Her latest release, Matane Malit ("Beyond the Mountain"), offers a transfixing balance of old and new.
Credit Artist's Rendering of Smartspace Unit Courtesy of Panoramic Interests
The development firm Panoramic Interests is building about two dozen "micro-apartments" in San Francisco. The company is poised to offer even smaller units if the city approves a proposed new minimum size of 220 square feet.
Credit Artist's Rendering Courtesy of Panoramic Interests
Spaces must serve double duty in micro-units — like the dining table above that converts into a Murphy bed.
Credit Artist Rendering of Smartspace Unit Courtesy of Panoramic Interests
Spaces must serve double duty in micro-units — like the dining table above that converts into a Murphy bed.
In many large cities, like Dallas, Phoenix and even parts of Chicago, $800 a month is enough for a clean one-bedroom apartment, decked out with a living room, washer and dryer — and maybe even a pool, in a larger complex.
But if you want to live alone in San Francisco, getting those amenities at that price is practically a pipe dream. With the region's resurgent high-tech industries luring many well-educated, well-paid workers to the Bay Area, the averagerent for a studio apartment in the city now runs around $2,000.
Tina Brown, editor-in-chief of Newsweek, announced Thursday that the 80-year-old newsmagazine will publish its final print edition on Dec. 31 and shift to an all-digital format in early 2013.
Newsweek editor Tina Brown announced Thursday she would embrace a fully digital future as she revealed that the magazine's final print edition would be published at the end of the year.
Her announcement was a bow to gravity, as her unique blend of buzz and brio proved incapable of counteracting Newsweek's plummeting circulation and advertising amid an accelerating news cycle. Brown said there would be an unspecified number of layoffs as well.
Thursday in Toronto, the National Hockey League owners and the players union are meeting to try and get the season back on track. The first two weeks of the season were cancelled after the owners locked out the players over labor disputes. Melissa Block checks in with Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo Sports' Puck Daddy blog about the current status of the negotiations and the chances of having a full season.
