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
11:00 am
Thu March 15, 2012

On 'Decorah Eagle Cam:' This Year's Hatchings Likely Next Week

Credit Raptor Resource Project
A close up view of mom, on the nest in Decorah, Iowa.

An alert for all those who were caught up in the excitement last year when the Decorah Eagle Cam was streaming as a pair of bald eagles in Iowa watched over their three eggs and as the eaglets hatched:

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The Two-Way
9:55 am
Thu March 15, 2012

'Star Rabbit' Dies When Photographer Takes Wrong Step

Credit Uwe Meinhold / AP
Til, on Wednesday, before his untimely death.

He's "like James Dean, a star dead before his time," according to The Local.

Spiegel Online says "the future had looked so bright for tiny Til."

Global Post somberly says that "an attempt to show a rare rabbit on TV took a tragic turn."

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The Two-Way
9:15 am
Thu March 15, 2012

Report Slams Sen. Stevens' Prosecutors

Credit Alex Wong / Getty Images
Former Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, in 2008.

In a "blistering" 500-page report released this morning a special prosecutor concludes that Justice Department lawyers "intentionally withheld" information that could have bolstered then-Sen. Ted Stevens' defense during the Alaska Republican's 2008 trial on corruption charges, NPR's Carrie Johnson tells us.

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The Two-Way
7:38 am
Thu March 15, 2012

Jobless Claims Fell By 15,000 Last Week

There was a 14,000 decline in the number of people filing first-time claims for unemployment insurance last week, the Employment and Training Administration just reported:

"In the week ending March 10, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 351,000, a decrease of 14,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 365,000. The 4-week moving average was 355,750, unchanged from the previous week's revised average of 355,750."

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The Two-Way
7:25 am
Thu March 15, 2012

Priest Defends Denying Communion To Lesbian Mourner

Credit Saeed Khan / AFP/Getty Images

The priest who was put on administrative leave by the Archdiocese of Washington following a much-talked-about incident in which he denied communion to a lesbian woman attending her mother's funeral, has issued a long defense of his action and has said the church isn't being candid about the reason for its decision to put him on leave.

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The Two-Way
6:25 am
Thu March 15, 2012

Afghans Object, U.S. Officials Defend Decision To Move Massacre Suspect

Credit Scott Olson / Getty Images
Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, with Col. John Shafer, at Foward Operating Base Shukvani in Afghanistan on Wednesday.
  • Tom Bowman
  • Larry Abramson speaks with Renee Montagne

The news that the U.S. Army staff sergeant who is suspected of murdering 16 Afghan civilians has been moved to a detention facility in Kuwait is sparking some small protests in Afghanistan.

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The Two-Way
10:50 am
Wed March 14, 2012

Goldman Sachs Starts To Fire Back At Exec Who Quit In Scathing Op-Ed

Credit Chris Hondros / Getty Images

Originally published on Wed March 14, 2012 1:25 pm

Greg Smith is a fairly ordinary name — but it's now one that's all the talk of Wall Street after he quit his position at Goldman Sachs today in one of the most amazingly public ways:

With an essay in The New York Times that accuses Goldman Sachs of having a money-is-everything culture that is "toxic and destructive."

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The Two-Way
10:10 am
Wed March 14, 2012

Coming Up: Obama-Cameron News Conference

President Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron are due to hold a news conference at the White House just after noon ET.

We'll live blog as they speak, so check back as the time approaches and hit your "refresh" button every once in a while after they get started.

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The Two-Way
10:00 am
Wed March 14, 2012

Obama Picks North Carolina To Win Men's Basketball Championship

Credit Gregory Shamus / Getty Images
President Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron were courtside in Dayton, Ohio, Tuesday at the "play in" game between Western Kentucky and Mississippi Valley State. Western Kentucky won, 59-58.

After two years of going with the wrong team to win it all, President Obama is counting on North Carolina — the team he correctly picked to win the 2009 NCAA men's basketball championship — to end up No. 1 this year.

As he has each year since taking office, the president spent time with ESPN going over his bracket for the tournament.

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The Two-Way
8:50 am
Wed March 14, 2012

Editor's Obituary Takes Tawdry Twist

Originally published on Wed March 14, 2012 8:51 am

After Oregonian editorial page editor Bob Caldwell died Saturday, the report from the newspaper on Sunday said he had suffered a heart attack.

That does appear to be the 63-year-old journalist's cause of death. But the circumstances surrounding his last moments were considerably more complicated.

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