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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6:37am

Mon August 13, 2012
The Two-Way

VIDEOS: Another Dust Storm Blankets Phoenix

Originally published on Mon August 13, 2012 6:37 am

Credit Epicrender / YouTube.com

11:38pm

Sun August 5, 2012
The Torch

Usain Bolt Is Again The 'World's Fastest Man'

Originally published on Mon August 6, 2012 8:31 am

Credit Christophe Simon / AFP/Getty Images

Usain Bolt is still the "world's fastest man."

The Jamaican sprinter has won the men's 100-meter race in an Olympic record time of 9.63 seconds. Just after 4:50 p.m. ET, he successfully defended the gold medal he won four years ago in Beijing.

Jamaica's Yohan Blake came in second today, giving him the silver medal. American Justin Gatlin was third, meaning he gets the bronze.

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11:53am

Sun August 5, 2012
The Torch

Oscar Pistorius, The 'Blade Runner,' Faces Another Huge Challenge

Originally published on Sun August 5, 2012 12:58 pm

Credit Michael Steele / Getty Images

South Africa's Oscar Pistorius, the "Blade Runner" who has has artificial legs below the knees but overcame that challenge to become a world class runner, will not be in the finals of the men's 400-meters.

The results of Heat 2 in the semifinals were posted at 3:55 p.m. ET. Pistorius finished last out of eight competitors, nearly two seconds behind winner James Kirani of Grenada.

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11:52am

Sun August 5, 2012
The Torch

Big Win For Britain: Murray Takes Men's Tennis Title

Originally published on Sun August 5, 2012 2:58 pm

Credit Leon Neal / AFP/Getty Images

One month after his hopes were dashed on the same famous court at Wimbledon, Scotland's Andy Murray just won the men's tennis title at the London Olympics in front of a joyous home crowd.

He did it by defeating the same man who beat him at Wimbledon in July.

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11:49am

Sun August 5, 2012
The Torch

Williams Sisters Take Title In Doubles Tennis

Originally published on Sun August 5, 2012 6:24 am

Credit Luis Acosta / AFP/Getty Images

As The Guardian just reported:

"Here is perhaps the least surprising outcome of the Games: the awesome Williams sisters have secured the women's doubles for the United States, disposing of the Czech pair Hlavackova and Hradecka 6-4, 6-4. And Serena crowns a dominant display with a delightful twirl of celebration after plundering the gold medal point."

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11:49am

Sun August 5, 2012
The Torch

Gold For Ethiopia's Gelana In Women's Marathon

Originally published on Sun August 5, 2012 5:39 am

Credit Daniel Garcia / AFP/Getty Images

In what looks to be a new Olympics record, Tiki Gelana of Ethiopia just won the women's marathon in a time of 2:23.07.

Kenya's Priscah Jeptoo was second and Russia's Tatyana Petrova Arkhipova finished third.

As The Guardian notes, Gelana's "uncle Gezahegne Abera won men's marathon gold in Sydney 12 years ago."

Mary Keitany of Kenya, one of the pre-race favorites, came in fourth.

The previous women's Olympics record was 2:23.14.

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11:48am

Sun August 5, 2012
The Torch

Let's Catch Up: 'Super Saturday' For Brits; 'World's Fastest Man' Coming Up

Originally published on Sun August 5, 2012 5:18 am

Credit Pascal Le Segretain / Getty Images

Good morning.

While Bill takes a much-deserved mid-Olympics day off, we'll aim to keep up with what's going on in London.

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8:14am

Wed August 1, 2012
The Two-Way

Gore Vidal, In Words

Originally published on Wed August 1, 2012 4:16 am

Credit Central Press / Getty Images

The death of writer and cultural critic Gore Vidal on Tuesday, at the age of 86, means many are trying today to capture that man of words' life in just a few phrases:

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6:32am

Tue July 31, 2012
2012 Olympics

Did Twitter Go Too Far? It Suspended Critic Of NBC's Olympics Coverage

Originally published on Wed August 1, 2012 4:54 am

Credit Twitter.com

Update at 1:45 p.m. ET. Adams Has Been Reinstated On Twitter:

Guy Adams just tweeted that "Oh. My Twitter account appears to have been un-suspended. Did I miss much while I was away?"

That doesn't change the thrust of our post. And we haven't heard back from Twitter about his questions regarding the suspension.

Update at 4:23 p.m. ET. Twitter's Response:

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1:56pm

Fri July 27, 2012
The Two-Way

Maryland Police Arrest 'A Joker' They Say Threatened To 'Blow Everybody Up'

Originally published on Fri July 27, 2012 12:00 pm

Credit Prince George's Police Department

Police in Prince George's County, Md., "have arrested a man who [they say] referred to himself as 'a joker' and threatened to shoot people at his former workplace," The Washington Post's The Crime Scene blog writes.

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10:23am

Fri July 27, 2012
Same-sex marriage

Amazon's Bezos enters same-sex marriage debate with $2.5M

Originally published on Fri July 27, 2012 10:04 am

Credit Larry Busacca / Getty Images

Fast food's Chick-fil-A has been at the center of the culture wars in recent days because of company President Dan Cathy's outspoken opposition to gay marriage.

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6:33am

Thu July 26, 2012
The Two-Way

'China's Katrina': Second City Flooded; Corruption, Incompetence Blamed

Originally published on Thu July 26, 2012 10:48 am

  • Louisa Lim on 'Morning Edition'

Outrage in China about the dozens of deaths last weekend when Beijing's drainage system couldn't cope with heavy rains and much of the city was flooded has been followed by more frustration and anger today.

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6:54am

Wed July 25, 2012
Global Warming

'Heat dome' linked to Greenland's biggest melt in 30 years

Originally published on Wed July 25, 2012 4:19 am

Credit NASA

Last week there were the pictures of an iceberg twice the size of Manhattan breaking off Greenland's Petermann Glacier.

Now there are NASA images showing that in four days earlier this month, "Greenland's surface ice cover melted over a larger area than at any time in more than 30 years of satellite observations."

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8:15am

Tue July 24, 2012
colorado shooting

Gun sales are up sharply in Colorado since theater shootings

Originally published on Tue July 24, 2012 10:04 am

Credit iStockphoto.com

Sales of guns have risen strongly in Colorado since the early Friday shootings at a movie theater near Denver that left 12 people dead and 58 wounded.

The Denver Post reports that:

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6:24am

Tue July 24, 2012
Mariners

VIDEO: Ichiro says goodbye to Seattle with Yankee hit

Credit Otto Greule Jr. / Getty Images

Baseball fans love perfect moments.

-- Babe Ruth hitting his "called shot."

-- Ted Williams homering in his last at-bat (and not tipping his cap).

-- Willie Mays and "the catch."

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