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
1:44 pm
Mon April 29, 2013

At Holocaust Museum, Clinton And Wiesel Urge Young To Remember

Credit Nicholas Kamm / AFP/Getty Images
In the Hall of Remembrance at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, visitors can light candles in memory of the 6 million Jews killed by the Nazis and their collaborators during World War II.

Originally published on Mon April 29, 2013 11:59 am

"You are our witnesses because you will go beyond our lives," Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel told the world's young people Monday morning during an event to mark the 20th anniversary of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum's opening.

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The Two-Way
12:31 pm
Fri April 26, 2013

Country Star George Jones Dies

Credit Hulton Archive / Getty Images
George Jones in the late 1980s.

Originally published on Fri April 26, 2013 4:47 pm

Country superstar George Jones, known for "He Stopped Loving Her Today" and a long string of other hits, has died.

He was 81.

According to Webster & Associates, the Nashville public relations firm that represented Jones, he died Friday at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. He was hospitalized there on April 18 for treatment of a fever and irregular blood pressure, the p.r. firm adds.

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The Two-Way
9:13 am
Fri April 26, 2013

Economy Picked Up In First Quarter: Grew At 2.5 Percent Pace

Credit Robyn Beck / AFP/Getty Images
Shoppers came out in the first quarter, pushing up economic growth.

Originally published on Sat April 27, 2013 1:20 pm

The U.S. economy grew at a 2.5 percent annual rate in the first quarter of 2013, the Bureau of Economic Analysis estimated Friday morning.

That's modest growth, and was below the 3.2 percent pace economists had expected to hear about. But growth was up substantially from fourth-quarter 2012, when the economy expanded at a scant 0.4 percent annual rate.

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The Two-Way
7:35 am
Fri April 26, 2013

Boston Bombing Suspect Moved To Prison Medical Center

Credit FBI.gov
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, in an undated photo released by the FBI.

Originally published on Fri April 26, 2013 11:52 am

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the surviving suspect in the April 15 Boston Marathon bombings and the crimes that followed, has been moved out of Boston's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center "and is now confined at the Bureau of Prisons facility FMC Devens at Ft. Devens, Mass.," U.S. Marshals Service spokesman Drew Wade said in a statement emailed to reporters Friday morning.

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The Two-Way
11:02 am
Thu April 25, 2013

'We've Had Enough Bushes,' Says Former First Lady Barbara

Credit Tom Pennington / Getty Images
Former first lady Barbara Bush in March 2012.

Originally published on Thu April 25, 2013 10:48 am

Thanks, mom.

On the day her son George's presidential library is being dedicated in Dallas, former first lady Barbara Bush has told NBC's Today show that "we've had enough Bushes" when it comes to seeing the presidency.

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The Two-Way
9:32 am
Thu April 25, 2013

5 Presidents Set To Help Dedicate George W. Bush's Library

Credit Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images
Statues of former Presidents George W. Bush (left) and his father, George H.W. Bush, stand at the George W. Bush Presidential Center on the SMU campus in Dallas, where the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum will be dedicated Thursday.

Originally published on Thu April 25, 2013 11:14 am

  • From 'Morning Edition': Former first lady Laura Bush talks with NPR's David Greene

We're due for one of those rare moments Thursday morning when the current president and all of his living predecessors will be together.

The occasion: The dedication of the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum on the campus of Southern Methodist University in Dallas. Presidents Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama are due to be there along with, of course, George W. Bush.

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The Two-Way
9:32 am
Thu April 25, 2013

Jobless Claims Dip To Near Five-Year Low

Credit Justin Sullivan / Getty Images
Will there soon be more signs like this? A "now hiring" advertisement in San Francisco last year.

Originally published on Thu April 25, 2013 10:07 am

There were 339,000 first-time claims for unemployment insurance last week, down 16,000 from the week before, the Employment and Training Administration says.

The drop brought claims down to around their lowest level since early 2008, when the latest recession was just getting started and before the downturn got its grip on the economy.

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The Two-Way
10:43 am
Wed April 24, 2013

Violent Protests In Paris After Same-Sex Marriage Law Passes

Credit Yoan Valat / EPA /LANDOV
Protesters took to the streets of Paris on Tueday after parliament gave its final OK to a law legalizing same-sex marriage and adoption by same-sex couples.

Originally published on Wed April 24, 2013 9:41 am

"Clashes broke out between protesters and riot police near France's lower house of parliament late on Tuesday just hours after the country legalized gay marriage, with opponents of the law hurling projectiles at police, who responded with tear gas," France 24 reports.

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The Two-Way
11:10 am
Tue April 23, 2013

Poll: Public Expects Attacks, But Boston Doesn't Add To Fear

Credit Mario Tama / Getty Images
In Boston and other places across the nation, people gathered Monday for a moment of silence to honor the victims of the marathon bombing.

Originally published on Tue April 23, 2013 11:38 am

The Boston Marathon bombings "riveted most Americans" and seemed to "confirm the public's long-held belief that occasional terrorist acts are to be expected," the Pew Research Center says.

In a report released Tuesday morning, it adds that:

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The Two-Way
9:48 am
Mon April 22, 2013

Boston Marathon Bombing: Dzhokar Tsarnaev Has Been Charged

Credit C.J. Gunther / EPA /LANDOV
A sign reading "Flying With Angels Krystle Campbell," is seen Monday as a passing MBTA bus with "Boston Strong" displayed on its message board drives through Medford, Mass. A funeral service for Campbell, one of the three people killed in the marathon bombings, was held later in the day.

Originally published on Tue April 23, 2013 8:07 pm

(Most recent update: 7:00 p.m. ET.)

The surviving suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings was charged Monday with using a weapon of mass destruction to kill three people and wound more than 200 in what FBI investigators said evidence shows was a coldly calculated attack.

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