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Report: If Congress Ignores 'Fiscal Cliff,' Most Americans Will Pay More Taxes

Credit Pablo Martinez Monsivais / AP

In this Nov. 19, 2011 fie photo the U.S. Capitol building is seen in Washington.

By Marilyn Geewax

Unless Congress passes legislation in a lame-duck session, taxes will be higher by a half-trillion dollars next year, costing the average household nearly $3,500 a year, according to a just-released report by the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center.

After studying details of the tax changes now set to take effect for 2013, the researchers were struck by "how big the tax increase is," said Eric Toder, one of those researchers. "It's a huge, huge number."

10:05 am

Mon October 1, 2012

Dominicans, Haitians Remember Parsley Massacre

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October marks 75 years since a dark period in the Dominican Republic's history. In 1937, President Rafael Leonidas Trujillo ordered the execution of thousands of ethnic Haitians. Guest host Celeste Headlee discusses the "Parsley Massacre" with two noted authors, one Dominican and one Haitian: Julia Alvarez and Edwidge Danticat.

Law

9:57 am

Mon October 1, 2012

Affirmative Action Back On Supreme Court Docket

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CELESTE HEADLEE, HOST:

This is TELL ME MORE from NPR News. I'm Celeste Headlee. Michel Martin is away. Coming up, Hispaniola may be a popular vacation destination, but the nations that share that island have a complicated and sometimes violent history. We'll look back 75 years to a massacre that caused a rift between Dominicans and Haitians. That's in a moment.

9:29 am

Mon October 1, 2012

Being 'Joseph Anton,' Rediscovering Salman Rushdie

Credit Johannes Eisele / AFP/Getty Images

Salman Rushdie is the author of The Satanic Verses, which inspired a fatwah calling for his death. His novel Midnight's Children has been adapted into a film that opens in the U.S. on Nov. 2.

By John Powers

Originally published on Tue October 9, 2012 8:39 am

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In the fall of 1989, I was walking down a London street when someone handed me a flier that asked, "Should Rushdie Die?" The following afternoon, I headed over to the Royal Albert Hall to hear that question answered by a renowned Islamic scholar.

9:22 am

Mon October 1, 2012

'Old-School' Food Shopping Feels New As U.S. Cities Revive Public Markets

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Credit Karen Castillo Farfán / NPR

In 2007, the Eastern Market suffered a devastating fire but through community and Government joined to preserve the architectural edifice. The market reopened on June 26, 2009.

Credit Karen Castillo Farfán / npr

rest

Credit Karen Castillo Farfán / NPR

Merchants bring fruits and homemade jellies and jams from local establishments providing customers fresh options.

Credit Karen Castillo Farfá / NPR

Public markets bring everything a shopper needs under one roof even meat where they connect directly with the butcher.

Credit Karen Castillo Farfá / NPR

Public markets also support local vendors who otherwise could be outsold by corporate markets and warehouse establishments.

Credit Karen Castillo Farfán / PPS

The Eastern Market building is 137 years-old attracting thousands of shoppers and vendors rain or shine.

Credit Karen Castillo Farfán / PPS

The Eastern Market in Washington DC was completed in 1873 designed by German-born architect Adolf Cluss.

Credit PPS

Consumer's interest in public markets continues to grow. Oxbow Public Market in Napa, Calif., was opened in 2007 and was designed to look like the existing architecture of its neighboring business

Credit PPS

Cleveland Ohio's West Side Market began in 1840 as an open air market on land owned and donated by Josiah Barber and Richard Lor

Credit PPS

Today the Cleveland West Side Market provides 100 vendors opportunities to sell and connect with their local community and tourists.

Credit Lexington Market

Lexington Market in Cleveland, Ohio is 220 years-old. General John Eager Howard, who fought in the American Revolution, donated the land for the market. It was a pastor on his family's large estate.

Credit PPS

in 1937, plans to replace the old building with something new and modern, was in place but not until 1949 when a fire destroyed it, did those plans become a reality. Today the market houses 140 merchants and is preparing to undergo a major renovation.

Credit Courtesy of the Project for Public Spaces

Cleveland Ohio's West Side Market began in 1840 as an open air market on land donated by Josiah Barber and Richard Lord, who were two of the first property owners and mayors of the city's oldest neighborhood. The market was renovated in 2004.

Credit Courtesy of the Project for Public Spaces

Today, the Cleveland West Side Market is a space for 100 vendors opportunities to sell and connect with the local community and tourists.

Credit Lexington Market

Lexington Market in Baltimore, Md., is more than 200 years old. General John Eager Howard, who fought in the American Revolution, donated the land for the market to the city.

Credit Courtesy of the Project for Public Spaces

Eastern Market in Washington, D.C. was completed in 1873 and designed by German-born architect Adolf Cluss.

Credit Courtesy of the Project for Public Spaces

After a fire destroyed the old Lexington Market in Baltimore 1949, the city rebuilt it. Today, the market houses 140 merchants and developers are preparing it for another major renovation.

Credit Courtesy of the Project for Public Spaces

Oxbow Public Market in Napa, Calif., opened in 2007 and was designed to blend in with the surrounding architecture.

Credit Project for Public Spaces

The Eastern Market in Washington, D.C. is 137 years old and attracts thousands of shoppers and vendors, rain or shine.

Credit Karen Castillo Farfán / NPR

Ivy Maynor is a vendor inside Eastern Market in Washington, D.C. Public markets support local businesspeople who otherwise could be outsold by corporate markets and warehouse establishments.

Credit Karen Castillo Farfán / NPR

Merchants bring fruits and homemade jellies and jams from local establishments to Eastern Market to provide customers with fresh options and personal service.

Credit Courtesy of the Project for Public Spaces

Oxbow Public Market in Napa, Calif., opened in 2007 and was designed to blend in with the surrounding architecture.

By editor

Originally published on Tue October 2, 2012 8:37 am

One hundred years ago, before Walmart and Whole Foods and Albertson's and Kroger, grocery shopping was a very different experience.

Many American city dwellers flocked to the indoor public markets — huge, high-ceilinged halls lined with vendors hawking everything from fresh fruit and vegetables to full-service meat and fish counters.

8:15 am

Mon October 1, 2012

Watch This: Native American Author Sherman Alexie

Credit Seth Wenig / AP

Author and Spokane Indian Sherman Alexie won the American Book Award in 1996 for Reservation Blues.

By editor

Originally published on Mon October 8, 2012 2:35 am

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7:21 am

Mon October 1, 2012

'Carmageddon II' Wasn't So Scary Either

Credit Gina Ferazzi/pool / EPA /LANDOV

All clear: A section of the 405 freeway in Los Angeles was empty while crews worked over the weekend to demolish the Mulholland Bridge.

By Mark Memmott

Last year it was "carmageddon, schmarmaggedon."

This year, our friends at Southern California Public Radio are asking "carma-what?"

Once again, it seems, car-crazy Los Angelenos coped well with a weekend shutdown of a major freeway so that crews would demolish a no-longer-needed bridge.

6:44 am

Mon October 1, 2012

Credit Alex Wong (photo of Mitt Romney); John Gurzinski (photo of President Obama) / Getty Images

The contenders.

By Mark Memmott

We're nearly to the last of the many milestones that come along during presidential campaigns.

The primaries? Long over.

The conventions? All wrapped up.

Labor Day, when voters supposedly start paying attention? That was four weeks ago.

5:35 am

Mon October 1, 2012

Jack White Disappointed In Fans' Energy Level

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10:10 am

Mon October 1, 2012