Venezuela

President Hugo Chavez suffered a stunning defeat at the polls this weekend as voters rejected his proposal to take on sweeping new powers. We speak with Simon Romero, Andean Bureau Chief for The New York Times.

Romney

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Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has decided to deliver a speech addressing his Mormon faith this week. We’ll talk about the decision and the challenges Romney faces in the speech with Alan Wolfe, director of the Boisi Center for Religion and American Life at Boston College. And we will rebroadcast a conversation we had earlier this year with author, Damon Linker. Linker spent two years at Brigham Young University..he is a non-Mormon. Linker will talk about the role of the prophet in the Mormon faith.

Global Warming

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As climate experts gather in Bali, Indonesia, to map out the next phase of their plan to combat global warming, we talk with Peter Frumhoff. He’s director of Science and Policy at the Union for Concerned Scientists and chief scientist for the UCS Climate Campaign; he’s also a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which recently was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize along with former Vice President Al Gore. Frumoff was a lead author on the IPCC’s 4th report on climate change.

Jay Craven

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Producer Jon Kalish profiles Jay Craven, an independent filmmaker from Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom. Craven bucks the Hollywood system by successfully self-distributing his films and television shows and getting big name Hollywood stars to appear in them for next to nothing.

The Gym at Third and Ross

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We visit Pittsburgh, Pa. to meet Jimmy Cvetic, a former homicide detective who has built a boxing gym in one of the city’s toughest neighborhoods. It’s a place where would-be world champions mix it up with ex-cons, and where the motto is: Keep all your fighting confined to the boxing ring. Bill Littlefield, host of NPR’s “Only a Game” has our profile of Cvetic.