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
9:05 am
Tue May 22, 2012

U.S. Ambassador To Afghanistan To Step Down, Reports Say

Credit Johannes Eisele / AFP/Getty Images
Ryan Crocker, U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, last month in Kabul.

Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, "is expected to step down soon from his post," sources familiar with the matter tell Reuters and a few other news outlets.

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The Two-Way
8:27 am
Tue May 22, 2012

Let's Catch Two: Same Fan Grabs Back-To-Back Home Run Balls

Credit MLB.com
Caleb Lloyd, with the ball in his left hand, celebrates after catching the first of the back-to-back home runs that came his way Monday night in Cincinnati.

Originally published on Tue May 22, 2012 6:02 pm

  • Caleb Lloyd speaking to NPR

"That's just crazy," Cincinnati Reds fan Caleb Lloyd said Monday night after he ended up snagging two home runs balls — from consecutive batters — during the Reds' 4-1 win over the visiting Atlanta Braves.

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The Two-Way
7:48 am
Tue May 22, 2012

Deal Reached On Probe Of Iran's Nuclear Program, IAEA Chief Says

Credit Dieter Nagl / AFP/Getty Images
International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Yukiya Amano earlier today in Vienna, after his return from talks in Tehran.

Originally published on Tue May 22, 2012 5:50 pm

A deal has been agreed to that will facilitate international monitors' effort to investigate whether Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency told reporters in Vienna earlier today.

The Financial Times puts the news this way:

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It's All Politics
3:54 pm
Mon May 21, 2012

Booker, Bain, Romney & Obama: Ad Wars Go Full Circle And Then Some

Credit Bennett Raglin / Getty Images for Macy's
Mayor Cory Booker of Newark, N.J.

This is a classic chain of events that never seems to go out of style in an election year.

First one of the presidential campaigns put out videos that it says are informational but critics say are attack ads. This time, it's President Obama's team and the target is Republican rival Mitt Romney. The point of the spots, such as this one, is to make the case that when Romney ran Bain Capital, some of the companies the investment firm took over ended up shedding jobs rather than creating them.

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The Two-Way
2:25 pm
Mon May 21, 2012

Someone Couldn't Count To 10, So British Olympian Can't Claim Personal Best

When she hit the tape Sunday at the Powerade Great City Games in Manchester, England, Britain's Jessica Ennis hadn't only beaten Olympic heptathlon champion Dawn Harper.

Ennis had also run a personal best 12.75 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles — 0.04 of a second faster than she'd ever run that race.

It was her personal best, that is, until 2004 Olympic heptathlon bronze medalist Kelly Sotherton, also of the U.K., tweeted this question:

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