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Marathon Runners Wonder, Why Not Cancel Earlier?

Credit Louis Lanzano / AP

Mary Wittenberg, president of the New York Road Runners, announces the cancellation of the maration Friday in New York with Deputy Mayor Howard Wolfson (left) and George Hirsch, chairman of the board of New York Road Runners.

By Joel Rose

Originally published on Sat November 3, 2012 11:48 am

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For the first time since it began in 1970, the New York City Marathon will not take place.

Marathon officials and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg had initially insisted that Sunday's race would go on despite the devastation caused by Sandy. But mounting opposition forced the organizers to change their minds Friday.

All week, the group that organizes the race, the New York Road Runners, kept saying the marathon would go on. But on Friday night, Road Runners CEO Mary Wittenberg made this announcement:

1:03 am

Sat November 3, 2012

Radio Tanzania: A Disappearing History On Tape

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Credit Jonathan Kalan

Radio Tanzania archivist Bruno Nanguka stands with just a few of the 15,000 reel-to-reel tapes stored in the station's archives.

Credit Courtesy of the Tanzania Heritage Project

Radio Tanzania was the country's only station from its birth in 1951 until the mid-1990s; its tape archives hold poetry, drama and speeches in addition to music.

Credit Courtesy of the Tanzania Heritage Project

"During the '60s, '70s and '80s, Tanzania had one of the most lively musical scenes in East Africa," Corey says. The music of that era is now referred to as zilipendwa — literally, "the ones that were loved."

Credit Courtesy of the Tanzania Heritage Project

As Tanzania's one-party system collapsed in the 1980s, the state media monopoly ended. Radio Tanzania became just another signal on the dial, which it remains today.

Credit Jonathan Kalan

Radio Tanzania archivist Bruno Nanguka stands with just a few of the 15,000 reel-to-reel tapes stored in the station's archives.

Credit Courtesy of the Tanzania Heritage Project

Rebecca Corey, a 25-year-old music lover from Athens, Ga., fell in love with Tanzania when she was 18 and visited the country to volunteer at an orphanage. Today, she leads the effort to save the Radio Tanzania tapes.

Credit Jonathan Kalan

Rebecca Corey, project director for the Tanzania Heritage Project, and archivist Bruno Nanguka are working to save Radio Tanzania's reel-to-reel tapes.

By John Burnett

Originally published on Sat November 3, 2012 6:10 pm

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At the archives of Radio Tanzania, more than 15,000 reel-to-reel tapes are stacked in floor-to-ceiling shelves. Each band, musician and recording date is painstakingly notated. The tapes reside inside three musty rooms of the Tanzania Broadcasting Corp., which occupies the old brick-and-concrete BBC building in Dar es Salaam.

Radio Tanzania was the country's only station from its birth in 1951 until the mid-1990s, when competing stations came on the air and state-controlled radio became irrelevant.

10:38 pm

Fri November 2, 2012

Smithsonian's Wayne Clough Plays Not My Job

Credit Jacquelyn Martin / AP

By editor

Originally published on Sat November 3, 2012 10:31 am

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The Smithsonian Institution is often called The Nation's Attic, because of all the treasures crammed into it ... which makes Wayne Clough, secretary of the Smithsonian, the crazy guy up in the attic collecting everything.

Since Clough is in charge of the nation's stuff that's worth keeping we've decided to quiz him on the stuff that isn't — turns out people are hoarding stuff so weird, even A&E wouldn't think to broadcast it.

7:01 pm

Fri November 2, 2012

Taylor Swift: 'My Confidence Is Easy To Shake'

Credit Courtesy of the artist

Taylor Swift's fourth studio album, Red, sold 1.2 million copies in its first week — the highest first-week sales total in a decade.

By editor

Originally published on Sat November 3, 2012 4:36 pm

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6:43 pm

Fri November 2, 2012

New York City Marathon Cancelled As Lights Come Back

By Joel Rose

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In New York City, the lights are coming back on, and the annual marathon has been called off. Robert Siegel talks to Joel Rose.

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Superstorm Sandy: Before, During And Beyond

4:14 am

Sat November 3, 2012