NPR News

From one friend to another:

TV icon Barbara Walters turned to the camera on ABC's The View this morning to tell developer/reality TV star/birther conspirator Donald Trump that "you're making a fool of yourself."

David Stern said his 30-year run as the NBA's commissioner will come to an end Feb. 1, 2014.

ESPN reports the NBA Board of Governors tapped Adam Silver, Stern's deputy, as the successor.

ESPN adds:

"Stern, 70, has been the NBA's commissioner since Feb. 1, 1984. Last December, when a new collective bargaining agreement was announced, he predicted it would be the final labor deal before he steps down.

Transcript

NEAL CONAN, HOST:

This is TALK OF THE NATION. I'm Neal Conan in Washington. Most would describe the Middle East peace process as stuck somewhere between impasse and stalemate and not likely to budge anytime soon. Still, a delegation of respected world leaders is visiting Middle East capitals to see if moral power can effect change. They're members of The Elders, some of the most respected leaders of recent history. They look to restart dialogue on some of the world's most intractable disputes and call attention to violations of human rights.

Whenever I hear someone called a "cult writer," my hackles jump toward the ceiling. It's not only that the phrase calls up images of self-congratulatory hipsters, but that writers who become cultish tend to do so because their work is steeped in bizarro sex, graphic violence, trippy weirdness or half-baked philosophy.