Weekend Edition - Saturday on KCCU

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SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Writing's often depicted as a private act - scribbling, crossing out, then crumpling two sheets into a fireplace; trial, error and angst - all of which is best kept private. Silvia Hartmann is now writing on a kind of electronic stage - in an open document, a Google doc - so that readers can see her story appear line by line, edit by edit. Silvia Hartmann joins us from the south coast of England. Thanks so much for being with us.

SILVIA HARTMANN: Hi.

SIMON: So what are you trying to do here, write a novel?

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SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

With the presidential debates coming up next week, we thought we'd turn once more to a man who tries to know everything, A.J. Jacobs, contributing editor at Esquire magazine and author of a number of books too numerous to mention for him to benefit from any bounce in his Amazon rankings. A.J. joins us from New York. A.J., thanks for being with us.

A.J. JACOBS: Thank you for having me.

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SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

The Middle East is a region that inspires hope and despair. NPR's Lourdes Garcia-Navarro has been there to witness and report on a great many of those moments in recent years. She's about to leave Israel and come home to the United States, and she joins us now to talk about impressions she's collected during her time in the field, memories she'll carry with her. She joins us from Tel Aviv. Lulu, thank so much for being with us.

LOURDES GARCIA-NAVARRO, BYLINE: It's a pleasure.

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SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Scott Simon.

The big attraction in Ohio this time of year: football. The Buckeyes, the Bobcats, the Bengals, the Browns. But every four years, the presidential campaigns roll into Ohio with their own ground games, advertizing blitzes and game plans. And for Republican candidate Mitt Romney, the stakes are especially high. No Republican has ever won the White House without winning Ohio. NPR's Don Gonyea has this report.