Voters Send Mixed Message, Picking Both Establishment and Upstart Candidates

Senator Michael Bennet, D-Colo., celebrates after winning the Democratic primary in Colorado on Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2010. (AP)

Democrat Michael Bennet relied heavily on President Obama to win the Democratic nomination for November’s Senate race in Colorado. He’ll face Tea Party favorite Ken Buck who won the Republican nomination. Georgia’s Republican primary was too too close to call until early Wednesday morning — the candidate endorsed by Newt Gringrich prevailed over the politician backed by Sarah Palin, in the end. We’ll have the latest on the races and what they mean with Jay Newton Small, national political correspondent for TIME Magazine.

• Swampland Small’s TIME politics blog
• Bennet Wins Colo. Primary; McMahon In Connecticut

Five Things You Didn’t Know About Ramadan

Hundreds of thousands of Muslims pilgrims circle the Kaaba around the Grand Mosque during the last week of Ramadan in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, in 2009. (AP)

Ramadan begins this week. For Muslims around the world it’s a time to reevaluate their spiritual lives through prayer, fasting and if possible – a pilgrimage to Mecca. But according to Vali Nasr, that’s about all most non-Muslims know about the holy month. For example, most people know Ramadan includes a dawn-to-dusk fast, but what do Muslims in countries where the sun never sets do about eating? We talk with Nasr, a professor of international politics at Tufts University’s Fletcher School, about his recent article in Foreign Policy magazine: “The Five Things You Didn’t Know About Ramadan.”

• Observing Ramadan? There’s an app for that
• In Egypt, Turning Back The Clock For Ramadan
• Nasr on Iraq, previously on Here & Now

A Flight Attendant’s Final Straw

On Monday, when JetBlue flight attendant Steven Slater commandeered the in-flight PA system for a rant, activated the emergency evacuation chute out the side of the plane, grabbed two beers and then slid down the chute onto the runway at New York’s JFK airport, he became somewhat of a hero to many. Passengers often grumble about flight experiences, whether its lost luggage, long delays or crying babies. But Mr. Slater’s actions tell of another point of view: that of the flight attendant. We speak to Bobby Laurie, a flight attendant and freelance journalist. His blog is UpUpandaGay.com.

• JetBlue Flight Attendant Hailed By Many For Dramatic Exit

Breast Cancer Misdiagnosis

Though we tend to think of a biopsy as the “gold standard” in diagnosing breast cancer, there are gray areas where even expert pathologists disagree. And then there are the cases — up to 17 percent according one study — where a certain type of breast cancer is diagnosed in healthy patients who may go on to receive mastectomies, radiation, and other invasive treatments. We speak with Stephanie Saul, whose New York Times article “Prone to Error” explores the problem.

• U.S. Preventive Services Task Force

Barbara Kingsolver’s Prize Winning Novel Tells Tales of Mexico and MaCarthyism

We revisit our conversation with Barbara Kingsolver. Her book “The Lacuna” won Britain’s Orange Prize earlier this year and has just been released in paperback. The epic novel follow protagonist Harrison Shepard from his teen years in Mexico to fame in 1950s America.

• “The Lacuna” excerpt from HarperCollins Publishers
• Barbara Kingsolver’s Biography

Music From The Show

• Air, “Mike Mils”
• Christian McBride, “Brother Mister”
• Moby, “Inside”
• The Fifth Dimension, “Up Up and Away”
• The Ventures, “Green Onions”
• Dntel, “Last Songs”
• Joe Jackson, “Steppin’ Out”
• Rodrigo y Gabriela “Logos”