Weekend Edition Sunday

Host Rachel Martin reads comments from listeners on last week's story about the Massachusetts Senate race and the Keith Haring exhibit in New York.

Travel often brings the unexpected. But I was unprepared to find some of the best food I've ever eaten in Australia.

On a recent trip, we stopped at a café for lunch. An Australian woman we had seen earlier at a sheep dairy ran over and recommended the marron salad. "What is marron?" I asked.

"Well," she said, "you know what yabbies are."

Toto, we're not in Kansas any more. We are in Oz — which is what the locals call Australia. And bad British food is no longer the norm.

Gil Evans, one of the most important jazz arrangers of the 20th century, was born 100 years ago today.

On-Air Challenge: The word "mother" has a surprising property. If you move the first two letters to the end, you get "thermo," the prefix for "heat." Every answer today is another six-letter word that, when you move the first two letters to the end, you get another word or phrase.

Last Week's Challenge from listener Gary Witkin of Newark, Del.: Using only the six letters of the name "Bronte," repeating them as often as necessary, spell a familiar six-word phrase. What is it?

Answer: "To be or not to be"

Winner: Charlotte Sky of Pebble Beach, Calif.

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RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

One hundred years ago this past week, Frank and Rose Snock opened their fish restaurant in Philadelphia. A century later, Snockey's Oyster and Crab House is still serving up deep-fried fish fillets, deviled clams and, of course, oysters.

They've got as many as a dozen varieties. Today, it's the Snock's grandchildren, Ken and Skip, who are running the show. But apparently, not much else has changed. Snockey's is still making the same oyster stew that Rose cooked for 79 years.

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RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Philadelphia has its cheesesteak sandwich, Buffalo its wing. Now, Tampa has officially claimed the Cuban sandwich. The Tampa, Florida city council last month passed a resolution designating the Historic Tampa Cuban Sandwich and specifying its ingredients. From member station WUSS in Tampa, Bobby O'Brien found that claim has drawn ridicule from Miami's Cuban community.

(SOUNDBITE OF CUTTING AND PAPER UNWRAPPING)

BOBBY O'BRIEN, BYLINE: An authentic Tampa Cuban starts with the bread.

ANDREW HUSE: Tampa bread - you know that if you've eaten a piece of it because crumbs are everywhere.

O'BRIEN: That's Andrew Huse. He wrote the history of the Colombia, Florida's century-old Spanish-Cuban restaurant.

People are going to the polls on Sunday to cast their ballots in what has become a referendum on international loan agreements. The election is the most unpredictable in recent history and could produce a hung parliament. NPR's Sylvia Poggioli talks to host Rachel Martin from Athens.

Author Julia Alvarez was born in New York City but raised in the Dominican Republic. Her personal experience of those worlds has shaped much of her writing. Alvarez talks to host Rachel Martin about her new book, A Wedding in Haiti, about the mother-son relationship she fosters with a young Haitian migrant worker.

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RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Rachel Martin.

This morning, voters in two European countries hit hard by the continent's crippling economic crisis are going to the polls. In a moment, we'll speak with NPR's Sylvia Poggioli in Greece. But first, we turn to France where incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy has been campaigning against the background of widespread discontent and a strong Socialist opponent, Francois Hollande.

For more on the election in France, I'm joined now by NPR's Eleanor Beardsley from Paris. Good morning, Eleanor.

ELEANOR BEARDSLEY, BYLINE: Good morning, Rachel.

MARTIN: So we hear about this very strong dissatisfaction with Sarkozy. Where does that come from? What's that about?

On-Air Challenge: You'll be given a series of categories. For each one, name something in the category beginning with each of the letters of the word "robin." For example, given the category "two-syllable boys' names," the answers could be "Roger," "Omar," "Barry," "Isaac" and "Neville."

Last Week's Challenge: Name the capital of a country that, when said out loud, sounds like a three-word phrase. This phrase might describe the reason why the police did not catch a barefoot thief. What is the capital, and what is the reason?

Answer: The capital is Port-au-Prince, and the reason is "poor toe prints."

Winner: Jeanne Grace of Fairport, N.Y.

Okemah, Okla. — the birthplace of Woody Guthrie — has another musical native son to call its own. John Fullbright's recordings mix folk, country and blues, and his lyrics often tackle big-picture topics.

"I grew up with a lot of questions that couldn't really seem to be answered," Fullbright tells NPR's Rachel Martin. "Why are we here? Did some higher power make all of this? Did he make me? And songwriting is kind of your own voice, your strongest voice, that you can use to ask yourself those questions."

Fullbright explores another voice in his song "Gawd Above." Sung from God's perspective, the song is rooted in biblical wit.

"It was an interesting song to write," Fullbright says. "I wanted there to be a sense of humor — God with a gold tooth in his smile."

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DAVID GREENE, HOST:

There are not many events where you will get President Barack Obama and Rick Santorum - oh, and Lindsay Lohan and Kim Kardashian - all at the same dinner. Actually, maybe there's just one event like that. It's the annual White House Correspondents' Association Dinner, where Washington's journalism establishment gathers to listen to the president tell all sorts of jokes and where they invite enough stars to make them think for a night that they cover Hollywood and not boring fiscal policy. Well, Julie Mason attended the dinner last night here in Washington. She's a veteran White House correspondent and currently secretary of the White House Correspondents' Association. Julie, thank you for getting up so early. We appreciate it.

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DAVID GREENE, HOST:

One of the Arab world's most popular comedic actors is facing jail time in Egypt after a judge ruled he insulted Islam in some of his past film roles. The case worries those already concerned about the growing influence of Islamists in Egypt. NPR's Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson has that story from Cairo.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

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DAVID GREENE, HOST:

In the history of Major League Baseball, one of the most emotional moments came in the summer of 1993. The week didn't begin well for New York Yankees pitcher Jim Abbott. He was pitching terribly against the Cleveland Indians. His manager took him out, so...

JIM ABBOTT: I ripped off my Yankee jersey, put on my running shorts and shirt and shoes. And I left the stadium. I just went for a long kind of get-it-out run, as far and as fast as I could, to kind of get rid of some of the anger and disappointment of that start.

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DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Let's stay in China now. With its growing population and economic rise, that country has become the world's largest car market. It's a distinction China has held for several years now. And it's an auto market that's becoming increasingly important to American companies. All that is on display at the Beijing Auto Show, which opened this past week. The big emphasis at the show this year is luxury cars with big chrome grilles and also very big price tags.

NPR's Frank Langfitt used to cover the auto industry in the United States in the city of Detroit. And he is now our Shanghai correspondent and he joins us from there.

Frank, how are American companies doing in this huge China auto market these days?