Nothing says "Happy Holidays" better than 3-D goggles. Or perhaps an inflatable wetsuit for big-wave surfing. Those are two of the top gadgets of the year, according to Popular Science magazine's "100 Best Innovations" issue. To tell us a little more about some of those innovations, Editor-In-Chief Mark Jannot joins host Scott Simon.
Gadgets, like cell phone cameras and digital tablets, can turn almost anybody into some kind of amateur journalist. But writer Gwen Thompkins wonders when the amateurs will realize that what the professionals already know - recording an event often stops people from experiencing what's right in front of them.
This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Scott Simon.
(SOUNDBITE OF CIRCUS MUSIC)
SIMON: When the bright lights beam under the Big Top of the Big Apple Circus, Grandma shuffles in. She's got a silver hair, a slow walk, a sly smile, and a purse so huge you think she might have New Jersey somewhere in there. I mean Grandma the Clown.
Lots of comments came in this week about host Scott Simon's remembrance of Laura Nyro. We also heard from several Krampus revelers, who celebrate the Christmas Krampus, a horned, mythical kind of dark sidekick to Santa Claus. Host Scott Simon reads listener reaction to last week's program.
