Josef Stalin Named Among Great Russians

Published December 29, 2008 at 6:00 AM EST

RENEE MONTAGNE, host:

Good morning. I'm Renee Montagne. A state TV contest to name the most popular Russians in history ended this week with 50 million votes cast and Josef Stalin near the top. First place went to a medieval prince who fended off European invaders. Second place, a Czarist prime minister who fended off revolutionaries. Stalin - despite gulags, famines, and purges that killed millions - came in third, ahead of Ivan the Terrible, Lenin and Dostoevsky. It's Morning Edition. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Soft medium, hard truths - National Endowment for the Arts recognizes a Navajo quilter

Adam Burke

A Navajo woman who has spent 50 years sewing has now been honored with an NEA award for her unique quilts. She is unafraid to criticize the mainstream culture that's marginalized Indigenous artists.
After nearly 50 years apart, a divorced couple comes back together to try marriage again

Ayesha Rascoe

Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, residents Fay and Bob Wenrich divorced in 1975. Now, at ages 89 and 94, and after nearly half a century apart, they've re-married.
Public health officials try to control bird flu in U.S. dairy capital

Kerry Klein

More milk products come from Tulare County, California than any other county in the U.S. Public health officials there are trying to guard against bird flu infecting humans.