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Right now, five of us — recent college graduates — are traveling across the country on a big blue converted school bus. Our mission is to showcase news of organizations and people who are doing inspiring things to help their communities in America.

The non-profit web series is called Bus 52. For one year, we are visiting the lower 48 states to show that good news is all around.

Our ultimate goal is to highlight 100 inspiring stories across America. Last week we released our 50th tale — about a non-profit pub in Portland, Oregon.

Kind World, an online experiment at WBUR in Boston, celebrates the effect random acts of kindness can have on others.

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LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:

Now, we're going to take a break from politics and visit with Tom Goldman in London at the Olympics.

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SPANDAU BALLET: (Singing) Gold, always believe in your soul. You got the...

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LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:

Now, we also have with us, for more on this announcement, NPR's Washington editor, Ron Elving. Hi, Ron.

RON ELVING, BYLINE: Good to be with you, Linda.

WERTHEIMER: Now, we - also here, NPR political correspondent Don Gonyea. Don.

DON GONYEA, BYLINE: Good morning.

WERTHEIMER: Now, Ron, let me begin with you. Who is Paul Ryan?

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LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:

This is WEEKEND EDITION, from NPR News. I'm Linda Wertheimer. It is no coincidence that Mitt Romney makes his vice presidential announcement aboard the U.S.S. Wisconsin, since Congressman Paul Ryan is from the Badger State. The U.S.S. Wisconsin is one of the largest battleships ever built by the U.S. Navy.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney discarded his increasingly inert better-safe-than-sorry campaign strategy Saturday when he named budget hawk and Democratic bete noire Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin as his running mate.

U.S. cyclist Georgia Gould has won bronze in the women's mountain bike cross-country race. The gold medal went to France's Julie Bresset, who led from the start. Sabine Spitz of Germany won silver, after a late spill caused her to lose contact with Bresset.

GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney's remarks announcing his selection of Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan as his running mate, as released by the Romney campaign:

Ladies and gentlemen:

Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan's remarks after being announced as GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney's running mate, as released by the Romney campaign:

Thank you Governor Romney, Ann. I am deeply honored and excited to join you as your running mate.

You might imagine a war between lobster trappers to be something like this battle of the lobsters. OK, not really. Still, the price war heating up between the fishing folk in Maine and Canada this summer is bringing everybody down.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's newly announced running mate, Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, has youth and experience. A conservative from a swing state, he has big ideas and the policy chops to back them up.

He also brings a kind of enthusiasm Romney could use: He's a darling of the conservative base that Romney has had a harder time winning over.

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LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:

The selection of Paul Ryan as Mitt Romney's running mate will energize conservatives and liberals for the same reason. Ryan is the architect of the Republican House budget, which makes him a champion for conservatives, but a lightning rod, as well.

Joining us now to talk about that Ryan budget is NPR's Scott Horsley. Scott, this is a choice that activists in both parties will have something to say about it.

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LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:

This is WEEKEND EDITION, from NPR News. I'm Linda Wertheimer.

Paul Ryan, the congressman from Wisconsin, has been selected as the Republican candidate for vice president. Mitt Romney is expected to formally make this announcement of his obvious vice presidential running mate at an event later this morning in Virginia. The pick is a bit of a surprise. Congressman Ryan was not at the top of many lists. He shook off speculation on Fox News in May.

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LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:

Now we're going back to the big, high-profile contest this morning in politics: this morning's announcement that Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan is Mitt Romney's pick to be the next vice president. Romney would not speculate about his chances in an interview with MSNBC earlier this week, but he said that he was looking for a running mate with vision.

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LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:

This is WEEKEND EDITION, from NPR News. I'm Linda Wertheimer.

Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan is Mitt Romney's choice to be the next vice president. Mitt Romney's campaign made the announcement earlier this morning, calling the ticket America's Comeback Team. Romney and Ryan are expected to appear together, for the first time as a ticket, at an event in Virginia later this morning. And we will be broadcasting that event when it happens.

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LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:

This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Linda Wertheimer. Today, and in fact we think in just a few minutes, Mitt Romney will make it official. Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan will be his choice for vice president. Romney is expected to make the announcement at an event in Norfolk, Virginia within sight of the Battleship Wisconsin.

Paul Ryan endorsed Mitt Romney during the Republican primaries and just before the Wisconsin primary, Ryan called Romney the right leader for the moment.

Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan is Mitt Romney's choice for running mate on the 2012 Republican presidential ticket.

The official word, which began leaking overnight, came early this morning from the Romney campaign via a smartphone app and a news release.

An Afghan working on an installation shared by Afghan and foreign forces shot and killed three NATO soldiers on Friday — raising to six the number of international troops killed by their Afghan partners in 24 hours, officials said.

All summer long, Weekend Edition has been sampling the sounds of America's street musicians. The latest to catch our ear is Alexis Dawdy, a young violinist who returned to her hometown of Lansing, Mich., to study at Michigan State University — and do a little busking on the side.

"I'm actually not a music major. This is really a hobby that accidentally became a profession," Dawdy says. "I'm studying linguistics, and I'm 17 credits out from graduation. My goal is to do it debt-free, and this helps a lot. This pays for books and this pays for food."

Carmelita Jeter made sure everyone understood what Team USA had just accomplished. She pointed toward the digital clock with the baton as it flashed a time of 40.82 seconds.

Jeter, Tianna Madison, Allyson Felix and Bianca Knight had just gotten a gold medal in the 4 X 100m relay and they did so while shattering the world record by a little more than half a second.

The London Summer Olympics are winding down, and by most accounts, the games have been a success. There were plenty of "thrill of victory, agony of defeat" moments; big, enthusiastic crowds — although there were too many blocks of empty seats; and for those who like a helping of scandal served up at their Olympics, there was that, too.

It wasn't the usual scourge of doping. Instead, the London Olympics had incidents of bending the rules and ethics of sport.