Preview of the San Francisco Bluegrass and Old-Time Festival

Previews of the 13th annual San Francisco Bluegrass and Old-Time Festival.

Alan talks with Cornel West about his memoir, "Brother West: Living and Loving Out Loud." [Rebroadcast from November 2009]

Alan Talks with Cornel West about his memoir, "Brother west: Living and Loving Out Loud." [rebroadcast from November 2009]

In Moscow on Saturday, tens of thousands of protesters braved the sub-zero temperatures to gather in the city center. They were demonstrating against Vladimir Putin's planned return to the presidency next month. Guest host David Greene has more.

The UN Security Council failed to pass a draft resolution aimed at pressuring Syria's government to stop its violent crackdown on dissidents on Saturday morning. NPR's Michele Keleman and Kelly McEvers join guest host David Greene to update the vote and the fresh breakout of violence Saturday morning.

Since the early a.m., U.S. Park Police have been moving into a park near the White House where the Occupy D.C. movement has been encamped for months. Some officers are on horseback and dressed in riot gear, but there haven't been any major clashes so far.

If there are, you'll likely see it on this Washington Post live video stream.

Transcript

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Imagine a place on earth where there's been no light, no wind for millions of years. Lake Vostok is one such place. The world's third largest lake, in terms of amount of water, has long been hidden, buried beneath two miles of ice until, perhaps, this coming week. Russian researchers are about to break through that ice.

I would like to rise up today in defense of Diet Coke. All diet sodas, in fact. But Diet Coke happens to be my favorite.

I like the stuff.

Cracking open a can of it, or pouring some over ice, helps me survive a long work day.

This love of Diet Coke is one reason my re-entry into the United States has been a little rocky. When I moved back recently after a reporting assignment in Russia, nobody warned me that war had been declared on Diet Coke.

The artillery was fired by Men's Health magazine.