Tell Me More on WRVO-1: NPR News

Sequestration resulted in automatic cutbacks to several government programs. Many families that rely on Head Start to care for and educate young children have been forced to make other plans. Host Michel Martin speaks with a Head Start teacher in Kansas and NPR Education Correspondent Claudio Sanchez, about how programs have been affected.

Daytime television talk show host Wendy Williams is known for pushing the envelope and dishing the dirt on celebs. She got her start over 20 years ago, as a radio DJ and host. Williams quickly became known in New York as a "shock jockette" who never bit her tongue.

Her quick humor has made The Wendy Williams Show one of the most popular in daytime talk. But Wendy's road to stardom had its bumps.

On Drug Use

Thursday was the National Day of Prayer, and the president called on people of all faiths to remember the victims of recent national tragedies. But what about the growing number of Americans who don't pray? Host Michel Martin speaks with Greg Epstein, the Humanist Chaplain at Harvard University, about where people without faith turn for comfort.

The latest employment figures are out and they show gains in hiring. The Wall Street Journal's Sudeep Reddy joins host Michel Martin to talk about the report, and the millions of working Americans who still fall below the poverty line.

A lot of people have called basketball player Jason Collins a hero for coming out as the first openly gay male athlete in a major American sport. But the Barbershop guys ask if it's heroism or hype.

In the aftermath of the Boston bombings, some critics said investigators should have used harsh interrogation techniques with the surviving suspect. Host Michel Martin speaks with counterterrorism expert and former FBI Agent Joe Navarro about how attitudes about torture have evolved, and what really are the most effective ways to interrogate.

Host Michel Martin talks to Loretta Tofani, who closed her furniture store after discovering poor working conditions at the Chinese factories that supplied her business. She talks about how she made her decision, and about the factory building collapse in Bangladesh.

You may not know much about the country of Cape Verde; it's a group of islands off the coast of West Africa. But you may be surprised that many Cape Verdeans have Jewish ancestry. Host Michel Martin speaks with Carol Castiel, founder of the Cape Verde Jewish Heritage Project, about efforts to restore Jewish burial grounds in the country.

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MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

This is TELL ME MORE from NPR News. I'm Michel Martin. Now, we are going to head into the Beauty Shop. That's where we get a fresh cut on hot topics with our panel of women journalists, commentators, bloggers and activists.

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MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

There is another story now that speaks to the way the world is interconnected in ways we sometimes don't think much about. We want to talk now about that horrific building collapse in Bangladesh that's resulted in the death of at least 400 people so far, and many more are still missing.

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MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

I'm Michel Martin and this is TELL ME MORE from NPR News. We are going to spend some time today talking about relationships across borders, especially the southern border. Later, we will hear about a practice called medical repatriation that's been documented by a law school think tank. Researchers there claim that a number of hospitals around the country have been sending undocumented patients back to their home countries, even while they're unconscious, to avoid paying for expensive care.

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MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

We'd like to end today with the occasional series we call In Your Ear. That's where some of our guests tell us about the songs they listen to for a little inspiration. Today we hear from Nigerian writer and Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka. He recently received yet another honor, the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award's Lifetime Achievement Prize. This unique prize is given to writers who broaden our vision of race and diversity. When we spoke to Wole Soyinka last year, he also shared his favorite music with us.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ISEL'OFIN")

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MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

I'm Michel Martin, and this is TELL ME MORE, from NPR News. Coming up, you might be thinking about freshening up your spring wardrobe, and you might find yourself excited by the low prices being advertised at your favorite store at the mall. And then you hear that there were hundreds of deaths at a factory in Bangladesh. Our next guest is going to tell us what one might have to do with the other. We'll have that conversation in just a few minutes.

Throughout April, Tell Me More has been airing poetic tweets in honor of National Poetry Month. Series curator Holly Bass shares final tweets from celebrated poet Richard Blanco and Canadian listener Bauke Kamstra.

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MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Host Michel Martin continues her conversation about the first 100 days of President Obama's second term. She turns to two Americans with different perspectives on the president's record so far. Tracey Winbush is an Assistant Treasurer of the Ohio Republican Party, and Aracely Panameno is Director of Latino Affairs at the Center for Responsible Lending.

Immigration reform, gun control, sequestration, job creation: There's been a lot on President Obama's agenda in the first 100 days of his second term. How's he fielding it all? Host Michel Martin talks with Salon columnist David Sirota and Republican strategist Ron Christie to assess the President's batting average on the issues.

Growing as a musician is often a balancing act of challenging yourself without alienating your fans. For jazz diva Jane Monheit, maturity has given her singing new depth, and has given her new confidence as a performer. Guest host Celeste Headlee speaks with the Grammy nominated vocalist about her latest album The Heart of the Matter.

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CELESTE HEADLEE, HOST:

Holidays overseas were once so rare for the average person in this country, that families would throw parties to show their vacation photos as slide shows. It's hard to remember that time now when it's relatively unremarkable for Americans to jet off to far-flung locations. Traveling for pleasure was once a hobby for the well off. It's now a $6.5 trillion industry worldwide that employs one out of every 12 people in the world.

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CELESTE HEADLEE, HOST:

This is TELL ME MORE from NPR News. I'm Celeste Headlee. Michel Martin is away. Coming up, the story of one of the world's biggest and most destructive industries, tourism. Author Elizabeth Becker talks about the explosion in travel since the Cold War.

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CELESTE HEADLEE, HOST:

Now we turn to Detroit, where police have been reportedly using a pretty controversial method to deal with vagrancy. Allegedly, police are taking homeless people off city streets - particularly in high tourist areas - then driving them outside of the city limits and leaving them there. The American Civil Liberties Union recently sent a letter to city officials and the Detroit Police Department demanding an end to this practice, and the group also filed a complaint with the Department of Justice, requesting an investigation.

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CELESTE HEADLEE, HOST:

I'm Celeste Headlee, and this is TELL ME MORE, from NPR News. Michel Martin is away. Coming up, we take a closer look at reports from Detroit that local police officers are taking homeless people off the streets only to abandon them outside the city's border.

But first, it's time for Faith Matters, our weekly conversation about religion and spirituality. Today, we focus on the complex relationship between faith and mental health.

The George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum opened this week in Texas. But what exactly is the 43rd president's legacy? And how should presidents spend their time after leaving the White House? Guest host Celeste Headlee checks in with the Barbershop guys.

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CELESTE HEADLEE, HOST:

This is TELL ME MORE from NPR News. I'm Celeste Headlee. Coming up, an unexpected death can be a test of faith for just about anyone, but what happens when that death is a suicide? We'll talk about that in just a few minutes, but first when it comes to politics it's become something of a cliché to say 9/11 changed everything. And in the immediate days following those terrorist attacks, Republicans and Democrats came together.

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CELESTE HEADLEE, HOST:

And next, the latest in our series, Muses and Metaphor. We're celebrating National Poetry Month by hearing your tweet poems. Today's first poem is from artist and writer Susan Crane of Longmont, Colorado. Here she is.

The brutal rape of a five-year-old girl in India has caused public outcry there, and led to the arrest of two men. Host Michel Martin explores what the case says about how India handles sexual assault cases. She speaks with Anand Giridharadas, a columnist at The New York Times.

African-American men in Wisconsin are incarcerated at a rate that's nearly twice the national average, according to a new study. To find out what's behind the staggering numbers, host Michel Martin speaks with Wisconsin State Senator Lena Taylor, and Marc Mauer of The Sentencing Project.

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MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

And now the latest in our series Muses and Metaphor. We are celebrating National Poetry Month by hearing your poems that you've been sending us via Twitter. Today we hear from Sarah Jones of Seattle. She recently moved from Los Angeles with her husband and two sons and says her family made it just in time to see the cherry trees blossom. Here she is.

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MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

I'm Michel Martin and this is TELL ME MORE from NPR News. Now it's time for our Wisdom Watch conversation. That's where we speak with people who've made a difference in their fields.

Today, we hear from one of the most influential tech executives you probably have never heard of unless you're in that field. Not only that, his personal story is just as - if not more - interesting than those of the superstar CEOs you may have heard about in high tech.

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MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

I'm Michel Martin and this is TELL ME MORE from NPR News. Later in the program, we will meet one of this country's most influential tech executives. We'll also hear about his very interesting personal story about how he rose from humble beginnings in Mexico to become one of this country's top leaders in high tech. That's later in the program.

But, first, we want to continue our conversation with three thoughtful Muslim Americans in the wake of the attack on the Boston Marathon and the news that two of the suspects were indeed Muslim.