Tell Me More

Artist Tim Hernandez has uncovered a mystery behind the classic Woody Guthrie folk song, 'Deportee,' about a tragic plane crash in 1948 that killed 28 illegal immigrants. Hernandez talks with host Michel Martin about what inspired him to look into the real story.

Hundreds rallied outside the Supreme Court this week as the justices heard arguments in two gay marriage cases. Host Michel Martin speaks to Bishop Harry Jackson, who opposes same-sex marriage and spoke at the Marriage March, a rally held in Washington, D.C.

In 2004, Jim McGreevey was the governor of New Jersey and a rising political star. That was until he admitted his homosexuality, and an improper relationship with a male staff member. What happened next is the subject of the new HBO documentary, Fall To Grace. Host Michel Martin speaks with McGreevy and filmmaker Alexandra Pelosi.

The high school rape case in Steubenville, Ohio raised uncomfortable questions about how young people learn about their sexual rights and responsibilities. Host Michel Martin talks about the real sex education teens should be getting, with author Laura Sessions Stepp, attorney B.J. Bernstein, and youth mentor Malik Washington.

The Supreme Court is hearing two landmark gay marriage cases this week. But Robin Shahar's case never made it that far. She lost a job offer for planning a private wedding ceremony with her same-sex partner in 1991. Shahar speaks with host Michel Martin about the cultural shift that brought about these legal challenges.

Taiye Selasi brings the African immigrant experience to readers in her debut novel, Ghana Must Go.

The novel begins with the Sai children preparing to travel from the United States to Ghana for the funeral of the family patriarch, Kweku Sai. Before they leave, Selasi gives readers a glimpse into the events that unfolded while they were growing up in the Boston suburb of Brookline, Mass.

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MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

You've probably been hearing a lot about how America's racial and ethnic makeup is changing. Now it seems as though some of these population tipping points are happening sooner than expected. In a few minutes we will talk about the implications of this in areas like the economy and pop culture.

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MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

I'm Michel Martin and this is TELL ME MORE from NPR News. We want to continue our conversation about this country's changing population. We hope you just heard my conversation with demographer William Frey of the Brookings Institution and the University of Michigan and he told us that in just five years the majority of Americans under 18 will be members of groups that are minorities now, which is to say not white. That's a lot sooner than demographers had expected that to happen.

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MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

I'm Michel Martin, and this is TELL ME MORE, from NPR News. Coming up, when regular jobs can't be found or don't pay all the bills, many Americans turn to the so-called shadow economy, which is bigger than you might think. We'll talk about that in our conversation about personal finance just ahead. But first, we want to turn, again, to how the government is paying its bills or not. We're talking about the sequestration.

In the past, the term 'women's health' generally meant reproductive health. Today, it's a much broader concept. Host Michel Martin discusses the changing field with Dr. Janine Austin Clayton, the National Institute of Health's Director of the Office of Research on Women's Health.