Host Michel Martin speaks with rapper Samuel Bazawule, better known as Blitz the Ambassador, about his new album, "Afropolitan Dreams."

A federal judge has ruled that a Louisiana law requiring the display of the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms is unconstitutional.

(Originally broadcast May 11, 2012)

President Obama surprised the world yesterday when his stance on same-sex marriage finished "evolving" and he came out in support of it. Will his position hurt or help his chances at re-election? How will it affect his relationship with black clergy? Will it alter his support in the black community?

Our panelists:
- Callie Crossley, host and executive editor, The Callie Crossley Show
- Kim McLarin, author and assistant professor of creative writing, Emerson College
- Phillip Martin, senior reporter, 89.7 WGBH Radio
- Lionel McPherson, associate professor of philosophy, Tufts University

February 8, 2013:

The Scottsboro Boys, The Central Park Five, Shawn Drumgold…in all of these cases, the accused were found guilty, only to be exonerated years later, sometimes decades later. This week on Basic Black, a conversation on searching for truth, justice delayed, and a judicial balm for wounded communities.


Our panel this week:
- Callie Crossley, host and moderator, Boston Public Radio, WGBH
- Kim McLarin, assistant professor of writing, literature and publishing, Emerson College
- Phillip Martin, senior reporter, 89.7 WGBH Radio
- Peniel Joseph, professor of history, Tufts University

June 7, 2013

The folks who make Cheerios thought their commercial highlighted the heart health benefits of their product. All anyone sees is the interracial family consuming the cereal; the virulent racist reaction moves YouTube to shut down the comments section...

Michelle Obama confronts a heckler who interrupted her remarks at a private fundraiser…Twitter erupts on all sides of the issue...

And a challenge to the appointment of a white person to lead the board of Roxbury Community College sparks a debate….?

Panel:?
- Callie Crossley, host, Under The Radar, 89.7 WGBH Radio?
- Kim McLarin, author, Divorce Dog: Men, Motherhood, and Midlife?
- Peniel Joseph, professor of history, Tufts University?
- Phillip Martin, senior reporter, 89.7 WGBH Radio

Today, we received this message from the leadership of the Shakespeare Association of America. It's intended for the Shakespeare theatre members of SAA, but has farther reaching implications so we felt it was important to share on our blog and elsewhere. --------------- American members of the SAA have the chance to make a diffe...

Brady didn’t get much sleep, but he’s all over dissecting the action that unfolded in Tuesday’s New Hampshire Republican Primary. A rundown of the three words that defined the day, a deeper look at the politics that ran the race, a glimpse into the future, and favorite reporter moments from the 2016 trail. Stay tuned for the Democratic edition wrap-up episode!

Brady still hasn't gotten any sleep, but he’s all over dissecting the action that unfolded in Tuesday’s New Hampshire Democratic Primary. A rundown of the three words that defined the day, a deeper look at the politics that ran the race, and favorite reporter moments from the 2016 trail. If you missed it, check out our Republican edition wrap-up episode!

Miriam Levine's new collection of poetry is, as she describes it, a book about loss and consolation. In Saving Daylight, poems recall small moments: a chance meeting outside a theater, an encounter with a mosquito, watching a harmless spider walk across someone's hair. Levine lives in Concord for part of the year, and she sat down with NHPR's All Things Considered Host Peter Biello to chat about her new collection.

Writer Stacia Tolman worked for many years as a high school English teacher at a private school in New Hampshire’s Monadnock region.

When you're fighting off a cold or flu, it's easy to imagine the battle is being waged solely inside the confines of your body. 

But in order to spread, pathogens rely on nearly every aspect of our shared societies. Food and drink, social customs, our proximity to animals, urban design, income inequality: The science of epidemiology connects them all. 

Patient Zero investigates the spaces where people and pathogens collide. It is a story about Lyme disease, but it is also a story about uncertainty, and what to do in the face of it. 

Our next rain system brings scattered showers on Wednesday.

Prof. Wendy Freedman discusses benefits of multiple telescopes

Behavioral economist Sendhil Mullainathan to join Booth faculty as University Professor

Prof. Luigi Zingales discusses the economic and market impact of Italian political uncertainty

Prof. Raghuram Rajan discusses outcomes for emerging markets in Asia

Prof. Eric Posner explains a voting system for protecting the rights of minorities

Last Thanksgiving, Eliana Szabo suffered a brain hemorrhage when an arteriovenous malformation ruptured. Now 11, she has relearned how to walk and talk. Meanwhile, a fellow pianist is trying to raise $10,000 through selling handmade paper cranes.

Recorded during the 2018 International Trombone Festival, this brass choir elevates the cover game.

Alarmed by the growing popularity of rap among Russian youth, President Vladimir Putin wants cultural leaders to devise a means of controlling, rather than banning, the popular music.

The mayor of Cremona, Italy, blocked traffic during five weeks of recording and asked residents to please keep quiet so master musicians could play four instruments -- note by note -- for posterity.

The singer, out on bail following his Feb. 22 arrest in Chicago, said he has done "lots of things wrong" when it comes to women, but said he has apologized. He denies doing anything against their will.

Nipsey Hussle, a respected rapper who earned a Grammy nomination this year for his major-label debut, was fatally shot outside his clothing store, authorities said.

The Minnesota Opera takes the expression "start 'em young" just about as far as it can this weekend with its latest production, "Nooma." It's "an opera for babies," but don't call it that.

Dr. John, the New Orleans singer and piano player who blended black and white musical styles with a hoodoo-infused stage persona and gravelly bayou drawl, died Thursday, his family said. He was 77.

July 3, 2019 is the 50th anniversary of the day that Brian Jones was pronounced dead. Jones founded the Rolling Stones, gave them their name and was their first business manager.

For your Fourth of July listening, an hour of music, including marches by Sousa, Jewell and Gould, and classical works by Copland, Saint-Saens and Holst.

Joao Gilberto, a Brazilian singer, guitarist and songwriter considered one of the fathers of the bossa nova genre that gained global popularity in the 1960s and became an iconic sound of the South American nation, died Saturday, his son said. He was 88.

Marcus of All Trades posted a photo:

Lord Vinheteiro performed a piano composition highlighting the musical evolution of Polish composer Frédéric Chopin from ages 7 through 39.

An Asian elephant named Mary, who lives at the Berlin Zoo learned how to wash herself clean using a hose as a flexible shower head.

Comedian Stef Dag shared her amazement when she found out that the TV show she was watching was actually filmed inside her apartment.

General Manager Clare Duwelius is headed to Unrivaled, the new women’s three-on-three basketball league started by Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart. And associate head coach Katie Smith is headed to Ohio State, where she’ll be the assistant coach for the women’s basketball team.

The Minnesota Twins will promote Derek Falvey to president of baseball and business operations and Jeremy Zoll to general manager as part of a front office succession plan initiated by current club president Dave St. Peter’s move into a strategic adviser role. 

Robert Williams and Jerami Grant each scored 19 points to lead the Portland Trail Blazers to a 122-108 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday night. Naz Reid led Minnesota with 28 points in the loss while star guard Anthony Edwards pitched in 26 points.

Paul Tosto applauded, supported, defended, and created a fair amount of the material that found its way onto these pages, and he did so without getting or needing attention. At least until today.

President-elect Donald Trump named Stephen Miller his deputy chief of staff and Tom Homan as his “border czar,” appointing a battle-tested duo to design and direct immigration policy from the White House.

The new Louisiana requirement that the Ten Commandments be displayed in every public classroom by Jan. 1 was temporarily blocked Tuesday. The judge said the law is "unconstitutional on its face."

Although Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, the Civil War prevented it being enacted in much of the South. Emancipation Day, now known as Juneteenth, commemorates June 19, 1865, when around 250,000 enslaved people were declared free in Texas. NHPR's Peter Biello talks with historian Annette Gordon-Reed, whose book, On Juneteenth, gives a view of the country’s road to Juneteenth, recounting both its origins in Texas and episodes from her life growing up in Texas. In 1965, she was the first child to integrate her town’s all-white schools. Juneteenth became a N.H. state holiday in 2019.

Although Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, the Civil War prevented it being enacted in much of the South. Emancipation Day, now known as Juneteenth, commemorates June 19, 1865, when around 250,000 enslaved people were declared free in Texas. NHPR's Peter Biello talks with historian Annette Gordon-Reed, whose book, On Juneteenth, gives a view of the country’s road to Juneteenth, recounting both its origins in Texas and episodes from her life growing up in Texas. In 1965, she was the first child to integrate her town’s all-white schools. Juneteenth became a N.H. state holiday in 2019.

The Exchange presents a special broadcast of Writers on a New England Stage with Diane Rehm.

MPR News political editor Mike Mulcahy looks ahead to Tuesday’s primary election in Minnesota. He’ll discuss the races to watch and how politics and voting has changed during the pandemic.

Many middle-income families are frustrated by the cost of higher education, feeling they earn too much for financial aid, but not enough to pay for it themselves.

State environmental regulators and a group of northeastern Minnesota residents have filed separate lawsuits to block a proposed $45 million resort development near Ely and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area.

A Christian falsely charged with blasphemy in three cases was released on bail this week after prosecutors failed to produce evidence against him, his attorney said.

This year’s International Day of Prayer for the persecuted Church comes as worldwide tensions have turned up pressure on Christians, challenging the global Body of Christ to keep pace in aid and supplication.

A U.K.-based Christian group has called on the Mexican government to protect clergy after a priest was assassinated in Chiapas State. Fr. Marcelo Pérez Pérez, who was shot to death after officiating Mass, had been a prominent advocate for peace and human rights in the region.

Muslim vigilante groups are working with federal authorities to lure young people into sharing blasphemous content on social media in order to put them behind bars, according to an investigation by Pakistan’s National Commission for Human Rights

Fulani herdsmen kidnapped four Christians in an attack on villages in north-central Nigeria.