I'm Jacki Lyden and this is TELL ME MORE from NPR News. Michel Martin is away today. Now it's time for our weekly visit to the Barber Shop, where the guys talk about what's in the news and what's on their minds.
And sitting in the chairs for a shape-up this week are freelance journalist Jimi Izrael. He joins us from Cleveland. Hello, Jimi.
Recent reports highlight GOP presidential hopeful Rick Santorum's connections with the Catholic group Opus Dei. Critics say the group has an extreme agenda, others say it simply has a strong mission. Guest host Jacki Lyden takes a look at the group's influence on American political culture with John Allen, author of the 2005 book Opus Dei.
Rick Santorum's ties to the Catholic group Opus Dei have been recently highlighted in news reports. Guest host Jacki Lyden continues the conversation about Opus Dei with long-time member, John Coverdale. They discuss the role of religion in politics and address claims that the group promotes a conservative political agenda.
I'm Michel Martin and this is TELL ME MORE from NPR News. We are continuing our conversation about this very emotional case that has sparked so much discussion around the country. We're talking about the killing of 17 year old Trayvon Martin.
Trayvon Martin's death has put a spotlight on Florida's "stand your ground" law. The American Legislative Exchange Council uses that law as a model and encourages other states to adopt it. Host Michel Martin speaks with Lisa Graves of the progressive watchdog Center for Media and Democracy. She says ALEC is fueled by corporate interests.
A few years ago, the Houston native left his job in corporate America to pursue his musical dreams. This year, Brian Courtney Wilson's sophomore album, So Proud, debuted at number one on Billboard's Gospel Albums chart. He tells host Michel Martin that he prays that God continues to reveal the music his listeners can lean on.
Jasmin Darznik is the daughter of an Iranian mother and European father. She grew up in California, knowing very little about her family's past in Iran.
That changed one day when Darznik found an old photograph of her mother, Lili, as a child bride. She was standing beside a groom who was not Darznik's father.
Jasmin Darznik left Iran as a child, knowing very little about her family's past. Years later, she found a photograph of her mother as a child-bride with a groom who was not Darznik's father. That starts a long journey of discovery that she chronicles in her book The Good Daughter. Darznik discusses her book with guest host Jacki Lyden.
And now, it's time for the feature we call In Your Ear. That's when we talk with some of our guests about the music they love. Today, we get the personal playlist of another author featured in our Women's History Month series. She's Brenda Dixon Gottschild, and we spoke with her recently about her book, "Joan Myers Brown & the Audacious Hope of the Black Ballerina." And here's some of the music that keeps her on point.
BRENDA DIXON GOTTSCHILD: I am Brenda Dixon Gottschild and this is what's playing in my ear.
I'm Jacki Lyden and this is TELL ME MORE from NPR News. Michel Martin is away this week. Coming up, there are a number of people in the U.S. who continue to insist that President Obama is Muslim, despite his Christian faith. But that begs the question: what does it matter? So what if he were? We'll talk about it what it means to be a Muslim in America in just a bit.
