The Takeaway: Story of the Day

Click on the audio player above to hear this interview. We all know Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech—it’s remembered nearly every January, when we celebrate the federal holiday dedicated to the civil rights activist. The speech, delivered at the 1963 March on Washington, will celebrate its 50th anniversary in August. It turns out August 1963 wasn't the first time that King delivered that speech. A few months earlier, on June 23, Dr. King led more than 100,000 people in a march through Detroit - known as the Freedom Walk - where he gave his "I Have a Dream" speech for the first time. Journalist Tony Brown, host of the online show "Tony Brown’s Journal," coordinated Dr. King’s 1963 Freedom Walk in Detroit and witnessed the original "Dream" speech. He discusses the original speech and his realization that the words he heard that day would become part of American history. Click on the audio player above to hear about King's speech, and listen to the full version here.

HBO's "The Sopranos" changed television, it changed the entertainment industry and actor James Gandolfini himself changed the character of the Italian-American made guy. News broke late Wednesday that Gandolfini, who was in Italy for a film festival, died of a heart attack. He was 51. "We're all in shock and feeling immeasurable sadness at the loss of a beloved member of our family," a statement from HBO says. "[Gandolfini] was a special man, a great talent, but more importantly a gentle and loving person who treated everyone no matter their title or position with equal respect. He touched so many of us over the years with his humor, his warmth and his humility. Our hearts go out to his wife and children during this terrible time. He will be deeply missed by all of us." Today we take a look back at the impact of Gandolfini's break through role in "The Sopranos," and the cultural significance of the show in America. We hear from listeners and chat with Chris Carley, co-owner of Holsten's, the Bloomfield, New Jersey restaurant where "Sopranos" creators David Chase filmed the series' iconic final scene. Of the booth where the Soprano family enjoyed their final dinner onscreen, Carley says, "That booth is closed. When I found out that James had passed away, I put a 'reserved' sign on it and it's been closed since." Click here to see a photo of the booth, reserved for Gandolfini.

In the small Mexican town of Malinalco Takeaway host John Hockenberry met Hermelinda Medina Millan. In April, 1997 when she and her husband first decided to migrate north, cross the border, and enter the United States illegally. Her husband Anselmo Vazquez Landeros worked in the fields for a cotton grower. He drove tractors, plowed the fields laid out irrigation tubing. Life was hard, and it became even harder for Anselmo after Hermelinda decided to take Nancy back to Mexico to rejoin their two older daughters. Anselmo stayed in California, working to support the family. Six years later, he was stopped for a traffic violation, and found to have been drinking. After a year in jail, he was sent back to Mexico. Nancy, now 15 years old, is an American citizen. She was born on American soil while her parents were undocumented in the US. But she only got six years with her father. After his deportation, carrying too much hardship and humiliation on his shoulders, Anselmo took his own life. Today, Nancy lives in California. The rest of her family is in Mexico, including her mother and three sisters. But, she says she understands why her parents made the choices they did. The story of Hermelinda and Anselmo's migration to the United States, his subsequent deportation, and then death, is a story of a family's separation and sacrifices-- all to chase the American dream.   The story of Hermelinda Medina Millan is one of the dozens of cases that come to the desk of Ellen Calmus every month. Ellen Calmus is the director of the Corner Project, a community organization, based in Malinalco, Mexico, that helps the families of migrants to the United States. Ellen is an American, and her job puts her front and center to the human toll that is taken when a Mexican immigrant leaves everything-- and everyone-- behind, as well as the devastation, trauma and stress that results when they are forced to turn around back home.

Was the I.R.S. correct to flag certain organizations applying for tax-exempt status for additional review? New analysis from The New York Times finds that in many cases groups singled out by the IRS may, in fact have been involved in “improper campaign activities.” A California group called the CVFC, for example, spent thousands of dollars on radio ads supporting Republican Congressional candidate.  Another organization called the Ohio Liberty Coalition, which has complained about the scrutiny it received, in fact canvassed for Mitt Romney in the 2012 elections, handing out door hangers. And in Alabama, a group calling itself The Wetumpka Tea Party sponsored training for a get-out-the-vote initiative for the “defeat of President Barack Obama.” Was the scrutiny the I.R.S. applied to these groups truly inappropriate?  And how, under ordinary circumstances, does the I.R.S. go about trying to check-up on organizations that apply for tax-exempt status? As the former director of the I.R.S.’s exempt organizations division, Marcus Owens has a few ideas about how the organization is supposed to handle these kinds of cases.

Yet again the mayor of Oklahoma City has been tested and challenged by tragic circumstances. The latest giant tornado to strike the Oklahoma City area and its suburbs on Monday destroyed entire neighborhoods, leaving at least two dozen dead, and hundreds injured. Mick Cornett, the mayor of Oklahoma City, gives an update on how his city is faring now, and what work is at the top of his to-do list.

We’ve all found ourselves in bad situations, and chosen not to get out. On a personal level, those situations might be a bad jobs or unfulfilling relationships. On a bigger level, they might be international conflicts or government cover-ups. But regardless of scope, one question persists: Why is it that we so often stay, and for so long? To quote Kenny Rogers: Why don’t we know when to walk away, or for that matter, know when to run? Turns out there’s a reason, and that reason has a name. It’s called “the sunk cost fallacy.” Daniel Molden is an associate professor of social psychology at Northwestern University who specializes in motivated judgment decision making, and he knows a lot about why we stay when it's not in our best interest. 

They vowed to go where no one has gone before. But can the crew of the Enterprise really go new places without paying tribute to the old? And what are those old places that brought us to where we are now? David Goodman is something of a “Star Trek” historian. He’s the author of “Star Trek Federation: the First 150 Years.” He’s even written for the Star Trek franchise, specifically for the TV series “Star Trek: Enterprise.” And he’s also the man who penned the famous “Futurama” episode “Where No Fan Has Gone Before.” Nygard shares his knowledge of the history, characters, and adventures that make up the Star Trek universe, and weighs in on whether the newest film, "Star Trek Into Darkness," would make Gene Roddenberry proud.  In this week's look at new movies, Rafer and Kristen share their thoughts on one of the most highly anticipated films of the summer: J.J. Abrams's "Star Trek Into Darkness," starring Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, and Zoe Saldana.

A recent Pentagon report demonstrates the severity of the problem: based on anonymous surveys, the Defense Department estimates that 26,000 members of the military were sexually assaulted in fiscal year 2012, up from 19,000 the year before. Of these 26,000 victims, only a small fraction, 3,374 in 2012, reported the crime. These grim statistics combined with recent sexual battery charges against the Air Force's sexual assault prevention chief and similar accusations against an Army coordinator at Fort Hood have Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) pushing for changes in the military's handling of sexual assault cases.  In the current system, these cases are reported and adjudicated within a victim's chain of command. Victims report to their commanding officer and, Senator Gillibrand says, "There is a fear that the commanding officer will not take them seriously, or punish them for reporting."  Gillibrand's proposed legislation would allow victims to "report these cases to the JAG attorneys, the prosecutors who will prosecute the case," removing the case from the chain of command so that commanding officers with potential conflicts of interest would no longer be in charge of deciding whether a case should go to trial.  While she commends JAG attorneys for their work, because of the charges against sexual assault prevention specialists and the growing number of victims, Gillibrand believes that the overall adjudication of these crimes and the dynamics within the military need to change.  "For one of the Air Force Chiefs of Staff to have testified...that part of the incident rate is because of the hook-up culture that's being held over from high school demonstrates how there is so little understanding," she says, referring to recent comments by Air Force Gen. Mark Welsh to the Senate Armed Services Committee.  "Sexual assault and rape is a crime of violence, it's a crime of aggression, it's a crime of dominance; it may not even be related to sex in any way. These are violent crimes that are often committed by recidivists, people who have done it over and over again, where they target their victim and are really predators."

The implementation of the Affordable Care Act is the responsibility of the Department of Health and Human Services, which largely writes the regulations; oversees notifying hospitals and providers about what is changing; provides insurers with fair warning of new regulations and requirements; and heads up the national campaign to inform the public. In a controversial move, the federal government has turned to private sources to help with the marketing and information campaign for the ACA. What is not in dispute, according to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, is that the marketing and information campaign is an essential first step in getting the health care law up and running.

This Sunday marks a year since last Mother’s Day, and while many of us say thanks in the form of a card, a text or a bunch of flowers, celebrated actress, model and environmental activist Isabella Rossellini says thanks through a short film series called “Mammas.” After writing and directing the Webby-award winning Sundance series “Green Porno” and “Green Porno Seduce Me," which celebrates the mating rituals and sex lives of animal. Rossellini turns her attention to exploring creatures’ rites of passage into motherhood. 

Marijuana regulation has changed radically over the last few years. Voters in Washington State and Colorado legalized marijuana in the 2012 election, and, with a prescription, almost any Californian can walk into a dispensary and buy the substance. With changing policies come new challenges regarding the economics and culture of marijuana.  First, a regulatory angle. Six months ago, Washington and Colorado became the first states to legalize the recreational use of marijuana. While legalization itself was a struggle for its proponents, the work for implementing the laws is perhaps more complicated. Washington State Representative Roger Goodman pointed out in a recent meeting that there are no clear answers for how to regulate the recreational use of marijuana. Creating a safe and legal market for pot, while navigating federal law, which expressly forbids the use of marijuana, is a daunting task, and something that’s never been done before. Austin Jenkins, statehouse reporter for our partner KUOW, in Olympia Washington, explains the implementation of Washington state’s legalization law. And then we look at the economic angle. Dealers who once made their money on the wrong side of the law are finding their way in a quickly-changing industry. Marianne McCune, reporter for Takeaway co-producer WNYC, caught up with one California dealer who decided to move east, to sell marijuana where it’s still illegal, and therefore more expensive, in New York City. Finally, dealers like the on McCune interviews have found ready customers in New York City high schools. Two of Takeaway co-producer's WNYC’s Radio Rookies, Temityao Fagbenle and Gemma Weiner, look at pot culture in two different high schools in the city: one public and one private. They compare the way teenagers buy and use marijuana, and the major differences in how schools deal with students who are caught with the substance.

All this week we're talking to women and mothers who have harnessed smarts, spirit, and self-awareness to break into male-dominated careers and rise to the top. Judy Woodruff has covered news and politics as a broadcast journalist for more than three decades for PBS, CNN, and NBC. She served as an anchor and senior corresponded at CNN for 12 years and was the White House Correspondent for NBC News from 1977 to 1982.  Woodruff is also a wife and mother of three, including a son with spina bifida. Her children are now grown but she hasn't forgotten the feelings of guilt and sacrifice that accompanied juggling a demanding career with a busy home life. "I had this crazy idea you could pursue your career with abandon, and you could get married and have a family and it would all work out happily ever after and there wouldn't be any complications when it came to juggling...that wasn't even a word in my vocabulary. I just had this naive idea that you could do it all."

This week a large team of “medical reinforcements” including Navy nurses, corpsmen, and specialists, were deployed to Guantanamo Bay as a response to the ongoing inmate hunger strike. With about 100 inmates refusing food in protest, the use of force-feeding tubes is now widespread, due to a military directive that aims to keep patients alive, regardless of if they want to be fed or not, or live or not. In a press conference Tuesday morning, President Obama responded to the force-feeding, and reaffirmed his stance that Gitmo should close, saying, “I don't want these individuals to die. Obviously the pentagon is trying to manage the situation as best they can, but I think all of us should reflect on why exactly are we doing this. Why are we doing this?" Carlos Warner is a federal public defender who represents 11 Guantanamo detainees, including Kuwaiti hunger striker Faiz al Kandari. He says that the lawyers representing the hunger strikers are divided on the force-feeding policy.

A lot of people are talking about NBA player Jason Collins right now. Yesterday, he came out, becoming the first openly gay player in major American team sports. There have been those who’ve spoken out in support of Jason Collins, including Bill Clinton and Kobe Bryant, who tweeted, “Proud of jasoncollins34. Don’t suffocate who u r because of the ignorance of others.” Not everyone, however, has been supportive. On Monday, on the ESPN show “Outside the Lines,” sports analyst Chris Broussard said, "I'm a Christian. I don't agree with homosexuality. I think it's a sin, as I think all sex outside of marriage between a man and a woman is." It’s hard to know how Jason Collins is taking all the attention. And how he knew it was time to come out. But one person who might understand is Esera Tuaolo. Back in 2002, Tuaolo became the third former NFL player to come out. This was two years after he’d retired, and three years after he’d made it to the Super Bowl with the Atlanta Falcons. These days, he’s an anti-bullying activist. Tuaolo's website is hateiswrong.com.

A new study from the Urban Institute offers strong evidence that the recession has exposed the United States as an economy without equality of opportunity.  The study shows a growing disparity in wealth between non-Hispanic white Americans and most minority groups-- and argues that major policy reforms are necessary to level the playing field for all Americans. Darrick Hamilton, associate professor of urban policy and economics at the New School in New York breaks down the Urban Institute's findings.

The notions of terror and terrorism have occupied the headlines recently, in many ways, terror has been a large part of the American conversation since September 11, 2001. But one side of the conversation we don’t often see on film is that of the people living their lives in America, working alongside us, living alongside us as neighbors, only to be reframed as enemies or others because of how they look or worship. Mira Nair’s new film, “The Reluctant Fundamentalist” boldly goes there. Based on Mohsid Hamid’s bestselling novel, it tells the story of Changez, a young man from Pakistan climbing the corporate ladder in the U.S., until world events change his life. The film stars Riz Ahmed, Liev Schreiber, Keifer Sutherland, and Kate Hudson. Mira Nair is also the award winning director of “Monsoon Wedding,” “Mississippi Masala,” “The Namesake,” and many other films.

After the bombings at the Boston Marathon last week, residents in the city have come together in a sign of resilience. On The Takeaway this week, we're talking about the importance of residents getting to know their neighbors, especially during times of crisis or tragedy.  For Hassan Malik, little did he know that the Boston bombers lived just 200 yards from his home. Malik, a PhD candidate in international history at Harvard University, never met either of the Tsarnaev brothers, but he walked by their house every day. Malik recently wrote a piece for The Daily Beast recounting his experience in Boston during the bombing and the subsequent city-wide lockdown, and reflects on his own identity as a young man of Pakistani origin. 

America has a love-hate relationship with marijuana. Millions of people use the drug but it remains mostly illegal. A journalist and self-professed marijuana enthusiast explores the country's dysfunctional relationship with cannabis and his own experience with the drug in a new book, "Marijuanamerica."   Part travelogue, part analysis, author Alfred Ryan Nerz goes inside a medical marijuana dispensary and finds himself entrenched with a major West Coast dealer as he looks at the drug's effects on everything from physical pain to memory. Nerz also examines the move towards legalizing the drug and asks if "marijuana is hurting or helping us?"

When the bombs went off at the Boston Marathon, social media networks lit up with cell phone pictures and videos. Investigators requested that anyone with footage of the attacks share them with authorities. While that information may have been helpful, the key technology used to identify the bombing suspect was Closed Circuit Television footage. There have been huge advancements in this technology over the past decade. John Cutter, former Commanding Officer for the NYPD's Criminal Intelligence Section, discusses CCTV and cell phone tracking technology, and their legal implications.  

The tragic bombing of Boston's marathons leaves many unanswered questions. Who orchestrated it, and for what purposes?  Marathons are always equipped with security forces, but in this case, they were unable to stop this horrific attack. Here to talk about the security measures marathon organizers should pursue in the aftermath of this attack, and counterrorism around large events more generally is Nick Casale, New York City's Metropolitan Transit Authority's first Deputy Director of Security for Counter Terrorism. The tragic bombing at the Boston marathon leaves many unanswered questions. Who orchestrated it, and for what purposes?  Marathons are always manned with security forces, but in this case, they were unable to stop this horrific attack. New York City's Metropolitan Transit Authority's first Deputy Director of Security for Counter Terrorism, Nick Casale, discusses counterterrorism and security measures at mass gatherings.