All Things Considered

Robert Siegel talks to billionaire Foster Friess. He's a major backer of the Red, White and Blue Fund — the super PAC that's supporting Republican presidential candidate, Rick Santorum.

Kathleen Edwards is a singer-songwriter from Canada who just released her fourth album, Voyageur. There's a lot of heartache and self-doubt on the record, and that makes sense — much of it was written around the time of Edwards' divorce from her husband and musical collaborator. The song "Pink Champagne" would seem to be a case in point: It takes place at a wedding where a young bride is second-guessing her decision. But Edwards says the message of that song isn't quite so literal.

Rep. Dennis Kucinich is most in his element when he's fighting against social injustice.

Wherever he sees an outrage against the little guy, you'll find the Ohio Democrat railing against it – like at a recent public meeting about a new trash-to-energy facility Cleveland wants to install in a west side neighborhood.

Transcript

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

Well it may be difficult to access Wikipedia today, but it's not impossible. Here with some Wikipedia workarounds is Brian Cooley, the editor at CNET. Welcome back, Brian.

BRIAN COOLEY: Thank you, Robert.

SIEGEL: And first, I want you tell us some different ways to get around the Wikipedia blackout today.

Audie Cornish speaks with Jeffrey Gettleman, East Africa bureau chief for the New York Times, about escalating violence in South Sudan.

Brian Unger is the host of the History Channel show How The States Got Their Shapes.

When we talk about our moms, many of us end up crying. Barbra Walters made her career exploiting this universal weakness. Newt Gingrich proved it recently, very publicly, in Iowa talking about his mom.

I'm going to try to control my emotions as I discuss my mom.

Because I'm not ashamed to say — lately, there have been a few tears.

My mom's not sick. No, she beat cancer.

It's been six years since The Little Willies released an eponymous debut album.

These days, memoirs are often the target of contempt. A scathing slam in New York Times Book Review this year inveighed against "oversharing"; and in the New Yorker, the memoirist was likened to "a drunken guest at a wedding... motivated by an overpowering need to be the center of attention." If the narrative deals with socially unacceptable matters like abuse, addiction, family dysfunction, or even poverty, the scorn gets even thicker.