Talk of the Nation

A bill that could legalize same-sex marriage has cleared the Maryland House and is expected to pass in the Senate. A majority of black clergy in the state argue that same-sex marriage conflicts with the teachings of the Bible, but some pastors have spoken out in support of the bill.

Two movies about movies — The Artist and Hugo — are up for the 2012 Academy Award for best picture. Hollywood has a unique way of making films that depict life in Tinseltown. Film buff Murray Horwitz discusses Hollywood films that deal with the glitz, glamor and harsh realities of Hollywood.

Transcript

NEAL CONAN, HOST:

This is TALK OF THE NATION. I'm Neal Conan, in Washington. A little more than a year ago, NPR started to follow six people in St. Louis who started 2011 out of work. Among them, Casaundra Bronner, who joins us now on the phone. Casaundra Bronner, nice to have you on TALK OF THE NATION.

CASAUNDRA BRONNER: Hi. Thank you very much.

CONAN: And you're speaking with us from work?

BRONNER: Yes.

CONAN: Congratulations. How long have you had a job?

BRONNER: I believe it was March of 2011. March of last year.

All throughout the school's 110-year history, the Manassas High School football team in Memphis, Tenn., was known as a losing team. In 2009, volunteer coach Bill Courtney led the struggling Manassas Tigers to the playoffs.

Filmmakers Dan Lindsay and T.J. Martin chronicle the challenges of the team — on and off the field — in the documentary Undefeated.

Lindsay and Martin talk with NPR's Neal Conan about the film, nominated for an Academy Award in the documentary feature category.

Some analysts are calling the GOP primary in Michigan a do-or-die state for Mitt Romney, who grew up in the suburbs of Detroit and whose father was a popular governor in the state. NPR's Ken Rudin and NPR's Don Gonyea discuss the Michigan primary.

Traffic cameras that snap pictures of cars running red lights or speeding are used in 661 cities around the U.S. NPR's Corey Dade explains that while local governments argue they make driving safer, some motorists believe the cameras are nothing more than revenue generators.

Journalist Marie Colvin, of Britain's Sunday Times, was killed in Syria Wednesday — along with French photographer Remi Ochlik. NPR's Neal Conan remembers the foreign journalist who joined Talk of the Nation several times, reporting from Gaza and Libya.

Wikipedia is the go-to source for succinct information on almost every topic imaginable. It strives to reflect neutral truths that can be verified by reliable sources. The site, known as "The Free Encyclopedia" is written and edited by volunteers.

In the documentary If A Tree Falls, director Marshall Curry tells the story of the rise and fall of the Earth Liberation Front, a group that the FBI once described as America's number one domestic terrorism threat. The film has been nominated for an Academy Award.

Americans have tended to save more and spend less in the years since the economic downturn in 2008. But according to a survey from BankRate.com, only 54 percent of Americans have more emergency savings than credit card debt.