Tell Me More

Fewer Americans are having babies. Instead, many are putting their careers or savings accounts first. But experts say the country's low birthrate could be disastrous for the economy. Host Michel Martin examines the trend with her parenting roundtable.

Skipping $4 lattes will save you some money — but buying into bogus financial advice won't. Finance journalist, Helaine Olen says many of the so-called 'financial experts' are selling you advice to make themselves rich. She discusses her book, Pound Foolish: Exposing the Dark Side of the Personal Finance Industry with host Michel Martin.

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MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

This is TELL ME MORE from NPR News. I'm Michel Martin. Coming up, it's been called a landmark in the American literary canon. Certainly it's one of the premier works of Chicano literature. Now it's finally made its way to the big screen. We are going to speak with its star, herself a well-loved pioneer among Latina actresses. Her name is Miriam Colon and she's with us in just a few minutes to tell us about "Bless Me, Ultima."

Lawmakers failed to avert across-the-board spending cuts to the federal government, and they officially kicked in last week. Host Michel Martin speaks with NPR senior business editor Marilyn Geewax, and The Wall Street Journal's Sudeep Reddy about what it all really means.

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MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

I'm Michel Martin, and this is TELL ME MORE, from NPR News. Now we'd like to tell you about a film that took an unusually long and winding path to the big screen. The film is called "Bless Me, Ultima." It's based on the best-selling novel by Rudolfo Anaya. It's both one of the most loved, most popular and most controversial novels in the modern American canon.

Prospects at the NFL's Scouting Combine were recently asked if they had girlfriends or were married. The NFL launched an investigation into the unusual questions, and warned teams they could be punished for asking about sexual orientation. The Barbershop guys weigh in on that and other news.

The Prophet Muhammad is the central figure in Islam, and thousands of stories have been told about him. Writer Lesley Hazleton decided to dig deeper and get a sense of who he was as a real person. She speaks with host Michel Martin about her biography 'The First Muslim: The Story of Muhammad.

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MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

This is TELL ME MORE from NPR News. I'm Michel Martin. Coming up, you've heard the pundits and the politicians give their take on the new S-word - sequestration. We'll ask the Barber Shop guys for their perspective on this later in the program. But first we want to talk about another big topic in Washington this week. That is the challenge to the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965. That's before the Supreme Court, specifically section five of the act.

You might think you know all there is to know about Martin Luther King Jr. But author Andrea Davis Pinkney digs deeper. She talks with host Michel Martin about her award-winning book, Hand in Hand: Ten Black Men Who Changed America.

Gun violence devastates many predominantly African-American neighborhoods in places across the country. But some faith leaders feel that legal access to guns is part of the solution, not the problem. Host Michel Martin speaks with Reverend Kenn Blanchard about why he wants his congregation to have wider access to guns.