NPR News

If you're bugged by cost problems you find in health care, you can draw attention to them (and blow off a little steam) by writing about them. And if you're really lucky your work might help change things.

Who knows? You might even make a little cash. Essays from four people just won them $1,000 each in the second annual Costs of Care contest.

As South Carolina gears up for this weekend's primary, hopefuls are spending millions on ads slamming the president and each other. Host Michel Martin speaks to NPR's Ron Elving and Rosemarie Ostler, author of the book "Slinging Mud," about how ads today fit into America's colorful history of political attack campaigns.

Arizona's Superintendent of Public Instruction recently put an end to Mexican American studies classes in Tucson, saying they violated state law. On Wednesday, host Michel Martin heard from Superintendent John Huppenthal. Today Martin speaks with Adelita Grijalva, the sole Tucson School Board member who voted to preserve the program.

For years, critics have argued about whether poetry still holds a place on this country's literary table. Host Michel Martin puts that question to writer Alan King and Lauren Wilcox, who talk about encouraging a taste for poetry in a new generation for this week's Washington Post Magazine.

This month marks the 100th anniversary of the African National Congress, the party that played a crucial role in the global movement to end apartheid in South Africa. That history, along with rare interviews with the party's key players, is featured in the series, "Have You Heard From Johannesburg?" Host Michel Martin speaks with director Connie Field.