This is TALK OF THE NATION. I'm Neal Conan in Washington. From the Harlem Renaissance to black power, Langston Hughes spoke to the life of African-Americans. The neglected son of a famous abolitionist family, he immersed himself in books. Eighteen years old and just out of high school, he saw sunset on the muddy Mississippi from a train and wrote the poem that introduced the world to Langston Hughes, "The Negro Speaks of Rivers."
NPR's Neal Conan reads from listener comments on previous show segments, including responses to a conversation about the growing number of multigenerational households and the experiences of homeless runaways and young squatters.
When creative thinkers develop a concept, they must convince others their idea is worth backing. Pitching skills are needed in the newsroom, and in the worlds of entertainment, fundraising and invention. But what makes a pitch successful?
Several American cities celebrated Fred Korematsu Day Monday. Korematsu fought the executive order that incarcerated thousands of Japanese Americans during World War II. His case went to the Supreme Court, and in 1988, thousands of surviving internees and heirs received reparations.
A report by NPR and ProPublica finds that Freddie Mac bet billions of dollars against homeowners' ability to refinance their mortgages. Public documents show Freddie Mac sought to make gains through complex securities which would make money for Freddie Mac, but homeowners with high-interest rate loans would not be able to qualify for refinancing. This is not illegal, but it does raise questions about a conflict of interest within a federally-owned company that is supposed to make getting a mortgage easier.