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The husband and wife team of Mara Brock Akil and Salim Akil have created some of the most iconic African-American characters on television. This is their list of must-see shows and movies.

President Obama gave one of his final news conferences as president on Friday. Here, NPR reporters provide context on five different Obama quotes.

"It's a responsibility being Mary J. Blige," the singer says. She speaks with NPR's Rachel Martin about finding catharsis through music — and says that even she works out to her songs.

While a significant portion of the Super Bowl watching audience are around for the ads, it's not just the TV-watching audience to which those ads are geared. Here's a few notable ads to watch Sunday.

The Indianapolis International Airport has a full-length, regulation basketball court. The city is hosting the 2024 NBA All-Star game next month.

On October 13, 1994, five year old Eric Morse was thrown to his death from the 14th story window of an apartment in the Ida B. Wells housing project in Chicago. He was thrown by two boys who at the time were ten and eleven years old. Young reporters LeAlan Jones and Lloyd Newman have spent the last year on assignment for "All Things Considered", exploring this crime and its impact on the neighborhood. The first hour of our program today is devoted to this story. LeAlan and Lloyd live in the same neighborhood where Eric Morse died. Along with the head of the Chicago Housing Authority, they tour the building he was thrown from. The view from the 14th story is bleak, offering little hope to residents. The boys learn firsthand how difficult reporting can be when doors slam in their faces as they go around asking people to talk to them about Eric Morse's death. Prosecuting and defense attorneys involved in the case talk about the impact the Ida B. Wells neighborhood had on the boys who killed Eric Morse. The prosecuting attorney says she has not seen a crime this awful before - and the defense attorneys say it was bound to happen and may happen again if systematic problems are not addressed. We hear from kids in the neighborhood, and from young relatives. Eric Morse's young cousin talks about how much he misses Eric and about the fights he has had with the young killers. We hear from an adult who tried to help the killers when they were in elementary school. One of the killers brought crack cocaine to kindergarten. The father of one of the young killers, interviewed by LeAlan and Lloyd at a prison where he was incarcerated, says his son was a gentle boy. And in an exclusive interview, Eric Morse's mother and half brother (who watched him die, and tried to run down 14 flights of stairs to catch him), talk about Eric and how much they miss him, and how troubled his killers must have been. Through it all, reporters LeAlan Jones and Lloyd Newman wonder what has made them different, why they didn't end up as killers or dead themselves. (IN S

The Tiny Desk concert series is old enough to have some traditions of its own. Here are five of our favorite holiday performances from over the years.

Mourners, including many in the LGBTQ community, gathered for a vigil in Colorado Springs, Colo., Sunday night, to hear words of sorrow, remembrance and strength.

The nation's unemployment rate soared in March as employers slashed 663,000 jobs. Government figures show the jobless rate is at 8.5 percent — the highest level since 1983. It is one more sign of the toll that the recession is taking on the U.S. economy.

The legendary actress Elaine Stritch died this week. NPR's Scott Simon remembers her career and an interview he had with her earlier this year.