Even if you loved To Kill a Mockingbird, you may be full-up with all the stories that have poured out this year to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of the book's publication. But if you have room for one more, consider Hey, Boo. It's a documentary that will be released in New York May 13, and other cities soon after. Director/writer Mary McDonagh Murphy wanted a chance to have author Nell Harper Lee explained by people who know her well and love her.

Early next month, workers at Georgetown’s Toyota plant will be back on a full-time schedule.  The flow of supplies from Japan are moving now after a spring earthquake and tsunami slowed distribution. The March earthquake and tsunami in Japan caused a break in the automotive company’s system for distributing parts.  The resulting shortage resulted in fewer hours on the job for employees at the Scott County Toyota Assembly Plant.

Mitt Romney knew Thursday would be brutal, and it was.

Even before it started.

On the morning of his much-touted health care speech Thursday at the University of Michigan's Cardiovascular Center in Ann Arbor, Romney woke up to a spanking on the conservative editorial pages of The Wall Street Journal, followed by a fusillade of criticism from Democrats as eager
as the Journal to undermine his presidential aspirations.

Nobody likes being called a fatty, but if you're a particular kind of rat, maybe it's not so bad.

The Zucker Fatty Rat has been bred specifically as a genetic model for obesity in humans. Loads of researchers buy them, stuff them full of rich gourmet rat food, and then run tests. One study might help explain why these fat rats (and humans) may not be inclined to go out and play.

Protecting Residents In Assisted Living Facitilies

The U.S. Department of Commerce reported today that retail sales are up for the tenth straight month. Sales in April rose half a percent. Host Michel Martin and NPR's Senior Business Editor Marilyn Geewax discuss what these retail sales figures mean for the economy this summer and for the country's long term fiscal health.

Uganda's parliament is expected to vote Friday on a bill that would impose harsh punishments on homosexuals. The Associated Press reports that the original bill requires the death penalty for "serial offenders," life imprisonment for those convicted of homosexual acts, and a seven year prison sentence for those aiding and abetting homosexual acts. Host Michel Martin speaks with the author of Uganda's anti-gay bill, David Bahati, about the bill's potential impact in Uganda if it passes.

Public radio and television personality Tavis Smiley has written 14 books, many of them bestsellers. But in his new book, Smiley shares surprising details from his personal life, like not getting his college degree until 16 years after marching with his class. Host Michel Martin and Smiley discuss how his failures have helped make him the accomplished man he is today, which is detailed in his new book Fail Up: 20 Lessons On Building Success From Failure.

Football star Michael Oher's life story is dramatized in the hit film "The Blind Side." His new memoir is titled I Beat the Odds: From Homelessness, to The Blind Side, and Beyond. In Tell Me More's occasional segment "In Your Ear," Oher shares the songs that keep him pumped up, whether on or off the football field.

Host Michel Martin continues the conversation about Uganda's "Anti-Homosexuality Bill" that is expected to go to a vote this Friday. The Associated Press reports that the original bill called for harsh punishments on gays and lesbians, including capital punishment and life imprisonment for those convicted. Martin discusses the bill's history and the rising tension around homosexuality in Uganda with Grove City College professor Dr. E. Warren Throckmorton, who has been closely following this bill on his web site.