Hsi-Chang Lin

One of the most difficult conversations we can have in our society has to do with race. In some ways the conversation is complicated by recent milestone events in racial equality like the election of President Barack Obama. But, Jay Smooth says that milestones like that are exactly the reason why we need to think and communicate more effectively about race as such milestones can obfuscate the real inequalities that still remain in our society.

It could be a tense orchestral crash of instruments ("Thus Sprach Zarathustra"), or held in just a few feverish notes on a piano ("Halloween"). Whatever it is, the music from movies we think of as spooky plays a big part in raising those hairs on our neck and getting us to reach out for a (hopefully live) hand to hold. John Schaefer, host of New York Public Radio’s "Soundcheck" joins us with a playlist of some of the scariest music ever recorded.

On Christmas day in 2009, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab failed to detonate an explosive device he hid in his underwear, while flying aboard Northwest Flight 253 to Detroit, Mich. Abdulmutallab pleaded guilty in court yesterday to all eight charges against him, including conspiracy to commit terrorism, attempted murder on an aircraft, attempted placement of a destructive device, and the attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction.

One in six Americans are poor, which means 50 million people are living in poverty in the United States. Dr. Cornel West and Tavis Smiley, hosts of PRI's "Smiley and West," went on "The Poverty Tour: A Call to Conscience," an 18-city tour of the United States in August, to speak with Americans living in poverty and get a sense of what it's like to be poor in America today. This week, PBS will air the first of five episodes of "The Poverty Tour."

Economist Jeffrey Sachs has a new book, "The Price of Civilization: Reawakening American Virtue and Prosperity," and the heart of it is a single argument: all of the nation’s current economic, political and productive woes share a similar root cause: that America’s financial and political leaders are failing to take the moral steps necessary to restrain a society of markets, and policies run amok, and that we need to become a "mindful society."

On Thursday, President Obama spoke at a press conference from the White House on his jobs proposal, calling it "an insurance policy against a possible double-dip recession." Obama hopes to fund the plan via a plan pitched by Senate Democrats this week, to tax Americans with incomes above one million dollars per year. Senate Leader Harry Reid plans to bring the jobs bill to the Senate floor next week.

Two men are suing Fox Searchlight, saying the company violated minimum wage and overtime laws when they employed the two as interns on the Academy Award-winning film "Black Swan." In these uncertain economic times, many film studios and other employers have been hiring more unpaid interns. For the company that hires interns, the benefit is a free worker, and for the intern the benefit is a learning experience, and possibly a paid job offer in the future. The federal labor department has a set list of rules that unpaid internships must follow: the position should benefit the intern, it should not displace other employees, and it should be educational. Did Fox Searchlight violate these rules?

Yesterday, there was a special election for the New York Congressional seat left vacant by disgraced Democratic Congressman Anthony Weiner. The largely Democratic district would logically have gone to Democratic Assemblyman David Weprin, but due to myriad political factors Republican businessman Bob Turner won the race.

Federal authorities are still on alert after news of a "specific, credible" terrorist threat for New York City and the District of Columbia broke on Thursday night, as the tenth anniversary of September 11 approached. The memorial service at Ground Zero still went on as promised Sunday, with thousands of people coming to the site to pay tribute to those who died and those who survived in the 9/11 attacks. Meanwhile, on Saturday the Taliban took credit for a suicide bomb attack on NATO forces in eastern Afghanistan, injuring at least 80 people.

This week has been a time of reflection on the loss, perseverance, and humanity displayed on September 11, 2001. It's also been a time for remembrance of 9/11. We asked our listeners to send us suggestions for songs that helped them cope with and process the events of that day. Here are some of their suggestions.

The economy has yet to recover from the great recession as nation’s unemployment numbers remain bleak at 9.1 percent. That number is worse in Michigan, where the unemployment rate is 10.9 percent. One solution to this problem may be for more people to start businesses. The costs of starting up a business may be lower now than in pre-recession times.

When America entered the new millennium, the Clinton Administration reported a budget surplus of around $559 billion and the world was in a state of relative peace. With dot-coms booming, real estate values rising and seemingly no end to the nation’s economic prosperity in sight, the American dream seemed to be a reality for more people. But in 2011 the picture is less rosy. What happened over the past ten years, and does it add up to a lost generation; one without hope of achieving the American Dream?

Tropical Storm Irene recently stormed across the northeastern United States, leaving somewhere billions of dollars in damages in its wake. But it won't be insurance companies footing the bill — most likely, it'll be taxpayers. This is partly due to the fact that most people that the storm affected don't have insurance that covers floods, but the federal government's insurance program is also billions of dollars in debt. 

Within a week, the northeastern United States was hit by both an earthquake and hurricane. Following Hurricane Irene, four million homes and businesses lost electricity. According to experts like Dan Genest of Dominion Virginia Power, turning the lights back on will be no easy task. He told the AP that "one broken pole can take six to seven hours to repair."

Over the course of his 42-year reign, Libyan ruler Moammar Gadhafi has garnered a reputation for being one of the most eccentric and unpredictable leaders on the global stage. Since assuming leadership of the country at age 27, his rule felt unshakable until the first series of uprisings in February. What makes him tick, and what could he be thinking now, as he continues to hide from rebel forces while his leadership seems to be reaching an end?

Yesterday, we discussed the differences in battle techniques between the NATO-backed uprisings in Libya, and recent U.S. military efforts in the Middle East. Our guest, Gideon Rose, editor for Foreign Affairs magazine and the author of "How Wars End: Why We Always Fight the Last Battle," said that comparisons can be drawn between NATO's efforts in Kosovo, and what has transpired this year in Libya. We decided to look into this further.

Before the uprisings began in Libya in February, the nation produced 1.6 million barrels of oil per day, and was responsible for two percent of the world's oil supplies. Six months ago, shipments stopped at the rebellion grew there. The loss of Libyan oil drove up the price of Brent crude, which is sold to refineries on the United States' east coast.

On Sunday homeless men and women from across the globe will meet in Paris, France to compete in the ninth Homeless World Cup. The decade-old event is an international four-on-four soccer tournament that brings together homeless athletes, and also draws attention to the plight of the 100 million homeless people around the world. Games are spectator-friendly, and will take place in the city's center.

Winston Churchill will always be remembered for his handling of the Axis powers in World War II; President George W. Bush and Rudy Giuliani are inextricably linked to their responses to 9/11. Many world leaders are known best for actions they took in times of great crises. For our nation's current leader, the history books are still being written, and a second presidential term is a possibility. We wanted to preview what history may say of President Obama’s handling of the social, economic and military crises that have so far marked his first term in office. How will future generations remember him?

Formula One racing attracts fans all over the world, and back in the '80s and '90s there was one man who everybody wanted to see race: Brazilian driver Ayrton Senna. Known for being a charismatic risk taker on and off the track, Senna's legions of fans were shocked when he was killed in a crash during the San Marino Grand Prix in 1994. A new documentary called "Senna" tells the story of his life. The film won the World Cinema Audience Award: Documentary at this year's Sundance Festival.