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Rundown 4/16

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A sign advertises a bank repossessed home for sale in San Clemente, Calif. (AP)
A sign advertises a bank repossessed home for sale in San Clemente, Calif. (AP)

Rising Foreclosures

Home foreclosures helped set off the crisis in financial markets worldwide and plunged the U.S. into recession. Numbers out today show that it's a growing crisis, as lenders lifted temporary moratoria to file 46% more foreclosures this March compared to last. Rebecca Christie of Bloomberg News is our guest.

Breastfeeding Debate

Hanna Rosin is a working journalist who is breastfeeding her third child, and she argues that the health benefits of breastfeeding are surprisingly thin, and that it may not be right for every family. Hanna Rosin is a contributing editor at The Atlantic, she also blogs for Slate.com.

Internet Piracy on Trial

Tomorrow, a Swedish court will decide the fate of four pirates, but not the heavily armed hijackers of the high seas kind. These are internet pirates who run the popular Sweden-based file-sharing site "ThePirateBay.org", which prosecutors claim illegally allows free downloads of copyright protected files like movies, music and games. We speak to Oscar Swartz who's been covering the Pirate Bay trial in Sweden for Wired.com.

Islamic Banking

Until recently, it was nearly impossible for observant Muslim families in the U.S. to buy a house because their faith forbids them from paying interest. Now some banks have started to offer an alternative to a traditional mortgage that does not involve interest. University Bank in Ann Arbor Michigan is one of the banks at the forefront of this movement. Amjad Quadri, a vice president at University Bank, explains how it works.

Wells Tower

His debut book of short stories, "Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned," is getting rave reviews, drawing comparisons to David Foster Wallace and Sam Shepard. The characters in his stories are seeking solace after something troubling, like a marriage breaking up, but what they often find instead is more trouble. Wells Tower joins us for a conversation about his work.

Music from the show

  • Charles Mingus, "Pedal Point Blues"
  • The Funk Brothers, "Keep Me Hangin' On"
  • The Lickets, "Meat City"
  • Medeski, Martin and Wood, "Bloody Oil"
  • Peter Dixon, "Nagog Woods"
  • Joe Jackson, "Steppin' Out"
  • Jeff Beck, "Suspension"

This program aired on April 16, 2009.

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