Tell Me More

The Prophet Muhammad is the central figure in Islam, and thousands of stories have been told about him. Writer Lesley Hazleton decided to dig deeper and get a sense of who he was as a real person. She speaks with host Michel Martin about her biography 'The First Muslim: The Story of Muhammad.

Transcript

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

This is TELL ME MORE from NPR News. I'm Michel Martin. Coming up, you've heard the pundits and the politicians give their take on the new S-word - sequestration. We'll ask the Barber Shop guys for their perspective on this later in the program. But first we want to talk about another big topic in Washington this week. That is the challenge to the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965. That's before the Supreme Court, specifically section five of the act.

You might think you know all there is to know about Martin Luther King Jr. But author Andrea Davis Pinkney digs deeper. She talks with host Michel Martin about her award-winning book, Hand in Hand: Ten Black Men Who Changed America.

Gun violence devastates many predominantly African-American neighborhoods in places across the country. But some faith leaders feel that legal access to guns is part of the solution, not the problem. Host Michel Martin speaks with Reverend Kenn Blanchard about why he wants his congregation to have wider access to guns.

Tell Me More has been honoring Black History Month by speaking with African-Americans who've excelled in STEM fields — science, technology, engineering and math. Sylvester James Gates Jr. spent his career researching string theory. He explains to host Michel Martin that, while it seems like science fiction, it's really anything but.