Tell Me More

As part of Tell Me More's series for National Poetry Month, host Michel Martin shares a poetic tweet from land surveyor and poet Brandon Montero of Ripon, California. Listeners are invited to tweet original poems of 140 characters or less to #TMMPoetry.

The new romantic comedy Think Like a Man is based on Steve Harvey's advice book that claims to tell women how to out-maneuver men in romance. But even before hitting the box office, the film is causing a stir. Host Michel Martin discusses the movie and the controversy with critic and new Pulitzer Prize winner Wesley Morris.

The Howard Theatre in Washington, DC was once teeming with top entertainers and fans, but after it closed, debris piled up, and animals took shelter in the seats. Michael Marshall and Paola Moya were later tasked with redesigning the interior. They adorned walls in walnut panels and flanked the stage with hi-definition screens. They talk with host Michel Martin.

Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen recently ignited a firestorm when she said that Ann Romney, the wife of GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, had "never worked a day in her life." Rosen also said the candidate shouldn't turn to his wife for advice on women's issues and the economy. Host Michel Martin speaks with a group of moms about the latest front in the "mommy wars."

As part of Tell Me More's series for National Poetry Month, host Michel Martin shares another poetic tweet. Tuesday's tweet comes from author Stacey Graham of Bluemont, Va. Listeners are invited to tweet original poems of 140 characters or less to #TMMPoetry.

The Howard Theatre in Washington, DC was built in 1910, and just about every top black entertainer performed on its stage. But it had to shut its doors once the neighborhood fell on hard times. Now it has reopened, and host Michel Martin talks with Jimi Smooth, a musician who was an usher at the Howard in the early '60s.

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MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

If you don't, you're not alone. Attitudes over taxes have soured over the years, but there were times when Americans felt a sense of duty to pay taxes. Host Michel Martin discusses the history of taxes with Joseph Thorndike, a columnist for Tax Analysts and co-author of War and Taxes.

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MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

This is TELL ME MORE from NPR News. I'm Michel Martin. Coming up, we will hear the latest entry in our Muses and Metaphor series for National Poetry Month. Those are our tweet-length poems. We'll have another one in just a few minutes.

But first, we turn to election news and a controversy that's keeping the battle for women voters in the spotlight. Polls show women voters strongly favor President Barack Obama over presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney.

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MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Switching gears now, often, stories about politicians in their off hours take on kind of a scandalous turn. Not this one. When Newark, New Jersey Mayor Cory Booker went home last night, his neighbor's house was on fire. A woman who had escaped the inferno told him that her daughter was trapped inside and what happened next is something really out of an action movie, with Cory Booker in the starring role.

Here's Newark Fire Director Fateen Ziyad describing the scene to New York station WABC.