Tell Me More

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MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

We are about halfway through the Summer Olympics and millions of viewers have been thrilled by the feats of the world's athletes. For Americans, it's been especially exciting to watch America's swimmers. Michael Phelps, who set a record for the most medals won by any Olympian, as well as the young upstarts, Missy Franklin and Katie Ledecky.

Chavela Vargas was a hard-living, feisty singer from Costa Rica who won fame for defying gender stereotypes in the male-dominated world of Ranchero music. She died on Sunday at age 93. Host Michel Martin looks back on Vargas' life and legacy.

The shooting that left six congregants dead at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin has sparked concerns among Sikhs and other South Asian Americans. Host Michel Martin talks about who Sikhs are and how they're reacting to the tragedy. She's joined by Rajdeep Singh of the Sikh Coalition and Deepa Iyer of South Asian Americans Leading Together.

The Obama administration has released guidelines outlining which young undocumented immigrants may be eligible to defer deportation. Host Michel Martin speaks with Cristina Jimenez, the managing director of the United We Dream Network. She talks about the group's "Own the Dream" campaign, which aims to help these young people navigate the application process.

Camila, the leading lady in Cat Life by Brazilian author Clarah Averbuck, may spend nearly 90 pages pining over the love of her life, Antonio, but that doesn't make her weak.

Averbuck says her heroine is somewhat based on her own life experience. "I fell in love, I was young. ... You know, the first time you realize [it's] not going to work the way you think it's going to work, you get all crushed," she tells Michel Martin, host of NPR's Tell Me More.

Brazil's economy is fast developing and it will garner more attention as it gears up to host the next summer Olympics in 2016. As part of Tell Me More's series looking at fiction from countries on the rise in the global arena, host Michel Martin speaks with Brazilian author Clarah Averbuck. She's the author of "Cat Life."

Transcript

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

This is TELL ME MORE, from NPR News. I'm Michel Martin. Coming up, we take our weekly visit to the Barbershop, and, yes, we must go there. We are going to ask the guys if Team USA's women are the big winners so far for the U.S., perhaps outshining the men. Just asking.

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MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

I'm Michel Martin, and this is TELL ME MORE, from NPR News. Now it's time for our weekly visit to the Barber Shop, where the guys talk about what's in the news and what's on their minds.

Sitting in the chairs for a shape-up this week are writer and culture critic Jimi Izrael, civil rights attorney Arsalan Iftikhar, Lester Spence, political science professor at Johns Hopkins University. They're all here with us in our Washington, D.C. studio. And, from Las Vegas, Fernando Vila. He's the managing editor of Univision News in English.