I'm excited to tell you I'll be co-hosting NPR's New Hampshire Election special Tuesday night with the incomparable Robert Siegel. We'll be on from 8-11 p.m. ET, so if you're by a radio, check us out if you can.

That's another way of saying this is going to be brief, because in addition to preparing for tomorrow's show, I have to start an intensive program of worrying that I might mess up.

OK, not really. This is not my first time in the chair. I worked a number of election specials anchored by Peter Jennings when I was a correspondent at ABC News and side-kicked the HD coverage with Chris Cuomo (now Good Morning America news anchor) on election night 2004. That was crazy. I think we were on the air for what, five hours straight? ... Six? And, remember, you're on camera — on a tiny set — for the whole time. I later told Cuomo I admired his ability to maintain a sense of humor as well as, well, you can figure it out, what else needs to be under control. Of course, Peter, my late colleague, was the original iron man. Wasn't he on the air for 24 hours, straight, during New Year's Day in 2000? I was on the air for three, and I had had enough. Of course, that day we were talking about a story that wasn't — all the Y2K glitches that were predicted that never happened. Which is not the case here.

I know there was a lot of breaking news today...

 

on stories we've been covering — the Supreme Court is taking up the issue of lethal injection, a senior American diplomat is in Kenya trying to negotiate an end to the election dispute that has led to violence there, there were two car bombings in Iraq and some really intriguing interviews over the weekend on Pakistan and the steroid scandal. So, that's why we're taking a look at ... slavery?

Yes, slavery. Why? Because we know we've done those other stories and will do so again. We will return to them as often as we need to, to bring you the information we think you'll want to have. But part of our goal is to talk about what isn't being talked about, and the end of the transatlantic slave trade is one of those monumental historical events that we in the news business often fail to notice or grapple with. Since the anniversary on January 1, 1808, we've been acknowledging the event with a variety of reflections on slavery in American. So, today, an interview with the State Department's Ambassador-at-large who is tasked with addressing slavery today.

Did you even know we had such a person in the government?

And, the amazing story of Harriet Jacobs. When I first heard this story — and I am embarrassed to tell you it was only a year or so ago — I could not forget it. And no one tells it better than the academic who authenticated it — Jean Fagan Yellin.

Finally, a piece that might get you thinking and talking. It's about how black women and white women relate to each other at work, especially in the upper ranks of corporate America. A provocative take from the folks at Pink magazine, a member of our magazine mavens roundtable.

So I'm off to bite my nails. Wish me luck.