Let me say, we realized we started the week off on what might be, for some, a very depressing note — two different stories about the deaths of two young people. We apologize if this is more than some of you could take, but the timing was such that we felt both pieces needed to air today.

Our condolences to both families, and we hope that sharing your stories helps others to heal, and you as well.

The wealth gap story fascinates me because it offers a very real and concrete explanation for so many of the "deep stem" issues in American life. It's not quite a T.O.E. (theory of everything) but it is substantial.

Here's the executive summary (pdf) for the conference we talked about.

And now, books. I'll bring this up again to remind you, but we are starting to get a lot of book submissions for the summer, all kinds of novels, along with the usual self-help and political books. As you may have noticed, we don't spend a great deal of time talking about fiction, a part from our occasional visits with our "book lady," Loriene Roy of the American Library Association. But summer is coming and, for many people, that means more time to read. And, frankly, even if your finances mean you'll be partaking of a "staycation" this year instead of lounging in Provence (or the Jersey Shore), a good book is probably going to be part of your plans.

TMM Summer Reading Series

We'd like your help in organizing our summer reading series. My preference is to stick to a genre or a theme. The question is, what theme?

I was thinking, new fiction out of Africa? What about new fiction from South Asian women writers? What about new books about Politics (we could start with Gwen Ifill's new book Breakthrough: politics in the age of Obama)? What about novels set in the middle east? What about new and classic novels set in the Middle East?

You get the idea.

We're not trying to get you to do our work for us, but I love to hear from you.

What books should we dig into this summer? Let us know and if we pick your idea we'll find a way to include you in our conversations.

On we go ...