Transcript

JACKI LYDEN, HOST:

I'm Jacki Lyden and this is TELL ME MORE from NPR News. Michel Martin is away today.

It's Black History Month and, this year, we're observing it by digging into some of the literature that's expanded the African-American story, the memoir. African-American memoirs date as far back as the journals set down by former slaves, and these days there seems to be even more of a zeal to set out one's family history or tell a compelling personal story.

An investigation by ProPublica and NPR sheds light on questionable practices by the government-owned mortgage giant Freddie Mac. Guest host Jacki Lyden speaks with NPR's Chris Arnold and Arturo de los Santos, who is trying to save his house.

With an ad costing about $3.5 million per 30 seconds, the stakes were high as advertisers pulled out all their tricks to wow viewers on Super Bowl Sunday. To review the most talked about ads, guest host Jacki Lyden hears from Tampa Bay Times TV and media critic Eric Deggans, and Detroit News TV critic and writer Mekeisha Madden Toby. They also discuss Madonna's halftime show performance.

Jamie King's NFL dreams never took off, but he got a second chance when he was asked to coach the Fredericksburg Generals, a little-known team in Virginia. He talks with guest host Jacki Lyden about helping a group of misfits become champions, and how it changed his life in the process. King is profiled in this week's The Washington Post Magazine.

President Obama has signed an executive order blocking the movement of "all property and interests in property of the government of Iran, including the Central Bank of Iran," if the assets are in the U.S. or are controlled by an American or U.S. entity at foreign branches of U.S. institutions.

It's hard for those who have an iPhone, iPad, or iPod to describe what the device is worth to them, but it may be harder to measure the human cost of manufacturing Apple products.

(Note: If seeing someone "flip the bird" greatly offends you, this might not be the post for you.)

If it's the morning after a Super Bowl then that must mean everybody's talking not just about the game but about the ads and the halftime show as well.

The game? OK, but not the greatest. (If you haven't heard, the New York Giants beat the New England Patriots 21-17.)

Good morning.

Our early headlines:

-- Syrian Regime Has 'License To Kill' After Diplomatic Impasse, Activists Say.

-- Release Americans 'Immediately,' Ambassador Rice Tells Egypt.

Saying that "these Americans have done absolutely nothing wrong," the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations this morning called on Egypt to immediately allow 19 U.S. citizens to leave that country and to drop plans to accuse them of illegally funding groups that oppose Egypt's ruling military regime.