Need To Know

When houses are torn down in Youngstown, OH, few are sorry to see them go. Resident Linda Jenkins lived next to an abandoned house for 10 years -- this is her story.

In Youngstown, OH, it takes a village to shrink a city. Even with the city's ever-diminishing population, hundreds of residents have volunteered to assist in the city's revitalization plan.

Phil Kidd, a community organizer from Youngstown, OH, on the lessons Youngstown has learned and how the city can survive.

Can cities like Detroit, Cleveland and Youngstown make a comeback? Reed Kroloff, Director of Michigan's Cranbrook Academy of Art, thinks so.

Under the plan to shrink Youngstown, OH, the city can't just tear down - neighborhoods have to survive if Youngstown is going to. Two city housing inspectors are doing their part put an end to all the blighted homes in Youngstown.

Earlier this spring, Major League Baseball held its annual gala Civil Rights weekend in Atlanta, where baseballs luminaries from past and present gather to honor their sports long tradition of racial diversity. But as The Nations sportswriter Dave Zirin tells us, when musician and fellow honoree Carlos Santana took to the podium, not everyone in Atlanta was cheering.

Even as the wars wind down in Iraq and Afghanistan the financial cost of taking care of veterans continues to mount and could reach a trillion dollars in coming decades

Post-industrial cities are facing steep population loss and vast expanses of abandoned property - a phenomenon known as "shrinking." Dan Kildee. president of Community Progress and a leader in the Shrinking Cities movement. talks to Alison Stewart about the need for a national agenda, and the mental shift Americans will need to make before they stop seeing downsizing as failure.

With thousands of houses sitting empty and crumbling experts say people wont be moving back into the old industrial cities that pepper the rustbelt anytime soon. But what about the residents who continue to live there In Youngstown Ohio a city tries out a plan to restore its former greatness but on a smaller scale.

American troops have fought for nine years in Afghanistan and more than seven in Iraq, but many Americans hardly notice that their country is at war. That's worth remembering this Memorial Day. In this essay, Jon Meacham reflects on why war feels distant to so many Americans - and why the burden of military sacrifice weighs heavily on so few.

Alison Stewart sits down with the New York Times East Africa Bureau Chief Jeffrey Gettleman to talk about how Africans view Libyan leader Col.Moammar Gadhafi and the chance for a successful transition of power in Africa's newest country - South Sudan.

In the wake of the deadliest tornado season in decades, Need to Know interviews meteorologist Harold Brooks of the National Severe Storms Laboratory in Norman, Oklahoma, to see whether there is any validity to the claim that climate change is a contributing factor.

Scott Winkler thought his life was over when he came home from the Iraq War in a wheelchair in 2003. Paralympic sports gave him hope and a desire to live. Now an American record holder in the shot put and a favorite for the 2010 Paralympic Games in London, Scott has turned his attention to helping his former soldiers.

A rare but deadly fungal disease once known only in tropical climates is infecting people in the Pacific Northwest -- and researchers say climate change may be why. Need to Know medical correspondent Dr. Emily Senay examines how a warming climate is already affecting our health -- making allergies worse, affecting the spread of infectious diseases, and pushing the extremes of killer weather.

From solar powered rickshaws to a canopy made of recycled oil cans, learn about Jugaad Urbanism -- an exhibit featuring the work of urban designers inspired by the resourcefullness of ordinary citizens in India.

In conjunction with the airing of American Experience Freedom Riders airing on PBS May 16 on PBS Alison Stewart talks to Francis and Laura Randall who 50 years ago were part of the courageous band of American civil rights activists who risked their lives on the Freedom Rides taking buses together through the deep south to demonstrate against Jim Crow laws

Taylor Mac, playwright and performance artist, spoke to NTK's Alex Nikolchev at the La MaMa theater in New York City about his most recent work, "The Walk Across America for Mother Earth." In this web-exclusive video, Mac talks about his efforts to subvert traditional notions of identity, citizenship and personhood.

NTK host Alison Stewart reports on technology that uses cell phones to locate disaster victims and get them help. Created after the earthquake in Haiti, it's now being used to help victims of the tornados in the Midwest, the earthquake in Japan and the unrest in the Middle East.

Jon Meacham salutes a true public servant, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who retires this year, after serving both Democratic and Republican administrations with distinction.

Broadband service in the U.S. lags behind a dozen or more industrialized countries - and we're doing worse every year. Rick Karr went to Europe - in collaboration with Engadget - to find out how two countries there have jumped ahead of us.