The craze for karaoke. Equalizer or embarrassment? One devotee tells the uninitiated what they’re missing.

House Democrats pass the stimulus bill, the economy keeps bleeding jobs, and Obama’s envoy heads to the Middle East. Our weekly news roundtable goes behind the headlines.

In today’s second hour, Tom talked with filmmaker George Tillman Jr. and scholar Tricia Rose about the legacy of deceased rapper Biggie Smalls and hip-hop, particularly in the age of Obama. One of the biggest names in hip-hop today, rapper Jay-Z, who went to the same high school as Biggie, might best represent the melding of hip-hop culture [...]

Harvard economist Martin Feldstein was on the show Monday, and he touched off a vigorous response both from callers and in the online comments. Today, he published an op-ed piece in the Washington Post headlined “An $800 Billion Mistake” — laying out many of the same points he presented on the show.

We’ll talk with the director of “Notorious” about the life and death of rapper Biggie Smalls — and the state of hip hop.

Thousands of new layoffs across the country this week, adding to the millions of jobs already lost to recession. We’ll talk with Americans around the country about life without work.

John Updike, master of American letters, is dead at 76. We’ll look at his work and his influence from “Rabbit” to now.

President Obama has pledged to “restore science to its rightful place.” We’ll ask what that means, for America – and the future of science.

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Frank McCourt, who took us into his miserable childhood in Ireland in “Angela’s Ashes,” talks about his book “Teacher Man.”

U.S. banks are face-to-face with a worst-case scenario: failure on a massive scale. We’ll look at President Obama’s options — including nationalization.

The Atlantic’s James Fallows is back from China as America transfers power to a new president. We’ll ask how it all looks to the China maven.

Uber-economist Martin Feldstein on what it’s really going to take to pull out of the trouble we’re in.

American horror master Edgar Allan Poe, at 200. We’ll look at how his stories still chill us.

An epic Inauguration. The Obama White House gets to work. And the economic challenges mount. Our weekly news roundtable goes behind the headlines.

Aretha Franklin sang on the Capitol steps. Who’s next in the world of soul? We’ll talk with rising star Alice Smith.

Barack Obama says the prison for terrorists at Guantanamo Bay must be closed. We’ll ask how.

Killing for coal in the Colorado mountains. We’ll look back on union miners, mining bosses, and the Ludlow Massacre of 1914.

Excerpt from “Introduction: Civil War, Red and Bloody”

President Obama. The oath is taken. Now comes the governing. We’ll look at what’s ahead in the first 100 days.

Special 7pm Broadcast: Our in-depth coverage from Washington continues with perspectives on Obama’s speech, and all the buzz and celebration around the nation’s capital.