Homeowners Offered A Way To Settle ‘Underwater’ Mortgages

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The Obama administration hopes to spur short sales for homeowners who are underwater with their mortgages. (AP)

The Obama administration is launching a program to help homeowners who owe more on their mortgage than their homes are worth. Under the so-called short sale program, banks agree to sell the home for market value and forgive the rest of the debt, so homeowners can avoid foreclosure. Bruce Marks, C.E.O. of the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America, says the government should focus on keeping people in their homes, rather than selling them at a loss.

Afghanistan Prepares For A Peace Council

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Afghan President Hamid Karzai, center, prays at a mosque in Kandahar city. (AP)

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has been lashing out at his Western allies, even as he prepares for a “Peace Jirga,” a grand council of tribal elders and Taliban insurgents. Will the Taliban show up, and what will they ask for? We speak with Michael Semple, fellow at the Carr Center at Harvard University’s Kennedy School.

What Would You Ask Tiger Woods Today?

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Tiger Woods is expected to come out swinging at his first real post-scandal press conference.

As golfer Tiger Woods prepares to return to the game, he holds his first real news conference since revelations about his many marital affairs. Journalists have plenty of questions to choose from, like what addiction he has sought treatment for and whether he’s taken performance-enhancing drugs. But will they ask? We speak with Sean Gregory, sports writer for Time magazine.

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Some Countries Offer Money, Incentives To Organ Donors

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A new initiative in Israel would give people who sign organ donor cards priority if they ever require an organ transplant. In Spain, you are now presumed to be a donor unless you specifically state that you are not. And in Iran, live donors are paid for their kidneys. We talk to Boston University professor George Annas, who chairs the Department of Health Law, Ethics and Human Rights about the ethics of transplants, and where the U.s stands on transplants today.

Poets Explore Grief In ‘The Art of Losing’

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Poet Kevin Young says elegies are written for the dead but they can also provide comfort to the living. Young has edited a new anthology of poems about grief, which includes a poem he wrote about his father after he was killled in a hunting accident. Young, who teaches creative writing at Emory University, joins us to talk about “‘The Art of Losing: Poems of Grief and Healing.”

Hear Kevin Young read from his anthology of poems:

• “Let Evening Come” by Jane Kenyon
• “Men At My Fathers Funeral” by William Matthews
• “oh antic God” by Lucille Clifton

Music From The Show

• Medeski, Martin and Wood, “Ice”
• Medeski, Martin and Wood, “Bloody Oil”
• Tito Puente, “Royal T”
• Steely Dan, “Glamour Profession”
• The Wee Trio, “About a Girl”
• Dntel, “Last Songs”
• Talking Heads, “This Must Be the Place”