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The fact that NBC's new reality show Stars Earn Stripes is kind of an offensive concept should not distract you from the fact that it's stultifyingly boring as television and badly designed as a reality-competition show.

The bombing that began the July 22, 2011, attacks in Oslo could have been prevented and the massacre that followed on an island outside the city could have been stopped much sooner than it was, according to a report released today by an independent commission.

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JACKI LYDEN, HOST:

For many years here at NPR, Gwen Thompkins was an editor and then went to East Africa as a correspondent. She's always had a great ear, so perhaps it's not surprising that her brand-new music radio show called "Music Inside Out with Gwen Thompkins" listens to music in a revealing way. The show is from Gwen's hometown, New Orleans, and every week she talks to people in Louisiana who have devoted their lives to music - songwriters, musicians, producers, you name it.

Gwen Thompkins joins us now from WWNO in New Orleans. Congratulations.

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Now, from Olympic legacies to Hollywood legacies, we want to take a moment to pay tribute to a pioneer actor and director, Al Freeman, Jr. Freeman is perhaps best known for his portrayal of Nation of Islam leader, Elijah Muhammad in Spike Lee's 1992 epic film "Malcolm X." Freeman's performance won him an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Motion Picture.

(SOUNDBITE OF MOVIE, "MALCOLM X")

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JACKI LYDEN, HOST:

This is TELL ME MORE from NPR News. I'm Jacki Lyden. Michel Martin is away. Coming up, we get the cross-cultural flavor of New Orleans music with writer and radio host, Gwen Thompkins. She talks to songwriters, musicians and producers in Louisiana for her program, Music Inside Out, and she shares their stories with us in just a few more minutes.