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On Feb. 11, 1990, upon his release from prison, Nelson Mandela stood on the steps of City Hall in Cape Town, South Africa. He told the gather crowd of more than 100,000 people to seize what he called "a decisive moment." In the audio above, you can listen to a segment of that speech.

For 27 years, Nelson Mandela was imprisoned on Robben Island for his fight against South Africa's apartheid regime. Saki Macozoma served time on Robben Island alongside Mandela in the 1970s, and he joins Robert Siegel to remember Mandela, who died Thursday at age 95.

Morning Edition reports on the music that sustained Nelson Mandela and other members of the anti-apartheid movement while they were in a South African prison. Many of them were huge reggae fans.

Supporters of the Affordable Care Act encouraged people to promote health insurance at Thanksgiving family gatherings. The effort moves to a new holiday. California's insurance exchange is encouraging holiday shoppers to give "the gift of health" to young people.

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul says lower taxes could help revive Detroit, a city trying to emerge from bankruptcy.The Kentucky Republican is speaking today to…

A circuit court judge who halted lethal injections in 2010 has declined to lift that injunction, ruling yesterday that a lawsuit brought by death row…

Former South African President Nelson Mandela is universally admired but there was a time when he was caught up in controversy. Steve Inskeep talks to Bill Keller, a columnist for The New York Times, about Mandela's controversial past.

The New York Times calls Stephen Sondheim the "greatest and perhaps best-known artist in American musical theater." Sondheim composed the music and lyrics for, among others, Sweeney Todd, Into the Woods and Company. In 2010 he joined Fresh Air to discuss his career in musical theater.

Amid growing fears of a potential genocide, the U.N. has approved military intervention in the former French colony.

Brothers Joel and Ethan Coen continue to mine American pop culture in their latest film. It's 1961 in Greenwich Village, and a homeless folk singer is trying desperately to break out. Critic David Edelstein says the overarching tone of the film is snotty, condescending and cruel.