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Jesse M. talked this week to Tricia Brouwers, who was hyping an upcoming fundraiser for Autism Speaks -- and whose 12 year-old son is autistic.‚  Doctors told her for years that her son would never be verbal.‚  Now he gives out the occasional full sentence.

Want to know what the Great Recession looks like in Northwest Indiana?‚  Check out Woodland Village mobile home park on U.S. 20, just east of Gary-- where business is booming, as people look for cheaper places to live.

Shantell, a University of Missouri alum, brought us this story on Friday, and Luis interviewed a current Mizzou student that evening. The consensus so far:‚  This has got to be the corniest hate crime ever.

So, Tom has a bit where he cold-calls folks who have listed community events in the NWI Times-- a fish-fry at the VFW hall, story time at the local library.‚  Today he called Leona Bachan of Alzheimer's and Dementia Services of Northern Indiana, which is offering some classes for caregivers.

We love The Moth StorySlam. We send a crew each month to record stories from the crowd, and Brian devotes an‚  hour the next day to recapping the show and the stories we got.

OK, first:‚  If you haven't heard Duece Poppi's song "My White Friends," you should. Now:‚  Here at Vocalo, we're all about digging deeper,‚  so Tom put V-Theory on the spot a little bit.‚  She's definitely trying to be nice about it here: Is Partying With White People Different

The Reader published a great cover story last week about what was really at stake in the Ike Carothers saga.‚  Only thing was, I didn't really understand it. Jesse Menendez interviewed the Reader's Ben Joravsky, and having listened to the interview, I think I get it.*