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Tacloban was leveled by Typhoon Haiyan. "We have citizens, but no city," an official said. Twelve days later, people in the city of more than 200,000 are getting more help. But of the 13 million or so people affected by the storm, less than half may have received aid so far.

A few determined people are doing their best to keep letters arriving in U.S. mailboxes. One Michigan woman writes up to 60 letters a week — some of them to the students she's met in 50 years of teaching. Some young people are getting into the act, too — including a group at Central Michigan University.

President John F. Kennedy's relationship with civil rights was far from simple. Host Michel Martin speaks with one of the last living leaders of the civil rights movement, Georgia Representative John Lewis, about his own relationship with President Kennedy. Stanford historian Clayborne Carson also joins the conversation.

"Selfie" is the new word of the year, chosen by Oxford Dictionaries. Tell Me More and NPR's Social Media Project Manager Kate Myers talk about why people love sharing "selfies."

Among others receiving the nation's highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom: writer/activist Gloria Steinem, newspaper editor Ben Bradlee and jazz musician Arturo Sandoval. Posthumous honors went to astronaut Sally Ride, Sen. Daniel Inouye and civil rights activist Bayard Rustin.

Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele each have a white mother and black father, and a lot of the jokes on their Comedy Central show are about race. Peele tells Fresh Air that their backgrounds allow them to do characters others would feel uncomfortable doing.

Typhoon Haiyan, like many disasters that preceded it, created a critical shortage of gasoline. This hampered ordinary Filipinos trying to rebuild their lives, as well as aid organizations trying to help them. One U.S. group has made it its mission to provide free gas.

NPR's Shereen Marisol Meraji spent time with Cuban trumpet virtuoso Arturo Sandoval, just days before he accepted his adopted country's highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

With Republicans blocking the nominations of one African-American and two female judges to a key appeals court, Senate Democrats are again pondering a rules change to curtail the minority's ability to filibuster judicial appointments. But even Democrats themselves are split on whether to proceed.

The disastrous rollout of HealthCare.gov is giving an otherwise wonky piece of legislation new momentum. It's called the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act, or FITARA, for short. And its two key sponsors are among the most unusual bedfellows in Congress.