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Homeowners might think of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as just the big dogs of the mortgage business, but in Washington, D.C., they're known as big players in lobbying. The two companies managed to stave off government regulation for years by lobbying hard — and spending generously.

The Imperial Sand Dunes is a 40-mile-long corridor of wind-swept desert in the southeast corner of California -- a place treasured by off-road vehicle enthusiasts and nature lovers alike. But a proposed plan to manage the dunes is making both groups unhappy. Erik Anderson reports for Weekend All Things Considered.

Ten years after fire and violence rocked Los Angeles, Weekend Edition looks back on what happened and how the city has tried to recover. Scott Simon opens the hour from the corner of Florence and Normandie in South Central Los Angeles. A montage follows as Angelinos describe the events of ten years ago in their own words. Scott then explores the economic realities of south Los Angeles.

Actor Patrick Swayze died yesterday after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 57. Swayze played some real characters, from a surfer-dude bank robber to a road-tripping drag queen — and, of course, a dirty dancer. He said he always knew he was going to be a performer.

Michael Sam, a standout at the University of Missouri, announced that he's gay. He's the first active NFL prospect or player to do that. Scouts and executives say he wasn't going to be a first- or second-round pick before that news. The reality is he's now slipped further in the draft, they say.

The common image of a barbershop quartet is of white men singing four-part harmony, but the musical form actually emerged from the barbershops and street corners of African-American neighborhoods. In the latest segment of NPR's Present at the Creation series, Jim Wildman reports on the roots and styles of barbershop for Morning Edition.

Starbucks Corp. says it will close hundreds of stores it opened over the past three years. The company did not say where the stores were located, but all together, 600 underperforming stores will close and 12,000 full- and part-time positions be cut.

The five-member string band Old Crow Medicine Show got its start eight years ago when it busked and played in bars in Canada. The group attempts to recapture and honor the tradition of traveling variety shows that fanned across the United States more than a century ago.

Director George Tillman Jr.'s Notorious, which follows the life and death of the rapper Biggie Smalls, opens in theaters this weekend. David Edelstein has a review.

This graphic and searing opera by Shostakovich was a hit at its premiere, in 1934, but then got the composer in serious trouble with Soviet authorities after Stalin saw it two years later.

Like all teams do, Seattle studied its opponent. Then during the game, says cornerback Richard Sherman, the Seahawks figured out the hand signals that the Denver quarterback was using. Other teams do that too. Seattle certainly took advantage of things, though, and dominated during the 43-8 win.

Crime writer Matt Beynon Rees explores the layers of history and decay that characterize Nablus, a 2,000-year-old Palestinian city in the northern part of the occupied West Bank.