In our latest installment of the StoryCorps Military Voices Initiative, we hear from Lance Cpl. Travis Williams. In 2005, while serving in Iraq, Williams lost his 12-man squad lost his squad to an IED. He was the only survivor.

Melissa Block speaks with political commentators E.J. Dionne of The Washington Post and Brookings Institution and David Brooks of The New York Times. They discuss highlights from the national security speech delivered by President Obama on Thursday.

Two mothers whose sons were killed during the first Gulf War talk about how they became friends after their sons died. The past 22 years would have been tough without the friendship, because, as one tells the other, "what's in our hearts we share."

Elysha O'Brien calls herself a "Mexican white girl." Not just because of her ethnically ambiguous appearance, she says, but also because she can't speak Spanish. Fearing their children would experience discrimination if they spoke Spanish, her parents chose not to teach them their native tongue.

Robert Siegel and Melissa Block read emails from listeners about reporting on the tornado in Moore, Okla.

In 2011, police detained Ai Weiwei for 81 days. Now, he's released a song that's turned the experience into a heavy metal protest song, along with a dystopian nightmare video. The lyrics are explicit and angry. Ai says his music is for the many political prisoners who remain jailed.

Brands that found their original audiences in traditional, old-media platforms are finding ways to keep going in the world of new media.

After the announcement that David Beckham is retiring, there's been much discussion about how good of an athlete he's really been. Sports commentator Frank Deford says Beckham's talents have been overlooked.