WBUR reporter Bruce Gellerman on the streets of Watertown, MA where the Boston bombing suspect is thought to be hiding. His son, 16-year-old Andre Gellerman, who is currently in lockdown, describes the manhunt from his window and what other high school students are saying about the suspect.

What's the path to that dream job? How does one job lead to another? Youth Radio finds out in our series...Jobstacles.

"Professional Slam-Dunker" isn't a common job title, but Jesus Ibn El makes his living flipping, spinning and dunking before huge audiences. El says, "It's not just young people working jobs they don't like. There are a lot of adults working jobs that they absolutely despise, but it pays the bills." That's not the case for El though. Watch the video to find out how he made his passion into a career (and enjoy his amazing acrobatic stunts while you're at it).

Check out some of the highlights from Youth Radio's tech coverage in 2012. For tech junkies, check out our sister site Turnstyle News.

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What's Going On: The Youth Radio Remix

Marvin Gaye’s album, What’s Going On, has been called one of the great soul music records of all time. The album was showcased at a 1972 concert at the Kennedy Center in Marvin’s hometown of Washington DC. This week, the Kennedy Center is commemorating that live performance, and has asked select musicians to re-imagine “What’s Going On” -- and I'm one of those musicians.

Halo 4: A Hero Evolves

Thousands of Americans lined up last night, not to vote, but to buy one of the most anticipated new video games of the year. Halo 4 is the latest installment of the popular franchise for the Microsoft XBox 360. Some gamers refer to Halo as their Star Wars.

Supreme Court justices heard arguments yesterday in a case on affirmative action -- a case that may upset the 2003 ruling of Grutter v. Bollinger, which determed race-based practices can be used in college admissions.

The New York Times published an article that highlighted the importance of diverse college classrooms. Reporters observed the diverse perspectives that students of different ethnicities brought to a discussion about democracy.

A reader responded in a comment saying universities cannot assume that every black student will bring “the black perspective” to a discussion. The reader pointed to an article in the Atlantic that explains the concept of “academic mismatch” --  a student is placed in an environment that is too academically challenging for them and they feel out of place.

According to the Atlantic, the University of Texas currently uses racial preference to create a diverse population of students. “The typical black student receiving a race preference placed at the 52nd percentile of the SAT; the typical white was at the 89th percentile. In other words, Texas is putting blacks who score at the middle of the college-aspiring population in the midst of highly competitive students.”

Youth Radio’s Joshua Clayton, 20, reflected on the question of affirmative action. He can relate to feeling academically mismatched, but also values diversity.

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Being in a diverse school is very important because students need to know about different races and religions that school can't and won't teach. The billions of things a white person can teach a Chinese person, and a Chinese person can teach a Mexican person -- everybody's different and you can’t learn everything from a book.

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A recent study shows that only 39 percent of high school dropouts voted in the last presidential election, according to a study "Fault Lines in Our Democracy," done by Educational Testing Service.

There's a lot of research about how levels of education correlate with voting patterns, but for young voters who are still early in their education, some organizations such as Rock The Vote are pushing for more civic ed as a way to engage young people in the political process. Youth Radio visited two SF Bay Area schools to find out how civic education might impact young people's political engagement, especially in an election year. 

Tour of the apartment in midtown Charlotte, North Carolina that served as Youth Radio's home base during the 2012 Democratic National Convention.

Jobstacles is Youth Radio's video series, where we tell the stories of teens figuring out the job scene. You'll hear about the serious challenges and crazy scenerios that young people sometimes encounter as they seek employment. Merrick Yra really wanted a job, so much so that he was willing to apply at Petco, even though he has major pet allergies. Sniffle sniffle. Scratch scratch. Let's see if he gets the job...

Jobstacles is produced as part of Youth Radio's New Options Desk, which tracks innovative career pathways for young adults.

Earlier this summer, Youth Radio's Mobile Action Lab met with co-founder of 955 Dreams TJ Zark, who sat down with our young app developers to share her thoughts on user engagement.

955 Dreams is the company responsible for developing apps such as Band of the Day , History of Jazz, and On the Way to Woodstock. History of Jazz and On the Way to Woodstock were designed specifically for the iPad. They take the user through a musical timeline of these periods. Band of the Day was the 2011 runner up for Best App of the Year (second only to Instagram).

During her talk, Zark discussed the difference between the way users interact with smart phones versus computers, and the challenges the new devices present for app designers.”[Smart phones] are different than anything I’ve ever developed for,” Zark said. “People feel ownership [over their phones.] Your app lives next to photos of their baby.”

Here she shares a story that speaks to our growing attachment to our phones:

Also aired on NPR's All Things Considered on August 17, 2012.

On the night of Stephanie Romero’s twenty-third birthday, she and her friend were attacked by a stranger. “My friend went outside to have a cigarette and there was this guy he came out he was harassing us,” Romero said. Then the man hit her and her friend. She was shocked.

“It was a total nightmare,” Romero said. “I think about it all the time. I’ve never gone through anything like that.”

After the attack, Romero’s friends and family noticed she was acting differently. She didn’t go out as often. Her weight started changing. She was really depressed. Later, doctors diagnosed her with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD.

“I was like PTSD? I thought it was only for veterans,” Romero said. ‘But I found it’s not. It’s for anyone who’s experienced an event where you can't get it out of your mind and it takes over your life.”

The second annual Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) America gathered over 900 participants -- including six mayors, two governors, two cabinet members, CEOs, scientists, entrepreneurs and more -- to talk about one primary issue: jobs for Americans.

Whether it was jobs for returning soldiers, jobs for ex-offenders, clean energy jobs, city infrastructure jobs, education that prepares students for science and technology jobs, or reconnecting young people who have dropped out of high school to job pathways -- the thought leaders in these fields collaborated, brainstormed and came up with commitments.

Commitments, in the CGI sense of the word, are specific, measurable and novel ideas that participants agree to be held accountable to -- over the next two years. Commitment announcements punctuated the two-day conference, keeping the collaboration momentum rolling.

Youth Radio presented its commitment on Friday, announcing the organization's resolve to create a digital media workforce pathway as well as expand coverage of new workforce pathways.

Out of the many people who took the stage with inspirational stories or commitments, one person used his 60 seconds to steal the show. Ky Smith (pictured above next to President Clinton) was there on behalf of Year Up, a one-year intensive training program, that provides young adults between 18 - 24 from low-income backgrounds with job readiness skills, internships and college credit.

Smith recently graduated from the Year Up program, and is now working as an IT Technician. He said growing up, he lacked resources and worked two restaurant jobs. “I thought my zipcode would become my destiny,” he said. But now, he sees himself differently. “I am an economic asset to this country. I am a role model,” he told the crowd.