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Robert Siegel talks with criminologist George Kelling, senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, about the career and policing style of William Bratton, who was named NYPD Police Commissioner Thursday.

New York City Mayor-Elect Bill deBlasio named William Bratton to head the city's police department Thursday. Bratton was New York's police commissioner in the 1990s, and was police chief in Los Angeles and commissioner in Boston. He'll return to the role as head of the nation's largest police department as the NYPD faces a crossroads. Despite unprecedentedly low crime rates in the city, the department has come under scrutiny in recent years for its controversial stop-and-frisk policy — tactics the mayor-elect has strongly criticized for souring relations between police and minority communities.

Workers rallied in 100 cities on Thursday to raise awareness for increasing pressure to raise wages. The push comes as 19 cities and states already raised minimum wages. A report from Berkeley economists finds the low-wage fast food jobs are costing taxpayer billions of dollars in public assistance — everything from food stamps to Medicaid.

On Feb. 11, 1990, upon his release from prison, Nelson Mandela stood on the steps of City Hall in Cape Town, South Africa. He told the gather crowd of more than 100,000 people to seize what he called "a decisive moment." In the audio above, you can listen to a segment of that speech.

For 27 years, Nelson Mandela was imprisoned on Robben Island for his fight against South Africa's apartheid regime. Saki Macozoma served time on Robben Island alongside Mandela in the 1970s, and he joins Robert Siegel to remember Mandela, who died Thursday at age 95.

NPR's former South Africa correspondent John Matisonn worked for Nelson Mandela, helping the leader improve his media savvy after he was released from prison on Robben Island. Matisonn remembers Mandela's keen intelligence and resilience. Matisonn tells Robert Siegel the Nobel Peace Prize recipient emphasized that he was an ordinary man, and insisted he was no saint.

In April 1994, the world watched as millions of South Africans, most of them jubilant but many wary, cast their ballots in that nation's first multiracial election. Ten years later, NPR broadcast "Mandela: An Audio History," by producers Joe Richman and Sue Johnson of Radio Diaries. The radio documentary tells the story of Nobel Peace Prize-winner Nelson Mandela through the leader's own words, the voices those who fought with him, as well as those who fought against him. You can listen to a segment of the documentary by clicking play on the audio above, or you can listen to the full hour-long documentary, and read a timeline of his life, here.

A ship called the Daniel J. Morrell was making its last haul of the season when it broke apart in a heavy storm on Lake Huron in November 1966. A few crew members struggled to stay afloat in the driving wind and waves, but ultimately, Dennis Hale was the shipwreck's sole survivor.

The world wants Syria's chemical arsenal destroyed. But so far, no country has offered to do the dirty work on its soil. Over the past week, an alternative has gained ground: Carry out the destruction at sea. The plan taking shape is complicated and untested, but it just might work.

American flags are flying at half-staff in honor of Nelson Mandela. The human rights icon died on Thursday following a lengthy illness. In Washington, D.C., there has been heavy traffic around the South African embassy as mourners converge on the area.