The Surfside Mystery | The Paper Brigade | Sona and the Kora

The Surfside Mystery – Investigators still do not know what triggered the collapse in the middle of the night of a 12-story beachfront condominium, Champlain Towers South, in Surfside, Fla., on June 24, 2021, killing 98 people. Newly enacted laws will require mandatory inspections of older condos in Florida, and millions of owners will soon be required to set aside vast sums of money for potential repairs. Sharyn Alfonsi reports on the federal and local investigations and how the catastrophe is expected to impact the affordability of condo living for hundreds of thousands of Floridians. 

The Paper Brigade – Jon Wertheim reports from Lithuania on a group of resistance fighters who risked their lives to save a trove of Jewish artifacts during and after the Holocaust. Today, 80 years later, their heroics are still unfolding, with a search-and-rescue mission underway in Vilnius, where hidden materials continue to be uncovered. 

Sona and the Kora – Lesley Stahl profiles Sona Jobarteh, the first female virtuoso player of a centuries-old West African instrument called the kora. With 21 strings, it's described as a cross between a harp, lute, and guitar. The kora is part of a musical tradition passed down exclusively from father to son in a particular set of families in West Africa. Jobarteh, 39 years old, descends from one of those griot families – she's the daughter of a Gambian father and a British mother. Jobarteh argues that by breaking tradition, she is keeping it alive, and she's gained acceptance in the toughest place of all: The Gambia, with a hit song that's become the country's unofficial anthem.