Obama, rapper discuss addiction

President Barack Obama has joined forces with the rap artist Macklemore to improve efforts to reach out to those addicted to opioids and those who overdose on the drug often found in prescription painkillers.

Obama and the rap artist appear on a video in the White House weekly address to talk about a problem that has been rapidly growing worse in recent years. Macklemore notes he abused the drugs and battled addiction.

The president says his administration is pushing for improved treatment, and he notes Congress has moved ahead on several measures. The House this past week passed measures setting up federal grants and taking other steps to battle the drug epidemic.

Obama says “unless they also make actual investments in more treatment, it won’t get Americans the help they need.”

Sandberg shares lessons on grief

Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg encouraged graduating seniors at the University of California, Berkeley to persevere in life’s challenging times, speaking publicly for the first time about her husband’s death during a commencement speech.

Sandberg, whose husband, Dave Goldberg, died in a treadmill accident while on vacation last year in Mexico, said she was “swallowed up in the deep fog of grief.”

“Dave’s death changed me in very profound ways,” she told 4,700 graduating seniors. “I learned about the depths of sadness and the brutality of loss. But I also learned that when life sucks you under, you can kick against the bottom, break the surface and breathe again.”