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Daily Beast and Newsweek editor Tina Brown explores the work of newspaper columnists through readings that propose a new way of looking at the 2012 election and the scandal at Penn State.

Francine Prose takes a comparatively light comic turn in her new novel, about the disappointing lives of a group of people involved in an off-off-off-off-Broadway musical based on a children's book.

No Syrian refugees have arrived in Iowa yet, but people are concerned — some over a Paris-style attack coming to the U.S., and others over proposals they've heard that could single out Muslims.

Irish writer Colm Toibin's novella recounts familiar stories of the New Testament, as seen through the eyes of Jesus' mother. But this isn't the iconic blushing virgin you're used to seeing. Toibin's Mary is modeled after the fierce heroines of Greek tragedies — and she is filled with anger.

Tired of a life without adventure, last week Alt.Latino's Jasmine Garsd and Felix Contreras packed their bags and escaped to the Latin Alternative Music Conference in New York to check out some exciting bands. In this episode, they play songs by their favorite acts at LAMC 2010, from a group of shy young Mexicans who went crazy on the banjo to a zombie-like Spanish punk rocker.

Miriam Toews' new novel is based on an awful true story: The drugging and rape of women in a Mennonite colony in Bolivia. Toews says she wanted to show the women as real humans, not isolated cultists.

NPR's Ari Shapiro and longtime newscaster Jack Speer chat about his early years covering business for the network, his retirement, and what he'll miss about covering the daily news.

The singer's new memoir reveals a man who has packed enough life for 10 people into his 84 years.

Quindlen's novel Still Life with Bread Crumbs is predictably comforting and readable, even as it details the challenges of a modern middle-aged woman: the fallout of divorce, a career on the wane, and the endless financial and emotional support demanded by her family.

George Packer's The Unwinding explores the social and economic upheavals that have transformed the U.S. over the past 30 years. In a nuanced work of literary journalism, colorful characters from across the class divide tell their own stories of a social contract in tatters.

U.S. Supreme Court justices sharply question the legal basis for the military tribunals set up by President Bush in the war on terrorism. The White House contends that detainees must first submit to military commissions, and then may appeal to civilian courts.

Librarian Nancy Pearl shares the work of a few of her best-loved poets. They include a former nun who wrote about Marilyn Monroe, a man who was left paralyzed after a bicycle accident, and writers who — despite the sometimes rigid requirements of their chosen form — find surprising, inventive ways to use words.

"Uncuffed" is a prison radio training program and a podcast where people in California prisons tell their stories.

Gazans are increasingly voicing their anger at Hamas' handling of the war and the heavy costs civilians have paid.

Hear the gorgeous voice of a young opera singer with his ears tuned to the great tenors of the past.

Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews Isolation Drills the new release by the band Guided by Voices.

The condition stems from overusing the voice, according to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders.

With only her voice as an instrument, the Japanese singer conjures a world of sound and color, with operatic élan.

In "Even If I Don't," the velvet-voiced singer crafts a tune that's as bittersweet as it is buoyant.

The songwriter's grungy dream-pop sound and sweet, sincere voice are perfectly suited to the Tiny Desk.