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In fiction, Christine Sneed's short stories about the perils of love, Peter Carey's tale of a mechanical bird, and Nell Freudenberger's portrait of a trans-Atlantic marriage arrive in paperback. In softcover nonfiction, Tom Holland charts the rise of Islam.

County lawmakers in Washington state are considering tighter restrictions on whalewatching. Conservationists argue the noisy boatloads of tourists are contributing to the mysterious decline in numbers of the orca whale population. From member station KUOW in Seattle, Sam Eaton reports.

NPR's Margot Adler reports on the rising use of the drug ecstasy by America's youth. A new survey by the Partnership for a Drug Free America finds that teenagers' use of marijuana has declined, but their use of ecstasy has doubled since 1995.

"Xbox Trife Life" is a surprisingly comtemplative pop-culture ditty about the declining popularity of the Microsoft console. Mostly, it laments its own irrelevance ("Bummed out / No one turns me on no more") and imagines life as an animate object.

General Electric has booted out its CEO, John Flannery, amid declining profits and cash-flow problems. He will be replaced by H. Lawrence Culp, a current GE board member and former Danaher Corp. CEO.

Americans are still as religious as ever, says New York Times columnist Ross Douthat. It's the churches and institutions that have declined. In his latest book, Bad Religion, Douthat argues that the U.S. become a nation of heretics.

When we worry about the declining rates of literacy and a lack of reading skills, it's often about children. But how often are adults reading these days? And what are we reading? A new NPR/Ipsos poll finds out.

Researchers have found an association between sleep problems among older adults and dementia later in life. If diagnosed early, treatments like controlling stimuli before bed can help and possibly reduce the risk of cognitive decline.

President Trump has talked about a war on coal. He also talks about job killing regulations on coal. He's right that the coal industry is in decline, but the biggest threat isn't regulation, it's the free market.

On Aug. 26, 1970, Jimi Hendrix opened his legendary studios New York City. He died just three weeks later before he could see its success, decline and rebirth as a palace of hits.

By July, India aims to vaccinate 300 million of its 1.4 billion people. But with COVID-19 infections already declining, some Indians don't see the need — and clinics have more doses than recipients.

Reporter Samantha Newport in Quito, Equador, joins Linda Wertheimer by phone to talk about an oil spill heading for the Galapagos Islands. Newport says the spill is already affecting sea lions and the endangered bird known as the blue-footed booby.

The Chicago band Lesser Birds of Paradise, known for its hushed and pastoral folk music, takes "You Are My Sunshine" out of the American songbook and slows the classic to a crawl. Left to a hypnotic trance, the words take on significant new meaning.

Fifteen years ago when "Igor" was captured, he was the last California condor flying free. Now, the endangered species' numbers have tripled and the bird is returning to his native habitat. This time, he won't be flying alone.

Gallagher's feuds with his brother and band mate Liam were as famous as the music they made together. Three years after Oasis' split, the guitarist and songwriter has re-emerged under the name Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds.

David Byrne says "context has a huge effect on creativity." He draws on his time with Talking Heads, as well as Bach, Gregorian chant, even birds—to show how spaces affect the music we write and play.

The third album from the William Parker Quartet is named Petit Oiseau, after a character in a poem written by Parker. Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead assesses whether the album — whose French title translates to "Little Bird" — takes flight.

- NPR's Claudio Sanchez reports on hearings held on Capitol Hill this past week looking into the rising cost of college tuition. With costs rising, and enrollment declining on many campuses, parents are being asked to pay more and more for their children's education.

Linda talks with NPR's John Ydstie about new figures showing that the federal budget deficit will come in at $107 billion dollars for fiscal 1996. That's the lowest budget deficit in fifteen years...and the fourth consecutive year of decline.

Commentator Mickey Edwards looks at three years of education reform in Massachusetts. He notes that tests show student achievement declining since 1993... and concludes that pouring money into schools without making concrete changes in the curriculum is a prescription for failure.