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NPR's Scott Simon reflects on the Jerry Lewis he knew, and how the comedian wanted to make people laugh.

Libya was hopeful after Moammar Gadhafi was overthrown, but today it's a nation torn apart, with two competing governments in two different cities, each with its own parliament and military.

Hip-hop is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Commentator Kiana Fitzgerald is looking back at the albums that changed the game. Today, it's OutKast's album Aquemini.

A state appeal has put on hold a circuit judge's ruling that a congressional redistricting plan violated the Florida Constitution, as the case could be on a fast track to the state Supreme Court.

The International Chess Federation will stop allowing transgender women to participate in women's tournaments. The group said changing genders has a "significant impact" on a player's status.

The author of such beloved children's book characters as the Pigeon, Elephant and Piggie explains why he writes for people "who have not yet learned how to be embarrassed."

Peter Carey's novel opens as a hacker's computer virus is unlocking prison cells around the world. He says, "Assange was the reason I started writing the book, but I didn't want to write about [him]."

Swedish actor and playwright Jonas Karlsson ventures into fiction with The Room, a surreal tale of a dour bureaucrat who finds a tiny secret room at his workplace, a room which may or may not be real.

Jeffrey Ford's new story collection is packed with fairies, demons, historical figures and death personified: not always the freshest concepts, but when the stories work, they're enthrallingly eerie.

John Koethe explores the minutia of daily life and the disillusionment that comes with age in his tenth volume of poetry, The Swimmer.

Katie Kitamura's new novel follows an unnamed narrator who tails her estranged, disappeared husband to Greece — while keeping the ominous surroundings and disquieting emotions at a cool remove.

North Korea's nuclear test claims are presenting a challenge for the Bush administration.

A distrust of banks and a heavy foot threw Michael Annan into the Camden County Sheriff's Office interdiction net.

While some in Congress were please to see the Supreme Court curb President Bush's authority with its Guantanamo ruling, others on Capitol Hill have already set to crafting legislation that would allow the president to handle the detainees as he sees fit.

President Barack Obama's new proposals for earmarks are getting flak from his own party. Congressional Democrats — backed by some Republicans — say the Constitution gives them the power of the purse, and they'll use it as they see fit.

The guard shot at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington is dead. Park police say a gunman, identified as James Von Brunn, walked into the museum and exchanged fire with security guards. The suspect is in critical condition.

The National Archives received a special gift today: the missing half of a letter written by Abraham Lincoln in 1863. It was ripped from the pages of his Treasury secretary's correspondence and bought at auction by a collector who waited for Lincoln's bicentennial year to donate it.

According to the Justice Department, the first Guantanamo Bay detainee is in New York to face trial for bombing U.S. embassies. Officials said Ahmed Ghailani arrived early Tuesday morning.

The Yankee shortstop and beloved broadcaster died Tuesday at age 89. Rizzuto was the oldest living Hall of Famer, and was fondly known for exclaiming "Holy Cow!" during his decades of radio and TV broadcasts.

Michael K. Deaver, a former deputy chief of staff for President Reagan, was seen as an expert political image-maker. But his own image was damaged when he was convicted of perjury for statements he made about his lobbying activities. Deaver died of pancreatic cancer.

Alice Brock, made famous in Arlo Guthrie's "Alice's Restaurant," believes in improvisation. And it's a good thing, too — she knew nothing about running a restaurant when she opened her now legendary business.

Barack Obama has gotten one of the most sought-after endorsements of the Democratic primary race. John Edwards will join Obama at a rally Wednesday night and announce his support. Edwards' endorsement has been the object of intense wooing — by both the Obama and Clinton campaigns.

Embattled Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich has appointed former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris to President-elect Obama's vacated Senate seat. We explore what Burris brings to the position and why Blagojevich picked him.

As Democrats rush to finish a health care bill by Christmas, Republicans are reaching into a bag of parliamentary tricks to slam on the brakes. For more than three hours Wednesday, they forced the Senate clerk to read a single-payer amendment — all 767 pages of it — until it was withdrawn by its sponsor, Independent Bernie Sanders. Republican Tom Coburn, who demanded the reading, said he was only trying to follow regular order, but an aide to the minority leader put out a different message on Twitter: We're trying to kill the bill.

Tourists to and residents of Philadelphia answer the question "Who is an American?" Their replies may shed light on some divisions in American life. The city is a magnet for tourists who come from all over the world to see the Liberty Bell.