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Sen. Trent Lott talks with Debbie Elliott about politics past and present, from the civil rights era of the 1960s to federal disaster relief for hurricane victims. He has a new memoir, Herding Cats: A Life in Politics.

Jennifer Ludden talks to Edward McPherson about his new biography of silent film star Buster Keaton, known as the "Great Stone Face." He says Keaton handcrafted every aspect of his movies in a way that would be unimaginable today

Some 130 million people are expected to watch Super Bowl XL on Sunday. As always, advertisers are paying big bucks to grab viewers' attention — and some have resorted to making their spots as strange or unpredictable as possible, says author Warren Berger in his book, Advertising Today.

As part of The Long View series of conversations on Morning Edition, author Kurt Vonnegut talks with Steve Inskeep about how society has changed in the last 50 years.

During the Great Depression, many people fled the drought-stricken region that stretched from Nebraska to the Texas panhandle. The struggles of those who stayed are the subject of a book by New York Times reporter Timothy Egan.

William Zinsser, author of the classic guide On Writing Well, talks to Michele Norris about the challenges of writing personal history. He says that since the 1990s, many memoirs have focused on victimhood, rather than forgiveness.

If you're interested in getting your child or teen to keep reading during a hot, long, lazy vacation, offer them these cool summer books. Librarian Nancy Pearl's picks all have great first lines, three-dimensional characters and strong finishes.

One hundred years ago today, Belgian-American chemist Leo Baekeland applied for a U.S. patent on a substance he dubbed Bakelite, the first "true" synthetic plastic. Michele Norris talks with Dr. Jeffery Meikle, a historian of American plastic, about how Baekeland's invention affected the world's thinking.

Robert Wagner has made movies with Spencer Tracy and played Number Two in the Austin Powers films. In the memoir Pieces of My Heart, Wagner details two winding paths: his career and his love life.

The U.S. may have a special relationship with Britain, but there's a lot that divides Americans and Brits. Sarah Lyall, author of The Anglo Files: A Field Guide to the British, details British people and their character. In one section of the book, Lyall explores Brits and booze.

Geologic pressures force ancient layers of rock above ground, exposing their cargo of fossils. Paleontologist Kirk Johnson and artist Ray Troll search the western United States for fossils and chronicle their finds in a new book, Cruisin' the Fossil Freeway.

The travel season — for people and for sweets — is approaching. Dorie Greenspan, author of the cookbook Baking, shares with Michele Norris her advice on how to pack your baked goods so they arrive tasty and intact.

Bobby Fischer, the reclusive American chess master who dethroned the Soviet Union's Boris Spassky as world champion in 1972, has died. He was 64. Fischer died in a hospital in Iceland, where he had lived for several years.

In November 1979, gunmen in Mecca seized Islam's holiest shrine to proclaim the arrival of the Muslim messiah. It took Saudi forces, aided by French commandos, two weeks to flush the rebels out of Mecca.

A new study by Working Mother magazine finds professional women are redefining the workplace to be more flexible and family friendly. Alice Eagly, co-author of Through the Labyrinth, cautions that flexible benefits may mean segregation.

Three renowned women writers have books of fiction out this spring, and each one asks the reader to take a leap of imagination. The resulting novels, says reviewer Alan Cheuse, are a thrill and a privilege to read.

China's scale is so vast, its variety so great and its rising power so apparent, it acts as an enormous magnet fixing our attention. One result is a torrent of books — but how on earth to choose?

When radio ruled the airwaves, Nashville station WSM was a broadcasting powerhouse. Started in 1925, it became a cultural force that shaped the future of Nashville, largely because of its signature program, The Grand Ole Opry.

Commentator Elizabeth Gilbert, who is the author of the new book Eat, Pray, Love, recalls a trip to Naples, Italy that helped restore her love of pleasure after a painful divorce.

Seducing the Demon, the latest book by novelist Erica Jong, received a bad review in The New York Times this past Sunday. In the past, Jong says she would have curled up in bed and thought about changing careers. But now she says that perhaps she could learn something from a critic's harsh words.

During World War II, in Tunisia, Khaleb Abdulwahab helped save the lives of a Jewish family. He is the first Arab nominated for a "Righteous Among the Nations" honor from Israel's Holocaust Museum.

David Kuo is the author of Tempting Faith, a book about why he left his job as a special assistant to President Bush in the Office of Faith Based Initiatives. Kuo criticizes the administration for taking unfair advantage of conservative Christian voters.

America's oldest sugar substitute has a long, tangled and not always sweet history. The gradson of the inventor of Sweet 'N Low, Rich Cohen has written a book about the family enterprise.

Middle East historian Robert Satloff has written Among the Righteous, subtitled "Lost Stories from the Holocaust's Long Reach into Arab Lands." He documents many instances of Arabs protecting Jews in North Africa from the Holocaust.

It's winter, which may make you feel like you want to go on a journey. Maybe you're actually planning one, or perhaps just wishing for an adventure. Librarian Nancy Pearl suggests a stack of travel books that will send you on journeys across distance and time.