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For 100 years, sufferers of leprosy were banished to Molokai, an untamed Hawaiian island. A new book chronicles how paranoia forced thousands of people to live in exile.

In December 2005, a team of Indonesian, American and Australian scientists studied the mist-shrouded "lost world" atop the isolated Foja Mountains of New Guinea. What they found was a haven for rare wildlife and a host of new species.

The New Orleans music legend nearly perished and his home was heavily damaged in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. But his latest record looks toward the future with optimism.

Novelist Kevin Baker has just published the third volume of his City on Fire trilogy. Strivers Row is set in Harlem in 1943. The story focuses on a fictional character — Jonah Dove — and the very real Malcolm Little, later to become Malcolm X.

The world mourns Betty Friedan, who died Saturday at 85, as the author of The Feminine Mystique and a catalyst for the modern women's movement. Kitty Eisele first knew her as "Aunt Betty." She offers a remembrance of a family friend.

Commentator Andrei Codrescu offers his memory of actor Al Lewis, who has died at age 82. Lewis played Grandpa on the 1960s TV comedy The Munsters. Codrescu says that Lewis gained fame in the Spanish-speaking world in dubbed versions of the show.

The New Orleans Health Department is providing a week of free healthcare for city residents at a clinic in the Audubon Zoo. There is free dental care, eye exams and other outpatient procedures for whomever shows up -- and there have been a lot of people showing up.

French composer Marc-Andre Dalbavie, 44, is a hit with U.S. orchestras despite caution over trying "new" music on audiences. His latest is a piano concerto. What's his secret? Vivian Goodman of member station WKSU goes looking.

In his Nobel Prize speech Wednesday, British playwright Harold Pinter delivered a scathing critique of U.S. and British foreign policy. Some reviews of his speech praised it for its dramatic force, while others derided it as childish and uninformed. We hear two excerpts from that speech.

President Bush gave his third of four planned speeches Tuesday in a campaign to win support for the U.S. effort in Iraq. Responding to a question about the number of Iraqi casualties, President Bush said as many as 30,000 Iraqis have died since the invasion. Steve Inskeep talks to Michael O'Hanlon, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.

Knitting together Iraq's fractious sectarian and religious groups into a cohesive political body is the goal of Iraq's Dec. 15 parliamentary election. It may only reinforce Iraq's sectarian divisions.

African Americans have substantially higher rates of many illnesses than the rest of America's population. A group of professional black men in Atlanta has launched a project in hopes of reversing the trend.

The White House Conference on Aging is meeting in Washington this week. But President Bush is skipping the conference -- the first president not to address delegates in the event's 50-year history. Instead, he took his message on Medicare to a select, private group of senior citizens.

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court oversees surveillance of suspected spies and terrorists. Its power has grown since the passage of the Patriot Act. Critics worry about the secrecy that surrounds the proceedings, but FBI agents say undue concern about civil liberties hinders surveillance.

A tiny group of enthusiasts in California say they've demonstrated how to push your Prius to get as many as 99.9 miles per gallon -- if you're willing to plug it in overnight. Toyota says that although the idea is intriguing, it's not ready for prime time.

A Danish newspaper recently republished editorial cartoons that depict the Prophet Mohammed -- a serious offense in the Islamic religion, which has strong prohibitions against idolatry. The cartoons set off protests against Denmark and the Western world in many Islamic nations, and burning the Danish flag is a central part of the protests. But just where do Muslim protestors get their Danish flags?

We've all had these moments in movie theaters or in meetings when we hear the annoying ring of a phone and suddenly realize, to our horror, that it's our own phone. Engineers are trying to solve this problem. They're developing polite cell phones that can tell when to keep quiet, and when it's OK to interrupt.

Anna Deavere Smith is renowned for her one-woman shows, which have helped redefine modern theater. In her new book, Letters to a Young Artist: Straight-up Advice on Making a Life in the Arts-for Actors, Performers, Writers, and Artists of Every Kind, she talks about the joy and pain of her peculiar profession.

The Chronicles of Narnia dominated box office receipts this weekend. The film relies heavily on digital effects for its spectacular images and action sequences, impossible to achieve using traditional film techniques -- but at a much greater cost. Alex Chadwick talks with Slate contributor Edward Jay Epstein about whether digital effects are ruining Hollywood.

Lebanese voted for a new parliament Sunday against the backdrop of an economic meltdown that is transforming the country.

The Soviet Union's dominance of world figure skating collapsed along with communism. But since the last Winter Olympics, the Russian government has increased funding for the sport by a factor of 10.

Renee Montagne talks to Scott Silliman, executive director of the Center on Law, Ethics and National Security, at Duke University, to learn more about how the McCain amendment will affect U.S. policy on interrogation.

A few weeks ago, Bob Rich was working as a school speech therapist. Now, instead of asking kids to enunciate vowels and consonants, he's asking grown-ups: paper, or plastic? NPR's Ketzel Levine continues a series on people reinventing themselves through their work.

Foreign aid can be a mixed blessing. For a while, in one small Nigerian town, the money flowed. Five years later assistance came to an end, and that left thousands of orphans to fend for themselves. NPR’s Brenda Wilson reports.

Here's a breakdown of the sales tax holidays signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, by date.