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Musician Jacob Slichter, drummer for the rock band Semisonic, leads us through a day in the life of a band on tour. As it turns out, it's not the roller coaster ride one would expect.

An oil painting by Marc Chagall was stolen from the Jewish Museum in New York two months ago. Now there's news that the painting is being held for ransom. The demand: peace in the Middle East in exchange for the painting's return.

Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize winning novel To Kill a Mockingbird is in the news again. The city of Chicago has chosen the 1960 classic for The Chicago reading initiative "One Book, One Chicago." The same day Chicago announced the selection, Muskogee High School in Oklahoma removed the book from its required reading list for freshmen. Guest host Melissa Block talks with Mary Dempsey, commissioner for the Chicago Public Library, and Muriel Saunders, a member of the Muskogee School Board in Oklahoma, about the decisions made by both cities. We also hear excerpts from the audio version of the book as narrated by Sally Darling and produced by Recorded Books.

NPR's Christopher Joyce reports on one woman's quest to track the bluefin tuna. Her findings over the past five years may change the way the tuna is harvested and managed.

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday signed 42 bills, including a heavily debated measure that will change staffing standards in nursing homes. The nursing-home industry lobbied for the measure.

As we continue to mark the five year anniversary of the welfare reform law, host Melissa Block talks about the future of the law with Marvin Olasky, author and Senior Fellow at the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty, and Rebecca Blank, former adviser to President Bill Clinton and current Dean of the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan.

NPR's Sylvia Poggioli reports that the treatment of the Roma -- widely known as Gypsies -- is an important civil rights issue in Europe. This has become especially true since the collapse of Communism, which afforded the Roma more civil protections and economic opportunities. Now, they face ghettoization and discrimination throughout much of central Europe.

It's been a rough time for radio stations that simulcast their programs over the Internet. A new contract for advertising actors, and a ruling broadcasters are not exempt from paying royalties for on-line broadcasts have forced many stations to stop their Webcasts.

Taking up where African icon Fela Kuti left off, NYC-based Antibalas has found a growing audience for its dance-ready Afrobeat style, peppered with Latin and funk flavors. Listen to live cuts from their recent gig at the 9:30 Club in Washington, DC.

The largest retrospective ever assembled of Alexander Calder's large-scale sculptures is now at the Storm King Art Center in New York state. Calder is best-known for his mobiles. Even some of his massive outdoor sculptures move.

Since the 1800s, Montana has been mandolin country. Ten musicians from Bozeman together produce a dramatic sound - they call it the "Montana Sound" - inspired by the freedom and open spaces of their home state.

NPR's Michele Kelemen reports on the new trend toward "universal jurisdiction," in which any country can try anybody for war crimes committed anywhere. Several countries want to question former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger about the U.S. role in Chile 25 years ago though Kissinger says he's not a criminal.

To Pauline Kael, the legendary film critic who died Monday, a good movie "makes me feel great. I think good movies do that for people." Her books and writing for The New Yorker and other magazines carried great importance in the motion picture world.

In 1999, NPR listeners started sending in their stories to author Paul Auster for broadcast on NPR. The tales are now in a book. Join host Lisa Simeone on Weekend All Things Considered to hear excerpts from I Thought My Father Was God.

The ostrich-like dinosaurs who thundered across the screen in Jurassic Park may not have been fierce creatures after all. Researchers show that these beaked dinosaurs used their mouthparts as sieves, not daggers - and probably ate plants and small water creatures rather than hunting meat.

From member station WBUR, Jason Beaubien reports on a new engineering college in Boston where students will learn how to design all sorts of things -- including their own school.

A new and improved lighting system is being installed at the Jefferson Memorial. The new system will use less energy than the current system and will enhance the appearance of the building and interior.

NPR's Alex Van Oss reports on a new exhibit at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington. The star of the show is Rapunzel, the fairy tale heroine, as depicted by women illustrators past and present.

The investigation, prompted by the discovery of top-secret papers found at Mar-a-Lago, is at an early stage, a source told NPR.

NPR's Ivan Watson report on the music of Senegalese musician Youssou N'Dour. N'Dour has been performing for over three decades, and the social commentaries in his songs continue to strike a chord with people of all age. (5:44

New fossil discoveries have confirmed that the ancestors of whales had ankles and walked on land before making their way into the sea. NPR's Joe Palca reports that two separate teams of scientists -- publishing in both Science and Nature this week -- show that whales belong to the same animal group as sheep and hippos.

NPR's Lynn Neary reports on the images of racial minorities that America displays overseas...through Hollywood films. See images and check out comprehensive NPR News coverage of the U.N. World Conference Against Racism.

NPR's Kathy Lohr reports on efforts to preserve the country's dwindling number of Civil War battlefields. Sites like Kennesaw Mountain -- the last obstacle between General Sherman and Atlanta -- are in danger from suburban sprawl.

Regular watchers of Sesame Street may have noticed that the Muppet character Bert sometimes has certain grumpy tendencies. And consumers of Internet satire have long known about the "Bert is Evil" Web site. Linda Wertheimer explains.

In June of 1951, a husband and wife -- Julius and Ethel Rosenberg -- were executed in the United States. They had been convicted of passing atomic secrets to the Soviet Union. The star witness against them was Ethel's brother, David Greenglass. Greenglass also served 10 years in prison for spying. And then, he and his wife and children disappeared, into a fog of false identities. Decades later, New York Times reporter Sam Roberts tracked him down. Roberts recorded his conversations with Greenglass. Robert Siegel talks with Roberts about his encounters with Greenglass.