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Brown was a music industry survivor, but he wasn't as indestructible as he seemed to believe. RJ Smith's new biography The One presents the soul godfather as an unparalleled performer undone by drugs and violence.

Israel and Hamas are both holding the bodies of those killed on the other side, refusing to release them. They've done so for years and are again using the enemy dead as leverage in the current war.

NPR's Juana Summers speaks with pop artist Bebe Rexha about her new record, Dirty Blonde.

Science writer Shankar Vedantam says we often function on autopilot — without even knowing it. His new book, The Hidden Brain, explores how unconscious biases color our decisions even when we think we are acting rationally.

After the latest London bombings, New York City police began random searches of packages and backpacks brought onto the subway. Police promised "a systematized approach" that would avoid racial profiling. No one could recall a precedent for such broad searches, however, and civil libertarians questioned their legality. Richard Hake of NPR station WNYC reports.

If you love to dye Easter eggs, but don't love the current egg prices, here are some alternatives.

NPR's Scott Simon talks with Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., about the situation in Venezuela and the end of the Mueller investigation.

Potent sedating medications are often used on agitated people with dementia in long-term care facilities despite federal efforts to discourage them. A clash over whether to drug a Michigan woman illuminates the wrenching decisions families and guardians face.

Noah Adams talks with nutritionist Marion Nestle about what it really means when foods are labeled "natural." Nestle is the Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University. Her latest book is What To Eat.

Texas' restrictive abortion laws have changed how some people in the state date. They've prompted deeper conversations earlier on about contraception, potential pregnancy and, now, political views.

In the new comedy Tropic Thunder, Ben Stiller plays an action movie star who once played a mentally disabled character. The actors use the word "retard" more than a dozen times. Timothy Shriver, chairman of the Special Olympics, says the word's use leads to suffering, injustice and exclusion.

The GI bill has helped generations of veterans get an education and easy home loans. But that benefit has never really been available to Native Americans living on tribal land.

Throughout recorded history, philosophers have made light of death — in some cases, they've even taught us to embrace it. Author Simon Critchley has compiled the thoughts of more than 190 philosophers on the subject of death in The Book of Dead Philosophers.

GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney has developed a polished stump speech. During his events, Romney has campaigned as if President Obama is his only opponent. That tactic has forced his Republican rivals to try anything they can to knock him out of front-runner status.

As part of the NPR Books Summer of Love series, Lynn Neary digs into the history of the romance hero, the difference between alpha and beta heroes, and why Heathcliff is really kind of a jerk.

In The War Lovers, Evan Thomas tells the story of how a few men, led by future President Theodore Roosevelt, helped to provoke in the American public a fervor for combat that led to the 1898 Spanish-American War.

There are plenty of online book clubs, but what about Twitter? Jeff Howe of Wired magazine is tweaking the One Book, One City phenomenon by trying to get millions of people to pick a novel and then discuss it on Twitter. Users voted, and soon they'll start reading the winner, Neil Gaiman's American Gods.

Time is special. How we see it helps determine how we see the rest of the Universe. Physicist Lee Smolin has a new book out that says we've been looking at time the wrong way. Adam Frank digs in and offers his own perspective on Smolin's argument.

Kids who have dogs get significantly more physical activity, compared to kids who don't. Researchers followed 600 children over three years, and found young girls got the biggest exercise boost.

NASA is facing a tight budget and wants to wrap up the Chandra X-ray Observatory, but astronomers don't want to see the 25-year-old X-ray space telescope mission go.

NPR's Scott Simon speaks with The Washington Post's Greg Miller about reports that National Security Adviser Michael Flynn discussed U.S. sanctions with Russian officials before the inauguration.

As more people turn to blockbuster drugs like Wegovy to shed weight, many are considering cheaper alternatives from specialized pharmacies that make custom batches of medicines.

As part of our Missed Connections series, NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro reunites Sharony Green and Beth Hegab, former childhood friends who drifted apart, according to Green, in part because of race.

Commentator John McWhorter says he doesn't need a DNA mouth swab to know where he came from. He's content with his family history the way it is: He's a black American, he admires his ancestors and that's all he needs to know.

Former Texas Gov. Mark White, a Democrat who strongly supported the death penalty when he was governor from 1983-87, is now saying he has doubts about capital punishment. White says the system is not as foolproof as it should be in order to carry out an irreversible punishment.