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How do yeast, water, hops and grain combine to form a lager, pilsener or ale? The process requires careful supervision and tightly controlled conditions. Expert brewmasters explain how temperature, timing and ingredients all factor into making an excellent beer.

In his new book, Washington: The Making of the American Capital, Fergus Bordewich reveals how Washington, D.C., became the nation's seat of power and — perhaps a lesser-known fact — how the historic enslavement of African-Americans played a role in that designation. Bordewich talks about his new book.

With $50 and a plane ticket to Haiti, one can buy a slave. This was just one of the difficult lessons writer Benjamin Skinner learned while researching his book, A Crime So Monstrous: Face-to-Face with Modern-Day Slavery. He discusses the challenges of writing about this disturbing institution.

The HBO series The Wire and its gripping, grim portrait of inner-city Baltimore has come to an end. The 60th and final episode was broadcast Sunday. Wire creator David Simon and co-producer Ed Burns reflect on the series.

The award-winning writer shares tips on selecting foods for a healthy planet and body. Sticking to the fringes of the supermarket is one of his distinctive recommendations.

A new medical textbook — published by the military — uses cases from Iraq and Afghanistan to train trauma surgeons. The book features disturbing images, yet also illustrates just how many critical advances have emerged from the theater of war.

When it comes to disability, a lot of ableist language and tropes are perpetuated by the media. Here's what experts have to say about how to talk about disability.

"If that rule had gone into effect, then every hospital, every nursing home would essentially have to have a plan," said David Michaels, former Occupational Safety and Health Administration chief.

Author Walter Dean Myers is the nation's latest ambassador for young people's literature. The two-year post is something like a youth version of poet laureate. As a young man in Harlem, Myers hid his books so no one would know he liked to read. David Greene talks to Myers about his appointment and what he wants to accomplish.

After several failed attempts at in vitro fertilization, Melanie Thernstrom and her husband, Michael, chose to have children with a surrogate. So that their kids would be the same age, they chose two surrogate mothers to carry eggs from a single donor. She calls her son and daughter "twiblings."

Disney's offering refunds to millions of parents who purchased Baby Einstein videos, hoping to give their infants an educational jump-start. Videos have been discredited, redirecting emphasis on the importance of interaction between parents and babies for proper development.

Are doctors rationing health care? Health policy analyst Gregg Bloche says doctors routinely compromise the principles of the Hippocratic Oath when they decide which expensive tests and treatments they can and can't provide, in order to please lawmakers, lawyers and insurance companies.

Physician Kevin Patterson has treated patients in the Arctic, in Kandahar and on remote Pacific Islands. He says that Western ideas and the effects of urbanization are making people everywhere in the world both fatter and sicker.

In a stark change to conventional Indian literature, chick-lit novels are gaining popularity in Indian society. As a part of the program's Next Big Thing series, author Swati Kaushal discusses her novel, which many call the first Indian chick-lit, and the necessity for this genre in Indian culture.

As the people of New Zealand confront their nation's troubled past with colonization, a return to the Maori name of Aotearoa is being presented to a parliamentary committee.

The relocation of the painting — a slingshot-toting rat and likely intended to protest the Israel occupation — raises ethical questions about the removal of artwork from occupied territory.

As a young guitarist studying at the New England Conservatory, Glenn Kurtz dreamed of being a concert guitarist. But he eventually abandoned his instrument in frustration. Years later, he picked it up again and started practicing, a process that he found became its own reward. He shares his story in Practicing.

A proposed amendment has been filed with the state's Division of Elections in an effort to get it placed on the 2024 ballot.

One of the lesser known tales of the world migrant crisis is taking place in Central America, where hundreds of Africans are landing with dreams of making it to the U.S.

In middle age, most of us get forgetful and easily distracted. But new research finds that our minds improve in some ways as we age: We're better at seeing the big picture and comprehending complexity. Writer Barbara Strauch details how the middle-aged brain grows and changes in The Secret Life of the Grown-Up Brain.

Richard Clarke, the former anti-terrorism czar, has now turned his attention to a new national security threat: cyberwar. In a new book, Clarke details what a full-scale cyberattack could look like, how the United States is particularly vulnerable, and what measures can be taken to ensure our networks remain safe.

President Biden toured flood damage in eastern Kentucky with the governor. The president promised increased federal aid and assistance to help the recovery. At least 37 people died in the flooding.

The season of pleasure reading is upon us, and the publishing world has readied a handful of thrilling titles to be released just in time for the summer heat. After surveying the crop, here are our picks for fun reading in the sun.

Pulitzer Prize-winning financial reporter Gretchen Morgenson chronicles the failings of Wall Street regulators in Reckless Endangerment: How Outsized Ambition, Greed and Corruption led to Economic Armageddon.

High above the Black Sea, villagers communicate across deep valleys using a whistled language. Elders are working to keep alive this tradition, which could have implications for brain science.