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Sally H. Jacobs' new biography, The Other Barack, follows the troubled life of Barack Obama Sr. — from Kenya to Hawaii and back. Jacobs believes that if Obama Sr. had played a larger role in his son's life, Obama probably wouldn't have become president.

Filmmaker Debra Granik knew right away that she wanted to adapt Daniel Woodrell's 2006 novel Winter's Bone for the big screen. Granik and Woodrell discuss the process of turning the meth-fueled family drama into an award-winning film.

Massenet's Don Quichotte is one of several operas based on Miguel Cervantes' 17th-century novel, in which the self-proclaimed knight-errant travels the world righting wrongs.

In Sofia Coppola's new film, the actor plays an aimless, lonely young movie star who is forced to re-examine his life when his 11-year-old daughter unexpectedly moves in. Dorff explains how the role required a delicate balance between acting and real life.

Rescue groups are using traps, hands and sometimes nets to capture the 60 to 100 lionhead rabbits living in a community near Fort Lauderdale.

The university announced in June it hired Kathleen McElroy, a former New York Times journalist, to lead its journalism program. The hire quickly drew backlash from conservatives across Texas.

"Barbie" might look pretty in pink — but it also tackles heady themes.

The White House is concerned about the economic and national security risks posed by artificial intelligence and is working on new executive actions to try to establish some guardrails for AI.

Alabama has to come up with a new congressional map after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that its current districts likely diluted the voting power of Black residents.

The first woman to win math's highest honor, the Fields Medal, has died of breast cancer at age 40. Maryam Mirzakhani specialized in theoretical mathematics.

The legal complexities tied to former President Donald Trump's classified documents case are unique and the judge's lack of experience in such a case could contribute to lingering delays, lawyers say.

His third novel, Super Sad True Love Story, is a black comedy set in a futuristic America — where books don't exist and where the economy has collapsed. Shteyngart explains why he decided to write a love story in this dystopic vision of the future — and why he thinks technology is changing the way we think.

Since the U.S. invasion, 4 million Iraqis have had to leave their homes. An additional 2 million have left the country entirely, and many are still outside its borders. NPR's Deborah Amos tells the story of these displaced Iraqi citizens in her new book, Eclipse of the Sunnis.

Vice President Joe Biden met with Palestinian leaders in Ramallah as the U.S. prepares to mediate talks between the Palestinians and Israel. Biden and the Palestinians condemned a newly announced Israeli plan to build more housing in East Jerusalem.

So Much For That, Lionel Shriver's new novel, is about a middle-aged man forced to give up his dream of retirement on a tropical island when his wife falls ill and he's forced to go back to work to keep his employee health insurance. Critic Maureen Corrigan says the novel "acknowledge[s] the dramatic depth that fiction can bring to the debate over current events."

Former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's coalition beat out Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's coalition by a narrow margin in parliamentary elections. That means Allawi's alliance will get a first shot at trying to form a government. Robert Siegel speaks with NPR Baghdad Bureau Chief Quil Lawrence.

The former U.S. ambassador to Iraq says the recent spate of attacks in the country is another attempt to disrupt the political process in Iraq. But Ryan Crocker warns that the attacks are a reminder that the fight is not over in Iraq.

This is it, or so the White House claims: closing arguments on President Obama's effort to overhaul the nation's health care system. Obama asked Congress for a final vote this month, and to persuade Democrats to stick with him he was in suburban Philadelphia on Monday making his case.

When the Hoover Dam was finished in 1935, it was three times larger than any other dam on the planet. Journalist Michael Hiltzik examines the humongous engineering achievement — including how the Hoover Dam was conceived, designed and built — in a new book, Colossus.

Gluck's operatic reforms emphasized simpler, more straightforward musical forms which served to heighten the drama, especially in 'Iphigenia in Aulis.' It's the classic story of a young woman whose father summons her for a wedding, but instead offers her up as a human sacrifice.

NPR host Scott Simon became a father for the first time at the age of 50, when he and his wife Caroline adopted the first of their two daughters from China. He describes how he felt becoming a father relatively late in life, how his family changed — and how his daughters continue to inspire him, in a new memoir, Baby We Were Meant For Each Other.

When does collecting cross the line and become a disorder? And why do some people save every newspaper? Researchers Randy Frost and Gail Steketee examine compulsive hoarders in their new book, Stuff — and explain what we know about the causes of and treatments for the compulsive disorder.

Scholar Philip Jenkins argues that scriptures in the Quran are less brutal than those in the Bible. In his forthcoming book, Dark Passages, Jenkins points out that violence in the Quran is mostly defensive, but in the Bible, it is often a method of genocide.

Haji Zahir, the newly appointed governor of Marjah, is getting a lot of support from civilian and government agencies, which Gen. Stanley McChrystal had dubbed "government in a box." State Department adviser Bay Fang, who is working with the support team, says they are doing everything to ensure the new government is responsive to the people.

Michael Lewis, who wrote the best-seller Liar's Poker, is back with a new book examining those who profited from shorting subprime mortgages. In The Big Short, Lewis profiles extreme characters — outsiders — who are the sane people in an insane world.