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The U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments in a case to determine how high punitive damages can go when a state court finds extreme corporate misconduct. In a suit against Phillip Morris, the company was ordered to pay $79.5 million for a smoker's death.

Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) talks about the language of politics, the public spotlight, upcoming elections, and his new book, The Audacity of Hope.

Violence in Sudan's Darfur region continued this week as militia men attacked refugee camps and killed scores of civilians, including 27 children. The U.S. and the U.N. have so far been unable to get Sudan to agree to a credible protection force for civilians in Darfur, or work out a credible peace agreement accepted by all parties.

As Democrats prepare to take the reins of Congress, changes in legislative initiatives can be expected across a broad spectrum of issues -- from U.S. policy in Iraq to health care and the environment. NPR reporters weigh in on what to expect from the new Democratic majority.

Democratic Party candidates won a majority in both the House of Representatives and Senate in last week's midterm elections. But the current Republican majority still has some time left before the new Congress meets in January.

Maryland's Steny Hoyer, currently the House minority whip, hopes to be elected majority leader by the Democrats in the next Congress. But first he'll have to overcome rival John Murtha of Pennsylvania, whose candidacy is backed by Nancy Pelosi, the presumptive speaker.

Members of the Iraq Study Group met with President Bush today at the White House. The group is headed by former Secretary of State James A. Baker III and former Democratic congressman Lee Hamilton. Michele Norris talks about the group and its mission with Thomas Ricks, military reporter for The Washington Post.

The House of Representatives will be under new management in 2007, but leadership posts within each party are undecided. Maryland's Steny Hoyer wants to be Majority Leader, but Nancy Pelosi backing Rep. John Murtha. Republican Speaker, Dennis Hastert, says he won't run for a leadership post, creating room at the top for the new minority party.

Michele Norris talks with CBS News Correspondent emeritus Mike Wallace, about his longtime 60 Minutes colleague Ed Bradley. Bradley reported for 60 minutes for 26 years. He died Thursday of leukemia at 65.

Milton Friedman, the Nobel Prize-winning economist who advocated an unfettered free market and had the ear of three U.S. presidents, died today at age 94.

Rep. George Miller (D-CA), tapped by Nancy Pelosi to head up some of the Democractic Party's most important policy initiatives, looks ahead to what Democrats will try to accomplish now that they have control of Congress.

Former CIA director Robert Gates has been nominated to replace Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, who retired a day after the Democratic sweep of Congress.

Economist Milton Friedman died today in San Francisco at age 94. Friedman was a Nobel Prize winner and advised several presidents, including Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan.

Michele Norris talks with NPR film critic Bob Mondello about the evolution of James Bond. The 21st official Bond film, Casino Royale comes out today, with a new Bond. Mondello says Daniel Craig's Bond recalls the style and humanity of the early days.

Members of the Iraq Study Group are expected to make their recommendations on the direction of U.S. involvement in the next few weeks. But analysts say that events in Iraq are moving so quickly that the proposed recommendations may have lost their relevance by the time they are revealed.

Lucy Kellaway has pondered the perils of the annual holiday office party in her workplace column for the Financial Times, and shares some thoughts and advice with Renee Montagne.

Best-selling author and NPR commentator Bebe Moore Campbell died Monday. She was 56. Karen Grigsby Bates remembers Cambell as a prominent writer, mental health activist -- and friend.

President Bush wraps up the NATO summit in Latvia, where the focus has been on Afghanistan, and heads to Jordan for talks with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

Michele Norris talks with Marita Golden about author Bebe Moore Campbell. Campbell died today of complications from brain cancer at her home in Los Angeles. She was 56. In addition to being an author, Campbell was an NPR commentator and an advocate for the mentally ill. She is survived by her mother, husband, daughter and two grandchildren.

Print newspapers are losing money and readers to online news sources. But rather than fight to the death, some papers have decided to try to work with their online competitors.

The military promises to help soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with emotional problems, including Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. But an NPR investigation at one base in Colorado finds that soldiers aren't getting the services they need.

This week the Supreme Court heard arguments in its first case to ever deal with global warming. Guests discuss how the court's ruling may affect what Americans drive in the future.

Michele Norris talks with Zack Bazzi, one of several American soldiers who filmed their experience in Iraq for the recent documentary The War Tapes. In December, Bazzi, who was born in Lebanon and lived there until he was 10, will graduate from the University of New Hampshire. Soon after that, he'll set off for Afghanistan, where he will be involved in a program to train Afghan troops.

Re-entry to society from prison is hard. A simulation exercise by the Department of Justice is meant to show just how many barriers formerly incarcerated people face after their release.

Following the poisoning of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko, British authorities are following a trail of radioactive contamination. Litvinenko died from the effects of absorbing a rare radioactive element, Polonium 210.