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Dale Stephens says many students would be better off ditching college and finding alternate ways to complete their educations. His new book, Hacking Your Education, explores that idea. "When you think about education as an investment, you have to think about what the return is going to be," he says.

Sherman worked a tight niche: classic songs rewritten to tickle a Jewish audience's funny bone. A new biography, Overweight Sensation: The Life and Comedy of Allan Sherman, explains how the performer's 1960s crossover fell in line with a collective awakening to ethnic identity in America.

Chimamanda Adichie's Americanah is about a young Nigerian woman who moves to the U.S. It's a story of relocation, far-flung love and life as an outsider. But reviewer Rosecrans Baldwin says that despite the author's talent, much of the storytelling feels flat.

After a meteoric rise, GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann is now polling in the single digits. But she's still plowing ahead with her campaign, and this week she came out with a memoir. The Minnesota congresswoman talks with co-host Steve Inskeep about Core of Conviction and aiming to win the nomination.

There are many books set in the so-called City of Light, but author Rosecrans Baldwin says that none are quite as charming as The Dud Avocado. Have a favorite tale set in France? Let us know what it is in the comments.

Based on The Count of Monte Cristo, Alfred Bester's saga The Stars My Destination will transport you off the couch and into a roiling world of futuristic teleportation. Author John Baxter says the book injects new life and energy into a classic tale.

In their new book, Annoying: The Science Of What Bugs Us, NPR Science Correspondent Joe Palca and Science Friday's Flora Lichtman set out to examine why certain things — and people — drive us bananas.

In 1914, thousands of soldiers eagerly boarded trains across Europe to fight in World War I; they thought it would be a quick and easy battle. Five years later, more than 8 million troops were dead and countless families were split apart. Author Adam Hochschild explores those divisions in his book To End All Wars.

Ever wonder why supermarket tomatoes taste like nothing? Food writer Barry Estabrook's new book traces the troubled history of the modern commercial tomato.

Kamila Shamsie's tale of a young Englishwoman's entanglement with the people and mountains of Peshawar is an epic tale stretching from ancient Persia to the waning days of the British Empire.

Veteran cartoonist Jules Feiffer has just written his first graphic novel, the noirish Kill My Mother. Reviewer Alan Cheuse is discovering graphic novels equally late, but still finds it a good read.

The Night of the Hunter is a much-loved film, but author Julia Keller says the book it is based on is even better — a forgotten masterpiece. Do you have a favorite book that became a movie? Tell us in the comments.

David Remnick has a nearly impossible task in his new biography of Barack Obama: writing "the most complete account yet" of the most famous man on the planet. The well-written and well-researched book may be ahead of its time; the events in it are so familiar right now that its scholarship may resonate better in 20 years.

The combination of writing talent and juicy material on display in Sean Wilsey's memoir Oh the Glory of It All is what has author Curtis Sittenfeld singing its praises to others. The people and places described "come explosively and thrillingly alive," says the author of Prep.

Heat author Bill Buford finds "his McGee" indispensable — that is, Harold McGee's essential tome On Food and Cooking. "McGee is the most important person alive writing about food," Buford says.

The FBI has been tracking Hezbollah fundraising in the United States for years. But there is debate within law enforcement circles over whether the group would launch attacks on U.S. soil.

Broward County Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie offers to leave more than three years after leading the district through the nation's deadliest high school shooting.

New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art faces a shortfall of $150 million. Museum Director Max Hollein tells NPR that the Met is considering selling art to cover operating expenses.

What's bubble tea without boba? Americans are starting to find out. A backlog at shipping docks is stalling the arrival of the popular chewy pearls at tea shops across the country.

NASA successfully launched and landed a test version of its next-generation Orion spacecraft on Friday morning. The unmanned test is the first for the follow-on to the shuttle.

Americans once waited in line for the chance to be photographed atop the striped donkeys on this famed tourist strip. But 9/11, the recession and the Mexican drug war have stifled tourism and nearly put the "zonkeys" and their owners out of work. A new push is on to save the historic icons.

Lawmakers in recent years have been unable to reach agreements to end the 60-day regular legislative sessions on time.

The pandemic-driven recession has forced states to slash their education budgets. School funding experts worry districts will have to make devastating cuts if the federal government doesn't help soon.

How do you keep your office connected when people are working from home and practicing social distancing? One CEO is throwing virtual happy hours and online karaoke parties.

Mario Gonzalez, 26, died in police custody on April 19. Body camera footage showed police pinning him to the ground for several minutes.