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Ron Suskind's A Hope in the Unseen tracks a familiar story — an ambitious kid's escape from the inner city. Author Susan Jane Gilman says Suskind treats his subject with such care that this nonfiction tale has the impact of an epic novel.

Leonard Bernstein wrote his Mass to memorialize John F. Kennedy. But conductor Marin Alsop says that the dizzyingly eclectic work reveals more about its composer than anyone else.

NPR's Jim Zarolli reports on the merger between Nynex and Bell Atlantic. which will be the second largest phone company in the U.S. With a stock market value of $51 billion, more than 127,000 employees and 38 million customers, the company would dominate the market on the Eastern seaboard. The deal comes on the heels of a merger of two other so-called "Baby Bells," Pacific Telesis and SBC Communications.

Crowds tightly packed the space around the inaugural stage — forming a long ribbon of people all the way to the Lincoln Memorial at the other end of the National Mall. Most of them, if they were lucky, got to see President Obama's inauguration on one of a number of Jumbotrons.

Earlier this month, Priscilla Mason watched as her late husband's name was carved into the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Marine Lance Cpl. Raymond Mason is one of four names added this year. They are made official Monday during a ceremony at the memorial.

The film adaptation of Christopher Buckley's 1994 satirical novel Thank You for Smoking is about to hit the big screen. He talks with Liane Hansen about the movie from a smoke-filled bar in Washington, D.C.

With the holidays fast approaching, it's time to put the finishing touches on yuletide decorations and last-minute prep for those year-end parties. Host Liane Hansen speaks with style maven Martha Stewart about holiday traditions, cooking, health and wellness.

Colombia told the U.S. about the raid to rescue hostages from FARC rebels two weeks ago, Pentagon sources say. The U.S. was asked to provide help in the form of surveillance aircraft to eavesdrop on rebels. No Americans were on the ground.

Historian Nelson Lichtenstein discusses the impact of Wal-Mart on both the American and the global economy in his new book, The Retail Revolution: How Wal-Mart Created a Brave New World of Business.

Author Guo Jingming, 25, is a pop icon in China. His work has been attacked for commercialism and narcissism, the very criticism often directed at China's generation of only children under the one-child policy. But his popularity is unmistakable: He reportedly has earned $3.5 million in the past two years as the nation's top-selling author.