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How Vivaldi — as well as Handel, Haydn and Rossini — made hits out of a single poem filled with passion, violence, mystery and magic.

South Africa says Russian President Vladimir Putin will not attend the BRICS summit it's hosting in August, putting an end to questions over whether it would act on an arrest warrant for Putin.

Swedish crime writer Stieg Larsson was on the verge of international fame and fortune when he died in 2004, right before the publication of his bestselling Millennium trilogy. NPR's Robert Siegel talks to Larsson's publisher about what made the trilogy a runaway success.

Atlanta-based food chemist and cookbook author Shirley O. Corriher has answers for common kitchen quandaries -- from dense zucchini bread that won't rise and chicken breasts that stick to the pan. (Hint: Don't touch the chicken!)

A manned mission to Mars would take a minimum of two years from lift off to homecoming, but the most difficult engineering problem isn't how we get there; it's what we do once we're on our way. Mary Roach, author of Packing For Mars, explains why we can't take beer into space and other challenges of space travel.

The intrepid champion of new music turns her attention to female composers, offering a sampler of works by women across four centuries, including a favorite of Louis XIV and an Ethiopian nun.

Mozart's The Magic Flute is a fanciful tale of troubled lovers, good battling evil and a lesson or two about which is which.

President Obama said Thursday he is "deeply concerned" about unemployment. The remarks to The Associated Press came after the Labor Department said U.S. businesses shed 467,000 jobs in June and that the unemployment rate increased to 9.5 percent.

The Federal Reserve slashed the federal funds rate, charged on overnight loans between banks, by one-half a percentage point to 4.75 percent. Wall Street investors were happy. But for average people, the cut doesn't translate into that much money in their pockets.

President Obama gathered his war council for an eighth strategy session on Wednesday. The White House says four final options are on the table. Each would require a different level of U.S. troops — and each would involve a different goal for U.S. efforts.

Wagner's stormy one-acter requires lead singers with great power, both dramatically and vocally. Alan Held and Jennifer Wilson fit the bill in this turbulent opera focused on one of Wagner's favorite themes: the redemptive power of love. From the Washington National Opera.

Pasang Dawa Sherpa reached the summit of the world's highest peak on Sunday for the 26th time. Since making his first successful of climb of the peak in 1998, Dawa has made the trip almost every year.

The Latino hip-hop legend plays a medley of hits from his nearly 30-year catalog.

The hurricane season runs from June 1 to Nov. 30 and NOAA forecasters expect between 12 to 17 named storms. Of those, 5 to 9 could become hurricanes, including 1 to 4 major hurricanes.

During his 340 days aboard the International Space Station, the astronaut documented his time there with hundreds of photos. Kelly says the perspective makes him feel like an environmentalist.

Two economists doubt accountable care organizations, a key tool for improving costs and quality under the federal health overhaul, will be able to temper the medical system's lust for the latest expensive technology. Costs and quality of care are are at stake.

A widowed Florida rabbi saw the cost of his insurance coverage rise by 38 percent this year. So he decided to look for a new, younger spouse to help him bring costs back down.

China's space program officials said on Monday they have plans to expand its space station, along with launching a crewed mission to the moon before 2030.

House Speaker Mike Johnson's temporary spending plan has already been met with opposition from Democrats and some Republicans.

Food truck culture is developing its own lingo, with words like "ventrification" and "nonstaurant." And, just like the lingo started by restaurant workers and truckers, these words may be coming to a slang dictionary near you soon.