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The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services has been under fire this week. On Tuesday, the department's secretary received a day-long…

On Day 10 of the government shutdown, Speaker John Boehner proposed a six-week debt ceiling extension hours before a group of House GOP leaders were to sit down with the president at the White House. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid rejected the notion out of hand.

Across the country, leaders of local chambers of commerce are irate that Washington can't reach agreement on the budget. They worry debt default could wreck consumer confidence ahead of the holiday shopping season. Yet many on Main Street aren't yet reacting by putting much pressure on politicians.

On this week's round-table pop-culture podcast, we dive into one of the biggest movies of the year: Gravity, which is visually gorgeous even when we have questions about the script. We also cover some glorious fiascoes and tell you what's making us happy this week.

In Brave Genius: A Scientist, a Philosopher, and Their Daring Adventures from the French Resistance to the Nobel Prize, Sean B. Carroll tells the story of biologist Jacques Monod and philosopher Albert Camus--two men who made significant contributions to their respective fields, and who shared an enduring friendship.

The Nobel Peace Prize is being awarded this year to chemical weapons inspectors involved in a dangerous mission in Syria. The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical weapons is the guardian of the global ban on chemical weapons. The Norwegian Nobel Committee wanted to highlight its work not just in Syria but around the world, as it tries to get rid of an entire class of weapons.

The film, directed by Paul Greengrass and starring Tom Hanks, is based on the true story of a freighter captured by Somali pirates in 2009. NPR's Bob Mondello says it's an accomplished and surprisingly emotional thriller. (Recommended)

If you like your postseason baseball full of plucky, low budget upstarts...sorry. Both the American and National league championship series have a distinctly old school feel to them. The Dodgers, Cardinals, Red Sox and Tigers all have long, storied histories — and big payrolls to match. Sportswriter Stefan Fatsis talks to Robert Siegel about baseball's final four teams.

Vast distances and cultural differences may separate America's states, but remarkably, regional rivalries are fairly trivial. This unity is no accident; it's the legacy of the explorers, leaders and inventors who brought the country together. British author Simon Winchester tells their stories in The Men Who United the States.

Kindergarten and fourth-grade students at Barringer Academic Center in Charlotte spent the last few months learning about the life cycle and migration…

Author Denise Spellberg's book draws parallels between the beliefs of the founding father and religious tolerance in the United States today.

In the documentary, director Roger Ross Williams explores the role of American evangelicals in the anti-gay movement there. Williams and Christopher Senyonjo, an excommunicated Anglican bishop, discuss the collision of religion and politics.

Author Antoine Wilson suggests bypassing Proust in favor of a far shorter choice: Nicholson Baker's 1988 novel, which shares the internal monologue of a businessman on an escalator. Shoelaces, drinking straws and the corporate culture of men's bathrooms undergo thorough analysis in this slim book, which Wilson calls "relentlessly perceptive."

A massive evacuation effort appears to have saved many lives, but Cylcone Phailin flooded villages and destroyed homes. Financial Times South Asia bureau chief Victor Mallet speaks with host Rachel Martin about the extent of the damage.

Ali Zeidan was abducted and then released last week after the U.S. raided Tripoli to capture a senior al-Qaida suspect. Weekend Edition Sunday host Rachel Martin speaks with professor Dirk Vandewalle, author of A History of Modern Libya, about Zeidan's many opponents and the role of militias in Libya.

The dismal Jacksonville Jaguars play the formidable Denver Broncos today, a match-up that makes for the biggest point spread ever and possibly the worst regular season NFL game in a long time. NPR's Mike Pesca joins host Rachel Martin and can talk of nothing else.

Every answer is a familiar two-word phrase or name with the consecutive letters T-E-S-T. Specifically, the first word will end with -TE and the second word will start ST-. For example, given "sheer force," you would say "brute strength."

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill installed its 11th chancellor on Saturday, the first woman to hold the position. Carol Folt is the former…

Next weekend, Los Angeles will host a massive festival dedicated to alternative comedy, featuring acts Eric Idle of Monty Python, Sarah Silverman, Adam Sandler and dozens of others. Host Arun Rath speaks with the organizers (as well as one of the marquee acts): Jack Black and Kyle Gass, better known as the outrageous acoustic-metal band Tenacious D.