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James McBride's The Good Lord Bird follows 10-year-old ex-slave Henry, known as "the Onion," as he travels with abolitionist John Brown.

A new book provides evidence of racial mixing in country music as far back as the 1930s, but today is the red Solo cup (to quote a Toby Keith lyric) half full or half empty?

Rescue groups and others dealing with a real problem — packs of stray dogs in many parts of the city — are inflating the figures, a Detroit journalist argues.

Further fallout from the National Security Agency leaks dominated the news as the partner of a Guardian reporter was detained in the U.K. and word emerged that hard drives at the newspaper had been destroyed. And Steve Ballmer's departure announcement raised speculation about who will succeed him as Microsoft's CEO.

Say you’re homeless and you’re looking for help. There are a lot of places in the Charlotte region that offer it. But some of them only help women, or…

Steve Ballmer, Microsoft's longtime CEO, says he will retire from the company within the next year. His departure is a surprise since he announced a major reorganization at Microsoft just two months ago. Ballmer will leave a company that remains influential and immensely profitable, but has struggled to adapt to mobile technology.

The Chinese government had hoped the high-profile corruption trial of Bo Xilai this week would prove that China operates under the rule of law, and that the Communist Party is not afraid to punish its own. But the trial of the former politburo member hasn't quite worked out that way.

The partial reopening of the U.S. Embassy in Yemen, which was the focus of a recent terror alert, suggests that the immediate threat of a terrorist attack has passed. Officials cannot be certain whether the alert disrupted planning for a possible attack, whether the threat was a bluff or whether the intelligence that led to the alert was flawed. The issuance of warnings is a specialty within the intelligence community, but the recent episode underscores how much uncertainty surrounds the field.

Melissa Block talks with Ambassador Ryan Crocker — dean and executive professor at the George Bush School of Government & Public Service at Texas A&M University — about military options for Syria. From 1990-2012, Crock was ambassador to Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Syria and Lebanon.

President Obama continued on his two-day bus tour to talk about high college costs, but saw his remarks to CNN about Syria getting much of the attention.

An agreement to dismiss comes less than two weeks after a judge threw out a racial discrimination charge.

Patricia Polacco has written and illustrated more than 90 picture books, and she says her early life had a profound effect on her work. In her latest children's book, The Blessing Cup, Polacco takes readers back to her grandparents' time in Russia.

Claire of the Sea Light is award-winning author Edwidge Danticat's newest work of fiction. She spoke to host Rachel Martin about how experiences of her own childhood in Haiti are reflected in her young protagonist.

Annemarie Selinko's Desiree, a novel about a silk merchant's daughter who almost married Napoleon, was the first book that author Fiona Maazel ever read with excitement. What book turned you into a reader? Tell us in the comments.

Thousands of Syrian refugees entered Iraq last week, fleeing the violence between extremist groups and Kurdish militias in northeastern Syria. Weekend Edition Sunday host Rachel Martin speaks with Alan Paul of the charity Save the Children about the flow of refugees entering Iraq.

For the past decade, scientists have been waiting for the Voyager 1 spacecraft to cross into deep space. New research suggests it has left the solar system, but other scientists say it's still inside the sun's sphere of influence. (This piece initially aired Aug. 19, 2013, on Morning Edition.)

NPR's Mike Pesca compares the old Tiger Woods to the Tiger Woods of now, and makes the case that luck has finally come into play for the top-flight golfer. Pesca lays out his arguments with host Rachel Martin.

As many as 55,000 people were expected in town this weekend for the annual Charlotte Pride festival. The festival started Saturday along Tryon Street in…

Opposition groups have accused the Syrian government of using chemical weapons earlier this week against civilians in a suburb of Damascus. Syrian President Bashar Assad denies the claims and has agreed to allow U.N. inspectors to investigate. Meanwhile, President Obama and others in Washington are weighing different response options.

When it comes to action in Syria, the U.S. has moved from will it — to what will it do? Analyst Aaron David Miller, a Public Policy Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center, tells Renee Montagne that it is "almost inevitable that the president will authorize some form of military action" in Syria after last week's alleged chemical attack against civilians.