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A replica of the 18th century ship of mutiny fame went down off Cape Hatteras during Hurricane Sandy. The captain apparently thought he could outmaneuver the massive storm.

NPR's Jacki Lyden grew up with the Bark River in her backyard. She left the Wisconsin waterway unexplored, until recently. Floating down the river in a canoe with a historian, Lyden discovered a story that stretches from the Ice Age and the Black Hawk War to churning 19th-century mills.

Post-election Washington is buzzing with talk of compromise and cooperation. Republicans and Democrats want to avoid a looming budget and economic disaster, and their leaders say they're ready to get to work. But some budget experts say it may be necessary to go over the fiscal cliff to reach an agreement.

Award-winning novelist Robert Stone hung out for many years with Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters. He recounts the group's cross-country road trips and experiences taking hallucinogenic drugs in his memoir, Prime Green.

Gregory Isaacs, Milton Nascimento, Cartola and more are featured on the singer-songwriter's Lockdown Listening playlist.

The Kindly Ones, by Jonathan Littell, is the fictional first-person memoir of a cultured German who loves Bach, cherishes great literature — and also happens to be a former Nazi exterminator.

An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination is much more than a memoir about a stillborn child. Elizabeth McCracken's story of stunning loss and grief is also a moving and affirming story of love.

In fiction, Dominick Dunne's posthumous novel skewers the Manhattan elite he covered for Vanity Fair, while Wicked author Gregory Maguire reimagines "The Little Match Girl." In nonfiction, Ron Paul argues we should End the Fed, while a historian shows how Homer's view of war still rings true.

Sonny Brewer did everything from selling cars to singing in a honky-tonk band before he became a novelist — and it turns out, he's not the only one. In Brewer's latest project, Don't Quit Your Day Job, authors write about how they made ends meet before pursuing their literary dreams.

In his new memoir, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Garry Wills explains his career as a lifelong observer. In Outside Looking In, he talks books, politics and family — and explains how his father's philosophy about the word "cannot" is one reason he became a conservative.

George Bush and Dick Cheney are certain history will justify their actions. But a reading of these two books, The War Within and Angler, suggests that vindication may be a long time coming.

Rebecca Goldstein's 36 Arguments for the Existence of God is part academic farce and part metaphysical romance. The novel may not settle the question of whether God exists, but it does affirm the phenomenon of literary miracles, says Fresh Air reviewer Maureen Corrigan.

Anthony Heilbut's essay collection, The Fan Who Knew Too Much, features reflections on the Queen of Soul, soap operas and Jewish immigrants. The highlight of this sometimes harsh collection, says Michael Schaub, is a history of LGBT contributions to gospel.

With Wendy and the Lost Boys, Julie Salamon has written the perfect biography for playwright Wendy Wasserstein's legions of fans, a book as entertaining and personable as its subject.

Husband and wife doctor team Jerome Groopman and Pamela Hartzband have joined forces to help patients navigate the daunting and dysfunctional world of medicine. Doctors must be more patient, they say, and patients, better informed.

Kevin Wilson's "strange and wonderful" debut novel, The Family Fang, arrives, along with Adrian Burgos Jr.'s biography of a colorful Negro League owner, memoirs by hacker Kevin Mitnick and mother of nine Melissa Faye Greene, plus journalist Doug Saunders' look at world migration patterns.

It's a rich week for fiction, with new novels from Ann Patchett and Jennifer Weiner, and a debut by Chad Harbach that marries a literary sensibility with a love of baseball — plus Jorie Graham's new poetry collection. In nonfiction, Erik Larson is back with the story of an American ambassador in Germany in 1933.

St. Louis has asked Black clergy to encourage church members to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Pastors are preaching about it, talking it up at Bible study and even offering churches as vaccination sites.

In the nominations announced Tuesday, Martin Scorsese's film Hugo received the most this year — 11, including best picture and best director.

The Republican presidential candidates debated in Florida Monday night and it was a relatively civil affair. But there were plenty of sharp attacks — most of them launched by former front-runner Mitt Romney against the man who has at least for the moment, passed him in the polls former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.