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Linguists David Harrison and Greg Anderson travel to isolated regions around the world to chronicle dying languages — and the cultural forces that contribute to their loss.

The recent rape allegations in Steubenville, Ohio raised concerns among parents about whether social media is encouraging bad and sometimes violent teen behavior. Host Michel Martin explores new media and teens' decisions about risk with a panel of parents.

Insurance companies often are blamed for rising health costs, but hospitals also play a role. One California health care chain has so much clout that it dictates what insurance companies pay for its services.

It's that time around Christmas, when all we can see are a handful of stories on our TV screens. Frosty, and Charlie, and Ralphie, and Kevin, but there's not too much brown in this mostly white canon.

Helen Hartness Flanders spent 35 years preserving Vermont's vanishing folk songs. She eventually collected more than 4,000 songs by carrying sound equipment to remote corners of the state -- and by charming residents into singing for her.

In commemoration of National Poetry Month, 12-year-old poet Lorenzo Arce talks about expressing his feelings through poetry, and how his dad inspires him.

Rivalries are taking center stage at the Olympics, but they're also playing out in the race for the presidency here in the United States. And on the heels of a trip abroad by Republican Mitt Romney, a new poll gives the advantage to President Obama. Host Michel Martin talks political news with Gabriel Sanchez, a political science professor at the University of New Mexico, and Mario Loyola, a contributor to the National Review.

In an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal, former Major League Baseball commissioner Fay Vincent describes incidences of clubs, offices and public spaces posing obstacles for him and his wheelchair. He joins NPR's John Donvan to discuss the places where those in wheelchairs still don't feel welcome.

Wil Haygood talks to Steve Inskeep about the life and career of Sugar Ray Robinson, including his many fights against rival boxer Jake LaMotta. Haygood is the author of a new biography of Robinson called Sweet Thunder.

Movies about artists can be like watching paint dry — but not this French import, which explores the real-life story of Seraphine de Senlis, an untutored painter whose stunning canvases caught the eye of a prominent critic.

The new documentary, West of Memphis, delves into the controversial case of three Arkansas teens who were convicted of murder in 1994. Host Michel Martin speaks with Oscar-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson and Damien Echols, one of men convicted in the case.

A genre of fiction known variously as "street lit," "ghetto lit," "urban lit" or "hip-hop lit" has begun registering impressive sales, catching the attention of the publishing industry. Previously sold as typewritten photocopies on street corners, these pulp-fiction books now appear in slick paperbacks available in bookstores and online. Karen Michel reports.