Search results for

Author Richard Yates is best known for his novel Revolutionary Road, which has been adapted to a movie to be released in January. But a life defined by drunken nights left Yates' own life journey as rocky as it was revolutionary, says Alan Cheuse.

President Obama has said the financial system is no longer in a grave crisis, and not in need of the government support it required a year ago. Kenneth Rogoff, a professor of economics at Harvard University, says though the financial system is not in the same state of crisis as last year, the government is still supporting it strongly.

Many cultures incorporate the guitar into their musical heritages, but the instrument is unheard of in traditional Indian music. Guitarist Sanjay Mishra demonstrates how he coaxes Eastern sounds from a Western instrument.

For as long as anyone can remember, the crowded and squalid old city of Calcutta has danced to the rhythm of labor strikes, political agitations and Marxist theorizing. One of the icons of the city was Jyoti Basu, India's longest-serving and best-known Communist. He died Sunday at age 95.

God Gazarov, a Russian immigrant who owns a jewelry store in Brooklyn, says Equifax won't give him a credit history, suggesting he change his first name to resolve the problem.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert plans a Washington visit to seek support for an Israeli plan to withdraw from parts of the West Bank. The move would consolidate Israel's control over major settlement blocs in the occupied territory.

Excerpt: 'Jesus Wars'

The new Common Core State Standards for English have stirred plenty of controversy. In a Vermont classroom full of 8th graders, they are working on a cornerstone of the core: close reading.

The Labor Department says the U.S. economy lost more than a half-million jobs in November. It was the steepest drop in nearly a quarter-century. Figures show that 533,000 jobs were lost last month, pushing the unemployment rate to 6.7 percent. That's a 15-year high. It's proof that the recession, already a year old, is getting deeper.

Anthony Shadid, a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for The Washington Post, talks about his book Night Draws Near: Iraq's People in the Shadow of America's War.

NPR's Jennifer Ludden in Gaza reports on the Israeli army's thrust into Palestinian-ruled territory. Israeli forces withdrew Tuesday from small areas of the Gaza Strip they seized Monday after an attempt to end Palestinian mortar attacks on Israeli towns and settlements.