Search results for

Correspondent Susan Stamberg gathers recommendations for the season's best books from booksellers Rona Brinlee, Daniel Goldin and Lucia Silva. Their selections include comics about philosophy, novels about building families, and a box set that dives into the process of writing.

At any given point in 2009, World Cafe host David Dye's Top 10 list would inevitably look different. So consider this a snapshot — and otherwise subject to change at any time. Some picks won't be new to most readers, but others qualify as left-field musical discoveries.

The city of Chicago has one more thing to boast about: Its hometown orchestra, the Chicago Symphony, has been named America's top orchestra in a new critics' poll published in the venerable British magazine Gramophone.

Also: Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf dies; Secretary Clinton is expected back at work next week; death toll from this week's winter weather reaches 17; former President George H.W. Bush wishes folks would "put the harps back in the closet."

Also: Peace envoy meets with Assad; woman in police uniform kills U.S. contractor in Kabul; snow could make post-Christmas travel tough in much of the nation; Sen. Mike Crapo, D-Idaho, faces drunk driving charge.

There has been a lot of conversation on social media about the downsides of polyester. But are those downsides as bad as they're believed to be? Are there upsides?

Looks like our prehistoric ancestors were bigger foodies than we realized. Archaeologists have found evidence that hunter-gatherers added a hot, mustard spice to their fish and meat thousands of years ago. So meals weren't just about consuming calories. Taste and flavor were important, too.

Utah's unorthodox health insurance exchange got conditional approval from the Obama administration. Six other states with more conventional approaches to running health insurance marketplaces also received provisional OKs.

From the ancient "Day of the Dead" melody to depictions of ghouls and witches, composers have long tapped into the dark side to serve up some deliciously devilish music.

Two Tulsa shooting suspects expected for Monday morning arraignment; cease-fire in Syria could be on brink of collapse as government puts up eleventh-hour obstacle.

Farai Chideya pays tribute to Four Tops frontman Levi Stubbs, who died Friday at his Detroit home. He was 72 years old.

It's time for the press screenings of Les Miserables. They're embargoed after they happen, but we can share what we won't be doing.