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The secretive and bloody industry is booming around the country, enjoying underground popularity despite being banned in all 50 states.

Research shows that sleep deprivation makes people emotionally volatile and temperamental — a fact that hasn't escaped the notice of some reality TV producers, who deny contestants sleep in an effort to kick up televised drama.

Hip-hop heavyweights might not always show their softer side, but when their hearts get broken, they're not often shy about airing their woes. As LL Cool J revealed in the sensitive classic "I Need Love," there's a tender heart beneath the surface of even the brashest rapper. Here are five tearjerkers from a group of normally stoic tough guys.

Many members of Congress want the Veteran's Administration to pay for services to help all 26 million vets affected by a recent data theft. But some consumer groups say the services don't do much good.

For more than 25 years, Frank Pease was the primary portrait photographer in LaPorte, Ind., — a town of about 20,000. Now his photos of everyday Midwesterners have been compiled into a book called LaPorte, Indiana.

Five of the nation's newest college grads earned degrees from a model program that offers college courses and a supported-living environment for mentally disabled students. As Susan Sharon of Maine Public Radio reports, the five members of STRIVE U's first class now have their own apartments and jobs.

The family of Trayvon Martin, the unarmed 17-year-old who was shot and killed in Florida last month, began publicizing the incident after they felt authorities were mishandling the investigation. Family attorney Benjamin Crump was instrumental in raising the public profile of the Martin case, and he speaks with host Michel Martin.

Independent video stores are struggling to maintain a foothold in a shrinking rental market. In Seattle, Scarecrow Video is managing to stay afloat thanks to its varied selection.

Five candidates spent Monday campaigning in the state. And we now hear from five NPR reporters, covering those candidates. They include: Ari Shapiro on Mitt Romney, Robert Smith on Ron Paul, Andrea Seabrook on Newt Gingrich, Don Gonyea on Rick Santorum and Tovia Smith on Jon Huntsman.

Michael Crichton's last book, ever, sails the seas of pirate adventure. In story collections: Alice Munro's strong and subtly mysterious women; Ha Jin's immigrants caught between two worlds.

Raphael Saadiq, the lead vocalist in the late-1980s R&B band Tony! Toni! Tone!, has emerged as solo artist with his new album The Way I See It. Rock critic Ken Tucker has a review.

Caroline Kennedy's new Christmas anthology opens with her 1962 letter to Santa. In it, she wished for skates, dolls and a "pet reindeer" for herself and "some noisy thing" for her brother John. But a family tradition shunned toys for oranges and walnuts.