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The sheer number of law enforcement officers makes it hard for big gangs to meet openly in New York City the way they did back in the 1980s, so many gang members who have left state prison have migrated north. Authorities say they brought shootings and stabbings with them.

A new study suggests that learning to play a musical instrument helps improve the brain's ability to process language. That means music lessons could give kids from low-income communities a big boost.

Volker Bertelmann is the master of using household junk to create haunting instrumental pieces. NPR's Rachel Martin speaks to him about his new album, Abandoned Cities.

Congressman John Lewis has co-authored a new graphic novel about the 1963 March on Washington, which he helped plan. Reviewer Jody Arlington says March: Book One is a "fresh and sometimes shocking work," with a message of reconciliation and hope that still resonates.

Two new drugs for hepatitis C can save lives. They are also wildly expensive, costing $66,000 to $84,000 per person. Insurers face paying billions for treatment, or explicitly rationing vital care.

Sometimes our eyes are bigger than our baking skills. Reviewer T. Susan Chang recommends three cookbooks with pictures that indulge our senses while sparing our waistlines. Do you have a favorite cookbook? Let us know in the comments.

A treatment that is appropriate for one patient can be unnecessary or even counterproductive for another. But Harvard researchers found a way to estimate truly wasteful Medicare spending.

If we don't notice that animals are in deep decline, do we keep eating and eating until what is disappearing is gone permanently? Or do we unconsciously adjust?

If we don't notice that animals are in deep decline, do we keep eating and eating until what is disappearing is gone permanently? Or do we unconsciously adjust?

Poet Langston Hughes was also an "inveterate letter writer," says the co-editor of a new compilation of his correspondence. But if you're hoping to find profound love letters, you'll be disappointed.

This week we're looking back at the year in music with a peek at NPR Music's 50 Favorite Albums of 2013. It's the annual list assembled by our in-house experts, including NPR music writer and editor Stephen Thompson. He tells Audie Cornish about his picks in the world of indie pop.

The song by Venezuelan rappers Apache y Canserbero tackles the rampant police corruption plaguing their country — but with a light touch.