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Author Eric Weiner identifies Renaissance Florence, Classical Athens and Silicon Valley as "genius clusters." And he explains how the right amount of friction and competition can help geniuses thrive.

For decades, astronomers believed there was another planet in our solar system, tucked just out of sight. Then Albert Einstein figured out it wasn't there. Author Thomas Levenson explains.

In his new book, Sam Phillips, music writer Peter Guralnick profiles the founder of the Sun Records label. Guralnick says Phillips rejected perfection in favor of spontaneity and individuality.

Book programs for freshmen — and sometimes a whole campus or community — are meant to spark discussion and unity. This year's picks at eight U.S. schools range from chilling nonfiction to poetry.

Nearly 1 million New York City residents are still uninsured. Rather than go to emergency rooms or city hospitals, some get free care from students in medical school.

We have different clocks in virtually every organ of our bodies. But living against the clock — eating late at night or working overnight — may set the stage for weight gain and chronic disease.

NPR Ed is celebrating 50 Great Teachers. Today: The story of a young algebra teacher in Oklahoma oil country, who has taken an unorthodox approach to classroom math.

"Nature knows how to let animals live a very long time," says Bill Gifford, whose latest book is Spring Chicken, a look at the history of anti-aging schemes and current ways people try to live longer.

This year, we couldn't control ourselves. The list of our best-loved songs of 2014 has no arbitrary limits, just 302 songs from every imaginable genre. And you can listen to every single one of them.

There is no reason to expect that we can get to the ultimate nature of reality, says physicist Marcelo Gleiser. We must learn to live with the mystery, with the fact that we cannot know everything.

In The Innovators, Walter Isaacson explains that Pentagon officials wanted a system the Russians couldn't attack, and 1984 made the public wary of new technology's Big Brother potential.

There is no end to how much we can know of reality. But we can never know everything, says commentator Marcelo Gleiser.