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Lionel Shriver has never shied away from contentious topics. Her latest novel, Big Brother, tackles the hot-button issue of obesity as doll-maker Pandora deals with her brother — washed-up jazz pianist Edison — and his massive weight gain.

The Institute of Medicine this week urged Congress to allocate to community clinics more of the $15 billion it spends annually on training new doctors. But hospitals say that's the wrong prescription.

This week's puzzle involves brand names of foods at the grocery. If I asked you to take "Dole" (as in pineapples) and rearrange the letters to name an ore deposit, you would say "lode." What anagrams do each of the names conceal?

Anne Carson's Autobiography of Red, a novel in verse, was published more than a decade ago and has a loyal following. Reviewer Rosecrans Baldwin says those fans are sure to be delighted with Carson's new follow-up novel, Red Doc>.

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.

A former Saturday Night Live writer and an alumnus of 30 Rock, the comic hosts a weekly stand-up night at The Knitting Factory in Brooklyn, where surprise guests have included Louis C.K., Chris Rock and Sarah Silverman. When he's on his game, you're sometimes not at all sure why you're laughing.

Industrial musicals were like Broadway shows, only written and performed for corporate sales meetings or conventions. And as ridiculous as the songs were — "My bathroom, my bathroom is a private kind of place" — they were often delivered by very talented people.

Despite its beautiful music, and a storyline filled with passionate romance, violent conflict and international intrigue, Vincenzo Bellini's Zaira was received coolly at its premiere, partially due to cutthroat musical politics.

Bing Crosby has long been the voice of the Christmas season, and now he's the subject of a new American Masters documentary. NPR's Scott Simon talks to Kathryn and Mary Crosby about his legacy.

A report from the Institute of Medicine says Medicare needs to make a "significant change" to the ways it evaluates salaries of health care workers and real estate costs. Major changes to these calculations would affect the bottom lines of thousands of practitioners and institutions.

An NPR team begins a series of reports from North Africa, where last year's revolutions have Tunisia, Libya and Egypt writing new rules for their changing societies. The Revolutionary Road Trip starts with a look at how Tunisians can now express themselves — and the new restrictions that have emerged.

An NPR team begins a series of reports from North Africa, where last year's revolutions have Tunisia, Libya and Egypt writing new rules for their changing societies. The Revolutionary Road Trip starts with a look at how Tunisians can now express themselves — and the new restrictions that have emerged.