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The 14th century Persian poet Hafez remains venerated in Iran, even though he wrote of wine, romance and other topics not necessarily welcome in today's Islamic Republic.

"Ants Among Elephants" is the memoir of an Indian woman, born a so-called untouchable, who is a New York City subway conductor. NPR's Stacey Vanek Smith speaks with author Sujatha Gidla.

The late Carrie Fisher makes her final appearance — now as General Leia — in Star Wars Episode VIII. Critic David Edelstein says The Last Jedi is nothing short of terrific.

On Sunday, South Sudan marks six years as independent country. Between its civil war and humanitarian crisis, things are so bad that anniversary celebrations were canceled.

Turkey, schmurkey — some people think stuffing, or dressing, is really what makes the Thanksgiving meal. Deb Perelman, the woman behind the blog "Smitten Kitchen" is one of them. She talks with Ari Shapiro about what she thinks makes a great stuffing.

If you want to sell something to little girls right now, just put a princess on it. Disney princesses alone fuel a $4 billion industry, and Pixar's movie Brave is sure to give that a boost. But it isn't all singing birds and sunshine — some wonder if the princess trend is becoming too niche.

Remember the command from TV ads through the spring and summer? "Tell President Obama to" stop spending, or increase oil production, or whatever. Those three little words are now largely gone, and for the same reason they were ever used: so groups running the ads can keep their donors secret.

Nathan Wolfe travels to the viral hot spots of the world, where viruses first jump from animals to humans. The scientist spends his days tracking emerging infectious diseases before they turn into global pandemics.

The so-called "Bridge to Nowhere" came to symbolize all that's wrong with earmarks in Congress. But during the past few weeks, as Speaker John Boehner struggled to rally support for his alternate tax plan, some said earmarks could have helped him convince fellow Republicans to push legislation through the House.

Heart of a Samurai tells the true story of 14-year-old Manjiro, a boy who was shipwrecked, rescued by whalers and taken to America. It was the late 1800s, when Japan was cut off from the outside world — until Manjiro returned and influenced the shogun to open the country to diplomacy.