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President Obama delivered an angry message to lawmakers, who shot down a gun control measure.

Most people think of Superman as a native of Krypton, or perhaps the rural Kansas village of Smallville. Not so fast, say Clevelanders. The creators of the Man of Steel grew up in the city that steel built, and this year, Cleveland is pulling out all the stops for the superhero's 75th birthday.

As the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducts a new class, musicians and writers look at how influence — one of the Hall's criteria for induction — plays out in ways obvious (how Beyonce draws on Donna Summer) and not so much (jazz pianist Vijay Iyer explains how Public Enemy shaped his music).

At what point does debt start to drag down an economy? Harvard economists Carmen Reinhart and Ken Rogoff have argued that a debt to GDP ratio of 90 percent is a red line of sorts. That idea is under attack with economists from the University of Massachusetts charging that Rogoff and Reinhart used selective data to make their case.

President Obama delivered a scathing speech from the Rose Garden late Wednesday, in which he excoriated the Senate for failing to pass gun control legislation that would have required more thorough background checks for buyers of certain firearms.

As the day dawned, officials said an estimated 5 to 15 people were killed and more than 160 were wounded. It was feared those numbers might go higher. The cause of the fire that led to the explosion at a plant near Waco is under investigation.

Also: an animated interview with David Foster Wallace; the self-publishing trend; and a spirited defense of Justin Bieber.

Gun control advocates are regrouping after the Senate's failure to pass new gun regulations on Wednesday. Host Michel Martin talks about the political news of the week with analysts Maria Teresa Kumar, Lenny McAllister and NPR's senior Washington editor, Ron Elving.

A fertilizer plant exploded near Waco, Texas, Wednesday night. Officials report between five and 15 people were killed, and more than 160 wounded.

When volunteer firefighters in the city of West, Texas, about 20 miles north of Waco, arrived to battle a fire at a fertilizer plant, they encountered a disaster in the making. Steve Inskeep and David Greene have more details on the explosion that followed Wednesday night.