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Journalist Mirta Ojito arrived in the United States from Cuba as a teenager in 1980, part of an influx of Cuban refugees from the Mariel boatlift. Her new book, Finding Mañana: A Memoir of a Cuban Exodus, explores that time.

On April 12, 1955, the world heard one of the most eagerly anticipated announcements in medical history: Dr. Jonas Salk's polio vaccine worked. The vaccine turned a disease that once horrified America into a memory.

Benjamin Franklin first called for the government to tinker with clock hours in the 1780s. But it wasn't until World War I that the U.S. adopted daylight-saving time as a way to squeeze more out of the day. David Prerau explores the curious history of DST.

St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa is considered one of baseball's top strategists — and a likely resident of baseball's Hall of Fame. Pulitzer-winning author Buzz Bissinger's new book is about three games La Russa managed in a tense pennant race.

Andy Goldsworthy, a sculptor best known for impermanent works in nature made of leaves, rocks and even ice, has created a permanent slate structure for the National Gallery of Art. To do so, he studied optics and physics to create a series of domes that should stand forever without any cement.

Recent anti-Syria protesters in Lebanon include some of the authors featured in an anthology called Transit: Beirut. Their highly personal, often experimental work offers glimpses of a different side of the city.

Meghan Jensen of Mystic, Conn., is among 20 high school students competing in the National High School Recipe Contest in Denver, Colo. The students are vying for full scholarships to Johnson & Wales University. Jensen is competing in the dessert category. Her recipe is "Mystical Orange Berry Delight," a dessert in the shape of a sailboat and inspired by the Mystic Seaport area.

More than 6,000 police departments around the country now use tasers, the electronic stun guns that have been hailed as an alternative to lethal force. But Taser International, which makes the weapons, is facing questions about the safety of its products, and the accuracy of its sales reports. NPR's Laura Sullivan reports.

In over 30 years of traveling, writer Eric Hansen has met some odd characters. He details some of his most memorable explorations in a new book of essays called The Bird Man and the Lap Dancer.

The transition from military veteran to successful chef seems more likely to occur on a TV sitcom than in real life. But that's the story of Phyllis Kendall, who traded her Air Force cap for a white chef's toque.