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Astronomy professor Alicia Soderberg is turning the final moments of stars into music. In doing so, she's learning just how different the supernova explosions can be.

A chemical spill contaminated the local water supply near Charleston. Inspectors found that the company responsible for the spill had not taken any steps to contain it by the time inspectors arrived on Thursday.

When the bathroom building went up behind a small Louisiana church in 1959, the doors were painted different colors. Ushers would follow black parishioners outside to make sure they entered the correct door. The once-segregated bathroom recently became part of a discussion of racism, a from-the-pulpit apology, and a demolition.

Dennis Rodman took a team of former NBA players to North Korea to celebrate leader Kim Jong Un's birthday. NPR's Scott Simon likes the flamboyant and frank Rodman, but wonders if his tour amounts to sports diplomacy or propaganda for the North Korean regime.

In Duty, former Defense Secretary Robert Gates writes that the Obama team was always "suspicious" of the military and never trusted senior leaders. The memoir is a case study in a long-standing cultural divide between the White House and the military.

Nearly 20 percent of Americans still smoke, in spite of what we know about the dangers. Part of the reason is the allure of a cigarette, so elemental to classic scenes in movies, television shows and books. NPR's Scott Simon speaks with Richard Klein, author of Cigarettes are Sublime, about smoking and American culture.

In the 50 years since the Surgeon General's landmark report on smoking, what's worked to convince people not to smoke, and what hasn't? NPR's Scott Simon talks with Kenneth Warner, professor of public health at the University of Michigan, about cigarette consumption before and after the report.

On the 50th anniversary of President Lyndon Johnson's "War on Poverty" speech, the clash between Republicans and Democrats on how to alleviate poverty has come front and center. Republicans insist that anti-poverty programs have failed; Democrats say they have worked and should be expanded.

From its earliest days to its current state, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can largely be tracked by charting the lives of these arch-rivals. The two played major roles in shaping events, yet the enduring conflict has now outlasted both of them.

Next week, Egypt holds yet another referendum on its constitution. We talk to political scientist Nathan Brown on what the likely outcome is, and if it could mean more stability in the country.