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Frank Snowden, author of the book, Epidemics and Society: From the Black Death to the Present, describes how pandemics stretching back centuries and our responses to them have shaped history.

The latest reshuffle in college sports has seen eight teams leaving the Pac-12 for other Power 5 conferences — putting the once prestigious century-old conference on the brink of collapse.

The United Nations Security Council meets on Sudan, as a deadly power struggle in the capital continues. More than 4 million people have been uprooted in the conflict, which began in April.

In their new book, Annoying: The Science Of What Bugs Us, NPR Science Correspondent Joe Palca and Science Friday's Flora Lichtman set out to examine why certain things — and people — drive us bananas.

Astronomer Mike Brown didn't mean to kill Pluto -- or so he claims. Brown says the ex-ninth planet was just collateral damage in his search for the 10th. He tells the story of that search -- and the demotion of Pluto that raised the ire of elementary school students everywhere -- in his new book, How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming.

Jose Saramago tells the grim tale of a city devastated by an epidemic of blindness. Myla Goldberg says Saramago vividly illustrates disaster's potential to bring out both the best and the worst in people.

Heidi Durrow's debut novel, The Girl Who Fell From The Sky, explores biracial identity in young adulthood. The book has received critical acclaim as well as the Bellwether Prize for fiction that addresses issues of social justice.

Friends Brian Sykora and Roger Horowitz create fruit ice pops inspired by the traditional Mexican frozen treat paletas. Though they're not making a living from it yet, the entrepreneurs are selling Pleasant Pops from a bicycle cart at a weekly farmers market. Their best seller? Cucumber chili.

Automaker Toyota said its preliminary investigation into last week's runaway Toyota Prius in San Diego is at odds with the driver's claims. Federal investigators also say they can't duplicate the acceleration problem blamed for last week's incident.

English rose from humble beginnings to become a language that's spoken by people from every corner of the Earth. In Globish, Robert McCrum tells the story of how a mongrel language slowly took the world by storm.