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NPR's Mary Louise Kelly talks with Annie Polland, executive director of the American Jewish Historical Society, about Emma Lazarus, and the history behind her famous poem, The New Colossus.

With seven deaths and hundreds of cases of serious illnesses linked to vaping, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention ramped up its probe — trying to nail down the cause of the sicknesses.

Courts have tended to side with Congress when it comes to questions of congressional oversight of the executive branch. House Democrats hope they will again in a confrontation over the Mueller report.

Miss Havisham is one of Charles Dickens' most enduring characters. She appears in Great Expectations as an eccentric recluse, jilted at the altar years ago, who still wears her wedding gown and presides over a rotting feast. In his new novel, Ronald Frame imagines the kind of life that would have created such a woman.

Could a little red circle help you skip the comfort food this winter and maybe drop a few pounds? Doctors from Massachusetts General Hospital think so. They put traffic-light labels on their cafeteria's menu to signal the healthfulness of dishes. The colorful cues helped improve eating habits even two years later.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, leaders of the once-powerful rebel group M23 announced they are giving up their insurgency. Renee Montagne talks to the U.S. Special Envoy to Congo Russ Feingold about the hopeful signs that peace may come to the eastern part of the country after decades of war.

White sorority members told the school's student newspaper they wanted to recruit at least two black candidates, but their names were removed before members could vote on them. University President Judy Bonner has ordered sororities to use an open bidding process, which allows them to add new members at any time.

A new website offers a different perspective on the ruins of Spain's construction bubble. Called Nación Rotonda, or "Roundabout Nation," the site displays before-and-after aerial photos of Spanish towns, documenting how quickly half-built condos and urban sprawl have replaced open land in recent years.

As Detroit grapples with the largest municipal bankruptcy in the nation's history, city officials are dealing with a long-standing financial problem — collecting taxes. In recent years, only about half of the property taxes in Detroit have been paid in full. But some officials say the city's government has grown so dysfunctional, people who want to pay taxes sometimes have no place to do it.

A cycling group comprised of mostly Latino, bilingual, bicultural bikers is growing in Los Angeles — and changing people's minds about what recreational bikers look like.