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The presidential panel on NSA has brought renewed attention to the practice of spying this week. Phone tapping, searching records and general intrigue — these have been popular topics in literature and film for well nigh a century. But espionage is not often a glamorous task, as author Julia Keller reminds us.

In the ancient town of Hastings on England's south coast, fishermen go to sea in small, ten meter boats, much as their forebears did. One fisherman dates his family back to the 1580s. Now they face competition from big boats and worry that overfishing will ruin their livelihood. Their work is dangerous. They often have to go out in rough seas to support their families. Now and then a fisherman is lost at sea and when that happens, one wife says, "the fishermen stick together and help each other — always."

The Port of Tyne on the northeastern coast of England used to be a world famous harbor where the biggest ships were built. But those industries have collapsed. "Now I think we are not quite sure who we are," says one resident. The port and the shipyards once provided apprenticeships and jobs, but no more. Boys and young men have little prospect of work, and all are hoping that plans for a massive wind farm in the North Sea will come to fruition and revitalize the economy.

Forget the taped readings of yore. Today's audiobooks feature integrated musical performances, movie-quality sound effects and all-star casts of rotating narrators. Take a peek at the new world of listenable literature with AudioFile magazine founder Robin Whitten's list of four notable audiobooks from 2013.

Ten years ago Congress approved a $15 billion plan to combat HIV in developing countries. Since then, the global health initiative has funded HIV treatment for nearly 7 million people and prevented hundreds of thousands of babies from getting infected during childbirth.

The second part of NPR's series on maritime Britain begins on a small ferry en route to the storm-lashed island of Lundy. Pirates once awaited their prey on the three-mile-long island. Today, there are 28 permanent residents, all employed by a conservation group, though some 2,000 bell ringers have made the pilgrimage to the island's old Gothic church.

Britain is a maritime nation that a century or two ago boasted the world's largest navy. Today, the names of shipping areas in the surrounding seas are embedded in the British national psyche — thanks to the BBC's Shipping Forecast bulletin, a cultural phenomenon beloved by seafarers and landlubbers alike.

Writer Paul Auster explores his own intellectual and moral maturation in his new book Report from the Interior. It's his fifth book about his own life, but Auster says it's not himself he's interested in.

Each Lenten season, Christians travel to Rome to visit a different martyr's shrine each day. The pilgrim-worn path, which dates back to the dawn of Christianity, includes some of the city's most striking churches and historic art. Theologian George Weigel, author of Roman Pilgrimage, says the journey grounded his faith in real places and people.

In A Curious Invitation: The Forty Greatest Parties in Fiction, London-based party promoter Suzette Field offers a guide to literature's most famous and fabulous hosts and their soirees — from Proust and Tom Wolfe to Jay Gatsby and Hollywood Wives.