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Two centers of culture are in conflict on the banks of the Thames in London. One is the world renowned South Bank Center of the Arts, with four resident orchestras, including the London Philharmonic. It also has conservatories, the Royal Festival Hall, the Hayward Gallery and the Queen Elizabeth Hall. The other cultural landmark is the Undercroft, a dark, concrete cavern, covered in graffiti, that lies beneath the Arts Center and looks out on to the Thames. It's the birthplace and temple of British skate boarding. For forty uninterrupted years it has been hallowed ground for those who regard skate boarding as an art form every bit as legitimate as anything performed in the concert halls above. But now the South Bank Arts Center is trying to force the skateboarders to a different location, so the Undercroft can be leased to restaurants. And the skate boarders are mobilizing to resist.

In terms of income, what you major in matters more than where you go to school. Here are the 10 majors where graduates have the highest incomes — and the majors where incomes are lowest.

His new book, Dissident Gardens, follows three generations of an activist family, from Rose, a secular Jew and communist, to Sergius, her commune-raised grandson. The book is fiction, but its characters were inspired by Lethem's own family story.

Millions of Syrians have poured into refugee camps, where food, water and health services are scarce. As the U.S. prepares for possible military action, aid agencies are preparing for thousands more people to flee and worsen the humanitarian crisis.

Sheri Fink's Five Days At Memorial, describes the horrific conditions at a New Orleans hospital shortly after Hurricane Katrina. Facing floodwaters and corporate mismanagement, some staffers euthanized sick patients. Fink's judgment of those actions is admirably — and frustratingly — nuanced.

In her debut novel, Iranian-American Sara Farizan tells the story of two teenage girls, secretly in love. Sahar faces a crisis when she discovers Nasrin is engaged, and considers gender-reassignment surgery as a way for them to stay together. Farizan speaks with NPR's Jacki Lyden about the book and her own struggle with her sexual orientation.

Author Jesse Walker argues that believing in shadowy cabals and ominous secrets isn't just for people on the margins — it's as American as apple pie. He says that our nation's paranoia stretches back to the colonial era, and that some conspiracy theories are believed by a majority of Americans.

The comic and actor talks to NPR's Scott Simon about his insomnia, his friendship with baseball legend Mickey Mantle, and the love of his life. They're all topics in his memoir, Still Foolin' 'Em: Where I've Been, Where I'm Going, and Where the Hell are My Keys?

Daniel Woodrell's new novel explores the lingering consequences of an explosion in an Ozarks dance hall that kills 42 people. It wasn't an accident, but the book isn't about a hunt for the murderer. Instead, reviewer Ellah Allfrey says, it's a remarkable study of a surviving sister's life and grief.

Shon Hopwood was in prison for more than a decade. There, the bank robber became a jailhouse lawyer who got a fellow prisoner's case heard before the Supreme Court. Now a law student, he'll be a clerk at one of the nation's most prestigious courts. The judge who put him in prison is stunned.