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Go to France, Britain, Ireland or Portugal -- you'll find the same sentiment on the streets of all these debt-ridden European nations: Europe's financial crisis was caused by rich and greedy bankers and politicians, yet it's the poor who're picking up the tab -- people like Mariana Silva. Silva is paid 400 euros for the 40 hours she slogs away each week in a kitchen in a poor neighborhood of Lisbon. Tax hikes and public spending cuts have driven her over the edge. She and her two kids are being kicked out of their home after defaulting on the mortgage. The power and the water have been cut off. For food, she relies on the help of the local priest and concerned members of the public.

Jay-Z is one of the most successful hip-hop artists of all time. On Fresh Air, he discusses growing up in Brooklyn surrounded by drugs and violence, and the stories behind many of his famous songs.

Punch bowls are back, but they're not filled with sugary juice and cheap booze. Drink historian David Wondrich pays homage to the "monarch of mixed drinks" in his new book, Punch: The Delights (and Dangers) of the Flowing Bowl.

At 75, French chef Jacques Pepin has spent the greater part of his life in a kitchen savoring food. But he's not yet ready to put his career on the back burner. Today he's the author of 23 cookbooks and has hosted 12 cooking series. His latest cookbook will be released in October.

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.

In her recent collection of essays, Haitian-American author Edwidge Danticat takes readers beyond the rubble, on a journey of history, culture and healing.

In an interview with Terry Gross, taped in front of a live audience in New York City, the Daily Show host deconstructs his upcoming "Rally to Restore Sanity" on the National Mall and explains how The Daily Show comes up with material.

The guitarist opens up about his music, his legendary journeys on the road with The Rolling Stones and his occasionally contentious relationship with lead singer Mick Jagger in a new memoir called Life.

Beloved chef Madhur Jaffrey prepared for a life on stage and screen as an actress — but her longing for the food of her childhood led her to her other career. She looks back on her days in film and in the kitchen with NPR's Renee Montagne.

Jeanne Baret didn't set out to be the first woman to circumnavigate the globe when she stepped aboard the Etoile in 1766. Disguised as a man, the French botanist was looking for plants.