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Neurologist Oliver Sacks' earliest and fondest memories are of fire — the coal fires of his childhood home, Hanukkah candles. Today he deals more with the firing of neurons, but he still gets his fix through flame-inspired literature like Hazel Rossotti's Fire, about the culture and science of fire.

Hip-hop music grew from the streets of Harlem and the Bronx into a multi-billion-dollar industry. Dan Charnas chronicles how hip-hop producers and entrepreneurs changed the music industry and pop culture in The Big Payback.

Fresh Air's resident book critic selects her favorite reads from the year, including Patti Smith's moving memoir, a feminist slant on election season and a new history of labor unions.

If celebrity tell-all books are the snack food of the literary world, author Susan Jane Gilman has been on a binge this year. Her picks — from various ranks of the pop-culture pantheon — may not be the proudest additions to your bookshelf, but they may be among the most amusing.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was behind bars in Britain on Tuesday, after the 39-year-old Australian voluntarily reported to British police, who arrested him on a Swedish warrant for sex-related allegations, including rape. Assange, who denies the Swedish allegations, now appears to be gearing up for a long fight against extradition.

A study of five U.S. allies who ended bans on gays openly serving in their militaries showed that the wide-scale disruptions feared by opponents had never materialized, says historian and study author Nathaniel Frank. He discusses his findings and what they suggest for efforts to end the Pentagon's "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

When writer Abraham Verghese was 10 years old, he went off to sea in a British frigate to battle Napoleon's navy. Verghese made this perilous journey thanks to C.S. Forester's unforgettable series about the adventures of Captain Horatio Hornblower, books he still loves, years later.

Literary critics have called him the British Philip Roth, but Howard Jacobson prefers to think of himself as a "Jewish Jane Austen." His books are renowned for their biting social commentary — and his Booker prize-winning novel, The Finkler Question, is no exception.

Novelist Walter Mosley explains how watching his mother's experience with dementia helped him craft his latest novel, The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey, which asks: Would you repair your failing memory if it meant your life span would also be significantly shortened?

Deep breathing is not just relaxing; it's also been scientifically proven to affect the heart, the brain, digestion, the immune system. Research has shown that breathing exercises can have immediate effects by altering the pH of the blood, or changing blood pressure.