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Alexandra Penney's longtime nightmare of being broke and dependent on others for help almost overwhelmed her when Bernard Madoff was arrested and her life savings disappeared.

Journalist David E. Hoffman reflects on the high-stakes maneuverings of the Cold War arms race and tells Fresh Air about the urgent search for the nuclear and biological hazards left behind after the collapse of the Soviet Union. He also details the inner workings of the Soviet nuclear program in his book The Dead Hand.

The Mekong River, one of the world's longest waterways, has a long and turbulent history. It begins its 3,000-mile journey high on the Tibetan plateau of China's Qinghai province, where its once-nomadic residents try to preserve their culture and traditions against the challenges of modernity.

The Routes of Man is the new book by Ted Conover, a Pulitzer Prize nominee for Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing. Reviewer Maureen Corrigan says Conover's newest effort, about how roads shape the world in which we live, has "vivid armchair travel" appeal.

Rising sea levels are destroying the fields and livelihoods of people on Sagar Island in the Bay of Bengal. Refugees arrived from a nearby island after it was swallowed up by waves. Scientists say climate change is a factor. Residents of the island, which is a sacred place for Hindus, say God is responsible.

The Unnamed is a book about a man afflicted with a debilitating condition — a compulsive need to walk until he collapses from exhaustion. Author Joshua Ferris, who also wrote Then We Came To The End, says he wanted to examine the nature of illness.

A new authorized biography, Willie Mays: The Life, The Legend, has the baseball great, now 78 years old, out on tour, talking about his life, his career and — inevitably — the famous play he made in the 1954 World Series, known in baseball lore simply as "The Catch."

Comedian Carol Leifer has written for Seinfeld, The Larry Sanders Show, The Ellen Show, and Saturday Night Live. She talks to Fresh Air about her career in comedy, her coming out story, and her memoir, When You Lie About Your Age, The Terrorists Win.

After his daughter — a 38-year-old pediatrician with three children of her own — died of a rare heart defect, Roger Rosenblatt and his wife, Ginny, moved in with their son-in-law to help raise their grandchildren. His new book, Making Toast, is his account of the hurt — and humor — that followed.

Buried under the drifts in Washington, D.C., we turn to artful descriptions of snow from some favorite writers — in the hands of a good storyteller, snow can be magical, or monstrous. We sample works from Ezra Jack Keats, Laura Ingalls Wilder and, of course, Robert Frost.