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Author Michael Pollan explores the evolutionary reasons behind why we've learned to cook with fire in his book The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals. Pollan says that grilling outdoors is one of the highest honors we can bestow on a guest.

Anyone reporting from Iraq has to expect obstacles. In addition to the regular dangers and red tape, reporting from this war zone is always full of surprises, says Philip Reeves in this reporter's notebook.

You can tell a little bit about what part of the country you're in by the sundaes on the menu. From Maine's fruit-salad sundae to New Mexico's green chili variety, there are frozen desserts to suit just about every taste bud.

If David Lipsky had to give an alien one book about American life, it would be David Foster Wallace's Consider the Lobster, a collection of essays that are "experiential postcards." Lipsky is the author of Absolutely American : Four Years at West Point.

Beethoven poured his "scowling genius" into his 32 sonatas — works that helped transform music forever. Three artists discuss their attempts to interpret some of the most challenging pieces ever written for piano.

Cartoonists Brian Fies and Miriam Engelberg use comics to write about cancer. Both say they've found one cartoon drawing can distill meaning, humor and sadness more effectively than a 50-page essay.

Author Robert Sullivan's new book chronicles his family's cross-country trips from Oregon to New York. Its subtitle paints the picture: Cross Country: Fifteen Years and 90,000 Miles on the Roads and Interstates of America with Lewis and Clark, a lot of bad motels, a moving van, Emily Post, Jack Kerouac, my wife, my mother-in-law, two kids, and enough coffee to kill an elephant.

In a desperate drive to catch suspected terrorists, the United States is using torture and other harsh interrogation techniques. But that can often lead to wild goose chases because of unreliable information generated under duress, the author of a new book says.

In the spring of 2004, when Americans were horrified by the pictures of abuse at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison, medical-ethics expert Steven Miles had just one question: Where were the doctors? Miles, himself a doctor, has written a book about how the medical profession failed to perform its role as protector.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrives in Afghanistan to show support for President Hamid Karzai, whose popularity has slumped in the face of a resurgent Taliban. Susan Stamberg talks with journalist Ahmed Rashid about the current state of affairs in Afghanistan.