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Home ownership holds a special place in American culture: It is the nest egg, the lifelong investment and what many see as the key to the American dream. Everyone told Dawn Crowell, a single mother of four in St. Paul, Minn., she would be stupid to keep throwing money away on rent. So she took the plunge -- and regrets it to this day.

In autumn, the publishing industry kicks into high gear, rolling out "big books" — the titles that publishers hope readers will buy through the all-important holiday season. NPR's Lynn Neary follows the path of Emma Donoghue's novel, Room, a book that has generated some serious buzz.

The Purple Heart is the most powerful symbol that a soldier has sacrificed for his or her country. For generations, the military has awarded Purple Hearts to soldiers wounded in action. But an investigation by NPR and ProPublica has found that Army commanders routinely deny Purple Hearts to soldiers who've suffered concussions from explosions -- even though Army regulations say they merit the award. Four soldiers have struggled to get Purple Hearts -- and medical help.

NPR News/ProPublica Investigation: Army commanders have routinely denied Purple Hearts to soldiers who have sustained mild traumatic brain injuries in Iraq, despite regulations that make such wounds eligible for the medal.

A full-blown congressional debate on the expiring 2001 and 2003 tax cuts will unfold this fall, but some lawmakers have already weighed in on the most controversial issue: whether it makes sense, at a time of huge budget deficits, to extend tax relief for those earning more than $250,000.

When it comes to taxes in the U.S., it's the income tax -- and the annual April 15 deadline for filing returns -- that gets most of our attention. But that's only part of the picture -- there are property taxes and sales taxes, even taxes built into every cell phone bill. So how much do we pay? One couple in Connecticut opens their books to find out.

The U.S. unemployment rate surged far higher and has remained higher than in other major industrial countries. It's now at 9.6 percent. The big shift came when American companies cut workers more aggressively than foreign firms in the face of the financial crisis.

In their seven-year love affair with Interstate 95, Stan Posner and Sandra Phillips-Posner have found the best Polish sausage, Berger cookies and a battleship you can spend the night on.

What do Wikipedia and Craigslist have in common with the Tea Party movement? They succeed by being decentralized, says Rod Beckstrom, co-author of the management book The Starfish and the Spider.

Most Israelis view Gaza as hostile territory ruled by a terrorist group, Hamas, committed to the destruction of the Jewish state. Though cross-border violence has subsided recently, Israelis still feel under attack and remain in a state of hyper-vigilance.