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In Falling Upwards, writer Richard Holmes tells the story of early balloon flight--and of the nervy scientists who risked life and limb to take their experiments into the air. Among their discoveries? Insect migration and the stratosphere. Falling Upwards chronicles the balloonists who took science into the stratosphere.

Other sports leagues have fully embraced instant replay to help officiating for years. Major League Baseball stubbornly held out...until Thursday. Owners approved a plan for instant replay starting next season. Sportswriter Stefan Fatsis tells Robert Siegel about that development and other off-season baseball matters, including Derek Jeter: Book Publisher.

The Wayne County, Mich., prosecutor charged 54-year-old Theodore Paul Wafer with murder in the second degree for the shooting death of 19-year-old Renisha McBride. McBride was shot to death on Wafer's front porch in Dearborn Heights in the early morning hours of Nov. 2. Her family says she was seeking assistance after a car accident. A toxicology report shows McBride was intoxicated at the time.

China's leadership said Friday that it will close forced labor camps and relax its one-child policy. The announcement followed a special four-day meeting of leaders, which resulted in a number of economic and social reforms. Both the "re-education through labor" camps and the population control measures are widely unpopular with the Chinese public; the leadership also announced changes intended to encourage greater urbanization in China, as the country tries to build a consumer-led economy.

Institutional investors accused the bank of misrepresenting the true value of mortgage-backed securities, many loaded down with subprime loans.

Typhoon Haiyan swept through the Philippines late last week, leaving behind devastation and plenty of questions yet to be answered. Authors Kevin Roose and Allan Gurganus suggest books that might provide readers with a glimpse past the week's ubiquitous headlines, to the human cost often left hidden.

President Obama's proposal — designed to help reverse the recent cancellation of some health policies — seems to leave the decision up to insurance companies. But there are other decision-makers in the mix who are just as important: state regulators.

The International Space Station is a pretty great backdrop for a music video, and Commander Chris Hadfield didn't waste the opportunity as he was orbiting the Earth back in the spring of 2012.

The documentary Dear Mr. Watterson explores the world of the classic comic strip. NPR's Don Gonyea spoke with director Joel Allen Schroeder about the film and the strip, which still has devoted fans long after the final panels appeared in the paper.

New research from the International Food Policy Research Institute looks at the economic rationale for spending money to avoid stunting. Physical and psychological stunting occurs when children receive inadequate nutrition in their first 1,000 days of life. Senior researcher John Hoddinott talks with guest host Don Gonyea about the findings.