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Former prime minister and music producer, Edward Seaga, compiled an album to mark Jamaica's 50th anniversary of independence. It's called, Reggae Golden Jubilee: Origins of Jamaican Music. Host Michel Martin speaks to Mr. Seaga about what he sees as the 100 most significant songs to emerge from the country.

Just five days remain for the government to reach an agreement to avoid the tax hikes and spending cuts set to take effect Jan. 1, 2013. Many analysts now say the deadline is unlikely to be met. NPR's Ron Elving explains the looming deadline and the possible ramifications of going over the fiscal cliff.

After a rough and tumble four years, Lisa Jackson announced Thursday that she is stepping down as head of the Environmental Protection Agency.

U.S. adoption advocacy groups are appealing to Russian President Vladimir Putin not to sign a law that would bar adoptions by Americans. More than 60,000 Russians have been adopted by Americans over the last two decades, and more than a thousand are now in the process of being adopted. Russian lawmakers proposed the ban to retaliate over a measure by the U.S. Congress to impose visa bans on Russians accused of human rights violations.

If Congress and the president can't reach a deal, budget cuts will go into effect next week. But most agencies won't be hit right away. The biggest planning headaches seem to be for payroll companies and others who deal with taxes — as they wait to see if automatic increases happen Jan. 1.

Conventional wisdom says e-books are destroying the traditional publishing business model. But the story's not that simple. For one thing, flexible pricing allows publishers to hold what amount to one-day-only sales on any given title — which means more people will discover that book.

About three-quarters of public libraries offer e-books, according to the American Library Association. But finding the book you want to read can be a challenge when every publisher has its own licensing rules for libraries — and several major houses don't sell e-books to libraries at all.

Sighs of relief were breathed in Austria today, after a missing pony made it back to his circus after an apparent horse-napping. While it might seem difficult to steal, and then conceal, a horse, consider that the animal, named Fridolin, is only about two feet tall.

Charles Dickens wrote many of his greatest works in serial form, but serial publishing has fallen by the wayside since his day. Now, it's being revived online, and Margaret Atwood is publishing a future-dystopia novel called Positron in installments via the literary website Byliner.

President Obama might have had the top tweet this year, but a lot of other notable things were said and discussed on Twitter in 2012. Host Michel Martin gets a breakdown of the year's top tweets from Keli Goff of The Root and blogger Viviana Hurtado of The Wise Latina Club.