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Wednesday marked the start of Kwanzaa, the seven day festival celebrating African-American culture. In the 1980s and '90s, many considered Kwanzaa a mainstream holiday like Christmas and Hanukkah. But now there seems to be less fanfare. Host Michel Martin speaks with Duke University's Mark Anthony Neal about whether Kwanzaa is still a thing.

In North Korea, profound social change is happening beyond the view of the outside world. The pressure of national ideology has forced women to become the primary breadwinners in many households — dramatically redrawing gender roles in the process.

At No. 6, Wild traces author Cheryl Strayed's crisis after her mother's death and a bitter divorce.

Researchers argue that ecology has a pretty big say in whether disease rates increase or die down. They used a new field that blends economics and ecology called "macroecology" to figure out how biodiversity loss affected disease burden.

It's that time of year when best-of lists abound, and Fresh Air's critics get in on the game: David Bianculli chooses his top television shows, David Edelstein names his favorite films, Maureen Corrigan weighs in with notable books and Ken Tucker tunes into to some of the best albums of 2012.

Early sales numbers suggest it was a lackluster season for retailers, and slow holiday sales mean fewer opportunities for retail workers hoping to make holiday temp jobs permanent.

NPR food commentator Bonny Wolf dishes out predictions for hot foods in the new year. She says Asia is the new Europe and that healthy, farm-to-table trends will even make it into your cocktails.

As a new class of million-dollar political donors rises, conservatives are fighting for continued secrecy around their contributions. Strategist Karl Rove is citing a 1950s Supreme Court case that protected NAACP members, arguing that conservative donors are also being subjected to intimidation.

The year 2012 might be remembered as the year the housing market finally turned around. Home prices for the year are expected to rise about 6 percent, but foreclosures remain a problem in some areas, though less so than in recent years. Weekend Edition Sunday guest host Linda Wertheimer talks with NPR's Yuki Noguchi.

As the year comes to an end, NPR librarian Kee Malesky shares closing lines from some great novels — those last few moments spent with a story that you love.