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The number of people who die each year because of medical errors in hospitals may be twice as high as previously estimated. An analysis suggests that 210,000 or more people may suffer some type of preventable harm that contributes to their death.

In 1961 a B-52 bomber accidentally dropped two nuclear bombs on North Carolina. One low-voltage switch "stood between the United States and a major catastrophe," an engineer wrote about the incident.

The origin of the bagel "is somewhat mysterious," says a writer who recently explored the topic. What is unquestionable is that bagel met and married lox in New York. But as in so many modern unions, both partners came to the marriage with plenty of baggage.

For conductor Marin Alsop, Bernstein's idiosyncratic Second Symphony — inspired by W.H. Auden's poem The Age of Anxiety — is a musical quest to answer life's big questions with time out to throw a hip-swinging party.

As a child, author Koren Zailckas was an introvert with numbed emotions. When her fourth-grade teacher, "Mr. Cool," assigned the works of Edgar Allan Poe, she was horrified. Murder? Torture? How inappropriate! But the terrifying stories and poems transformed her: she says they scared her into life.

In Blue Caprice, the onetime Grey's Anatomy star portrays a man modeled on one of the 2002 Beltway snipers. He talks with NPR's Scott Simon about the challenges of humanizing a character capable of the inhuman.

Shoppers at the upscale Westgate Mall came under assault by gunfire and grenades around lunch hour in Nairobi. At least 39 people have died, says Kenya's president, including members of his own family.

A prominent Russian lawmaker mocked the U.S. during the mass shooting in Washington this week. But statistics show that Russia has more killings each year than the U.S. despite a much smaller population.

The online magazine Ozy launched Monday, offering readers a streamlined site with original reporting and a look at trends on the horizon. Co-founder Carlos Watson talks about his vision for the site.

Actor and comedian Patton Oswalt appeared at three Los Angeles library branches Saturday to read aloud from Herman Melville's Moby-Dick and discuss its complexities with audience members. Host Arun Rath talks to Oswalt about his obsession with the white whale.