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A jazz pianist and bandleader, Iyer is one of the most critically acclaimed musicians of the past decade. He also has a masters in physics. Here, he explains why he decided to switch to a full-time career as a jazz musician, and describes what influenced his album Solo.

Can online comments be redeemed? That conversation, plus highlights from our tech coverage on-air and online, are in our latest week in review.

That detail is important in understanding just how serious the negotiations between the two countries have gotten. That talk was the first time the heads of states of the two countries have spoken directly since 1979.

Polling shows that many Americans aren't quite sure how the Affordable Care Act will affect them, and it may be even more confusing for immigrants and people who don't speak English as their first language. Illinois has a large immigrant population, and the state has been working to resolve language barriers as it gets ready to launch its insurance marketplace.

Federal Reserve chairmen used to be named without much fanfare. Not this time. A very public competition between former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers and the current vice chairman of the Fed Janet Yellen has made headlines and pitted the White House against liberal Democrats in Congress. It raises the question of whether the Fed succession has become too politicized — and whether it could ultimately hurt the economy.

Robert Siegel speaks with former Egyptian ambassador to the U.S. and the current foreign minister for Egypt's interim government, Nabil Fahmy, about some of the crises facing his country.

As expected, the Democratic-controlled Senate passed its own version of a short-term spending bill. It's the version the House approved last week, minus language that would defund Obamacare. That effectively tossed the ball back to the Republican-controlled House.

The division in the Republican Party means there's no one leader on the other side that President Obama can cut a deal with — or even high-profile adversary to vilify. That's a stark contrast from other recent fiscal standoffs.

The host of A Prairie Home Companion and The Writer's Almanac has published his first poetry collection called O, What a Luxury: Verses Lyrical, Vulgar, Pathetic and Profound. "I love rhymes," Keillor says. "I love to write a poem about New York and rhyme 'oysters' with 'The Cloisters.' "

This year marks the 125th birthday of Nobel Prize-winning poet T.S. Eliot. To celebrate, a re-issue of the first edition of his seminal poem has just been published, with an introduction by New Yorker poetry editor Paul Muldoon. NPR's Scott Simon speaks with Muldoon about the poem's lasting influence.