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As the number of Americans living in Sunbelt states grows, air conditioning is increasingly becoming a necessity — not a luxury — for a larger swath of the population. Yet the main federal energy assistance program uses a formula that favors cold weather states for heating help over hot weather states that need cooling help.

In softcover nonfiction, Elizabeth Cline explores the high costs of cheap clothing, D.T. Max sheds light on the life and death of author David Foster Wallace, and Marco Roth reflects on his intellectual upbringing on New York's Upper West Side.

George Johnson's The Cancer Chronicles was inspired by his wife's battle with uterine cancer. It traces the history of the disease back to the very first tumor ever discovered — in a dinosaur bone. Reviewer John Wilwol says Johnson "writes clearly and colorfully without dumbing down his material."

"Anyone who approaches this logically" would conclude that President Bashar Assad's forces used chemical weapons "on a massive scale" last week, White House spokesman Jay Carney said Tuesday. President Obama is weighing "the appropriate response," Carney added.

California Air National Guard crews battling the huge blaze have taken some amazing videos as they pass over the flames and smoke.

Also: U.S. spied on United Nations, German media report; jurors to soon begin weighing death penalty for Fort Hood killer; George Zimmerman will ask state of Florida to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal bills.

Tell Me More with Michel Martin will host a live radio broadcast and Twitter Education Forum at 11 a.m. ET on Tuesday, asking whether education is the civil rights challenge of our time. Join the conversation on Twitter using #NPRedchat.

It's been a good year for Tesla Motors and its Model S luxury sedan in California, where Tesla is selling more cars than Porsche, Jaguar, Lincoln, or Buick. In 2013, the company has sold 4,714 cars in the state, according to the California New Car Dealers Association.

Consumer confidence and home prices continue to rise. But they're not moving up quickly. Both are key economic indicators.

Parent advocates and a new federal law making accessible play areas a civil right are changing the landscape for public playgrounds.